“It was originally unearthed from some ancient ruins. Over three thousand years old, they say. The stone is rough, not cut. But the size and number of the tanzanites make this jewelry piece truly one of a kind.”
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“If it's part of the cultural heritage of mankind, it’s best to return it to the owner. Didn’t you say it belonged to the British Museum?”
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“The one on permanent display is just a replica anyway. The genuine jewels must be kept in their underground vault. It’s not safe to keep twenty billion yen on public view continually.”
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“How did they come up with the idea of stealing it?”
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“Their motives...well that’s not for me to say. But I can tell you this. Yuri didn’t steal this for selfish reasons. Yuri is...” Ren paused and looked over at Fuwa. “He just steals. No matter how expensive the loot is, he doesn’t pocket even a penny.”
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“You're talking too much, Ren,” Fuwa hushed him and Ren stopped talking. Kazutaka could feel there was some kind of bond between these two. Ren, in particular, felt a strong loyalty towards Fuwa, Kazutaka sensed.
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Ren took out a small laptop from his tool box. He placed it in front of Kazutaka and turned it on.
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“This site is popular among billionaires, collectors, buyers, auction organizers, and theft rings. It contains information on jewelry from all over the world. We should be able to find a description of the Teardrop of the Nile somewhere on this site. You met our boss, Bud West, earlier. He's the site's owner, Kazutaka-san.”
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“Really?”
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“His nickname is Stone Hunter. Very appropriate, don’t you think? Bud is gathering information on stolen jewels from all over the world. He sometimes supplies information as well.”
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There are all kinds of informants. Most of them are jewelry dealers and merchants. Then there are owners of stolen jewelry, legitimate buyers, illegal buyers, auction organizers, etc. Occasionally, there are thieves, students, archeologists, as well as insurance agents.
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“The site doesn’t discuss regular stones that would be the object of small and reasonable deals. It only talks about the pieces with names. Namely, famous jewels.”
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“Famous jewels?”
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“One of the most famous one is called the “Star of Sierra Leone,” which is almost 1,000 carats. There are also certain kinds of stones that may be small but are very rare, such as the “Red Diamond.” The red diamond is infamous for having caused a fierce battle among theft rings.”
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The screen showed pictures and descriptions of jewelry in English. Given his poor English skills, Kazutaka couldn’t understand the content very well. Ren pointed out the topic headings.
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“It says there’s a rumor that the Teardrop of the Nile was stolen on its way back to England after an overseas exhibit in America eight months ago. The British Museum denied the rumor, but they also discovered that one of the world’s renowned theft rings moved their team from America to England. They can’t deny the possibility of the jewel having been stolen.”
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“The Teardrop of the Nile was presumably moved to the vault upon its return to England. They haven’t put it back out onto their permanent exhibit. They don’t have any witnesses of the transport. The jewelry is supposed to have come back from America, but nobody really knows whether or not it is actually being stored in the vault at the British Museum.”
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“How do you research stuff like this? Who is Bud?”
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“He’s a teacher at an English conversation school near the train station.”
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“Well, that’s only his cover, right? What is he really?”
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“Bud calls himself a sculptor. I don’t know him very well, either. If you want to know more about him, go to the English conversation school and ask him directly.”
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“I see.”
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Kazutaka was gladdened to see a milder expression on Ren's face. When he smiled, Ren was totally a different person, looking kind and gentle.
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Kazutaka has seen similar expressions quite often at his school. When students taunted him by saying, “You're no good, sensei,” Kazutaka would simply reply with a “Sorry.” Then the students would smile as if to say, “He’s an amiable fellow.” At that moment, Kazutaka felt the walls between teacher and students become a bit shorter. If he were a normal authority figure, perched on a proverbial high horse, that wouldn’t happen. His senior teachers, who were also popular among students, often made use of the same tactics to break down barriers and create communication with the students. When sincere two-way communication happened, people were happy.
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“The next item is on a blue diamond auction that was held in Singapore in October last year. Bud participated in that one.”
