said Garnett.
‘‘The hell we don’t. They belong to Raymond Wal
ler’s estate. They were in his possession.’’
‘‘Where did he get diamonds that valuable on his
salary as a morgue assistant?’’
‘‘It doesn’t matter,’’ said Keating. ‘‘He could have
found them in his backyard. He owned his house and
property, including the mineral rights. These aren’t cut
diamonds. They are the way God made them.’’ ‘‘This is Georgia. We don’t have diamonds just lying
around,’’ said Garnett.
Diane cleared her throat, and they both looked at her. ‘‘According to Mike, in the 1800s when prospectors
panned for gold in Georgia, occasionally they’d find
small diamonds. It sparked a few diamond rushes, but
no one has been able to find the source.’’
‘‘So he could have found these in his backyard,’’
said Keating.
‘‘None has ever been found this large. I believe
Mike told me the largest ever found was about two
carats. I think it would be unlikely he’d find three
significantly larger ones in his backyard.’’
‘‘But not impossible,’’ said lawyer Keating. ‘‘Mr. Keating. Why don’t you let us keep them in
our safe for the time being? You have a good argu
ment, and all things being equal, it will certainly hold
up in court. However, Mr. Waller was murdered, and
Chief Garnett wants to find out who did it. And these
stones may very well belong to someone else—for in
stance, Mr. Waller may have been holding them for
a friend.’’
‘‘How would anyone else claim them?’’ asked Keat
ing. ‘‘All three look alike. How would this hypotheti
cal friend describe them to a court of law?’’ ‘‘By the internal structure. It’s like a fingerprint.
Every diamond is unique.’’
‘‘All right, then. I certainly don’t want to keep them
in my office.’’
‘‘That’s fine by me,’’ said Garnett. ‘‘And I don’t
want to take anything that rightfully belongs to his
heirs.’’ He shook his head. ‘‘This is getting far too
complicated.’’
‘‘What are you complaining about?’’ said Keating.
‘‘You don’t have to deal with the twins.’’
Chapter 38
Chief Garnett stayed after Russell Keating went back to his office. It was not the first time he’d been in Diane’s museum office, but he hadn’t paid any atten tion to the decor that first time, as Diane recalled. It had been strictly business. He stared at the photo graph of her dangling at the end of a rope from the vertical entrance to a cave.
‘‘This is what you do for fun?’’
‘‘Yes. It’s very relaxing.’’
‘‘If you say so. It doesn’t look relaxing to me.’’ He
turned his attention to the Escher prints on the other wall—an impossible waterfall, a castle with its equally impossible ascending and descending staircase, and a tessellation of angels and devils. ‘‘I wonder what our profiler would think of all this,’’ he said.
‘‘How’s he working out?’’
‘‘Actually, I don’t find him very useful. He has to change his profile substantially every time we get a new bit of information. He was the commissioner’s idea,’’ he added.
