The past couple of years we’ve tried to squeeze a trip in at least once a year. It’s harder to find the time, though, now that her life is so busy! Musical rehearsals, rowing camps, exams, a party, weekends with friends. Boys!’ He shook his head in mock horror. ‘Dad has dropped waaay down the list.’
‘Sounds like a normal teenager. And Julia? Are you …’ Kate stopped. It was none of her business whether or not Marcus was on good terms with his ex.
‘Jules and I are good. Andrew’s a great guy. He’s kind, and really supportive of Liv. They live in an old sandstone cottage with a wide verandah overlooking the harbour. Jules teaches yoga at a studio she can walk to. She got the life she deserves.’ Marcus had shrugged resignedly as he tapped the screen to choose a movie, conversation over.
Kate watched Marcus throw back his head and laugh at something his daughter had said. He was lucky to have maintained such a close bond with Olivia, she thought.
She smiled as she clicked open Sophie’s email.
Kate,
Hope you enjoyed the party!
That image of the Colombian emerald with the Swiss watch inside, then your Golconda diamond, got me thinking …
Remember the visiting tutor who mentioned this watch in his lecture about emeralds from Muzo, Colombia?
Kate looked up to see that Marcus and Liv were in the pool now, laughing as they tried to dunk one another. Liv’s skin was brown and smooth—like Julia’s, according to Marcus—but father and daughter shared a high forehead, square jaw and easy laugh. Marcus glanced up at Kate’s window and waved. ‘You coming for a dip?’
‘In a bit,’ she called back. ‘Sophie Shaw from Shaw & Sons got a lead on one of the pieces. I’ll finish reading her email then come out.’
‘You’re missing out,’ said Olivia as she dived under the turquoise water.
Kate smiled and went back to Sophie’s email, which was as scattergun as when her friend told a story over a pint.
Anyway, there was a big trial with the East India Company. (You were too hungover to pay attention to this last bit, if I recall.)
I spent the afternoon at the Parliamentary Archives scrolling through rolls of transcribed legal documents. The original depositions are on thirty rolls of skins which they won’t let me near, which is a shame. I asked to copy a couple of bits, which I’ve attached. There’re also a whole bunch of log books and diaries of the East India Company at the British Library. I went and copied some pages, if you’re interested … and have half a year to read them!
You’re welcome.
Soph xx
P.S. Don’t be all work in Sri Lanka.
Kate clicked on the attachment. Sophie had sent the official complaint summarised for the London court.
28 April 1637
Gerhard Polman, gem merchant and jeweller, after traversing many countries in search of precious stones … in the year 1631 put himself on board an English East Indiaman in Persia on his way home. He had with him a large collection of gems and precious stones, collected during the previous thirty years.
On the homeward voyage Polman was poisoned by Abraham Porter, surgeon of the East Indiaman, and his goods were divided among the crew of the ship. The crime becoming known, parts of his estate ultimately came into the hands of the East India Company …
Kate scrolled through the transcripts Sophie had sent. It appeared the ship’s crew had killed Polman a couple of weeks out of Mauritius, tore his clothes off and tossed the naked body overboard. They had then helped themselves to bagsful of jewels and gemstones and snuck ashore at Gravesend before the Discovery reached London. But why was Sophie sure there was a connection to the collection in the Museum of London?
She continued reading through an inventory of Polman’s chests, and cross-checked it with Saanvi’s precise catalogue from the museum. There were leather pouches packed with the clearest diamonds, turquoise and natural pearls from Persia—pawned and resold along Cheapside. Kate found herself flipping between the testimonies, her notebook and Saanvi’s catalogue. So many of the rings and gemstones sounded similar to those in the Polman trial. The East India Company had ended up retrieving some of the jewels.
But nobody could be certain all the precious pieces that circulated through the hands of the gem cutters and jewellers along Goldsmiths’ Row in Cheapside were ever retrieved.
Kate trawled through the list until she hit a description that made her heart beat a little faster: a greene rough