Story Notes:
The 'dock' scene is only basic at the start. It builds itself up as Tom reminds himself more about it, and he discovers more facts behind that fateful day, all leading up to the truth.Tom also reminds himself of the events that happened in a summary. This recaps what he needs to find out, and allows you to have a guess yourselves.THE FAIRVIEW CHRONICLES IS LINKED TO THIS STORY, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE READ IT FIRST, OR YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND ALL OF THIS:http://agn.ph/fics/viewseries.php?seriesid=219Now with a prologue, explaining how Tom found Stacey!http://agn.ph/fics/viewstory.php?sid=3504
Chapter 4: The Jeweller
20:00
Tom washed up Stacey's food bowl carefully, after taking in what he had found out.
'Damn, where should I start? I've hit a brick wall. Maybe I can talk to Alex about that newspaper article, he might know some more. And who is that girl, and why can't she speak?' Tom thought, concentrating on what he should do next. There was also the increasing matter of The Sapphire Stars whereabouts, which was proving difficult to track down. After pondering this, his mobile phone rang, as Tom sprinted over to pick it up. "Hey, this is Tom."
"Hey Tom. I've got the info you asked for." Zoe said on the other end of the line. Tom smiled slightly.
"Thanks, just as I was starting to get worried. What did you find out?"
"The Sapphire Star is a blue tinted diamond created in 1975 by the jeweller, Kiran Glothe. It was given much attention by jewellers and the media, and especially by the criminal organisations. In early 1976, it was stolen from the Jeweller's house, and was never seen again. The biggest suspect for the theft was a member of the group Nile."
"What did you just say? Nile?" Tom said, surprised by this.
"Yes. Does the name ring a bell?" Zoe asked calmingly, worried about Tom's reaction.
"Nile... that name's been cropping up all over the place at this hotel. I've heard it from at least two other people, but what does it all mean?"
"Anyway, the government refused to investigate the matter, which made the jeweller go off on his own private investigation, never to be seen again."
"So, it's a stolen gem that's got a heap of bad history behind it, huh?"
"Tom, you said you had heard about Nile. Please, tell me honestly, are you looking into them?"
"Not directly, but I think investigating the hotel is going to uncover more information about them."
"Tom... I've got a bad feeling about this. People from the police have a tendency to 'disappear' when trying to find out about them. Stay safe, OK?"
"I will do Zoe. But what did you say that guy's name was? Kiran Glothe?"
"Yes, the jeweller. Bye sweety." Zoe said, hanging up the phone. Tom pulled out his notebook, slightly biting the end of his pen in thought.
'Kiran Glothe, now where have I heard that name before?' Tom thought. He stared at his watch. 20:07,. "Hey Stacey, the fireworks should be starting soon. Do you want to go watch them?"
"I suppose we might as well. Everyone else is going to be there." Stacey said, walking out of the door and across the hallway. Tom walked back over towards the sink and put the bowl to one side, wiping his hands on the cloth placed between one of the cupboard doors. He scribbled down some quick notes about what Zoe told him, and left the room. Walking along the corridor with Stacey by his side, he felt that when Zoe said she had 'a bad feeling about this', she might have been right. Pulling the handle on the steel door to open, he held it open long enough so Stacey could pass through first. Slowly shutting it behind him, he met some of the others on the roof as well.
"Tom! I'd have thought you would show up." Alex said, carefully placing the fireworks in holsters. "The show will be on pretty soon. Got us some real good stuff this year! Paid a lot for them, and the weather's on our side."
"I'll be looking forward to it." Tom said, walking towards Alex. "Got a minute?"
Alex stood up, a bit confused as to why Tom was asking him this. "Yeah, what do you want?"
"Can you explain what the article you were reading in the lobby has to do with your investigation?"
"I should have known you read that. It's actually quite an important link to 'them'. It not only demonstrated what possible influence they had over the government, but what happened after the article was written is pretty interesting. Apparently, the writer of the article died in a tragic 'accident' the very next day after it was published. Shame as well, because if it had been published, I wouldn't have to investigate them now!"
"I see. I got some info on the Sapphire Star. Guess what? Word on the street is that it was something Nile stole. And if I was asked to look for it here, that means it must be in this very hotel."
"WHAT?!? HERE? How is that even possible?" Alex exclaimed, quickly quietening as a few people turned to see what the commotion was.
"Jeez, quiet down Alex. It was made in the 1980's by a jeweller, and was stolen pretty quickly. I don't think finding it is going to be easy." Tom said. "Anyway, you have a display to work on. See you later, Alex." Tom walked away from him, noticing a familiar looking old man by the hotel sign.
