The Diamond Market After Midnight
Chapter 10 - The Diamond Market After Midnight
The missing center stone could not be sold through ordinary channels.
Its color, size, and history made it recognizable. Breaking it into smaller stones would destroy much of its value and the trust key.
Finch believed Conrad would offer it through a private midnight auction where buyers purchased secrecy as much as gemstones.
Detective Chen identified an event in Geneva called the Black Catalogue. Invitations contained no item lists. Buyers entered through law firms and paid in cryptocurrency-backed credit.
Sloane had received invitations before.
Her channel made her useful to luxury dealers seeking publicity without direct advertising. She agreed to attend under supervision.
Helena opposed the plan.
“You are not trained for this.”
“I was trained to perform certainty while terrified. That may finally be useful.”
Sloane would pose as a buyer seeking the stone to create a redemption documentary. Investigators fitted her phone with a secure duplicate stream. This time, the audience would be law enforcement, not millions of strangers.
Before leaving, Sloane visited the shelter Helena had toured.
She expected anger.
Jada asked only one question.
“Did you know you were lying?”
“I knew I was planting evidence. I told myself it was exposing a bigger truth.”
“That is yes with decorations.”
Sloane nodded.
She donated no dramatic check. Instead, she transferred control of her remaining sponsorship income to an independently managed restitution fund. Her lawyer warned that the gesture could look like an admission.
“It is an admission.”
At the Geneva auction, the Solstice diamond appeared as Lot Seven.
The seller used the name C.V.
Sloane raised her paddle.
Another bidder joined by encrypted video. The voice was disguised, but Helena recognized Conrad’s habit of tapping two fingers before increasing an offer.
He was buying his own stolen stone through a shell company, creating a legal-looking provenance.
Sloane pushed the price higher.
Conrad’s proxy followed.
Then a third bidder entered.
Arden Luxe.
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The sale was not only about hiding evidence.
Conrad and Arden were fighting over the physical key to control Ward & Vale.
