East of the Sun (25 page)

After a few hundred metres, she blindly turned down a flight of steps, not planning her route, simply putting as much distance between herself and the hotel as quickly as possible. She hurried through a pedestrian underpass and when she emerged above ground again, she discovered that she was walking in the direction of Red Square. Still too scared to look around, she had no idea if anyone was following her.

Halfway down Nikolsky Street, she saw what appeared to be a new top-end shopping development. Immediately she went up the marble steps and through the brand new glass sliding doors. Inside the lights were bright and she could almost smell the newness of the place. A year before it hadn’t been here.

Quickly she looked around. She needed to determine if anyone was watching her. She opted for a small boutique and casually started browsing, keeping an eye on passersby through the shop’s large glass windows. After ten long minutes she was confident that no one had followed her into the shopping complex. As she considered what route to take next, someone spoke her name.

‘Amelia?’

She swung around, her heart pounding. ‘Patrick! What a surprise! What are you doing here?’ Amelia left the shop and walked to where he had stopped in the aisle in front of it.

He gestured towards the upper floor of the mall. ‘I’m picking up something for Cathy. And you?’

‘Oh, just browsing. I had time to kill.’

He nodded. ‘How are things?’ he asked, his face concerned. ‘We didn’t get a chance to speak properly at the embassy the other day. Do you need any more help? Are you managing to tie up loose ends? I realise things didn’t go all that well with Popov, but maybe I can help with something else?’

Patrick apparently still felt bad about not sharing the information about the driver with her. She was touched that he was still trying to make up for it.

She smiled. ‘I’m doing all right. I think I’m getting to that elusive thing people call “closure” at last.’ A necessary lie, she told herself at the twinge of guilt.

Patrick nodded. ‘I can only imagine how hard it must be for you, but I’m really happy to hear that you feel better now.’

‘Thank you, you’re being very supportive.’

‘It’s the least I can do.’

‘Actually, Patrick, to be honest, there are still a few small things I don’t understand. Do you perhaps have time for a coffee? I’ve been meaning to talk to you about anything else you might remember about that night.’

Patrick hesitated, glanced at his watch and then at the escalator leading to the stores on the second level. ‘Could you give me a few minutes? I’ll just pick up this present for Cathy and then I’ll join you for a quick one. Does that work?’

‘It sounds great. Thanks.’

‘No problem. I’ll see you in a few minutes.’

Amelia watched as he walked towards the escalator, thinking of the memories she shared with people like Patrick and Cathy. She missed those good times when fun and a sense of excitement had been readily available and hadn’t seemed like such rare commodities. Would she ever be able to reclaim that sense of security she’d taken for granted before?

She sighed and turned away to go find a table in the coffee shop that was located at the centre of the building’s lower level. Instinctively she chose one that offered the widest possible view of the shopping mall. She had to keep an eye out for the two men in the hotel. It didn’t look like they’d followed her, but she had to be very sure. At least Patrick’s presence offered her somewhat of a disguise and also some protection.

When he joined her again, he had a package in his hand.

‘Lucky girl. As far as I remember her birthday is only in March.’

‘Yes, and no, it’s not for her birthday. It’s just something small to cheer her up. As you already know, things have been a little rough for her lately.’

Amelia nodded, not sure if she wanted to get involved again. She already felt conflicted with both Patrick and Cathy confiding in her.

‘She does seem a little under the weather right now.’

‘She does, doesn’t she?’ Patrick said, his voice conveying his own unhappiness with whatever was going on between them. ‘More than ever before. And it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.’

A waitress appeared and they quickly ordered two coffees before he continued.

‘I can’t figure out what’s going on. She says things have changed between us, but she can’t tell me how.’ For a moment he was silent.

‘What did she tell you? It would help me understand better. Or is that weird? I mean, for you to tell me what she said? I don’t want to put you in a difficult position.’

Amelia shrugged. ‘If I were you, I’d just talk to her about what it is that’s bothering her. And be gentle. I got the impression that she feels you’re a little distant at the moment, perhaps focused on something that excludes her and the girls.’

‘But that’s ridiculous!’ Patrick exclaimed, irritation unmistakable in his voice.

The arrival of their coffees interrupted whatever else he was going to say. Were things worse than she thought?

‘She might just be over-analysing, you know. Once she understands what you’re going through, the pressure of work and so on, I’m sure she’ll relax,’ she said in an effort to reassure him.

It was time to change the subject.

‘Listen, I know you don’t have much time now, but can you tell me what you remember about the night at the Marriott? Do you remember anything? I know you’ve made a statement, like everyone else, but it would be good to hear it firsthand. Last year was such a mess that I never heard it from you directly.’

