Toxic Diamonds (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 8)

by Liza O'Connor

  “Does that mean you and Vic are still in trouble?”

  “No, the minister of External Affairs has taken over the matter, since Mason is of foreign birth and might possibly be a spy.”

  “He is?” Vic challenged.

  “Yes, he’s German. Mason arrived here eleven years ago, and caused no trouble that we were aware of.”

  “That sounds as if he was causing trouble, but no one had figured it out.”

  “That is accurate.”

  “Will he be arrested?” Gregory asked.

  “He dissolved along with his crew.”

  “Excellent.” Gregory cheered. “I’m thinking about buying activated charcoal stock. The price has gone sky high.”

  Xavier gripped Vic’s shoulder before she could reveal information she shouldn’t, but it did no good.

  “I would advise against it,” Vic warned. “The current price is most outrageous and when people realize they can make the product in their own backyard in just three days, I suspect the stock price to plummet within a week.”

  Gregory’s eyes widened. “Oh my, I am certainly glad I discussed the matter with you.”

  “So am I,” Vic replied. “However, don’t tell people you can’t trust because I have a small project that requires it to soar this week. Damn it all! I left without calling the locksmith to redo our locks at the office. Ben has no doubt trashed the place again.”

  “Fortunately, Tubs alerted me to the problem, so I called the locksmith and he came right over and changed the locks.” Gregory reached into his pocket and handed them each a key. “However, that did not prevent the boy from returning and breaking two of the glass windows. Still, the ornate gratings prevented him from entering. I called the glazier at once and had new windows put in with an improved method of making tempered glass that is supposed to be much stronger.”

  Vic hugged him again. “Thank you!”

  Gregory petted Vic’s head. “You are most welcome. Now, you should bathe and then get to sleep. We have all had a difficult day.”

  When Vic reached the steps, she stopped and returned to Gregory. “Instead of buying charcoal stock, you should buy telephone stock. I expect that to grow for many years.”

  “Excellent recommendation. Any idea which company I should choose?”

  “Not really. Whichever you choose will probably be bought by whichever company wants to grow quickly. To be safe, I would suggest spreading your funds among them all.”

  Vic then turned and hurried back to Xavier who was oddly waiting at the foot of the steps. She smiled with pure love. “You waited for me.”

  He pulled her to his side. “I did.”

  Halfway up the stairs, he spoke. “So, you believe the telephone stocks will take off?”

  “I do. I think it has great promise. I can imagine a time may come that every person in Britain has one. Look how much faster the locksmith and the glazier attended to our needs.”

  “Then tomorrow, perhaps we should stop by Mr. Ascot and acquire some telephone stock.”

  Vic chuckled. “Well, I have plenty, but Tubs, Gregory, and you should certainly buy some.”

  “I also think cars are worth looking at. While England has been very restrictive about allowing cars to drive about, the rest of the world is moving forward. Trust me, soon cars will overtake the carriage horse, but don’t mention that to Davy. It will just upset him.”

  Xavier stroked her hair. “I see—despite the near deaths and bad ministers you have recently incurred— that you still have great hopes for Britain.”

  “I do. And I believe once George takes the crown, he will pull the people out of the old ways and into the new.”

  “He hasn’t done much so far,” Xavier muttered.

  “That is most unfair. He has never been asked to do much. Queen Victoria has never taught him anything, nor did the ministers. He was pushed aside because his first born was mentally deficient and dangerous, but the boy is dead now.”

  “Have you even met the prince?” Xavier challenged.

  “I have. He and David are good friends. Turns out the prince likes cars and gadgets almost as much as he does the ladies.”

  Xavier shook his head. “David has to be the most interesting dentist that has ever been born.”

  “I expect so. All the professors thought him brilliant. I was heartbroken when his father lost all their money in a single game of cards, and then shot himself. Poor David had to leave Oxford to support his mother and sister. I feared the disappointment would crush him, but instead, as Alice would say, he made lemonade out of lemons. I believed being unfettered allowed him to expand his mind much further than had he stayed at Oxford.”

