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  The receptionist announced his arrival and she was instructed to immediately escort him to Ms. Valance’s office. The suite of offices is impressive in that although the furnishings and the pictures on the walls are expensive the ambience projected is one of discrete, understated elegance without a hint of ostentatiousness.

  The ambience is a perfect backdrop for Ms. Valance in that she is quite elegant in her own right.

  Chuck’s thinking, “These surroundings suit this lady to a T. She is drop dead gorgeous!”

  Victoria Valance is five foot ten inches tall, has dark, wavy, auburn hair worn down to her shoulders, dark blue eyes that appear almost iridescent, a flawless face so captivating in its attractiveness that no red blooded male could resist gaping at it and a body that would make another Victoria’s lingerie green with envy.

  “Ms. Valance, I apologize for being late. I had some trouble getting out of my parking garage due to a faulty gate.”

  “Shit happens. Don’t give it another thought and please call me Vicki. Ms. Valance or Victoria is for my grandmother.”

  Her response blew Chuck away and had him reappraising his first impressions of her. His conversations on the phone led him to believe she was strictly professional, all business and perhaps somewhat aloof. Her appearance somewhat enhanced his initial take on her, but now she appears to be more down to earth and approachable. “There’s more to this woman than I first thought.”

  “Vicki it is. What I need to get started is a list of all your employees and their assigned duties and responsibilities. Next I’ll need the name of the courier company involved in your theft and the people at that company you or your employees interact with. Then I’ll need your hours of operation and the details of the work flow in each area, including the methods of communication employed with your customers and couriers. Once armed with this information, I can launch my investigation. I have already put some feelers out to people I know in the precious gem market to be on the lookout for any scuttlebutt concerning the recent gem thefts and will be getting their input regarding how these people might be accessing shipping information, getting specifics on where the stones are being kept at any given time and bypassing very sophisticated security systems.

  “I suspect that your robbery is related to some other recent precious gem thefts and will be looking for a common denominator which I’m hoping will lead me to your property and the bad guys.”

  “I know about the American Museum of Natural History robbery, but I haven’t heard of any others of that magnitude.”

  Chuck told her about the tourmaline gemstones robbery in Paris and the Cullinan diamond robbery in South Africa.

  “Since 2000, there have been some major gem robberies, but never so many so close together. You might be on to something thinking that somehow these robberies are related. It’s a reasonable hypothesis to start off with at any rate. ”

  “Okay then, let’s get started. How often do you want to be updated and by what means?”

  “I’m not a control freak, Chuck. You come highly recommended and to me that implies you know what you’re doing. I don’t want to bog you down by demanding daily written reports of your activities. That would just be a waste of time. When you have some progress to report, call me on my private cell.”

  She gave him the number and then they got down to business. Five hours later they were talked out and starving and she suggested that have dinner together during which they could discuss anything that hadn’t been covered so far or just relax.

  There was no way he was going to say no to her invitation. She was not only a treat for the eyes, but he was getting to like her. She was a tough business woman, she wasn’t going to let anything get the best of her without a hell of a fight, she was very smart and to top it all off she had a great sense of humor.

  Although he isn’t God’s gift to the female population, he doesn’t have difficulty finding a date if he is so inclined. He is six feet tall with a soccer player’s body which he keeps in shape with a regular gym routine and a healthy diet, has curly dark brown hair and gray eyes set in a ruggedly handsome face whose nose has been broken a few times and has a killer smile when he chooses to flash it. He isn’t a fancy dresser, but he isn’t a sartorial misfit either. His social life isn’t boring, he just has too little of it due to the demands of his work and growing business, so an opportunity like this is just too good to pass up.

  “I’d be delighted. Whom should we bless with our presence?”

  “Do you like French cooking?”

  “Oui M'dame!”

  “Do you speak French?”

  “Very little and very badly.”

  “How about Le Bernardin over on West 51st Street? Have you ever eaten there? They have great food and an ideal atmosphere to relax in.”

  “I’ve heard of it, but have never eaten there. I usually eat on the fly and, frankly, paying those kinds of prices for a meal gives me indigestion and spoils the experience.”

  “My treat or are you one of those MCPs who insists on paying for everything when out with a lady?” This last was said with a challenging smirk on her face.

  “Well, on those terms and barely disguised caveat how can I refuse?”

  Laughing, Vicki called and made a reservation for eight o’clock which fortunately was available and then she closed up the offices and they headed for the elevator.

  Chapter 5

  Chuck and Vicki drove in their own cars and arrived at the Le Bernardin with a couple of minutes to spare, allowing the valet to take care of parking their cars or they definitely would have been late and lost their reservation.

