Khizar had been prepared to go through with the purchase of the mine after Bill’s death. He’d had his lawyer draw up papers and an offer, and had visited the mine in person to complete the deal. Khizar was surprised to learn that most of the mine’s employees had been let go. The foreman, Bill’s right-hand man, had walked him through the mine. Khizar learned that the once-rich gem veins were now stripped, more or less worthless.
The gem wasn’t listed as part of the old man’s will; there was no reference to it at all, not as a gemstone and not as jewelry.
Khizar was certain Bill had never had the diamond set into jewelry—he’d insisted on keeping it in its purest, though polished, form. But he’d checked anyway, in case Bill had been trying to hide it by turning the diamond into a set piece.
The Sheikh returned to his desk and picked up the phone, where his secretary answered immediately. He arranged for his company’s in-house investigator to look into Bill’s life to see if, perhaps, there were any clues left to find.
A week and five dead-ends later, Khizar was half-convinced that the diamond didn’t actually exist. Bill’s stories must have been just that: stories.
He’d chased down an old miner in Australia, who’d claimed to have been Bill Bauer’s business partner for a few years back in the day, who said he knew where Bauer had stashed the gemstone. The guy told tall tales in a bar in a small town outside Sydney, trading wild stories for a round of beer. There was no truth whatsoever to his words, which Khizar had figured out about ten minutes into their conversation.
Khizar had trawled through the records of Bill’s biggest sales, trying to determine if he’d hidden the diamond in a larger commission. He had talked to Bill’s foreman several times, as well as some of his longest-serving employees.
The men who had worked Bauer’s mine insisted that Bill still had the diamond, but Khizar talked with others in the industry who weren’t certain that the diamond was even real.
He was having dinner at the best restaurant in town—seated, of course, at the best table in the dining room—when his investigator called and asked to meet with him. As he waited for the man to arrive, he nodded at an acquaintance at the bar, and smiled at two lovely ladies who were watching him closely.
If he weren’t so involved with the search for the diamond, he would have found their interest appealing. He might have even asked them to accompany him to a party later that evening. It didn’t matter that he didn’t have a party on his schedule. If someone wasn’t throwing one, he’d have put one together himself. No one turned down his invitations, even at the last minute.
His investigator arrived, a nondescript man in a dark suit, able to blend in wherever he was needed.
“Sheikh Jamshidi.” The man nodded at Khizar as he slid into the booth and laid a folder on the dark wood table.
“James, what do you have for me?”
“Bauer was estranged from his family. He apparently hadn’t had any contact with them in decades.”
Khizar nodded. “He mentioned his brother, Jack, a few times, and how they didn’t talk; their parents died when they were quite young. His brother died several years back, shortly after I met Bill.” Khizar thought. “I believe Jack had a child, as well.”
“Correct. Jack and his wife had one son, Robert. Robert married and had a daughter.”
Khizar thought, putting the pieces together. “That would make the daughter Bill’s great-niece. He never mentioned her.”
James pulled a photo out of the folder. It showed a man and woman standing together, his arm wrapped around her as she held a girl. The girl’s arms were wrapped around the woman’s neck and her head rested against the woman’s shoulder.
James tapped the man’s image. “This is Robert.” He tapped the woman’s face. “His wife, Jennifer. And their daughter, Jacqueline.”
James pulled another photo out of the folder, this one showing the aftermath of a terrible car accident.
“I’m not sure Bauer ever knew about the girl. Robert and Jennifer died in a wreck shortly after that picture was taken. There’s nothing I can find that indicates Bauer went to the funeral or ever had contact with the girl. She was in and out of foster homes for about a year, then adopted. She’s 26 now.”