Family Jewels

36

Stone and Gala met Dino and Viv for dinner at Patroon, and Bob, who had become accustomed to being treated like dog royalty by the staff, lay under the table, wrestling with a large bone.

“What are you so up about?” Dino asked.

“Isn’t he often up?” Gala queried.

“Not like this, not before his first bourbon.”

“Well, disposing of Carrie Fiske’s estate has turned into not the drag I had expected it to be.”

“Not the drag? What does that mean?”

“The opposite of a drag — interesting, even enjoyable.”

“Did you discover a pot of gold under her rainbow?”

Stone and Gala exchanged a sly glance.

“Something better than a pot of gold?”

“Have you ever heard of The Woman in Gold?”

“The Klimt or the movie?” Dino asked.

“Either or both.”

“I’ve seen the painting at the Neue Galerie,” Dino said.

Viv piped up. “I took him by the wrist and elbow and marched him there.”

“I was very happy to go,” Dino said, “and we saw the movie on TV last night.”

“Do you recall the necklace the woman was wearing in the painting?”

“How could I not?” Dino asked. “I wondered whatever happened to it.”

“I’ll enlighten you,” Stone said. “It’s in my safe.”

“You are under arrest!” Dino said. “You could not have come by that legally.”

“I found it in Carrie’s jewelry safe in her New York apartment.”

“The real thing?”

“It would appear to be, but that is being researched as we speak.”

“Researched how?”

“I have an appraiser leaving for Paris shortly, to search for the original design drawings and, maybe, a photograph and other documentary evidence.”

“Search where?”

“Among the jewelry stores of the Rue St.-Honoré, one of which may have purchased the original makers, called Bijoux Blume, which discontinued trading in the fifties or sixties.”

“I want to know every detail of how it came to be in New York,” Viv said.

“As far as I can tell, it was last seen adorning the neck of Frau Hermann Goering, late in World War Two. It gets very dramatic after that. Hermann burned down his country place to keep the Russians from sullying it and may have taken his wife’s jewelry to their house in the Bavarian Alps, which soon after was sacked by an outfit of American soldiers.”

“Band of Brothers,” Dino said. “There was a scene about that in the great miniseries.”

“I believe you are right, or it may have been Hitler’s house.”

“Of course I’m right, I’ve seen the thing twice.”

“Did you happen to notice which soldier ended up with the diamond choker?”

“That must have happened when I wasn’t looking.”

“Apparently, whatever happened to the choker also happened when nobody was looking.”

“What makes you think you’ve got the real thing?” Viv asked.

“The maker’s name and the date 1899 were engraved or stamped inside. That was the year the woman received the piece as a wedding present from her husband.”

“What a husband!” Viv enthused.

“Suppose it’s just a copy?” Dino said.

“My appraiser says it’s still worth a couple of million. I think there are more than a hundred flawless diamonds and a few dozen rubies in it.”

“And what’s it worth if it’s real?”

“Apparently, the sky’s the limit.”

“Who gets the proceeds?”

“The estate, of course, and my fee is based on the value of the estate.”

“Apart from this bauble, what do you think it’s worth?”

“Let me put it this way. I’ve already been offered a hundred million for the three houses and their contents, and I think that’s a lowball offer. And, of course, there’s a large stock portfolio.”

“How did you come to have Ms. Fiske as a client?” Viv asked.

“She came to see me because she was afraid of her ex-husband.”

“We’re looking for that guy now,” Dino said.

“She was also anxious to get him out of her will. I went out to her East Hampton place that weekend and drew a new will, and she executed it a few days later.”

“Are you mentioned in the will?” Viv asked.

“Yes, I am. I get Bob.”

“Lucky you.”

“Did I mention that you can’t speak a word about the necklace to anybody, and I mean anybody?”

Everybody looked at the ceiling. “Oh, yeah, sure, got it, not a word,” they murmured in chorus.