Stones

I entered through the monstrous wrought iron and glass front door of the house, in spite of having been told to enter through the kitchen door in the garage. Entry through a garage is just too casual, in my opinion, especially if the house is over-sized and oozes conspicuous, ostentatious luxury. I wanted to get the full effect of walking into a rich man’s home. After waiting an appropriate time for the door bell to be answered, I opened the  door and stepped inside.

Beyond the castle gate of a door, a huge cavernous entry made me feel tiny. The flooring, slabs of polished jade, reflected the massive chandelier and the clerestory windows thirty feet above.  Thirty yards in front of me, a wall of window twenty feet tall revealed a lush, colorful garden sloping up toward a thicket of pine trees.

“I thought I told you to come in through the garage!” Anchor Steel’s words, spoken in a deep and loud voice, betrayed his anger. As I turned toward the sound of that angry snarl, I saw the shotgun in his right hand. “You’re lucky to be alive, you sonofabitch!”

“Sorry, the light wasn’t on in the garage and I didn’t want to get shot by a concerned neighbor!”

“You see any houses close enough for a neighbor to see you?” His tone suggested he thought I was stupid or lying. Or both.

“Never mind. Come on and I’ll show you.”

I followed Steel past a huge kitchen island flanked by stainless steel and glass cabinetry into a much smaller, dimly lit room. Almost immediately upon entering the door, Steel seemed to plunge in front of me. I paused for a moment, confused by his sudden drop. Ah, a steep stairway. We descended to the bottom, at least fifteen feet.

This was no rich man’s house. This was a cave. The floors were rough, yet moderately level, but the walls were craggy outcroppings of rock.  At the far end of the cave, several lights dangled from a tangle of cords, illuminating what appeared to be a dusty, scratched casket.

“Found it while I was digging for the safe room.”

“Safe room?  Like a storm cellar?”

“No. A room for my safes. Some of my valuables don’t belong on display; this is gonna be where I keep ’em.”

“Ah, okay. Well, what about that casket?” I pointed to it, the only distinguishable object in the room.”

“That’s why I called you over. I want you to appraise it.”

“The casket?”

“No, what’s inside.”

Steel trudged across the uneven floor to the casket and lifted the lid.  Inside, the length of the coffin was taken up by shiny cobalt blue fabric covering something. A corpse? An ample sprinkling of polished stones that looked like emeralds, sapphires, diamonds and rubies filled the folds of the blue fabric. A skull, with dried skin still attached and topped with wisps of black hair, emerged from the blue dress.

“Who is that?”

“I don’t know. And I really don’t care. What I want to know is this: what’s the value of these stones and are they traceable?”

I wasn’t absolutely sure what he was asking, but I had a pretty good idea.

“So, you’d like to sell the stones, quietly, yes?”

Steel looked at me hard.

“I want to know the value of the stones and whether they’re traceable.  And I want assurances you’re as discreet as I’ve been told you are. ”

He still had the shotgun.

“I’m even more discreet than you’ve heard. I’ll need to examine the stones closely and then do some research.”

“All right. But you’ll need to do the examination and research right here. If you need any resources other than what I’ve got here at the house, we’ll go get them. Together.”

Steel’s eyes weren’t hard to read.  They said, in no uncertain terms, “Ruthless.”