Page 74 of Dick

“Apology accepted,” he said with a laugh. “And my condolences regarding the loss of your husband.”

“Preston was a fine man for sure. He’ll be so pleased about this.” I reached over and placed my hand on top of his. “As long as this diamond checks out.”

His caterpillar lip almost made me barf. He chuckled a deep but very brief laugh. “I’m sure you’ll find it to your satisfaction.”

Seton looked puzzled. He poked the diamond, stared down at his tester, poked it again, and sighed heavily. “The tester appears to be malfunctioning. I can’t get an accurate reading. It’s telling me the stone is a fake. Let’s proceed under the belief that everything checks out.”

What the fuck?

Diamond specialist my ass.

Proceed under the belief?

“How sad,” I said, trying to hide the fact I was about to barf.

Seton turned toward me. “Would you like to see it?”

I nodded. I felt sick at my stomach. I coughed a light laugh and extended my open palm. “Is a pig’s ass made of pork?”

Seton handed me the cloth with the diamond folded into it. As I accepted it, he winked at me with his eye that was out of Tribideaux’s view.

It was all I had to go on, but I assumed everything was a go.

I found out through the education I received from Dick that a 10 carat diamond is barely over one half of an inch in diameter. In comparison, a dime was 50% larger in diameter than a 10 carat stone.

Making it very, very easy to conceal.

I unfolded the cloth, looked at the stone, and squinted. “I can’t see a darned thing without my glasses,” I said. “Forgive me.”

I held the cloth above the table in my left hand so not to raise suspicion. With my right hand, I reached below the table and into my purse. After retrieving the fake stone and my glasses, I cupped the stone in my palm and lifted the glasses to my face.

I rested the glasses against the bridge of my nose. “Let me have a look.”

I unfolded the cloth and pinched the stone between the thumb and forefinger of my right hand. Now holding both stones in my right hand, one in my palm, and one in my fingers, I stared down at it and let out a laugh.

“It’s seems so small without being set into a ring. Seton, dear, do you have one of those little thingies?”

He chuckled. “A loop?”

“Whatever you call it.” I chuckled.

He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a loop. As I reached for it, I loosened my grip, dropped the fake stone into the cloth, and rolled the real stone into my palm.

So far, so good.

I lifted the loop to my glasses, chuckled, and set the loop on the edge of the table. “I guess I don’t need these glasses after all.”

While holding the cloth and diamond well above the table, I leaned over and dropped my glasses and the real stone in my purse.

“Let me have a look,” I said.

Seton studied the mustache man, and I studied the diamond. It seemed, for the time being, that everyone was happy. I looked at the stone for a few long seconds. It was pretty, but indiscernible from the fake. It was roughly the size of a Cheerio and worth almost $4,000,000, which I found to be ridiculous.

“Oh my, that is a pretty one, isn’t it?” I asked, although it wasn’t anything special.

My nostrils flared again. I handed Seton the loop and fanned my face with my free hand. “Reminds me of when Preston proposed to me.”

Seton lowered his head. “God rest his soul.”