combination of a high-necked shirt with fine green-and-white check and an ultraconservative business suit with a herringbone pattern of mixed brown and gray. As he turned, Chan made a confirmation. The R/O unit showed a small, neatly built man, with the brown face, wizened features, and wide mouth of a trustworthy ape. It was Danny all right, debonair as ever. He had a tall, elegant woman in his office with him, and he was shaking his head at her with a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger expression on his face.
“It’s a bad time to speculate?” Chan turned up the volume a fraction. “My dear, if your ex-husband says that, I must say I agree with Andrew.”
“Arthur.” The woman, hair piled high on top of her head, towered over Danny Casement.
“With Arthur. It’s
“But Hyperion is an awful long way from Mars.”
“And what does distance have to do with the value of an investment? We are talking of a proven resource that has already made thousands — tens of thousands — of people rich. Leonora, if distance is the only problem, I will personally take you there so you can see for yourself. Just the two of us.” He touched her arm and quickly pulled back, as though he had acted on impulse.
The woman gave him a nervous smile. “That would be lovely. But Arthur says that the Yang diamond was completely worked out, years and years ago.”
“As I already mentioned, this is not the original Yang diamond. It is a completely new formation, created by a different impact, which also happens to be on Hyperion. However, if your husband—”
“Not my husband. My
“My apologies. Your
“He’s a jerk and a louse.”
“Then perhaps his information—”
“But he’s a smart louse. That’s how he made so much money — not that he was willing to give me much. I can’t afford to throw what I have away.”
“Nor would I ask you to, or ever want you to.” Danny reached out, and this time allowed his hand to stroke Leonora’s forearm and remain there. “The final purchase price will be three hundred thousand, but I am certainly not proposing that you pay anything like that until we are absolutely sure that the return will be many times your investment. All that is necessary at the moment is that you make a small down payment, in order that your claim can be certified and your rights of ownership confirmed.”
“How much?”
“Just twenty-five thousand. After that you will have a year of steady income from the mine before you need to pay out another penny.”
“I don’t know. I’d like to.” Leonora placed her hand on top of Danny’s. “But Mr. Casement—”
“Please call me Daniel.”
“Daniel. It still sounds like an awful lot of money. Even the down payment. It isn’t that I don’t trust you, I do. But if I could just be
“I know exactly how you feel.” He removed his hand from hers, stood up, and turned around to give the whole room a thorough inspection, as though someone might be concealed within a desk drawer or one of the small cabinets. He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Leonora, I’m going to do something that I am not supposed to do. In fact, if the mine developers knew about it, I would be in very serious trouble.”
“What’s that?” Her voice fell in volume to match his. “What are you going to do?”
“This. And remember, if anyone ever asks you, it didn’t happen.” He reached into a vest pocket and pulled from it a small pouch of black velvet. “Hold out your hand. Palm up.”
She reached her hand out in slow motion. He placed the square on her outstretched palm and carefully unfolded it, to reveal a tiny glittering stone that caught and refracted every light in the room.
“There it is.” Danny Casement spoke in the reverent tones of a man in the presence of divinity. “That is a fragment of the Yang diamond. Just a little chip, of course — there are many tons more, free of all defects and waiting to be mined. I was shown this on my trip to Hyperion, when I made my own first investment. I asked to borrow it for a little while, just to marvel at its quality. Look at it closely, Leonora. Let the light fall on it from all sides. You will see that this is diamond of the purest water. There is none finer in the whole solar system.”
“It’s — beautiful.”
“You can be the owner of many more, like this and far larger. Or you can sell them, for many times your investment. But please do not tell anyone else that I showed it to you.”
He reached out his hand to take the diamond. She pulled back, and he frowned. “What’s wrong, Leonora?”
“Nothing is wrong.” She closed her hand around the stone and the pouch of black velvet. “If only — if only I could just keep this for a day or two.”
“I see.” His tone was chilly.
“Oh, Daniel, it’s not that. Please don’t think that I don’t trust you. I do. But if I could keep the stone a little while, it might help both of us. I could have it examined by a professional in gemstones. Neither of us is that.”
“I have been told that my own expertise in this field is far from negligible. But I suppose I could be wrong. I am not infallible.” His voice remained cold. “However, the decision is not mine to make. What do I tell the mine developers? If I say I do not have another investor — not even the down payment from an investor — they will certainly want the stone back.”
“How much did you say it is again? The first payment?”
“Twenty-five thousand.”
“Do you think they would possibly take twenty thousand? That is all I have available in liquid assets.”
“It would be irregular, but I can probably prevail upon them to accept twenty thousand rather than twenty- five. I have already given them a glowing description of your character and reputation.”
“Then let’s do it. We’ll make the transfer right now.” Leonora held up her hand, fist still clenched around the velvet and the stone. “And then can I take the diamond away with me for a couple of days?”
“My dear Leonora.” He lost his worried look and smiled. “How could I — how could anyone — resist a lady as charming as you? Take the stone with you. Have your tests done — nondestructive ones, if you please. You will find, I know, that you are holding a diamond of the finest quality. However, I must insist on one other condition of this transaction.”
Leonora handed over a trade crystal, which disappeared at once into a small ivory box on top of the desk. “That will transfer twenty thousand. And I must be off, I’m already late. But what is your other condition?”
The simian face remained serious, but a twinkle lit the warm brown eyes. “Oh, nothing to worry you. But you and I must take a trip together, Leonora, and … examine our holdings. You show me yours, and I will show you mine.”
“Mr. Casement! You are a wicked, wicked man.”
“I said to call me Daniel.”
“Oh. All right. Daniel.” She giggled, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and hurried out of the building. She passed close to where Chan was standing. He had already put away the earphones and the remote-observing unit, and she didn’t give him a second glance.
Chan waited five minutes, then strolled over to Danny Casement’s building. He knocked gently on the solid paneled door, with its modest and tasteful inscription,
“Just a second.”
After a wait that was at least a couple of minutes, the door slid open. “Yes?” Danny Casement stood in the doorway with an inquiring expression on his face. Chan, peering past him, saw that the ivory box containing the trade crystal had vanished from the desktop.
“Yes?” Danny repeated.
“Yes, what?” Chan pushed past him into the room. “Dapper Dan Casement, that’s no way to greet an old