"It's you again." Kiran said to Tom.
"Kiran, have you been hiding something from me? Like, why you're here?" Tom asked casually.
"I hope you're not suggesting I've lied to you, are you?"
"I'm afraid I am Kiran. And I think I may know exactly why you're here, and why you're interested in Chris."
"Prove it. Tell me something that suggests you know who I am." Kiran said. Tom was rather surprised by the speed at the conversation was going.
"How about I tell you that when you were younger, you were a jeweller?" Kiran gritted his teeth at this statement.
"...Meet me at my room after this." He responded quietly, before walking away. The shady looking man from earlier was talking on his phone, but Tom could barely make out a few words of what he was saying.
"...right, OK. ... yeah, there's some girl that's showed up. You think that's her? .... I see. Talk to you later." He closed his phone and turned to face Tom, the serious expression impacting as an indication to mind his own business. Tom sat down at one of the seats, as Alex lit one of the fireworks to start the display. Tom watched the collision of sparks in the sky, with various colour brightening up the night sky, seemingly like a bombardment of different shapes and sounds.
21:25
Alex took a quick bow to the audience, before turning to pack away his stuff. The residents applauded the display, as they left the roof.
"I'm probably going back to the room." Stacey said to Tom.
"OK. I just need to chat with someone first. See you back there." Tom said, as Stacey walked off by herself. Leaving the rooftops and walking through the corridors, he watched the door numbers decrease as he walked past them. Firmly knocking on the door, he heard Kiran walk across the room to his door. Slowly pulling it open, he took a glance at the visitor.
"Oh, it's you. Please, come in." Kiran said, stepping out of Tom's way. "Take a seat. We've got a lot to talk about." Tom patiently sat down on one of the chairs, as the old man made his way back to his table.
"So, where are we going to start?" Tom asked.
"First, tell me the reason why I'm here if you think you know." Kiran said, placing his elbow on the table.
"You're looking for The Sapphire Star, aren't you? And you've been searching for the past 30 years, to no avail. Why? Because it's your jewel, isn't it?"
"...Perhaps. But tell me, who has it? Have you figured out who I suspect has the very thing I searched hard and long for?"Kiran said, placing his hand on his chin.
"You think it's Chris Hargreaves that has it, don't you?"
"Well played Tom. So, do you want to hear my story? The story of an ambitious young jeweller that lost everything?"
"It'll help with the case."
"There's one snag though. You have to tell me first why you're here."
Tom leaned back a bit.
"I work for a private company that retrieves lost items. Some times, those items don't want to be found. But I do them anyway. My latest order was to go here, and find two items. One of those items is... The Sapphire Star."
"What? You've been ordered to find it? After 30 YEARS of it being missing?"
"I'll prove it." Tom explained, pulling out his order sheet and handing it to Kiran. Nearly snatching the paper off of him, he carefully read the contents.
"I... I didn't ask for this... who's the client?" He exclaimed, astounded by the order.
"I don't even know. But let's get back to my story, shall we? I used to be a detective about 1 year ago. How I lost it could be quite interesting to you..."
7th December, 2014
18:03
Fairview Detective Agency
Tom swirled a pen around his fingers in boredom. The phone burst out ringing, as Tom picked up.
"Tom Blakely here, what's the matter?" He asked, checking his watch..
"It's... It's Chris. Your friend... he's the guy you're after... he just killed another man." A nervous voice said from the opposite end of the phone line. Suddenly he became much more tense after what he heard.
"Chris? What the hell?!?" Tom slammed the phone down, and put his coat on, before proceeding to run through the office.
18:52
Fairview Docks
Tom faced Chris, who was staring across the ocean, as Tom quickly drew out his pistol.
"Chris... why did you do it?" Tom asked in vain. Chris turned his head to look at Tom, and faced back out of the stream, walking towards the edge of the cliff.
"Don't move!"
BLAM!
Chris reached for his back, yelling out in pain.
"...Alice..." He yelled out, before falling off the cliff into the river below. Tom dropped his gun, dropping to his knees.
"...What have I done..."
21:35
"...So, the guy I'm looking for is... dead?" Kiran muttered. "No, it's not possible... I saw him! With my own eyes!"
"I've fulfilled my end of the bargain. Let's hear your story, then." Tom said, relaxing his neck slightly.
