Treasure for All

9. Jump to Conclusions

Taeran looked out the view of London from the bridge over the River Thames. She tried to take it in, but the way Dr. Steinbeck had been acting would not leave her mind. Everything about the whole lunch didn't sit well with her. Of course, she had a habit of not trusting people and thinking they all have ill intensions. This time, however, she felt this time her conscious was warning her of real red flags being waved. Her arms remained crossed, giving Mingi signals that something didn't sit well with her.

"What's wrong?" the tall young man asked her.

"Nothing," she brushed it off.

"Taeran, you and I both know that when you look at a view with your arms crossed, something is bothering you."

How was it that Mingi knew his favorite girl so well? Taeran could never figure it out, but she knew he cherished taking note of the small things out of love.

She let out a sigh, met his eyes, and answered, "Something about Dr. Steinbeck hasn't been sitting right with me."

"How do you mean?" Mingi asked. "He fed us lunch, showed us his collection, and gave us an exciting adventure to go on that could help us all if we succeed."

"Did you see the way he kept looking at Celestia's neck?"

"Okay, that was kind of creepy."

"I mean he kept staring at her necklace. Like he knew something about it that we didn't know."

"It was from her grandparents, if I'm not mistaken."

The wind began to pick up speed, the couples' coats dancing in it. A boat passed under the bridge, and they waved to the other tourists on it. Mingi wrapped an arm around his girlfriend.

"You're correct," Taeran nodded as she rested her head against his chest. "But I don't think she ever mentioned where her grandparents got it."

"Are you saying you think there's more to this mystery than what we've been given?"

Taeran shrugged. "I have a hunch, I just hope I'm wrong. I still stand by to what I said about the whole ordeal being fishy."

"Well, think about the other treasures," Mingi changed the subject."Aren't they similar to Celestia's necklace?"

"How did you-?"

"When you get a hunch, you typically are correct most of the time."

Taeran chuckled. "I think you secretly have telekinesis, but if we're both right we might already have had one of the diamond pieces on board this whole time."

Without reporting it to the captain, the two sprinted off the bridge back to the ship. A few shoulder bumps with other pedestrians did give them a few "Watch yourself" comments, and Mingi nearly slipped on a puddle but caught himself before his butt could hit the pavement. His ankle throbbed a bit, but he managed to keep up with his girlfriend as they ran.

Out of breath, the pair made it back to the ship. Taeran punched in the code and the door opened to allow the two inside.

"What happened?" a curious Jongho asked as he was headed to the kitchen for a snack.

"Call Hongjoong," Mingi ordered. "We think we might have discovered something."

Taeran knocked on the Chois' bedroom door.

"Come in," Celestia's voice welcomed.

The mathematician opened the door and stepped in to find San helping his wife put her boots on, as her thirty-seven week baby bump would make it impossible for her to do herself.

"You're back early."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Taeran commented sarcastically, "but Mingi and I think we've discovered something."

"Have you alerted Hongjoong?" San asked as he helped his wife to stand.

"Mingi's on the phone with him now. Just come into the board room, and we'll explain."

The four of them along with Jongho waited patiently for the rest of the crew to return to the ship. Once everyone had gathered in the boardroom, Hongjoong gave the couple the floor.

"This is going to sound crazy," Mingi began, "but we have an idea on where the third missing stone might be."

"Celestia," Taeran spoke up, "where did you say your necklace was from?"

Lighting touching the diamond on her neck, she answered, "It was my grandma's. My grandpa gave it to her."

"And you don't know where your grandfather got it?"

Celestia shook her head. "My family would try to get him to spill the beans, but the secret was kept between him and my grandmother. Unless he wrote down something about it somewhere, I'm afraid they both took the secret to their graves."

"Wasn't he an archaeologist?" San asked.

"Well, yes, but he retired after my sister Soleil was born. What does that have to do with anything?"

"We figured by the way Dr. Steinbeck was staring at your necklace yesterday," Taeran explained, "he probably knows something we don't."

"What are you saying?"

"I think she means that the diamond in your necklace," Dahae chimed in, "could be the missing third piece that was discovered in Greece."

"No," Celestia objected. "That's ridiculous!"

"I know how it sounds, but it makes sense," Taeran said.

"I don't think it does," Phoebe said. "Anyone could have found the diamond and lost it. That doesn't mean it was her grandfather who discovered it."

"Maybe it was," said Dinah. "And there might have been a chance he somehow knew Dr. Steinbeck."

"The necklace could have been purchased from a Tiffany's store or someplace like that," argued Celestia.

The rest of the crew then began to debate over the necklace as if they were in a courtroom setting. Hongjoong had been silent the entire time, allowing his crew to come up with their own conclusions. This was something he often did when the crew was trying to put pieces of a puzzle together. To him, it was his way of having them build their teamwork for future missions; but now was not one of those days. Their voices began to overlap one another as different opinions were being argued all at once.

"ENOUGH!!!!" the captain commanded. Everyone else went silent.

Hongjoong took a deep breath to calm his nerves before speaking again. "Listen, I understand both sides of the situation at hand. I agree that there's a possibility the necklace could have been discovered by Celestia's grandfather, but I agree that we can't know for sure until we have all of the answers. There are still many questions that need answers to, so we can't jump to conclusions just yet."

The crew exchanged looks with each other.

"How about we just agree to keep an open mind?" Dahae suggested.

Some nods and a few "okay's" and "sure's" passed around the crewmembers before the captain dismissed them.