  “He certainly is inventive. Carlson was most interested in the flashlight he made you. He asked me to acquire him one.”

  “Wait a bit. David is working with a friend on something called a D-battery that will weigh less and last longer.”

  “When will it be available?”

  “I think in a month or so. They are also trying to create a small light bulb that won’t pull so much energy.”

  “It is an amazing time we live in,” Xavier stated as they entered their bedroom.

  When Vic attempted to unhook the back of her dress, Xavier interceded. “Allow me. It is a pleasure I so rarely have.”

  “I hope you are not saying you wish to have a ‘normal’ wife,” Vic warned.

  “Not at all. You are and always will be the only woman for me. That struck home today when I sat upon the cot, afraid you wouldn’t find me and terrified you would, only for all of us to die a brutal death.”

  “Will Cobbs and Wiggens be charged with attempted murder?”

  “Doubtful. However, I’m hopeful Carlson will make them disappear. That is much tidier and certain than having a trial. Carlson is his own judge and jury.”

  Vic grimaced. “If I had known that, I would have tried to be nicer.”

  “Au Contraire! You handled him with perfection. You annoyed him just enough to convince him you weren’t good spy material, but he liked you enough not to order your death.”

  “I hope you are exaggerating his propensity to kill just so I’ll be polite in the future.”

  “Like I said, you annoyed him precisely enough. The truth is, which I’ve previously told him, your reliance on your intuition would always put the two of you at odds on how to solve a matter, but Carlson doesn’t trust anyone’s opinion but his own. So, he needed to test you and while you saved my life to perfection, when he came down hard on my inability to save myself, you jumped all over him. He never allows backtalk.”

  “Is that why you didn’t defend yourself?”

  “It is.”

  “But you don’t work for him.”

  “Not presently. I have in the past and I probably will have to in the future if I’m the only one who can do so. And there will come a time when he’ll need us both, only now he knows his orders will go to me, and I’ll share them with you, and together, we’ll work out how to get the job done.”

  Vic slipped out of her gown and hung it up. “I’m glad I failed his test and you are in charge of disseminating his orders. However, that doesn’t change that we are equal partners. It just means you have better skills when dealing with Minister Carlson.”

  She returned to the bed without a stitch of clothing and straddled his hips. “I suspect after being completely still for so many hours, you must be very stiff.”

  “That is very true.”

  “Excellent. Then allow me to massage every muscle in your body.”

  “You are in command, my beloved.”

  Chapter 19

  The next day Vic, Tubs, Xavier, and Gregory drove to Mr. Ascot’s office and placed orders to buy all the stock of highly ranked telephone companies plus several foreign car manufacturers including Mr. Ford’s.

  Vic also handed Mr. Ascot a typed warning about the rising prices of activated charcoal that David had written. “It will be published tomorrow.”


  If you have been poisoned, the benefits of activated charcoal can be lifesaving, but be aware, it can also cause constipation. It is also easy to make. Thus, the current stock value appears to be both absurd and unsustainable. What this author believes happened is that price rose initially due to all the producers running out of finished product in a single day. Odd, but it happens. However, within three days, sufficient new product should have been available. Yet, instead of the stock price returning to its normal rate, the price of activated charcoals’ stock continued to rise.

  This was clearly a case of speculation at its worst. People with no understanding of the market, purchased a stock, solely on the mindset that it will continue to rise, because it did so in the prior days.

  Some will cry they have been scammed. However, the companies that produce activated charcoal are well established, quality producers. They did not scam anyone. While they did raise their prices a bit during the shortfall, that is an appropriate reaction when you have more buyers than product. But what happened to the stock values, which is decided only by those purchasing stocks, was utter madness.

  Clearly you had no understanding of the product, nor it’s normal price. Thus, the only person who scammed you, was yourself. But generally speaking, you should question any stock that rises 1,820% or more in a single week.

