mahogany desk. Congressman Frederick Sutter, a slender black man in his forties with a receding hairline and dressed in a gray suit, stood up from his chair at the intrusion.
“What’s going on here?” he said.
The other man stood as well now, rising to his full six foot six height. He turned, and Kevin stopped short when he saw who it was. The look on Clayton Tarnwell’s face was almost as shocked as Kevin’s, but he quickly recovered.
“Kevin,” Tarnwell said, “I see you and Erica were able to make it after all.”
“I recognize you now,” Sutter said to Kevin. “You sat next to me at a South Texas brunch, correct?”
“A dinner,” said Kevin. “You told me about your son’s football scholarship to A&M.” He turned to Erica. “This is Erica Jensen. She’s a med student at South Texas.”
“Nice to meet you.” He nodded at Erica and then looked at Tarnwell. “These are the two you were telling me about, Clay? I find that hard to believe. I remember Mr. Hamilton. He seemed like an articulate young man.”
“Yes, Fred, he does. Kevin fooled me as well. I’ve never met this girl before, but her boyfriend here is the slickest con artist I’ve ever seen.”
Kevin made a move toward Tarnwell. “I should…” Before he got two steps, Erica grabbed him, holding him back.
“Now that I’ve exposed your little game, you’re losing your cool. How pathetic.”
Erica spoke to Sutter. “I don’t know what this man has told you, Mr. Sutter, but Kevin has discovered a revolutionary new process that could change almost every industry over night.”
“He’s got her in on this thing with him too,” Tarnwell said. “Very clever, Kevin. Two voices are always better than one. But as I was just telling Congressman Sutter, your plan’s a failure. I thought the police had caught you by now, and when you’d bragged about your meeting with Mr. Sutter, I thought I’d better come down and clear up any misunderstandings you might have caused. About how you and Dr. Ward tried to swindle me into investing huge amounts of money into a experimental process with no merit.”
“He’s lying, Mr. Sutter!” Kevin said. “I can prove it.” Kevin reached into his pocket for the specimen he’d completed two days ago.
“Ah yes,” Tarnwell said. “Now he’s going to present you with a piece of glass and claim it’s a diamond. Well, Kevin, let’s see it.”
Kevin walked over to the Congressman’s desk and handed him a diamond the size and shape of an egg. It was perfectly clear, a flawless specimen, except for one thing: the safe deposit box key fused in its middle.
Kevin thought he’d need some way of confirming that he hadn’t stolen it from somewhere, that it was actually made and not dug up out of the ground. The key was the most appropriate thing he could think of.
While the Congressman inspected the specimen, Kevin took the notebook out of the backpack and tossed it onto the desk.
“It’s all in there, sir. How we discovered it, how it works, everything. You are holding an artificially manufactured 200 carat diamond in your hand.”
“This is ridiculous, Fred. Now he’s trying to make a fool of you like he did to me. It’s obviously some kind of forgery.”
“He’s right, Kevin,” Sutter said. “I don’t understand what’s going on here, but this does look a piece of glass. Mr. Tarnwell is a man who is well-respected in the Houston community, and he’s donated a lot of time and money to my campaigns. It’s his word against yours.”
“I know, sir,” Kevin said, “but if you’ll just be patient, I’m sure we can prove to you in another minute that that is a real diamond.” Kevin repeatedly looked at the door to the outer office. Where was he?
“I’m sorry, Kevin. This seems like a matter for the police.” Sutter picked up the phone and told security to come to his office.
“No, you’re our last hope. Tarnwell will have us killed before the night is over.”
“Will you listen to this?” Tarnwell said. “The lies just go on and on. I promise you, Fred, that I am going to ask the DA to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Sir, you have to help us,” Erica said. “Kevin’s telling the truth.”
Sutter only nodded. The look on his face told Kevin that he didn’t believe them. “Let’s just wait for the Capitol police and explain it to them.”
“Mr. Sutter,” Erica said, “you have to arrange protection for us.”
“I don’t have to do anything.”
“It’s so I won’t have them killed,” Tarnwell said. “Come on, Erica. Don’t make this any worse for yourself.”
Kevin’s attention was drawn to a commotion in the outer office. A man with a scraggly beard and gray hair tied in a pony tail was arguing with the secretary.
“No, I’m telling you,” the man said. “Your office called and asked me to be here at eight this morning. I admit I’m a little late, but I’m here.” He wore a short-sleeved dress shirt, solid blue tie, and blue polyester slacks that were a little too tight and a little too short. A battered leather briefcase was in his left hand.
“We have no appointment for you, Mr. Downs.”
At the sound of Downs’ name, Kevin raced to the outer office.
“It’s Dr. Downs,” the scruffy man said. “Fine, I have better things to do than subject myself to silly pranks.” Kevin caught his arm as he turned to leave.
“Dr. Downs, I’m the one who asked you to come.”
“What? No, no, a woman called me.”
“That was a friend of mine. I asked her to call you because I didn’t think you’d come unless the Congressman asked you.”
“You’re right about that.”
“I’ll explain everything in a minute. Could you please come into the Congressman’s office? I can tell you this is not a prank. In fact, I’m relieved you actually came.”
Downs looked dubiously at Kevin, then grudgingly he said, “All right. But just for a few minutes. If you wanted some diamonds appraised, you should have gone to a jeweler.”
“I think this will interest you professionally, Dr. Downs. Did you bring the equipment that my friend requested?”
“Of course.”
They walked back into the Congressman’s office.
“Now who is this?” Congressman Sutter said, throwing his hands up.
“Congressman,” Kevin said. “I’d like to introduce, Dr. Quincy Downs, a geologist from the Smithsonian.”
“The Smithsonian? Oh, well why didn’t you say so?” The Congressman buzzed his secretary.
“Yes, Mr. Sutter?” she answered.
“Marian, call the Smithsonian and ask if they have a Quincy Downs listed. If he’s there, I want to speak with him.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What’s going on here?” Downs said. “I was the one called over here, and now you don’t even believe me?”
“We’ve had a very strange morning here. I want to know if you’re really who you say you are before we go any further.”
Tarnwell seemed to believe it. His face was slowly losing its color.
Marian buzzed back a minute later. “A secretary over at the Natural History Museum said Dr. Downs is a geologist over there. He’s not in at the moment. She said his schedule had him down for an appointment in your office this morning.”
For the first time since arriving at the Congressman’s office, Kevin smiled.
“Will someone please tell me what I’m doing here?” Dr. Downs said.
“Now that we’ve established you’re a geologist…” Sutter held up the diamond specimen and pointed at Kevin. “This man claims that this clear material is a diamond.”
Downs took the specimen from the Congressman. He looked at it for less than five seconds and declared, “This can’t possibly be diamond.”
“What? Why not?” Kevin said in horror.