  The food, the wine and the atmosphere were everything Vicki said they would be. There wasn’t much conversation during their meal as they concentrated on enjoying every morsel and sip as the cuisine and libation defied description. Although the presentation was exceptional, the only way one could really appreciate the food was to eat it. After putting the finishing touches on their delightful dining experience with an out of this galaxy raspberry crème brûlée, they sat back and relaxed over a snifter of a wonderful French cognac that Vicki had ordered.

  “This is a new experience for me, Vicki, as I’ve never had cognac before. I’m a Bushmills or Jameson single malt whiskey neat guy when it comes to spirits, as befitting a gentleman of Irish heritage. Occasionally, I enjoy an English Newcastle Brown Ale as a chaser when my family isn’t around to get on my case for doing so.”

  Laughing Vicki asks, “Do you like the cognac?”

  “Yes I do and I’m surprised that I do. I thought it would have a sweet taste, but this one has a spicy taste and yet has a pleasant flowery aroma.”

  “Not all cognacs taste and smell alike. Each one is quite unique and the serious connoisseurs will pay as much as $45,000 for a bottle of special cognac.”

  “I like an occasional drink as much as the next guy, but not that much.” Pausing for a moment he then leads the conversation in another direction with, “I’m curious, Vicki, how did you get into the precious gems business. It’s a somewhat closed society isn’t it?”

  “Parts of it are, yes, but doors were opened to me through my dad when he passed away and left me his business which he’d been in for over 40 years. I’ve managed to grow it and earn the respect of the people who count in the industry. I’ve been collecting and brokering precious gems for over ten years now and I thoroughly enjoy it when people aren’t ripping me off. Speaking of which, do you need anything else from me that will help you with your investigation?”

  “Can you think of anyone that might hold bad feelings towards you, bad enough to orchestrate a courier robbery of one of your shipments, a competitor, a client, someone whom your beating the pants off as a competitor, someone who is jealous of your success, a dissatisfied customer, anybody.”

  “No one immediately comes to mind, but I certainly will give that some serious thought.”

  “Another thing I’d like to look at is a complete list of your curre
nt and past customers.”

  “You’ll have it first thing tomorrow morning, but what do you hope to find?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’ll know it when I see it. I’m looking for a common thread between all of the recent robberies and I’m going to have to turn over every stone if I hope to find one.”

  “Okay, my customer base and those who I deal with as a collector and as a broker are too numerous to send to you via email. After what’s happened, I’d feel more comfortable handing this information to you in person and not couriering it. Would you mind dropping by the office tomorrow morning say around 9:30. I should have everything together by then.”

  “No problem.” Glancing at his watch he’s surprised to see that they’ve been in the restaurant for over two and a half hours. He can’t remember when he’s enjoyed dining out more. “It’s getting late. Are you ready to head for home?”

  Now it’s her turn for watch glancing after which she says, “Wow, it doesn’t seem like we’ve been here that long. I didn’t even get a chance to ask you a bunch of nosy questions to get to know you better under the guise of attempting to confirm your PI credentials.”

  Smiling Chuck responds with, “Well, perhaps we could do this again and you can ask all the nosy questions you want and it’ll be my treat. How about it?”

  Smiling she comes back with, “You’ve got yourself a date, mister.”

  Vicki paid the bill, they handed the waiter their parking stubs and then they headed for the valet stand.

  On his drive home Chuck’s thinking, “Man, what a night this has been. That lady is definitely something special. I wouldn’t mind getting to know her better, but that’s not likely to happen. We definitely travel in different circles. Hell, the tab for tonight had to be close to a grand. If we ever do go out to dinner again, where would I take her that could compete with the Le Bernardin and I could afford? Ferguson, there’s no hope for you. Where women are concerned your knack for speaking before engaging your brain is phenomenal and that’s an understatement if there ever was one.”

  Chapter 6

  As the month of June draws to a close, summer is starting to make itself felt in New York City with the temperature soaring into the 90s and the humidity trying to keep up with it. It’s mid-morning on a sunny, cloudless Saturday which promises to be another scorcher and three nondescript gentlemen are boarding a private plane which will take them to the Cove Haven Resort in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.

  Their outward appearance belies the ruthless criminal minds that are amassing them enormous amounts of illegal wealth along with the power and status that goes along with that kind of money.

  Felix Feldman, Amos Kadden and Jacob Kessner are in their late 40s, slightly overweight and balding. They look like they came out of the same mold. They’re not handsome, they’re not ugly, they’re just average looking. They’ve known each other since they were kids in grammar school and are as thick as thieves, pun intended, and are driven by their craving for wealth and all of its trappings and they don’t care how they get it. They weren’t underprivileged growing up. They all came from upper middle class families who worked in the jewelry trade. They just want more, a lot more, and if murder and mayhem is required for them to get what they want, so be it. That’s another thing they have in common, no conscience. This is where the similarities end though.