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“He went to Singapore?”
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“No, he didn’t. He participated via an Internet real time auction. The organizers of that had announced that hard-to-find tanzanite would be auctioned in the near future. The thieves must have gotten really excited about that news.”
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“They thought it may be the Teardrop of the Nile on the auction block, right?”
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“Right. Then in December of last year, correspondence came informing us that someone had broken into a safe-deposit vault in Singapore that had a state-of-the-art security system. Everyone thought the Teardrop of the Nile must have been stolen. A lot of people put reports of sightings on message board here as to who the thief was or where the tanzanite was. However, 90 percent of those are just rumors, lies, or headline-seeking baloney. But, very rarely, there’s truth. Bud looks for that.”
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“In the midst of the flux of all that conflicting information, Bud became convinced that the Teardrop of the Nile was actually still in the Orient somewhere, most likely in Japan. As for me, I can’t tell what’s true or false. I simply haven't the foggiest idea.”
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“I can’t tell, either. With a famous stone like that, there are always numerous replicas floating around. Until you have the real one in your hands, you can never know what’s fake or real.”
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“But Shīno can tell. He’s a jeweler.”
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“He does appraisals for people. We suspect that Shīno appraised some goods and found out they were stolen materials, but charged an excessive commission and so he didn’t report the incident to the police.”
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Kazutaka clicked his tongue, thinking of his friend’s face. Kazutaka hadn’t known about any of Shīno’s shady business.
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“So it’s possible Shīno received a customer with a fishy background. You know, the kind of people who’d hesitate to take their products to a big established jeweler. Shīno Jewelry is in a small town. The store is small and discreet. The owner’s president is young and aggressive. Everyone has an eye on him. He’s a magnet for thieves, and buyers contact him constantly, including those who bring in stolen goods, those who try to intercept them, and those who seek to sell them. Shīno attracts them all. Yuri has been watching Shīno for nearly a year.”
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Seemingly, this time, a French person posing as a tourist brought what could have been the Teardrop of the Nile into Shīno’s store. This had happened around 8 p.m. last night. Shīno must have immediately appraised the item and called Kazutaka around nine.
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Ken, who had been watching Shīno’s store, saw him call Kazutaka in and arrange for a security company’s transport car. Ken guessed the destination would be the police department. Bringing the jewels out without the French person’s consent would mean reporting it to authorities. Ken thought it was not like Shīno to do that, but the illegal goods he had dealt with were in the ten million yen range at most. Never anything like the Teardrop of the Nile, which was worth twenty billion yen.
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Ken thought Shīno might have chickened out because this deal was so huge. Ken informed Fuwa and Fuwa decided to get a hold of the jewels, which was how the heist came about.
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“Does Fuwa-san always do this?”
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“No, not always. Only when he has a specific objective, which is only once every other year or so.”
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“And you take the jewelry somewhere and sell it?”
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“Yes.”
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“Somebody would actually buy it? Someone who could afford twenty billion yen?”
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“Bud’s grandfather could. He’s into the preservation of cultural heritage items.”
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“The grandson steals it and then the grandfather buys it? Um, that’s kind of strange, don’t you think?”
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“Bud’s grandfather is an art collector and a conscientious buyer who is enthusiastic about preserving antiques. For him, twenty billion yen is a drop in the bucket. He takes very good care of the art pieces and keeps them in perfect condition. He's also very careful not to let them get stolen. In a way, he handles his collection not much differently than art museums.”
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“There's a lot of jewelry that has taken a similar route and ended up in the hands of various wealthy individuals. Those people don’t buy things just because the diamonds are big or they are expensive. If there's an art piece with historical value, and they think they can provide the best care for it, then they acquire it. Sometimes they return the piece to a museum when the time is right. So actually, it’s not a bad solution at all. Plus, when wealthy individuals get a hold of them, the historical value of the stone itself is respected. They won’t end up cut into smaller diamonds for easy sale.”