The Diamond Master

by Jacques Futrelle

  E-text prepared by Ed Ferris

  THE DIAMOND MASTER

  by

  JACQUES FUTRELLE

  Author of "Elusive Isabel," "The Thinking Machine," etc.

  Illustrated by Herman Pfeifer

  IndianapolisThe Bobbs-Merrill CompanyPublishers

  1909

  [Frontispiece]

  CONTENTS

  I THE FIRST DIAMOND II TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE III THURSDAY AT THREE IV THE UNLIMITED SUPPLY V THE ASTUTE MR. BIRNES VI THE MYSTERIOUS WOMAN VII A WINGED MESSENGERVIII SOME CONJECTURES IX AND MORE DIAMONDS! X THE BIG GAME XI THE SILENT BELL XII THE THIRD DEGREEXIII MR. CZENKI APPEARS XIV CAUGHT IN THE NET XV THE TRUTH IN PART XVI MR. CZENKI EXPLAINSXVII THE GREAT CUBE

  CHAPTER I

  THE FIRST DIAMOND

  There were thirty or forty personally addressed letters, the dailyheritage of the head of a great business establishment; and a plain,yellow-wrapped package about the size of a cigarette-box, some threeinches long, two inches wide and one inch deep. It was neatly tiedwith thin scarlet twine, and innocent of markings except for thesuperscription in a precise, copperplate hand, and the smudge of thepostmark across the ten-cent stamp in the upper right-hand corner. Theimprint of the cancellation, faintly decipherable, showed that thepackage had been mailed at the Madison Square substation at half-pastseven o'clock of the previous evening.

  Mr. Harry Latham, president and active head of the H. Latham Company,manufacturing jewelers in Fifth Avenue, found the letters and thepackage on his desk when he entered his private office a few minutespast nine o'clock. The simple fact that the package bore no returnaddress or identifying mark of any sort caused him to pick it up andexamine it, after which he shook it inquiringly. Then, with kindlingcuriosity, he snipped the scarlet thread with a pair of silverscissors, and unfolded the wrappings. Inside was a glazed paper box,such as jewelers use, but still there was no mark, no printing, eitheron top or bottom.

  The cover of the box came off in Mr. Latham's hand, disclosing a bedof white cotton. He removed the downy upper layer, and there--there,nestling against the snowy background, blazed a single splendiddiamond, of six, perhaps seven, carats. Myriad colors played in itsblue-white depths, sparkling, flashing, dazzling in the subduedlight. Mr. Latham drew one long quick breath, and walked over to thewindow to examine the stone in the full glare of day.

  A minute or more passed, a minute of wonder, admiration, allurement,but at last he ventured to lift the diamond from the box. It wasperfect, so far as he could see; perfect in cutting and color anddepth, prismatic, radiant, bewilderingly gorgeous. Its value? Evenhe could not offer an opinion--only the appraisement of his expertwould be worth listening to on that point. But one thing he knewinstantly--in the million-dollar stock of precious stones storedaway in the vaults of the H. Latham Company, there was not one tocompare with this.

  At length, as he stared at it fascinated, he remembered that hedidn't know its owner, and for the second time he examined thewrappings, the box inside and out, and finally he lifted out thelower layer of cotton, seeking a fugitive card or mark of some sort.Surely the owner of so valuable a stone would not be so careless asto send it this way, through the mail--unregistered--without somemethod of identification! Another sharp scrutiny of box and cottonand wrappings left him in deep perplexity.

  Then another idea came. One of the letters, of course! The ownerof the diamond had sent it this way, perhaps to be set, and had sentinstructions under another cover. An absurd, even a reckless thingto do, but ----! And Mr. Latham attacked the heap of letters neatlystacked up in front of him. There were thirty-six of them, but notone even remotely hinted at diamonds. In order to be perfectly sure,Mr. Latham went through his mail a second time. Perhaps the letterof instructions had come addressed to the company, and had gone tothe secretary, Mr. Flitcroft.

  He arose to summon Mr. Flitcroft from an adjoining room, then changedhis mind long enough carefully to replace the diamond in the box andthrust the box into a pigeonhole of his desk. Then he called Mr.Flitcroft in.

  "Have you gone through your morning mail?" Mr. Latham inquired of thesecretary.

  "Yes," he replied. "I have just finished."

  "Did you happen to come across a letter bearing on--that is, wasthere a letter to-day, or has there been a letter of instructions asto a single large diamond which was to come, or had come, by mail?"

  "No, nothing," replied Mr. Flitcroft promptly. "The only letterreceived to-day which referred to diamonds was a notification of ashipment from South Africa."

  Mr. Latham thoughtfully drummed on his desk.

  "Well, I'm expecting some such letter," he explained. "When it comesplease call it to my attention. Send my stenographer in."

