“But you don’t know who to go into business with. You 1
don’t know where the diamonds are, and if you let the 2
word out, people will start looking on their own. If they 3
have your knowledge, then they don’t need you.”
4
It made sense and I nodded. The whiskey tasted rich. I 5
smacked my lips.
6
“No,” Anniston Bennet said. “The diamonds only ex-7
ist for the man who has imagined them. They only exist for 8
the man who knows and who can realize their extraction.
9
That’s where I come in. Through various means I locate the 10
wealth and then acquire the property that contains it. I’m 11
paid handsomely for every step, and then I receive a stipend 12
based upon the value of my reclamation.”
13
“But it’s not really something reclaimed,” I argued. “It 14
belonged to someone else and you took it. It’s more like 15
stealing.”
16
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Knowledge is the only 17
true prerequisite for ownership. If you don’t know some-18
thing, then you can’t work with it. There are only two 19
things that are important in ownership. The first, like I 20
said, is knowledge. The second is the ability to exert con-21
trol over the wealth. Seize the day. That’s what I do.”
22
“So you work in Montana?” I asked in a doubting tone.
23
He smiled at my insight. I was proud of his attention 24
and embarrassed by my pride.
25
“No,” he said. “America has been picked clean. There’s no 26
wealth here. Not in its natural state, at any rate. There’s no S 27
meat on the bone. I mean, I guess there’s some potential.
R 28
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Walter Mosley
1
I’ve been playing with the idea of real estate and graveyards.
2
That’s one natural resource that could give up a few bucks.”
3
I poured the glasses full. I drank and experienced a cer-4
tain tipsy joy, but it wasn’t just the liquor. I was in the 5
presence, I believed, of a kind of mastermind, a Moriarty 6
or Iago. A man who had been across the line of lies that 7
defined good and evil for most normal folks. I mean, we 8
