Dead Guilty

RiverTrail Museum of Natural History. She’s looking for information. Did any of you cut a diamond for a man named Chris Edwards?’’
The students looked at each other and back at the professor, except for one male student who kept look ing at his work.
‘‘Kurt. You look like you can help us.’’
‘‘Yes, sir.’’ His voice almost cracked.
Kurt looked very young and miserable as he fol lowed them back into the office. He brought a leather notebook with him and he held it close to his body like a shield.
‘‘Don’t look so forlorn, Kurt. We just want to ask you some questions.’’
‘‘I should have come forward sooner, sir, when I heard about Chris. I didn’t know if his death had any thing to do with the diamond, but it might have.’’ He slumped into the chair Isaacson offered him.
‘‘Sit up straight and answer Dr. Fallon’s questions, Mr. Martin. She’s not here to devour you.’’
Kurt straightened up in his chair.
‘‘Tell me about the diamond,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I knew Chris Edwards. We lived in the same apart ment building for a while until he moved. He called and said he had inherited a diamond from his grand mother and wanted it cut into a stone for his fiance´e. Well, I said sure. But when I saw the diamond—well, I was afraid at first, but Chris insisted he wanted me to do it.’’
‘‘You’re doing fine, son,’’ said his teacher.
‘‘Mr. Isaacson, you should have seen it. It was beau tiful. I’ve never seen a stone like that. I studied it for a couple of days and it was like you said—some stones just tell you how to cut them. The diamond yielded two one-carat stones. He wanted them round, so I did an ideal cut.’’ He pulled out his notebook and took out several photographs and gave them to his teacher. ‘‘I took pictures.’’
Isaacson looked at the photographs, then looked at Kurt over his glasses. ‘‘You are right, this is a fine stone, Kurt. And you did a beautiful job. What did you name them?’’
‘‘The Star Princess and the Princess Kacie,’’ he said, sitting straighter in the chair. Suddenly, he slumped again. ‘‘I suppose I should have said something to somebody. I knew they were valuable stones.’’
‘‘It’s all right. This is America, Kurt. We don’t in form on people because they have nice things,’’ said Isaacson.
‘‘Did you believe he inherited it from his grand mother?’’ asked Diane. ‘‘Did you get any sense that it may have come from somewhere else?’’
‘‘Was it the museum’s?’’ asked Kurt.
‘‘No.’’
He looked relieved. ‘‘I sort of thought he probably did inherit it. I mean, he was a forestry student, not a world-class cat burglar. How could he possibly even steal a stone like that?’’
‘‘That’s a good point,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Thank you for your time.’’
‘‘Am I in trouble?’’
‘‘No. The detective in charge of Chris’s case may want to talk to you, but that’s only to try to figure out how he acquired the stone.’’
‘‘So it didn’t come from his grandmother?’’ ‘‘Probably not.’’
‘‘May I keep the photos, Kurt?’’ asked Isaacson.
‘‘Yes. I made copies for you. I was just trying to figure out how to tell you about it.’’
‘‘You can go back to your work now.’’
‘‘Thanks.’’ Kurt hurried out the door as if Diane might change her mind at any moment and decide to devour him.
‘‘He was not at fault,’’ said Isaacson. ‘‘Diamonds are alive, you know, and they talk to you. Kurt’s dia mond spoke to him, and the temptation to cut such a stone is more than anyone can resist. See that stone?’’ He pointed to the photograph of the diamond that hung on the wall. ‘‘That is the Arctic Star. It’s my stone.’’ He shrugged. ‘‘Some Japanese businessman has it in a vault somewhere, but it will always be mine. I studied it, I cut it. Fifty-five carats. Stunning stone. Kurt isn’t in any trouble, is he?’’
‘‘I would not think so.’’
‘‘Where did the diamond come from? It was not a blood diamond, I hope.’’
‘‘From Canada, I believe.’’
‘‘Oh, the Ekati mine. Beautiful diamonds. Very white.’’
‘‘Thank you for your time.’’
‘‘My pleasure. You know, you could use some nicer stones in your gem collection at the museum.’’
‘‘We’re working on it.’’

Chapter 43
    It was four in the morning, and in thirty minutes Diane would be getting up to go caving with Mike, Neva