by Moulton, CD
“Faraday? Marko B said you had to get inside a place that was pretty securely locked?
“I’m called Picks.”
“That’s it,” Clint said, pointing toward the house. “I could use bolt cutters, but I’d rather get in and get what I want and get out without again anyone knowing how I got the stuff without doing anything like that.”
He laughed and took a strange tool from the glove case and went to the front door grate. The lock was open in ten seconds, then he opened the lock in the inner steel door. They went in to find the safe box in the kitchen. The trouble was going to be moving the thing. It was heavy.
Picks used his celular and said, “Ten minute,” to Clint.
Ten minutes later a car came in with four big men. They hoisted the box onto the truck, Clint made sure the locks were all back in place and that they hadn’t left any signs they were there and they drove out through a little path/road to one side. They went through an open field and onto the better road around a bend where the woman in the tienda wouldn’t know they’d been there. They stopped at a little restaurant where Clint gave the four men in the car fifty dollars apiece and said they’d never been within ten kilometers of that house they didn’t know existed. They grinned and said they weren’t in the habit of running their mouths. That was bad for business.
“I took a few seconds to look over the area, then got the Mapquest view enlarged until I could see that road where no one would see us coming or going. If the woman in the tienda saw you go in she’ll wonder why you never came back out.”
Clint nodded and told Picks where the box was to be delivered if he knew a carrier they could trust.
“I’m to take it to David myself. Marko arranged everything.”
Clint nodded and said he’d be back to David before Picks, probably. He was going to go back and out the way he went in. He’d stop at the tienda and tell the woman he got stuck in a ditch and just got out. He never found anything before he came back.
He did that, then headed to David.
They unloaded the heavy box and put it in the little Bodega at Dave’s apartment. Picks opened all the locks on the box and said he wasn’t interested in what was inside. Marko made that plain. Clint agreed and asked what he owed.
“You owe Marko, but he said he owes you more than he has. I wish I had a friend like that! He’s living in Southern Spain, but let’s it out that he’s on an island in the Mediterranean. You know about that so I’m not giving anything away. He said you’re the safest person in the world to know that. You even know the house he’s in there.”
“He’s there part time and spends part time on the island. He has to make an appearance on the island every once in awhile so certain people won’t be looking all over Spain and Portugal for him,” Clint said. “I don’t mind telling you what’s in the box. It’s money and gold and jewels.”
“As heavy as it is, I guess that’s true. Not my business.”
Clint wished him well and went into the bodega to see what he could find. He was damned sure there was something in that chest that was important enough that some little tin king came in person to get it.
He carefully checked the items. There was, as Mikim said, almost two million in cash. Dollars. Apparently Gordo, Besford and Dennis had taken about ten thousand apiece. It was short of two million by thirty one thousand. The gold was there, as was the silver and platinum. There was a list that checked exactly to the items.
Clint studied the emeralds and diamonds. They seemed alright to him. He held the jewels that were the token of the ruler’s progression. They looked exactly like the pictures he had from the net and so forth. They were set in gold. It was heavy.
Clint didn’t know enough. Manny would send an expert to check them over. There were marks that an expert could find that anyone else may miss. Not much else to do so he locked up the bodega and went to a delicious dinner at Las Brasas. Manny’s expert would be there at eight in the morning.
So! That’s What It’s About!
“Mr. Clinton Faraday? I’m Michael Foster. Mr. Mathews has hired me to very quietly investigate some jewelry that is in your possession. I understand that this is to be kept very quiet as it may have international repercussions should it be known the merchandise is in the hands of the government. You may place your trust in me completely, as Mr. Mathews will attest. You are to call him while I am here to confirm.”
Clint invited him in, gave him a cup of coffee and called Manny, who said Foster was as good an expert as there was and that he knew how delicate negotiations between governments could be. That was to let Clint know what to tell him and what not to tell him.
“If this is all authentic we can trust them. If not, we know what’s behind it and can put a stop to a dangerous situation, Mr. Mathews. All Panamá appreciates and respects your aid in this matter.”
That done, Clint took Foster to the bodega and handed him the emeralds. Foster got a glance into the box and looked like his eyes would pop out of his head. He took the emeralds and frowned. “I can see why the suspicion! This is paste!”
That was a shock! Clint expected some kind of skulduggery, but not anything like this!
“You’re positive?” he asked. “We couldn’t tell, but you knew without making any tests?”
“I made a test when I picked them up. See?” He showed Clint a very small scratch on a facet of the largest emerald. “I do this to impress the impressible. This ring has a very sharp piece of corundum on the point here (a tiny needle-like projection) that will not affect true emeralds or diamonds, but will scratch glass and less hard things. It saves making delicate tests that are mostly for show. This is as good a copy as I’ve seen so I can probably guess these were made between seventy and eighty eight years ago. In Egypt. One man was this good. This is the third piece of his work I’ve seen. The other two were items of importance to royalty in Europe. They had the copies made to be placed on public display while the genuine articles were placed in safer surroundings. They were legitimate. I can guess these are items some government wants to dispose of to raise money. They put them among these authentic items, such as the gold and platinum, to make it seem all was genuine.