  Mr. Ascot laughed heartily. “I hope this teaches the boy a lesson.”

  Once they returned to the carriage, Xavier shook his head. “Are you telling me that somehow you found time to set up Ben’s firing and the murderers’ downfall during this dreadful week?”

  “We won’t know till tomorrow but I’m feeling most confident. The stock price soared an hour after Ben left. And as David notes, it’s been soaring higher every day afterwards.”

  “Are you not worried some nice old lady might have laid down her last dime on this stock?”

  “I am, but if she doesn’t have an advisor worth his salt, then the imaginary old lady was going to be scammed anyway.”

  “Fair enough. So how soon do you expect this to fallout?”

  “The paper will come out early in the morning, but it takes a while for people to wake up and read the paper. So, I expect by noon we’ll have at least one angry person at our door.”

  Xavier sighed. “May I suggest you wear your bullet-proof vest?”

  “Are you wearing yours?”

  “I foolishly loaned it to Samson and he never returned it.”

  “That was very nice of you. I’ll get it today. I wanted to check on Stone anyway.”

  Xavier sighed. “I was hoping we could have a quiet day together.”

  “I won’t be long. I just need to let Stone know he can leave Samson’s home if he wants to recuperate here. I’m sure the boys would love the company.”

  “I would advise you to clear that with Gregory,” Xavier warned.

  “This is our house,” Vic reminded him, but went in search of Gregory. She found him in the kitchen.

  “Gregory, if Director Stone wants to recuperate at our home, you wouldn’t have a problem, would you?”

  Her butler/parent frowned. “Wouldn’t he rather be with his wife and children?”

  She grimaced. “Probably.” When his annoyance remained, she sighed. “Never mind.”

  Vic returned upstairs.

  Xavier was lying in the bed, naked. “Trouble?”

  Vic pulled off her chest binder. “I don’t want to discuss the matter.”

  Now undressed, she crawled upon him. “May we make love instead?”

  “An excellent idea, but just so you know, I will always side with you against Gregory if you need me to.”

  “Thank you, you are the best of partners; now shut up and make love to me.”

  Chapter 20

  Much too early in the morning, Gregory knocked on the door.

  Thankfully, Xavier opened the door and evaluated Gregory’s tense face. “Trouble?”

  “I fear so. Ben has evidently decided to burn your office down to the ground for destroying his life and everything good in it,” Gregory replied.

  “I was sleeping. How did I manage to do all that?” Xavier asked.

  Gregory winced as if the conversation gave him a headache. “Excellent question, but I do not have the answer. I sent Tubs out to catch the cretin, but I wasn’t certain whether you would want the police called. It is only two in the morning.”

  “And still you are dressed for the day,” Xavier observed.

  “Of course. A butler would never wander about in his nightwear.”

  Vic was correct. Gregory was truly the most dedicated butler in England. “Tell Tubs to ensure the boy has no weapons or incendiary devices on him, then lock him in the basement and go back to sleep. I’ll deal with the matter after I have breakfast at my regular time.”

  Gregory gave him a nod. “Very good, sir.”

  Xavier closed the door, tossed his robe on a chair, and returned to Vic. “We wouldn’t be dealing with all this nonsense if I had just listened to you a year ago.”

  Vic smiled and kissed him. “But then I might have been stuck in the office the whole year. No, I believe you being patient has paid off. Especially if we can convince Alice to allow Pete to stay with us.”

  Xavier shook his head. “While Jacko might be willing to hand his son over to learn a trade, I expect Alice will want the boy to go to a proper boy’s school.”

  “Oh, they already tried that. Pete’s been kicked out of seven boy’s schools for refusing to hand over his homework to the bigger boys, not sharing his spending money, and protecting the smaller boys from being buggered. Alice has finally concluded Pete is too nice to go to schools for young gentlemen, and would be better with a job during the day, and a tutor at night. So, she’s agreed to try to run her estate from London for a year. However, there will be times she’ll have to return to her estates. Jacko will remain here with the boys.”

