“I have some ideas,” he said. “I’ll show you where my father kept all of the information on important documents, as well as his ledgers for the parliamentary committee work. It has to be one of them.”
She nodded, each of them going to the sections he pointed out. Evelyn found more parliamentary committee paperwork,which contained a great deal of information on subjects she would find interesting if she had the time to truly look through it. She filed the information deep in the recesses of her mind, promising herself to return to them once she had more time to do so.
They worked in silence for what must have been nearly an hour before Asher finally called her name.
“I think I’ve got it,” Asher said in wonder from across the room.
“You do?”
“Yes,” he said. “Here, with all of the information on my mother’s jewels. My father bought her quite a few over the years.”
He took an entire file of papers off the shelf and placed it between them, opening it to a few pages that proved the diamond's authenticity, including its provenance.
“How did your father know so much about this?” Evelyn asked.
“I remember the diamond being displayed here when I was a child, but I don’t think it was for long,” Asher murmured. “It appears my father practically gave it to the Marquess of Eastclere – the father of the current one.”
“Why would he do that?” Evelyn asked. “It has extreme value. Were they friends?”
Asher pursed his lips. “Acquaintances. They sat on parliamentary committees together. The deeper my father delved into these investigative committees, the more secretive he became. I do recall him meeting with the former Marquess of Eastclere from time to time when I was a child.”
“So maybe Eastclere became the one man your father trusted. Perhaps he gave him the jewel in case something happened to him.”
“And the current Marquess of Eastclere never truly realized what was within – just as I didn’t.”
“Here,” Evelyn said, opening the book between them. They were standing close together on the side of the desk opposite Evelyn’s chair, studying the pages.
“Look at this,” Evelyn said. “A history of how it came from India. The customs officials it passed through, and the eventual British owner.” She looked up at him. “The Duke of Ravenscar. It passed through the hands of East India Company officials and a few other aristocratic patrons before settling with your father.”
“Most of these families are politically well-connected,” Asher said. “I wonder…”
“That it isn’t a usual thing for a diamond of that value to change hands so many times.”
They stared at one another, coming to the realization together, as though their minds were connected in some strange way.
“It was more than a jewel,” Asher said.
“It must have contained information that was vital to the country,” Evelyn said, becoming excited now, feeling that high that always came when she was on the precipice of solving a puzzle. “Paper can easily be destroyed. People can be bribed or killed. Institutions can even be compromised. So instead of trusting a bank, a solicitor, or even Parliament itself, evidence was hidden somewhere that no one would ever suspect.”
“But why?” Asher said. “And why would someone go to such lengths as to steal it?”
Evelyn’s excitement deflated somewhat. “There is still lots to learn. But we’ve made progress.”
“I want to show you something,” Asher said, moving toward the door, waiting for her to follow. Once again, he held his hand out to her, and she didn’t hesitate, taking it as though it was second nature.
She followed him through the house, passing a few servants, and even noting his mother in the drawing room. Evelyn noticed her look up, shock covering her face as she watched them pass hand-in-hand, but Asher didn’t stop as he retained his focus on their destination.
Finally, they came to the last place she would have imagined — the long gallery.
“What’s in here?” she asked.
“When my family owned the diamond – for a brief period — this is where they kept it,” he said. “It had a special niche in the wall. I don’t spend much time in here, but I remember as a child, we were fascinated by the gallery and would hide things in here.”
He led her down the wall, trailing his hand over it, careful not to disrupt any of the paintings that lined the room.
He stopped in front of what would have been the main focal point.
“Here,” he said, his hand coming to rest on an empty niche. “This is where it was. I always thought my parents wanted the diamond back so they could return it to this display. They never filled it with anything else.”