“I like to imagine scenarios for these things. I won’t tell anyone else anything at all, even that I was here in Panamá.
“Look at them through these.” He handed Clint his glasses. Clint put them on and looked at the emeralds through them. There was almost no fire.
“Polarized. Paste doesn’t reflect in the even forms that true jewels do. The absorption lines in these glasses are at different angles than regular polarized lenses so catch the imperfections in jewelry as well as detecting artificial ones.”
Clint thanked him and said he was to be careful to not let anyone know about this. It could cause such serious consequences to certain people that it could hardly be estimated.
He called Manny as soon as Foster was gone to tell him.
“So. His father sold the real jewels to get money to build that port, among other things. I still can’t see what makes Mikim so afraid.”
“I can,” Clint replied. “It’s in that history you sent me. It’s the wording of the passing of power.”
“Gonna make me try to figure it for myself?”
“Oh, look at where the original progression was set. That constitution kind of thing that was guaranteed to hold forever. The part that says, ‘So long as...’
“I’ll have to put this stuff somewhere. I’ll be back home as soon as I can.”
“I’ve put a search for that phrase. Here it ... ‘So long as the original and authentic articles ...’ Great exploding galaxies! He isn’t the king if the original and authentic royal articles aren’t in his possession! His father unintentionally sold the title with the emeralds!”
“Uh-huh. Now we have to see who does own all that stuff.”
“I sincerely hope it’ll revert to the people. There are about six thousand citizens, five thousand nine hundred living in poverty. Tw
o million a day divided among them equally makes them all millionaires in a few months.”
“Sounds good to me! Now I have to get this off of Panamá‘s back.”
“Well, Judi, it looks like our recent guests will end up in the pen here for the next twenty. I’d like to get them out of this country, but it ain’t a-gonner happen, I’m afraid. I want to try to get King Fartblossom home, if no one else. I think probably the stink we’ll raise’ll make them want to prosecute him according to their cultural rules. Manny’s having the laws there checked to see if we can manage to have the native people own the country on a collective basis. Of course, it’ll take about ten minutes for some slimy crooked corrupt politicians to take it all back, I suppose.
“I want to know what to do with all that stuff in the chest.”
“Ask Nikolo that. Maybe you can find what’s behind his end of it.”
“I want to go see him. I think he wanted to get his hands on those emeralds. I want to see his face when I tell him they’re paste copies.”
“That should be a classic!”
“I’m going over to his place this afternoon. Maybe I can catch his expression on my camera phone.”
They chatted a bit more, then Clint hung up and threw a few things in a bag for in case he had to stay away for more than the day. He locked the bodega after putting all the padlocks back on – except they were his padlocks, not the ones they took off.
He got in his car to head for the airport. He would be in Costa Rica until tomorrow, at least. His car could stay on the lot there.
The flight was a little rough, but not too bad. Clint checked into a hotel and took a taxi to Nikolo’s house to announce himself at the gate. Viktor came to let him in. He’d called when he reached the airport. He wanted to speak with Nikolo before he had the chance to learn much about what had happened so far. He hoped to be able to arrange the handling of Gordo and the two Canadians without involving the Panamanian police. He wouldn’t go so far as to allow them to be hit. He didn’t think Nikolo would be that interested in them.
He was greeted warmly. Nikolo was out by his pool enjoying a tall strong vodka collins, which he offered to Clint. Clint took one. It was real vodka, made from potatoes, not grain.
“So? What have we found so far?” Nikolo asked.
“Other than that the emeralds are paste copies and Mikim and his goons are going to spend a few years in the lock-up, not much. The fact the jewels are fake means that Mikim and his father weren’t kings or whatever.”
Nikolo turned over his drink, then grinned and said, “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
“To be honest ... yes! I wish I had a picture of your expression!”
He got the finger. “That was much more than I had hoped. I wanted to be able to be rid of him, but I was planning to sell off most of the stuff to finance a little private revolution when we had the organization set up properly.
“I can tell you about some of my partners if what you say is true – and I would not doubt your word for one pico-second!
“You see, this was to be an overthrow of that one we call the Monster of the Med. It was arranged by two families who were once owners of much land in the place there is now a port. A port that makes two million dollars on an average day. It is not so much that they want the land back. They want that family brought down from rule and dragged through the streets in disgrace. They would not object too greatly if the land were returned, but that is truly secondary.”
“I want to arrange for the people to collectively own the whole island,” Clint replied. “They’d be included in that if they’re citizens. It would make a few thousand people living in abject poverty into millionaires in a few days if the treasury is as bloated as I’ve heard. Billions in what amounts to stolen funds. I’d really like to see some way those people can select their own government, but also realize things aren’t done that way in that area.”
