I didn’t mean to, but I nearly burst out laughing. Was that his problem? I remembered reading in a magazine ages ago that since gems held such value, trust was paramount in the industry. And Richard was an established member of that industry.
“You’re probably right, but I don’t think a bad guy would go out of his way to say something like that. Did you ever consider the reverse, though? What if I were a swindler who gave you a fake before demanding you give me the ‘real’ one back? Well, don’t worry. I took thorough photos of the ring and even made two sets of printouts. You should take one. What else should we do just to be safe? Add some kind of seal, maybe?”
Honestly, I didn’t really expect an almost total stranger to trust me, but I did really want to know more about the stone. Richard remained silent even after I made my case. I hoped he would believe me. After all, he did see all my personal information at the police box that night.
“So, I don’t have a lot of money, but could you give me an estimate?”
“Somewhere between three and five thousand yen on the high end if I use a domestic lab.”
“That’s so cheap! Oh, uh, sorry. Whenever I looked into it online, the quotes were always in the tens of thousands.”
“That sounds about right for a formal identification report from an American lab. If you don’t mind using a domestic one, it should be in the range I mentioned. Is that acceptable?”
“That’s fine by me. I just want some answers to set this to rest. How long will it take?”
“It could be as little as a week or closer to a month, depending.”
I asked him to go ahead, bowing my head, and he nodded in response. Glad we’d managed to work something out, I began to drink my coffee, but then Richard cut in with a question.
“Are you in college, Mr. Nakata?”
“Huh? Didn’t you call me Seigi before?”
“Is your name not Seigi Nakata?”
“It is, but you don’t have to be so formal. I’m younger than you, after all.”
“Perish the thought. You are my customer now.”
“…Are you sure you’re not Japanese?”
Richard forced an elegant smile and brought his glass of water to his lips. He showed no inclination to touch his baked goods. They were wrapped up, so maybe he planned to take them home with him. I guessed people who didn’t want to order any of the drinks at a coffee shop needed an excuse to be there. Or maybe he was just picky. He did go out of his way to buy a particular brand of bottled tea after we finished with the police.
I pretended not to notice and continued drinking my coffee. I hadn’t had a coffee that didn’t come out of a can in ages.
Richard pulled a folder of documents and a ballpoint pen out of his suitcase. There was a three-letter abbreviation on the document, which must’ve been the name of the company that would be producing the identification report. While I was signing and putting down my address in Takadanobaba, Richard proceeded to take several photographs of the ring with a digital camera. I reminded him that I’d brought photos and took them out of my backpack to hand to him, but he said he wanted to take his own shots, too, just to be safe. You can never be too careful, I guess.
“Is this a kind of tradition in the trade?”
“Precisely. The history of precious gems is one of theft and fraud. Since the olden days, the principle of prioritizing safety—for both the customer and the dealer—has remained paramount.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
I gave him several days I’d be available to pick it up, but Richard just told me he’d call. Just as I rose from my seat to end our meeting, he stopped me to ask one last thing.
“You mentioned that your grandmother passed while you were in high school. Is there a reason you never considered taking it to a local jeweler? Any shop should be able to send a piece out for an identification report.”
“I guess it just wasn’t meant to happen yet. I almost forgot about the ring, to be honest. But when I met you by complete accident, I thought it might be the universe trying to tell me something.”
Richard’s expression grew somber. This man in a suit, who could bewitch a passerby just with the gesture of casting his eyes down, took a sip of water and looked up at me.
“Thank you for your business, Mr. Nakata. I expect the results should be in at the beginning of next month, but I will call you when they arrive.”
“You really don’t have to be so overly polite with me, you know? Thank you, though, Mr. Richard.”
I lowered my head a bit, and the jeweler narrowed his eyes slightly. Why though? Did I say something funny?”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever met someone in this country who considered simply using someone’s family name as ‘overly polite.’”
“In this country? Right, I guess it’s normal in England to just call everyone by their first name. I guess I’m just not used to people calling me ‘Mr. Nakata.’ My first name’s pretty easy to remember, don’t you think?”
“I’m not terribly accustomed to being called ‘Mr. Richard’ myself.”
“Just ‘Richard’ then?”
“Perfect,” he replied with a broad grin. He looked like he was in his thirties when he had a neutral expression, but the smile made him look a bit younger. It made me wonder how old he actually was. I would have asked, but I missed my opportunity.