  “Jacko is going to diaper small boys?”

  Vic laughed at the idea. “No. They have nannies. Seriously, Xavier, gentle women do not clean and diaper babies.”

  “You did,” he reminded her.

  “Only when you nearly broke Sara’s heart and she couldn’t do her job, and only then because Cannon was watering me.”

  Xavier grimaced at the reminder. “I’m sorry I did that, and not just because Cannon sprinkled on you. You were entirely correct. I was wrong to tell Tubs he couldn’t marry because you needed to come first. The big guy has proven he’s more than capable of keeping you alive while having a wife.”

  Xavier stroked her cheek. “So does this mean we have a new secretary?”

  “Well, first, we need to oust the vermin in our cellar. Pete will not come to work if Ben is inside,” Vic warned.

  “He didn’t try to kill Pete, did he?”

  “No, he tried to kill his dog.”

  “Ah…the screeching dog.”

  Vic rolled her eyes. “Yes, and once we get rid of Ben—hold on—exactly how are we going to get rid of Ben? Evidently, firing him doesn’t do the trick. He keeps returning to cause trouble.”

  Xavier groaned. “I’ll talk to Stone…I mean Barns.”

  She stroked his bare chest. “Why don’t you let me handle the matter? I imagine Barns is drowning right now and doesn’t need this nonsense. We need to groom someone in the ranks to handle stupid stuff like this.”

  “Good point,” Xavier agreed. “Meyers is pretty well running the place right now, while Barns translates what’s going on to the higher ups. You need a new trainee to help Meyers.”

  “Then tomorrow, I’ll ask if he has any officers who might like to work with me on minor issues.”

  “Like arresting Ben?” Xavier asked.

  “Exactly!” Vic replied. “If we bring charges, we’ll just waste our time. If Scotland Yard brings charges, maybe something will get done.”

  “So, you’ve given up reforming him?” Xavier asked.

  “I have. That happened the moment he tried to
burn down the office.”

  “Excellent, then we are in accord.”

  “I like being in accord with you,” Vic replied just before she fell asleep.

  Xavier marveled at his fabulous partner. She had saved his life yet again. He would do whatever it took to keep her safe and happy. Gregory was correct. Neither of them would survive without the other. He grinned as he thought of their fabulous son, so like his mother. He was the most fortunate of men.

  Chapter 21

  When Xavier woke at eight in the morning, Vic was gone.

  By the time he dressed and went downstairs, it was eight-thirty and oddly, Vic was not eating breakfast. “Where’s Vic?” Xavier asked.

  Gregory arrived from the kitchen and served him his breakfast. “Vic left with Tubs and Casey early this morning. He said he needed to retrieve your vest and find a trainable policeman.”

  Xavier was pleased. He wanted his vest returned and he appreciated her immediate effort to find the next Meyers. “I guess that leaves me to deal with Ben.”

  “Tubs took Ben to Scotland Yard as well.”

  “Even better,” he declared wondering what on earth was left for him to do. “How are charcoal stocks doing this morning?”

  Gregory brought him the morning paper. “They’ve fallen back to their old sleepy ways.”

  “Excellent. Then we’ll just have to wait for the wasp woman to kill her husband, then we’ll investigate, and hopefully she’ll hang this time,” Xavier said as he enjoyed his sausages and eggs.

  “This is the woman whose sister fed the wife arsenic during her pregnancies?” Gregory asked.

  “Indeed, it is. Vic is certain now that they have lost their money, she’ll kill her husband and find a new richer fellow to marry. Vic is optimistic she’ll kill him soon.”

  “Shouldn’t Captain Meyers take the case?”

  “He probably will if he has the time, but he’s busy keeping his men in line, so Vic wishes to teach a new officer the nuances of deductive reasoning so we will always have a good policeman at hand.”

  ***