"Fine. I was a hot shot back at school. Got myself a degree in craftsmanship, thought I could rise straight to the top. Boy was I wrong. For three years, my works of art in jewellery were all ignored by the public. Then came my big chance. I was given a commission to make something truly special, something so great people would HAVE to take notice of it. I made the best diamond known to man. I was about to release it to the public, and make a massive impact. I was going to be rich, famous, everything! That's until one night, I was confronted by a man. He was from Nile, even I could tell that. He told me to make a replica of The Sapphire Star for his boss. When I told him it was impossible to do it again, he stormed out in fury. The next morning, my one shot of fame had been stolen from my own house. The hopelessness I felt... everything I had done had led up to that one diamond, and now, I had nothing. My career was ruined, my life laid in tatters, and do you know what else? The police refused to put forward an investigation! Can you figure out WHY, Tom?"
"Yeah. The police was corrupted by Nile, weren't they? Every authority was."
"Exactly. I went into a rage, I decided that I would rather die trying finding it then sit back with my life destroyed. My investigation was at a dead end. That is, until I watched the news a year ago. A man had been killed, and a diamond with the EXACT same description of the one I had created had been stolen from him. The prime suspect? Chris Hargreaves. That's how I became certain that if I found this man, I'd have a chance at retrieving the gem. My hopes had been re-ignited, and my search blazed on. But now, I'm exactly where I was before: At a dead end."
"I see. So you're just trying to get back what's rightfully yours then. But why did you come here?"
"You're probably aware that Nile has a very strong presence on this building. I thought that this place may finally hold a clue to Chris' location. But it looks like I was wrong. Tom, can you make me a promise?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"If you ever find the Sapphire Star, you must bring it back to me! It means so much to me..." Kiran said, staring outside the window. Tom stood up, and walked towards the door. He said nothing, instead opening the door and walking into the corridor.
'Right, let's do a recap.
First, I was out of ideas until Zoe phoned up with some pretty useful information about The Sapphire Star. She told me about a jeweller named Kiran Glothe who had the diamond stolen from his house. I headed to the roof top to watch the fireworks display. I talked to Kiran, and we decided to meet up after the display finished, and that shady guy was on his phone again. (Who was he speaking to?)
After the display finished, I kept true to my word and met Kiran at his room. I told him about my days as a detective, and in return he told me the truth. Kiran is looking for Chris Hargreaves because he believes he possesses the Sapphire Star. If this is true, then all I need to do is find Chris.' Tom stopped outside of his room. Pushing the door open, he peered inside. "Stacey? You there?"
There was no response.
"Huh... where could she be..."Chapter End Notes:I'm thinking about taking a small hiatus to work on another project in First Person, so there may be future delays
Tom washed up Stacey's food bowl carefully, after taking in what he had found out.
'Damn, where should I start? I've hit a brick wall. Maybe I can talk to Alex about that newspaper article, he might know some more. And who is that girl, and why can't she speak?' Tom thought, concentrating on what he should do next. There was also the increasing matter of The Sapphire Stars whereabouts, which was proving difficult to track down. After pondering this, his mobile phone rang, as Tom sprinted over to pick it up. "Hey, this is Tom."
"Hey Tom. I've got the info you asked for." Zoe said on the other end of the line. Tom smiled slightly.
"Thanks, just as I was starting to get worried. What did you find out?"
"The Sapphire Star is a blue tinted diamond created in 1975 by the jeweller, Kiran Glothe. It was given much attention by jewellers and the media, and especially by the criminal organisations. In early 1976, it was stolen from the Jeweller's house, and was never seen again. The biggest suspect for the theft was a member of the group Nile."
"What did you just say? Nile?" Tom said, surprised by this.
"Yes. Does the name ring a bell?" Zoe asked calmingly, worried about Tom's reaction.
"Nile... that name's been cropping up all over the place at this hotel. I've heard it from at least two other people, but what does it all mean?"
"Anyway, the government refused to investigate the matter, which made the jeweller go off on his own private investigation, never to be seen again."
"So, it's a stolen gem that's got a heap of bad history behind it, huh?"
"Tom, you said you had heard about Nile. Please, tell me honestly, are you looking into them?"
"Not directly, but I think investigating the hotel is going to uncover more information about them."
"Tom... I've got a bad feeling about this. People from the police have a tendency to 'disappear' when trying to find out about them. Stay safe, OK?"
"I will do Zoe. But what did you say that guy's name was? Kiran Glothe?"
"Yes, the jeweller. Bye sweety." Zoe said, hanging up the phone. Tom pulled out his notebook, slightly biting the end of his pen in thought.
