Parisian Affair (21 page)

The amount was so unreal to Allegra that she
almost laughed. Instead, she wrote out the check, and handed it to
the woman. The woman gave it the briefest of glances, as if she saw
checks for such astronomical amounts every day, then looked over at
Allegra, her purple-shadowed eyes steely.

'I must call your bank, Mademoiselle
Sheridan,' she said, 'to make certain that the funds are
available.'

'Of course,' Allegra said agreeably. 'If you
ask for Monsieur Lenoir, he can take care of it immediately.'

'I'll only be a moment.' She turned and went
down to the end of the counter and through a doorway, closing the
door behind her.

Allegra heaved a sigh. She turned and looked
around, propping her elbows on the counter behind her. She was glad
to see that the pickup area was a short distance down the hallway.
Hopefully, she would be finished with her business at Dufour in a
few minutes and would be on her way back to the bank.

'Mademoiselle?'

Allegra turned and faced the elderly lady,
who held the paperwork and check in liver-spotted hands. 'Yes?' she
said.

'Everything is settled,' the woman said. She
tore off a copy of the invoice and handed it to Allegra.

Allegra took the invoice from her.
'
Merci
,' she said, noticing for the first time that the
woman wore a ring on nearly every finger, each one of the rings
enormous and several of them loose on the woman's aging
fingers.

'Oh, I love your rings,' she said, peering at
them more closely.

'
Merci
,' the old woman replied,
spreading her hands. 'There were all gifts,
cherie
. From
lovers.' She winked at Allegra conspiratorially, her eyelashes so
heavy with mascara as to appear spidery.

Allegra laughed. 'You must've had quite a
few.'

'One can never have enough,' the old woman
said.

Allegra smiled. 'I guess not,' she said,
humoring the woman.

'I know it to be true,' the woman said. She
leaned on the counter. 'Now, then,' she said, 'I know you must be
in a rush to show off your new bibelot. Pickup is just down that
hallway.'

'
Merci
,' Allegra said.

The old woman nodded. 'Enjoy it,
cherie
. Life is short.'

Allegra turned and went down the hallway to
the pickup counter. There was one man behind the counter, and two
or three others in the room behind him, putting together boxes and
filling them with various kinds of padding.

The counterman looked at her appraisingly.
'May I help you?' he asked in English.

'Lot
vingt-quatre
,' she replied,
handing the man her invoice.

He looked at it, then looked at her. 'It will
only take a moment,' he said. He walked over to a small safe,
unlocked it, and searched inside, then withdrew a small box.

Allegra recognized the box immediately. It
was the same pinkish beige that Jules Levant Joaillier still
used.

The man brought it to the counter and opened
it. 'Is this the lot you placed the successful bid on,
mademoiselle?'

Allegra glanced down at the ring. The same
simple but elegant yellow gold setting, and the same beautiful dark
green stone. She took her loupe out of her shoulder bag, then
picked up the ring. With her loupe in her eye, she brought the
emerald toward it. Expecting nothing out of the ordinary, she was
stunned when she saw that the emerald was virtually flawless.

What the hell?
she wondered. She
looked at it again, closely scrutinizing the stone from various
angles. She could only come to one conclusion, and a ripple of fear
ran up her spine.
This is definitely not the same emerald I was
shown at the exhibition. What's going on here?
If anything,
this stone probably had more intrinsic value than the emerald in
Princess Karima's ring. Only its value was a fraction of what
Princess Karima's ring was worth because it had not belonged to
her.

I can't believe this
, she thought.

There was only one thing she could do, and
that was protest. 'Monsieur,' she said, taking the loupe from her
eye and setting the ring on the counter. 'There has been a
mistake.'

'A mistake?' the man said. 'What do you mean,
mademoiselle?'

'What I mean,' Allegra said, 'is that this is
not the same ring that I saw in the auction preview. This is not
Princess Karima's ring. It is not the ring I was bidding on.'

'But that is impossible,' the man
replied.

'I want to see an official of Dufour
immediately,' Allegra said in a no-nonsense voice. 'Preferably a
jewelry expert.'

'Certainly, mademoiselle,' the man said.

'At once,' Allegra emphasized, her brain
swirling with questions.