  Mr. Flitcroft nodded and withdrew; and for an hour or more Mr. Lathamwas engrossed in the routine of correspondence. There was only anoccasional glance at the box in the pigeonhole, and momentary fitsof abstraction, to indicate an unabated interest and growingcuriosity in the diamond. The last letter was finished, and thestenographer arose to leave.

  "Please ask Mr. Czenki to come here," Mr. Latham directed.

  And after a while Mr. Czenki appeared. He was a spare little man,with beady black eyes, bushy brows, and a sinister scar extendingfrom the point of his chin across the right jaw. Mr. Czenki drewa salary of twenty-five thousand dollars a year from the H. LathamCompany, and was worth twice that much. He was the diamond expertof the firm; and for five or six years his had been the final wordas to quality and value. He had been a laborer in the South Africandiamond fields--the scar was an assegai thrust--about the time CecilRhodes' grip was first felt there; later he was employed as an expertby Barney Barnato at Kimberly, and finally he went to London withAdolph Zeidt. Mr. Latham nodded as he entered, and took the boxfrom the pigeonhole.

  "Here's something I'd like you to look at," he remarked.

  Mr. Czenki removed the cover and turned the glittering stone out intohis hand. For a minute or more he stood still, examining it, as heturned and twisted it in his fingers, then walked over to a window,adjusted a magnifying glass in his left eye and continued thescrutiny. Mr. Latham swung around in his chair and stared at himintently.

  "It's the most perfect blue-white I've ever seen," the expertannounced at last. "I dare say it's the most perfect in the world."

  Mr. Latham arose suddenly and strode over to Mr. Czenki, who wastwisting the jewel in his fingers, singling out, dissecting, studyingthe colorful flashes, measuring the facets with practised eyes,weighing it on his finger-tips, seeking a possible flaw.

  "The cutting is very fine," the expert went on. "Of course I wouldhave to use instruments to tell me if it is mathematically correct;and the weight, I imagine, is--is about six carats, perhaps afraction more."

  "What's it worth?" asked Mr. Latham. "Approximately, I mean?"

  "We know the color is perfect," explained Mr. Czenki precisely. "If,in addition, the cutting is perfect, and the depth is right, and theweight is six carats or a fraction more, it's worth--in other words,if that is the most perfect specimen in existence, as it seems to be,it's worth whatever you might choose to demand for it--twenty,twenty-five, thirty thousand dollars. With this color, and assumingit to be six carats, even if _badly_ cut, it would be worth ten ortwelve thousand."

  Mr. Latham mopped his brow. And this had come by mail, unregistered!

  "It would not be possible to say where--where such a stone camefrom--what country?" Mr. Latham inquired curiously. "What's youropinion?"

  The expert shook his head. "If I had to guess I should say Brazil,of course," he replied; "but that would be merely because the mostperfect blue-white diamonds come from Brazil. They are found allover t
he world--in Africa, Russia, India, China, even in the UnitedStates. The simple fact that this color is perfect makes conjectureuseless."

  Mr. Latham lapsed into silence, and for a time paced back and forthacross his office; Mr. Czenki stood waiting.

  "Please get the exact weight," Mr. Latham requested abruptly. "Alsotest the cutting. It came into my possession in rather an--anunusual manner, and I'm curious."

  The expert went out. An hour later he returned and placed the white,glazed box on the desk before Mr. Latham.

  "The weight is six and three-sixteenths carats," he stated. "Thedepth is absolutely perfect according to the diameter of the girdle.The _bezel_ facets are mathematically correct to the minutestfraction--thirty-three, including the table. The facets on the_collet_ side are equally exact--twenty-five, including the _collet_,or fifty-eight facets in all. As I said, the color is flawless. Inother words," he continued without hesitation, "I should say,speaking as an expert, that it is the most perfect diamond existingin the world to-day."

  Mr. Latham had been staring at him mutely, and he still sat silentfor an instant after Mr. Czenki had finished.

  "And its value?" he asked at last.

  "Its value!" Mr. Czenki repeated musingly. "You know, Mr. Latham,"he went on suddenly, "there are a hundred experts, commissioned byroyalty, scouring the diamond markets of the world for such stonesas this. So, if you are looking for a sale and a price, by all meansoffer it abroad first." He lifted the sparkling, iridescent jewelfrom the box again, and gazed at it reflectively. "There is not onestone belonging to the British crown, for instance, which would inany way compare with this."

  "Not even the Koh-i-noor?" Mr. Latham demanded, surprised.

  Mr. Czenki shook his head.

  "Not even the Koh-i-noor. It is larger, that's all--a fraction morethan one hundred and six carats, but it has neither the coloring northe cutting of this." There was a pause. "Would it be impertinentif I ask who owns this?"

  "I don't know," replied Mr. Latham slowly. "I don't know; but itisn't ours. Perhaps later I'll be able to--"

  "I beg your pardon," the expert interrupted courteously, and therewas a slight expression of surprise on his thin scarred face. "Isthat all?"

  Mr. Latham nodded absently and Mr. Czenki left the room.