The King Diamond by Fred M. White — Read

Though Bly had no reason to be disappointed with his rate of progress with regard to the search for the King Diamond there were one or two points that troubled him sorely. He had located the Great Stone or thought he had, and his knowledge of human nature told him that it would be a long time before Cleopatra consented to part with the treasure, the value of which she no doubt appreciated to the last farthing. It was good at any rate to know where the King Diamond was to be found, but to obtain possession of it without exposure or scandal was going to prove something in the way of a problem.

For this was no melodramatic business, no dark affair of the cloak and dagger or the more modern application of the tenets of the sensational school of fiction, but one unquestionably calling for finesse and diplomacy in the highest degree. And yet at the same time it was just possible that the big stone that Cleopatra had been wearing on the night of her first appearance at the Colidrome was not the King Diamond at all. But so far Bly failed to see that it could be anything else. Surely there was not a brilliant like that outside a State museum or the Crown jewels of some reigning monarch. And, strange to say, the class of journal that chronicled Cleopatra's movements so carefully had made no mention of the great diamond she was wearing on the first night of her appearance at the Colidrome. So far, that was all to the good. As long as that particular gem was not discussed Bly was not disposed to worry.