'Kiran Glothe, now where have I heard that name before?' Tom thought. He stared at his watch. 20:07,. "Hey Stacey, the fireworks should be starting soon. Do you want to go watch them?"
"I suppose we might as well. Everyone else is going to be there." Stacey said, walking out of the door and across the hallway. Tom walked back over towards the sink and put the bowl to one side, wiping his hands on the cloth placed between one of the cupboard doors. He scribbled down some quick notes about what Zoe told him, and left the room. Walking along the corridor with Stacey by his side, he felt that when Zoe said she had 'a bad feeling about this', she might have been right. Pulling the handle on the steel door to open, he held it open long enough so Stacey could pass through first. Slowly shutting it behind him, he met some of the others on the roof as well.
"Tom! I'd have thought you would show up." Alex said, carefully placing the fireworks in holsters. "The show will be on pretty soon. Got us some real good stuff this year! Paid a lot for them, and the weather's on our side."
"I'll be looking forward to it." Tom said, walking towards Alex. "Got a minute?"
Alex stood up, a bit confused as to why Tom was asking him this. "Yeah, what do you want?"
"Can you explain what the article you were reading in the lobby has to do with your investigation?"
"I should have known you read that. It's actually quite an important link to 'them'. It not only demonstrated what possible influence they had over the government, but what happened after the article was written is pretty interesting. Apparently, the writer of the article died in a tragic 'accident' the very next day after it was published. Shame as well, because if it had been published, I wouldn't have to investigate them now!"
"I see. I got some info on the Sapphire Star. Guess what? Word on the street is that it was something Nile stole. And if I was asked to look for it here, that means it must be in this very hotel."
"WHAT?!? HERE? How is that even possible?" Alex exclaimed, quickly quietening as a few people turned to see what the commotion was.
"Jeez, quiet down Alex. It was made in the 1980's by a jeweller, and was stolen pretty quickly. I don't think finding it is going to be easy." Tom said. "Anyway, you have a display to work on. See you later, Alex." Tom walked away from him, noticing a familiar looking old man by the hotel sign.
"It's you again." Kiran said to Tom.
"Kiran, have you been hiding something from me? Like, why you're here?" Tom asked casually.
"I hope you're not suggesting I've lied to you, are you?"
"I'm afraid I am Kiran. And I think I may know exactly why you're here, and why you're interested in Chris."
"Prove it. Tell me something that suggests you know who I am." Kiran said. Tom was rather surprised by the speed at the conversation was going.
"How about I tell you that when you were younger, you were a jeweller?" Kiran gritted his teeth at this statement.
"...Meet me at my room after this." He responded quietly, before walking away. The shady looking man from earlier was talking on his phone, but Tom could barely make out a few words of what he was saying.
"...right, OK. ... yeah, there's some girl that's showed up. You think that's her? .... I see. Talk to you later." He closed his phone and turned to face Tom, the serious expression impacting as an indication to mind his own business. Tom sat down at one of the seats, as Alex lit one of the fireworks to start the display. Tom watched the collision of sparks in the sky, with various colour brightening up the night sky, seemingly like a bombardment of different shapes and sounds.
21:25
Alex took a quick bow to the audience, before turning to pack away his stuff. The residents applauded the display, as they left the roof.
"I'm probably going back to the room." Stacey said to Tom.
"OK. I just need to chat with someone first. See you back there." Tom said, as Stacey walked off by herself. Leaving the rooftops and walking through the corridors, he watched the door numbers decrease as he walked past them. Firmly knocking on the door, he heard Kiran walk across the room to his door. Slowly pulling it open, he took a glance at the visitor.
"Oh, it's you. Please, come in." Kiran said, stepping out of Tom's way. "Take a seat. We've got a lot to talk about." Tom patiently sat down on one of the chairs, as the old man made his way back to his table.
"So, where are we going to start?" Tom asked.
"First, tell me the reason why I'm here if you think you know." Kiran said, placing his elbow on the table.
"You're looking for The Sapphire Star, aren't you? And you've been searching for the past 30 years, to no avail. Why? Because it's your jewel, isn't it?"
"...Perhaps. But tell me, who has it? Have you figured out who I suspect has the very thing I searched hard and long for?"Kiran said, placing his hand on his chin.
"You think it's Chris Hargreaves that has it, don't you?"
"Well played Tom. So, do you want to hear my story? The story of an ambitious young jeweller that lost everything?"
"It'll help with the case."
"There's one snag though. You have to tell me first why you're here."
Tom leaned back a bit.
