A Brilliant Plan

Chapter 48

Hi there, Alex here. Three chapters to go. But only two posting sessions. Chapters 49 and 50 will go on the weekend, which means A Brilliant Plan is complete! Hope you liked it all through here and to the end. If you liked A Brilliant Plan, give me a shoutout with your friends. If you want to support me, buy another one of my books. E.g. the second installment of the Calendar Moonstone adventure "Brilliant Actors", available at all major eBook retailers and in print at Amazon. Or if the suspense was too much for you, and you fancy more laughs and romance, check out my romantic comedy "Five for forever", also out on Amazon for Kindle and in print. But now, for the almost last time, let's get on with the story!

AS FOR PERFECT timing, the door to the meeting room opened and an aide stuck in his head. "Thirty minutes, gentlemen. And ladies." Gave a smile and closed the door. Opened the door again, because he suddenly realized that the whole assembly either sat or stood frozen. Nobody was moving or talking. "You guys all right in here?" He asked. Carver shook himself from the trance and gave a dismissing wave of his hand.

Mr. Pineljo said in his broken English. "Miss Moonstone, I beg your pardon. Did you say 'fake?' Is that what I think it means?"

"Fake!" I said. "As in—Not the original. Not even a copy. Not existing at all."

Ron stood up. "Cal, hang on a second here. You want to tell us that these jewels here are not the original Maximilian Jewels? That there has been a replacement?"

Fowler immediately stepped closer to the displayed jewels and inspected them with his nose hovering an inch over them.

"Ron, that is the point," I explained. "There has been no replacement and there are no copies. There was never the need to replace or copy anything. There are no Maximilian Jewels at all."

Carver's military background took over and he tried to bring a little structure into the meeting. "Now, now, young lady. You are stating some very strong things. No one can deny that these are the Maximilian Jewels. They are here in front of us. And the specialists are here to prove it, too. We have also had the original appraiser from Chicago look them over. They are truly made of gold and rubies and whatever else." He looked at Vasolar and Benito Salanca for confirmation, and then quickly back at me, because what he saw in the faces of Benito and Pedro didn't please him. Both of their faces had turned ashen white.

Ron shouted at me, partly because I had led him into this situation blindfolded, which he deserved. "What do you mean there are no Maximilian Jewels at all. That it is a con?"

I gave Ron a helpless smile. "Yes, dear. It is all a con. A fake. A swindle. The great Rock 'n' Roll swindle!"

Pineljo asked, "Please, ladies and gentlemen, pardon my English. What is a con?"

"Do you remember the 70s movie, The Sting, with Redford and Newman? In the movie, they build up a fake horse betting parlor, filled it up with fake people playing the parts of placing horse bets, winning and losing, faking the announcer from the hippodrome. A lot of effort just to fool one rich man into placing a very high bet," I explained. All of those disbelieving eyes. And I repeated slowly, "A lot of effort. Just to fool one rich man into placing a very high bet."

"Mr. Pineljo, there are no Maximilian Jewels. The world has been taken for a fool by a clever scheme. The Maximilian Jewels have no historic basis. They were produced exclusively to build credibility for a swindle."

Carver stepped in again, the natural born disaster manager. "Stop, stop, stop. First things first. We know that the Maximilian Jewels exist. They have a history that is based on scientific evidence. The experts say so."