“Because a thing hasn’t been done does not mean it can’t be done. The ideas of democracies is gaining popularity. What we have to do is offer education to the people. It has been denied for some decades. They need a medical facility.
“We aren’t so terribly bad as our reputation in many things. We are worse in others. That I do not doubt. Perhaps we can arrange for our ex-king to be returned for the entertainment and pleasure of some few thousand people he has held in thrall and in poverty for his entire life?”
“That would be something I’d like to see, but no. They have to wait twenty years. He won’t survive twenty weeks in jail in Panamá. His attitude and tendency to give orders won’t bode well for his health and physical welfare.
“What do we do with all that crap in the chest?”
“I’d say to keep it as your fee, but also feel that’s not in my province to say.”
“How about sending it to the social reform party, which some of your better-minded partners just formed? It will first be guaranteed that the proceeds are used to build schools and a medical center?”
He laughed. “I generally hate reformers. I don’t think I hate you. I rather like you. I do greatly respect you.”
“Can you set that up?”
“I will make honest effort. I will contact you when I have something to offer, that or a counter-offer. I think, when I explain that it’s that or you keep the total contents and use the funds in that manner here there will be a concerted ‘Bravo!’ tendered to you.”
“If they’re sincere about that they won’t need that suggestion. It’ll tell you a lot about them and their motives as individuals.”
“I cannot and would not argue that.”
“What can we do about the three thugs who got me into this by killing O’Brien?”
“It was her. They were being used and turned on her the same way she turned on others. I couldn’t care less about them. You may be able to arrange something. She received exactly what she’d earned and exactly what she deserved.”
Clint thought about it. He nodded, grinned and changed the subject to the way Panamá was handling their soccer program. It seemed to be very effective!
Clint soon went back to the airport to learn he couldn’t get a flight until tomorrow at eleven. He checked into a hotel and had a very good night in the restaurant/bar there.
“Sergio, remember how we handled that bunch with the land-theft scheme?”
“Which one? You had several of those.”
“They started killing each other off. They were deported so Panamá wouldn’t be saddled with keeping them locked up for twenty years. We can do that with Besford and Dennis, can’t we?”
He looked thoughtful. He, like Clint, didn’t want Panamá to have to house and feed the type. He said he’d try to work it out. That would leave Gordo. He’d be convicted of complicity and would serve a couple of years.
Nikolo called to say Clint’s suggestions about the reform were acceptable to all but one of them. That one would be removed from the group as he had shown he was more interested in money and power, not in helping his own people. The people would learn through a careless loss of a document that he was exactly what he was. When they held elections, if that could actually be arranged, he need not apply for nomination as a candidate for anything.
“We do sound obsequious, don’t we?” Nikolo finished.
“It’s a good kind of obsequiosity. I can live with that.”
“We have the problem of delivery of the stuff without government knowledge nor intervention. There are many who are corrupt here, too.”
“Easier to move it ... I’ll make a few calls and call you back.”
“That will be well, my friend. I will await your word.”
Clint hung up and grinned at Sergio. Sergio returned the grin.
Clint went home and called Manny. Judi made a delicious lobster chowder. It was good to be home among friends.
Not Our Problem
“Well, it looks like Marko was able to get the jewel chest back to the people on that island,” Clint told Nikolo
, who had come to Bocas Town to visit and see the area. He said he rather liked it.
“Yes. Things are going along well. Better than ever before in anyone’s remembrance. The people got their first payment. It was a little more than four hundred thousand apiece, the medical facility is contracted and teachers are coming to staff the schools. We have another problem I should have foreseen, but it will work out, I imagine.”
“What’s that?”
“Nobody will show up for work. A millionaire does not find himself in the position where he must carry large and dirty items across wet and stinking docks, nor must they work in stores or banks or whatever.”
Clint laughed. “We really should have seen that one coming!”
“Well, they can give honest employment to many others in the near area. It will greatly help the economies of several of the islands there. It will take a short while to get things operating correctly again. The United States has sent the personnel to man the facilities to keep the port in operation with only small delay. Vendors from the small islands nearby will bring in food and supplies to sell. It will work out well. People will become bored with nothing to do and will find work suitable to their psychologies.”
Judi and Dave came in the front door, yelling that they were there and hungry. They came onto the deck where Clint and Nikolo were lounging and apologized for the rude entrance. Nikolo waved and said he was also hungry so would treat them all to a good meal in the restaurant of their choice.
“I was making some gunk, there’s plenty, so we’ll take you up on that another time,” Clint said. “You guys, this is Nikolo, who you’ve heard me mention. Dave and Judi. You can entertain each other while I do the finishing touches thing to our meal.”
He went to the kitchen and took the Yankee pot roast he was fixing out of the slow cooker and put it in a large pot to finish cooking. He made a salad of various fruits, set the table and yelled to come and get it or he’d throw it to the fish. They came in laughing and joking. It was a great time.