"I work for a private company that retrieves lost items. Some times, those items don't want to be found. But I do them anyway. My latest order was to go here, and find two items. One of those items is... The Sapphire Star."
"What? You've been ordered to find it? After 30 YEARS of it being missing?"
"I'll prove it." Tom explained, pulling out his order sheet and handing it to Kiran. Nearly snatching the paper off of him, he carefully read the contents.
"I... I didn't ask for this... who's the client?" He exclaimed, astounded by the order.
"I don't even know. But let's get back to my story, shall we? I used to be a detective about 1 year ago. How I lost it could be quite interesting to you..."
7th December, 2014
18:03
Fairview Detective Agency
Tom swirled a pen around his fingers in boredom. The phone burst out ringing, as Tom picked up.
"Tom Blakely here, what's the matter?" He asked, checking his watch..
"It's... It's Chris. Your friend... he's the guy you're after... he just killed another man." A nervous voice said from the opposite end of the phone line. Suddenly he became much more tense after what he heard.
"Chris? What the hell?!?" Tom slammed the phone down, and put his coat on, before proceeding to run through the office.
18:52
Fairview Docks
Tom faced Chris, who was staring across the ocean, as Tom quickly drew out his pistol.
"Chris... why did you do it?" Tom asked in vain. Chris turned his head to look at Tom, and faced back out of the stream, walking towards the edge of the cliff.
"Don't move!"
BLAM!
Chris reached for his back, yelling out in pain.
"...Alice..." He yelled out, before falling off the cliff into the river below. Tom dropped his gun, dropping to his knees.
"...What have I done..."
21:35
"...So, the guy I'm looking for is... dead?" Kiran muttered. "No, it's not possible... I saw him! With my own eyes!"
"I've fulfilled my end of the bargain. Let's hear your story, then." Tom said, relaxing his neck slightly.
"Fine. I was a hot shot back at school. Got myself a degree in craftsmanship, thought I could rise straight to the top. Boy was I wrong. For three years, my works of art in jewellery were all ignored by the public. Then came my big chance. I was given a commission to make something truly special, something so great people would HAVE to take notice of it. I made the best diamond known to man. I was about to release it to the public, and make a massive impact. I was going to be rich, famous, everything! That's until one night, I was confronted by a man. He was from Nile, even I could tell that. He told me to make a replica of The Sapphire Star for his boss. When I told him it was impossible to do it again, he stormed out in fury. The next morning, my one shot of fame had been stolen from my own house. The hopelessness I felt... everything I had done had led up to that one diamond, and now, I had nothing. My career was ruined, my life laid in tatters, and do you know what else? The police refused to put forward an investigation! Can you figure out WHY, Tom?"
"Yeah. The police was corrupted by Nile, weren't they? Every authority was."
"Exactly. I went into a rage, I decided that I would rather die trying finding it then sit back with my life destroyed. My investigation was at a dead end. That is, until I watched the news a year ago. A man had been killed, and a diamond with the EXACT same description of the one I had created had been stolen from him. The prime suspect? Chris Hargreaves. That's how I became certain that if I found this man, I'd have a chance at retrieving the gem. My hopes had been re-ignited, and my search blazed on. But now, I'm exactly where I was before: At a dead end."
"I see. So you're just trying to get back what's rightfully yours then. But why did you come here?"
"You're probably aware that Nile has a very strong presence on this building. I thought that this place may finally hold a clue to Chris' location. But it looks like I was wrong. Tom, can you make me a promise?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"If you ever find the Sapphire Star, you must bring it back to me! It means so much to me..." Kiran said, staring outside the window. Tom stood up, and walked towards the door. He said nothing, instead opening the door and walking into the corridor.
'Right, let's do a recap.
First, I was out of ideas until Zoe phoned up with some pretty useful information about The Sapphire Star. She told me about a jeweller named Kiran Glothe who had the diamond stolen from his house. I headed to the roof top to watch the fireworks display. I talked to Kiran, and we decided to meet up after the display finished, and that shady guy was on his phone again. (Who was he speaking to?)
After the display finished, I kept true to my word and met Kiran at his room. I told him about my days as a detective, and in return he told me the truth. Kiran is looking for Chris Hargreaves because he believes he possesses the Sapphire Star. If this is true, then all I need to do is find Chris.' Tom stopped outside of his room. Pushing the door open, he peered inside. "Stacey? You there?"
There was no response.
"Huh... where could she be..."Chapter End Notes:I'm thinking about taking a small hiatus to work on another project in First Person, so there may be future delays