The man picked up a telephone at one end of
the counter and dialed a number. 'Monsieur Lorrain,' he said, 'this
is Rene in pickup. We have a problem that requires your immediate
attention.' He listened for a moment, then replaced the receiver in
its cradle. 'Monsieur Lorrain, one of our jewelry specialists, will
be down momentarily,' he said.

'Good,' Allegra said.
Jesus
, she
thought.
Why did I ever agree to such a harebrained scheme as
this?
And what in the hell will I tell Hilton Whitehead?
Her mind was still swirling with a multitude of questions, and
there had better be some answers forthcoming.

'Mademoiselle Sheridan?' A distinguished man
of sixty in a handsome chalk-striped suit and gray tie approached
her. He extended a hand. 'I am Edmond Lorrain. I understand there's
a problem?'

Allegra shook his hand. 'Yes,' she said.
'There has been a mistake. This is not the same emerald that I saw
in the preview.'

Monsieur Lorrain shook his head. 'Oh, but you
are mistaken, mademoiselle. I don't see how that is possible.' His
reply was cool in the extreme.

'I don't know how it is, either, Monsieur
Lorrain,' she said, 'but it is true. This is definitely not the
same emerald. The setting is identical as far as I can tell, but
this is not the same stone.'

'Mademoiselle Sheridan,' he said with the
patience of a parent dealing with a recalcitrant child, 'what you
are saying makes no sense. Now, why don't you—?'

'It certainly doesn't make any sense,' she
said angrily, 'but I am a gemologist, Monsieur Lorrain. With a
great deal of experience, I might add, and I won't have my
knowledge insulted by you or anyone else when it comes to
gemstones.' She pointed at the offending box that held the ring.
'I'm telling you that this is
not
the same emerald. I will
swear in a court of law that it's not. The inclusion that defined
Princess Karima's stone is not there.' She looked at him with fiery
eyes.
Does this pompous ass think I'm an idiot?

'Oh, so you're a gemologist,' he said. 'I
see.' He looked at her with interest. 'And you were bidding for
yourself, mademoiselle?'

'That's none of your business, Monsieur
Lorrain.'

The man swallowed and his face reddened.

'Excuse me,' a man's voice interjected.
'Perhaps I can help?'

They both turned toward the dark, handsome
man standing behind them, a smile on his sensuous lips. 'Ah,
Mademoiselle Sheridan,' the man said. 'I thought I recognized
you.'

Allegra was so surprised to see the handsome
jeweler that she stammered, 'Oh, uh, well, it's nice to see you
again, too.'

'Monsieur Tadjer,' Lorrain said, offering his
hand. 'You know this young lady, I take it?'

'Indeed, I've met the very beautiful and
charming Mademoiselle Sheridan,' Ram replied. He turned his
attention to Allegra. 'Are you having some sort of difficulty,
mademoiselle?'

'I'm here to pick up lot twenty-four,'
Allegra replied, relieved by his sudden appearance, 'and the stone
in the ring is not the same stone that I saw in the auction
preview.'

'I saw the ring at the preview as well,' Ram
said. 'What if I take a look? You don't mind, Monsieur Lorrain, do
you?'

'Certainly not,' Monsieur Lorrain replied
stiffly, 'but I can assure you that Mademoiselle Sheridan must be
mistaken. We've never had such a problem here at Dufour.'

Ram removed a loupe from the breast pocket of
his suit and picked up the ring. After positioning the loupe in his
eye, he brought the emerald up to it, in exactly the same manner
Allegra had. After a moment his mild expression became puzzled, and
then an angry scowl contorted his features. He removed the loupe.
'This is definitely not the same emerald,' he said, looking at
Monsieur Lorrain, his dark eyes flashing. 'It is certainly not
Princess Karima's emerald. There is no question about it.'

Monsieur Lorrain looked crestfallen. Under no
circumstances could the opinion of Ramtane Tadjer of Jules Levant
Joaillier be dismissed. 'I—I can't imagine what has happened,' he
said. 'This . . . this ... I— I ... if you'll give me just a
moment, allow me to call upstairs to the department.'

'Of course,' Ram said.

Lorrain turned and went through a doorway in
the pickup area, closing it behind him.

Ram turned his attention to Allegra. 'It's so
lovely to see you again,' he said.

