“Only the finest, ofcourse.” The man bounded away as if sent by the king himself.
Soon, champagne flowed,and servings of Golden Ossetra caviar were delicately placed in frontof each of them.
Gwynn glanced at Anyafor the briefest of moments and remembered her saying, “I amterrible Russian. I do not eat caviar, I do not drink vodka, and Idetest cold.”
Perhaps Anya was abetter actress than Gwynn knew. She devoured the fish eggs as if theywere sumptuous manna from Heaven.
Next came Maine lobstersalad, celtuce, shiso bavarois, lemon crème fraîche, and crispyyuba.
Gwynn suddenly camedown with a case of the nervous giggles, and all eyes turned to her.
Sascha leaned in. “Areyou all right, my dear?”
She covered her mouthwith a linen napkin. “I’m so sorry. It’s just that I’ve nevereaten a meal like this.”
“It’s not a mealyet,” Sascha said. “This is only starts and appetizers.”
The giggles continued.“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, I’ve never been to aplace like this. I’m lucky to have Chinese takeout twice a week.This is utterly amazing.”
Viktor laughed, Sascharelaxed, and Anya smiled at her friend and partner.
“Food is life,”Viktor said. “And life should be celebrated. After all, this is whywe work so hard at being capitalists.” He slapped Sascha on theback. “Right, my friend?”
The scientist raisedhis glass. “Absolutely!”
The meal continued fortwo hours and culminated with a dessert the waiter described asApurímac coconut finger lime sorbet, dark chocolate crémeux, andcajeta sauce.
No waiter appeared witha weighty check, expecting someone to offer an American Express;however, the maître d’ made a final tableside appearance. “Ihope everything was perfect.”
“As always,”declared Viktor.
“I shall pass yourcompliments to the chef.”
Viktor tucked more thana couple folded one-hundred-dollar bills into the man’s cuppedhand. “This is for you and the waitstaff.”
“Please do come againsoon. It has truly been too long.”
Viktor led the way backonto Park Avenue, where the limo waited, and they climbed inside. Tenminutes later, they pulled through an open garage door and into awarehouse on the Upper East Side.
The door immediatelyclosed behind them, and Anya scanned the interior of the building,memorizing everything she saw. “What is this place?”
“This is my shop. Itold you we would talk about business tonight.”
They filed from theback seat, and Volkov entered an eight-digit code into a cipher lockbeside an oversized, heavy steel door. A pair of electronic tonessounded, followed by a series of clicks. Volkov turned the handle andpulled open the door. The hunk of steel looked more like somethingthat would be found sealing a vault than a shop door in a vacantwarehouse.
Inside the space, acollection of fashionable sofas, chairs, tables, and lamps wasarranged perfectly upon an Oriental rug that probably cost more thanthe limousine. A pair of French doors, also with cipher locks, openedat Volkov’s touch, and the doorway revealed an interior room muchless formal than the previous. Industrial carpet covered the concretefloor, and straight-backed chairs lined the wall. The only other doorin the space was, unquestionably, a vault door. Volkov entered aten-digit code that Anya immediately memorized and then pressed histhumb to a small, oblong glass window. A few seconds later, anelectronic voice said, “Identification verified,” and Volkov spunthe spoked wheel and pulled the massive door from its jamb.
Lights flickered oninside the vault, and the Russian led the three of them into thespace. Colored velvet bags, perfectly spaced five feet apart, lay ona thick wooden counter. Volkov lifted a black bag, freed the string,and dumped the contents onto a lighted glass section of the counter.As the light played through the dozens of diamonds dancing their wayacross the glass, the prismatic effect sent showers of purple lightpouring onto the ceiling and around the room. When the gems finallycame to rest, Anya and Gwynn gasped in unison.
Sascha lifted a bluebag and poured its contents onto a second lighted glass panel. Heproduced two pairs of clamping tweezers from a nook in the back ofthe counter and clamped the jaws of each around a diamond from eachof the two lighted panels. He pulled a loupe from his pocket andplaced it in Anya’s palm. “Please compare the two diamonds.”
Anya stared down at theloupe. “But I don’t know anything about diamonds.”
Volkov cleared histhroat. “This is not true. You know far more than most people.Perhaps you simply don’t realize it. Last night, at dinner, afteryour unfortunate encounter, we discussed the four Cs of diamondgrading. I’m certain you remember.”
Anya said, “Yes, Iremember, but . . .”
“No but,” Volkovsaid. “Simply look into each diamond, and tell me the differences.”
Anya pressed the loupeto her cheekbone and closed her left eye. Pulling the first diamondinto focus, she admired the clarity with one tiny exception. Shepulled the stone away. “It has small black spot, deep inside.”
Sascha studied thestone. “You are right. That black spot is called an inclusion. Thatis one of the things that lowers the value of a diamond. Now, take alook at the other.”
Anya lifted the secondstone and studied it carefully. “This one has also inclusion but ismaybe larger.”
Sascha looked andagreed.
Volkov asked, “Howgood is your memory?”
Anya stared into hiseyes. “One-zero-four-seven-two-two-nine-six-three-one.”
Volkov took her face inhis hands and kissed her forehead. “You are perfect, my beauty. Youhave the face of an angel, the body of a fashion model, and the mindof a chess master.”
“Thank you, I guess,”Anya said.
Volkov continued.“Remember the first diamond you studied with the tiny blackinclusion?”
“Yes, I rememberthis.”
He motioned toward thefirst pile of diamonds. “Now, find its twin in this collection.”
One by one, she clampedeach diamond into the tweezers and studied it through the loupe untilshe found the perfect match. She handed the gem to Viktor, and hepassed it to Sascha.
The scientist pulledthe stone into focus and studied it for several seconds. When he wassatisfied, he said, “She’s done it.”
Volkov grinned. “Tryfour.”
Sascha pulled fourstones from the second pile and had Anya study each of them. “Now,find their twins in the first pile.”
Anya used the tweezersto separate the stones she’d memorized and slid them beside thefour she’d just seen. “These four are the closest matches.”
Sascha cast a doubtfullook toward Volkov, and the Russian said, “This is not possible. Noone can memorize that many stones.”
Anya stuck the tweezerstoward him. “See for yourself.”
He lifted each pair
