"Come on, sport. There's gotta be one somewhere."
"In all honesty, I've seen very few stones of that quality, and to try to duplicate it exactly in shape and color would be almost impossible."
"We got a sayin' in Texas that the impossible jest takes a little longer. Saturday's my birthday. P.J. wants me to have those earrings, and what P.J. wants, P.J. gets."
"I really don't think I can - "
"How much did I pay for that pin - a hundred grand? I know old P.J. will go up to two hundred or three hundred thousand for another one."
Gregory Halston was thinking fast. There had to be a duplicate of that stone somewhere, and if P. J. Benecke was willing to pay an extra $200,000 for it, that would mean a tidy profit. In fact, Halston thought, I can work it out so that it means a tidy profit for me.
Aloud he said, "I'll inquire around, Mrs. Benecke. I'm sure that no other jeweler in London has the identical emerald, but there are always estates coming up for auction. I'll do some advertising and see what results I get."
"You got till the end of the week," the blonde told him. "And jest between you and me and the lamppost, old P.J. will probably be willin' to go up to three hundred fifty thousand for it."
And Mrs. Benecke was gone, her sable coat billowing out behind her.
Gregory Halston sat in his office lost in a daydream. Fate had placed in his hands a man who was so besotted with his blond tart that he was willing to pay $350,000 for a $100,000 emerald. That was a net profit of $250,000. Gregory Halston saw no need to burden the Parker brothers with the details of the transaction. It would be a simple matter to record the sale of the second emerald at $100,000 and pocket the rest. The extra $250,000 would set him up for life.
All he had to do now was to find a twin to the emerald he had sold to Mrs. P.J. Benecke.
It turned out to be even more difficult than Halston had anticipated. None of the jewelers he telephoned had anything in stock that resembled what he required. He placed advertisements in the London Times and the Financial Times, and he called Christie's and Sotheby's, and a dozen estate agents. In the next few days Halston was inundated with a flood of inferior emeralds, good emeralds, and a few first-quality emeralds, but none of them came close to what he was looking for.
On Wednesday Mrs. Benecke telephoned. "Old P.J.'s gettin' mighty restless," she warned. "Did you find it yet?"
"Not yet, Mrs. Benecke," Halston assured her, "but don't worry, we will."
On Friday she telephoned again. "Tomorrow's my birthday," she reminded Halston.
"I know, Mrs. Benecke. If I only had a few more days, I know I could - "
"Well, never mind, sport. If you don't have that emerald by tomorrow mornin', I'll return the one I bought from you. Old P.J. - bless his heart - says he's gonna buy me a big ole country estate instead. Ever hear of a place called Sussex?"
Halston broke out in perspiration. "Mrs. Benecke," he moaned earnestly, "you would hate living in Sussex. You would loathe living in a country house. Most of them are in deplorable condition. They have no central heating and - "
"Between you and I," she interrupted, "I'd rather have them earrings. Old P.J. even mentioned somethin' about bein' willin' to pay four hundred thousand dollars for a twin to that stone. You got no idea how stubborn old P.J. can be."
Four hundred thousand! Halston could feel the money slipping between his fingers. "Believe me, I'm doing everything I can," he pleaded. "I need a little more time."
"It ain't up to me, honey," she said. "It's up to P.J."
And the line went dead.
Halston sat there cursing fate. Where could he find an identical ten-carat emerald? He was so busy with his bitter thoughts that he did not hear his intercom until the third buzz. He pushed down the button and snapped, "What is it?"
"There's a Contessa Marissa on the telephone, Mr. Halston. She's calling about our advertisement for the emerald."
Another one! He had had at least ten calls that morning, every one of them a waste of time. He picked up the telephone and said ungraciously, "Yes?"
A soft female voice with an Italian accent said, "Buon giorno, signore. I have read you are interested possibly in buying an emerald, sм?"
"If it fits my qualifications, yes." He could not keep the impatience out of his voice.
"I have an emerald that has been in my family for many years. It is a peccato - a pity - but I am in a situation now where I am forced to sell it."
He had heard that story before. I must try Christie's again, Halston thought. Or Sotheby's. Maybe something came in at the last minute, or -
"Signore? You are looking for a ten-carat emerald, sм?"
"Yes "
"I have a ten-carat verde - green - Colombian."
When Halston started to speak, he found that his voice was choked. "Would - would you say that again, please?"
"Sм. I have a ten-carat grass-green Colombian. Would you be interested in that?"
"I might be," he said carefully. "I wonder if you could drop by and let me have a look at it."
"No, scusi, I am afraid I am very busy right now. We are preparing a party at the embassy for my husband. Perhaps next week I could - "
No! Next week would be too late. "May I come to see you?" He tried to keep the eagerness out of his voice. "I could come up now."
"Ma, no. Sono occupata stamani. I was planning to go shopping - "