  Feldman, the leader of the trio, is the idea guy. He’s soft spoken, somewhat reserved, cool under pressure and is exceptionally knowledgeable when it comes to precious gems. He’s also a certified diamond cutter, a skill that has come in handy a number of times over the years.

  Kadden is the social butterfly with contacts in the precious gem market all over the world. He has a special talent when it comes to discretely probing for inside information concerning the location of specific gems, who owns them and the impending movement of those gems from one location to another.

  Kessner is the man-in-the-field guy with detailed knowledge of security systems, safes, and other locks of all kinds. If there is a weak link in the group, it’s Kessner because he has a vicious hair trigger temper which creates all kinds of problems when he loses it.

  The three of them are partners in a boutique jewelry store located in mid-town Manhattan, The Paragon, which serves as an excellent cover for their true vocation, pilfering precious gems along with smuggling and counterfeiting same.

  This morning they’re headed for the Poconos to meet with their Parisian counterpart, Pierre Lavelle. He’s a private precious gem collector who is just as committed and ruthless as they are and has an impressive network of under-the-radar unscrupulous private collectors who have the financial resources to buy just about anything if they are so inclined.

  During the flight, Felix gets a disturbing phone call from a police connection he has who tells him about the potential trouble that might be coming their way, namely Chuck Ferguson. Felix asks, “What do you know about this guy?”

  “From what I’m hearing, he’s been around the block a few times. He owns an international private investigation firm, has connections in a lot of places, not all of them available to the general public, and some of these connections are in the precious gems arena. I wouldn’t take this guy lightly.”

  “I hear you. Thanks for the heads up. You can expect a little gift as an expression of my appreciation.”

  Turning to his travelling companions he says, “The waters have just gotten a little muddy. It appears there’s a new player in the game who could be trouble. He’s a private eye by the name of Chuck Ferguson who’s been hired by one of our victims, Victoria Valance. Find out everything you can about him. I want to know where his offices are, who works for him, where he hangs out and who with, his daily routine, etc. You know the drill. Before we consider other options, let’s try to determine the corruptibility of the man, any of his employees, friends, associates, blah, blah, blah.”

  Amos Kadden suggests, “Perhaps we should cool it with the remaining U. S. robberies on our agenda until things quiet down a little more and move ahead with what we have planned elsewhere. I never liked the idea of having two large robberies going down so close together in Manhattan, too much publicity, too much media coverage, too much pressure on the police to find out who is behind them. That kind of atmosphere can produce clues that would otherwise remain uncovered. Nothing unanticipated has occurred and we’ve gotten away clean with the museum and Valance scores. If we keep our noses clean for a while here in the States, there can be no slip ups or unfortunate happenstances to put us in a bind. Let this gumshoe, do they still call PIs that? Let him do his dog and pony show for his client. He’s not going to find anything that will point at us nor is he going to find any of the stones. They’ve already been delivered to the buyers who certainly aren’t going to be shooting their mouths off about their recent acquisitions.”

  Feldman shakes his head and says, “I disagree. If we wait, we give our targets too much time to review their operations and come up with ways to tighten their security and secrecy measures which will make it much more difficult for us to get at their gems. I say we stay on our time table or even move it up. This will also make it much more difficult for the cops to do their thing because they’ll be spread so thin they won’t be able to conduct thorough investigations in a timely fashion and the investigators won’t be communicating with each other like they should which will only hamper their progress. Plus, the pressure they’ll be under from the press and their superiors will be even greater than it is now. Pressure can make people screw up, take short cuts they shouldn’t take because they’ll miss something that shouldn’t be missed. Yeah, the more I think about it the more I think we should move up our time table.”

  The three of them discuss the pros and cons of moving up their time table for the rest of the flight to the Poconos. By the time they touch down, they have come to an agreement to move up their schedule substantially.

  When they get to the resort, Pierre Lavelle is waiting for them i
n the lounge. Pierre is far from nondescript in that he stands six feet three inches tall, is physically fit, has the kind of pretty boy face that turns a lot of the ladies on and personifies those attributes frequently ascribed to Frenchmen, suave, debonair, savoir faire. He’s a good ten years younger than the New Yorkers and his pedigree is a lot more impressive in that he can trace his ancestry back to the House of Bourbon, the roots of French royalty. This affords him access to the upper crust, the aristocrats of many countries, which provides him with ample opportunity to rob them blind. He’s a real class act this Pierre Lavelle.