'I'm certainly glad to see you,' she replied.
She meant what she said and realized that it wasn't only because of
the ring. 'I don't know what's going on here, but this Mr. Lorrain
sure isn't in any hurry to admit that Dufour has made a
mistake.'

'It is very curious,' Ram replied, delighted
with her distress since he could take a part in her rescue. 'But
whatever the mistake is, I'm sure that Dufour will rectify it. They
have a reputation to protect, after all.'

'What could have happened?' she asked,
looking at him quizzically. 'It's ... it's crazy. The stone is so
easily identifiable with its inclusion. This makes no sense.
Anybody who knows anything about gemstones would be able to tell
the difference right away with one glance through a loupe.'

Ram shook his head thoughtfully. 'No, it
doesn't make any sense, I agree. It'll be interesting to see what
Lorrain has to say.'

'I can't imagine,' Allegra said, still
anxious and cross with Monsieur Lorrain's condescending manner.

Ram smiled and took one of her hands in both
of his. 'Don't worry,' he said. 'They'll straighten this out. I'm
certain of it.'

Allegra was surprised by his familiar
gesture, but a frisson of excitement surged through her at the feel
of his warm hands on hers. She had to admit that she liked the
feeling. It was reassuring and protective, and she could use a
little protection right now. She made no move to disengage her hand
from his. 'Thanks for your support.'

He gently squeezed her hand, then released
it. 'It's nothing. But what a surprise to see you here,' he said.
'And bidding on Princess Karima's most famous ring. You are a very
surprising and, I think, clever young woman.' He smiled again. 'You
were trying on jewelry in my shop yesterday and didn't even mention
that you were here for this auction.'

Allegra was temporarily speechless. 'I... I
didn't deliberately mislead you,' she finally said. She wanted to
change the subject because she didn't want to explain why she was
here or whom she was bidding for. She knew that there was going to
be a lot of speculation in the Parisian press concerning the
mystery woman who had successfully bid on Princess Karima's ring
and whether the ring was for herself or someone else. She wasn't
about to explain the circumstances to this man or anyone else. That
was up to Hilton Whitehead to do after delivery.

'No,' he agreed, 'you didn't mislead me,
although you did seem to delight in trying on jewels that were
relatively inexpensive—even cheap— compared with what you've just
bought for yourself today.'

Allegra smiled. She wasn't about to fall into
his trap and give away any information. 'I was delighted,' she
said, 'and it was awfully nice of you to let me try on some of your
wonderful pieces.'

'I enjoyed seeing the jewels on someone so
beautiful,' he replied. He eyed her thoughtfully. She was indeed a
clever woman, he reflected. He would have to work very hard to
discover whom she made the purchase for, but he didn't really care.
What was of vital importance was to part Allegra Sheridan from the
emerald before it ever left her hands and reached its new
owner.

Monsieur Lorrain came through the doorway and
approached them with a neutral expression, giving away nothing of
what he felt. When he reached them, he bent forward and sotto voce
said, 'I'm terribly sorry, Mademoiselle Sheridan. You are right, of
course. I have the ring here.' He took a box from the pocket of his
suit jacket.

'What on earth happened?' she asked him.

Lorrain explained. 'Because the emerald is
worth so much, the insurance company wanted an astronomical amount
of money to insure it while it was in our hands.'

'Yes,' Ram said. 'I can well imagine that the
insurance costs for this exhibition were huge.'

Lorrain nodded. 'So we came up with the idea
of creating a duplicate of the ring to save money. The insurance
company was satisfied, and our costs were considerably lowered.' He
paused and looked at Allegra. 'Well, it was nearly a duplicate,
obviously. You very smartly and correctly knew it wasn't Princess
Karima's ring.' He handed Allegra the pinkish beige box from Jules
Levant, and she held it in her hand.

'Surely anybody else who'd placed the
successful bid for the ring would've known,' Allegra said.

'Perhaps,' Lorrain said, 'but you'd be
surprised how many clients

don't really know much about stones. I'm
certainly glad that it was you because you've prevented Dufour from
committing a grievous error.'

'It would've been a great injustice to an
unaware buyer,' Ram said. 'The buyer would've ended up with a ring
with no provenance whatsoever instead of having Princess Karima's,
with all of its sentimental value.'