Patrick studied her for a moment, his face softening. ‘Of course. I’m sure reading the reports aren’t the same as hearing them.’ He leaned back in his chair, looking up at the mall’s vaulted ceilings. ‘Robert seemed well. He was obviously tired after having dealt with the endless Prism-Sibraz thing for months, but he seemed to be having a good time that night.’

‘So he didn’t seem different, stressed or anxious?’

‘Nothing out of the ordinary, no. People were always eager to talk to Robert at these functions. He did have charisma, didn’t he?’

She smiled at his effort to be kind.

‘And what about on the way to your place? It must have been important if he took you all the way out of the city when he knew he would have to drive back again?’

Patrick was thoughtful. ‘I’ve gone over it a million times too. I wish I could tell you something meaningful, but we discussed nothing out of the ordinary. Just some small details that we hadn’t had time for that day. And late at night it actually doesn’t take terribly long to drive out to Pokrovsky Hills.’

Amelia nodded, but she was disappointed that Patrick couldn’t give her more information. ‘Can you think of anyone else who could have some information? Apart from Popov and the Sibraz lawyers, I seem to recall that there was a consultant or dealmaker of sorts involved. A supposedly independent person.’

Patrick frowned. ‘I only know about Popov. Maybe it was someone who helped out before I became involved?’ He sighed and glanced at his watch again. ‘There’s not much more to tell you, I’m afraid. I wish there were.’

She waved his words away and watched as he drained his coffee and stood up. ‘I would love to stay and talk, but I have a late meeting in half an hour. Sadly, duty calls.’

‘Of course, thank you for the chat.’

He kissed her on the cheek and started walking away. She watched him for a moment. Just before he exited through the glass sliding doors, he turned around again and walked a few paces back towards her. ‘This is no good. We should catch up properly, and soon!’ he called, a smile on his face.

She nodded and waved her agreement. Frustrated at the lack of information, she sat for a while longer, scanning the mall again for the two men she’d seen in the Hyatt’s lounge. When she was sure she was surrounded by regular shoppers only, she picked up her bag and headed for the exit.

She needed to find Nick.

The apartment block had been quiet for hours. She’d listened as people had arrived home, initially from work and errands and later from dinner and other outings. Tonight the apartment felt too small for her. Obsessively she went through the events of the day. She’d learnt nothing. She could only hope that Nick had. And that he was safe.

It was very late when she heard a key in the lock. Amelia jumped up when he came through the door, relief flooding through her to see him unscathed.

‘You’re okay!’

‘I’m okay,’ he replied with an exhausted smile. His face looked drawn and she wondered how many circuitous routes he’d taken to ensure he wasn’t followed. But apart from fatigue, there was something else in his face too. A hint of elation. She watched him as he took off his coat and hung it on the peg near the front door. He turned to her.

‘What is it?’ she asked, unable to fathom his expression.

‘We were right.’

‘We were?’

‘That diamond deposit is worth considerably less than the market thinks.’

‘Are you sure?’

Nick nodded. ‘It’s a fact. And the Canadians knew.’

‘What? When?’

‘Last year.’

‘When?’

‘In the weeks before Robert disappeared.’

22

A
round them the night and the building was quiet, but Amelia knew there would be no sleeping for at least several hours. Relief that they’d both come away from the meeting with the geologist undetected and unharmed was only matched by her impatience to find out what happened after she’d left the Hyatt.

When Nick started to speak, she was scarcely able to believe his account of what he’d learnt:

‘At the time of the original surveys and tests, the results had indicated a very rich deposit, but subsequent tests, well after the formation of the joint venture between Sibraz and Prism, revealed that that wasn’t the case after all. He didn’t spell it out, but my guess is that the geologist would have considered his options very carefully when he saw the new results. He was the chief geologist, he’s Russian and he was hired by Sibraz. It would have been natural for him to approach them with the information, because this was where one would have expected his loyalties to lie.’

‘Yes.’

‘Only,’ Nick continued, ‘he didn’t. He claims that his subsequent actions were motivated by concern about the project and the public relations fallout there would have been if the Canadians discovered later that the truth had been purposely withheld from them.’

‘But you don’t buy it?’

Nick shook his head. ‘Geologists like him aren’t primarily hired to think about the business or project strategy, much less PR. His job would have been to deliver the findings and possibly stay involved in at least some of the subsequent discussions, but it wasn’t his job to think about what was good for the joint venture and what wasn’t. I think there were other, more pertinent reasons for not going to Sibraz first.’

‘Such as?

‘First of all, he would have been the bearer of some pretty bad news. Shooting the messenger is a real possibility when you’re dealing with the power, egos and ruthlessness of Russian businessmen. It’s happened many times before and he knew it. He may have been afraid that they would blame him for not finding out about the deposit’s true value sooner. It’s not unheard of for deposits to have a higher or lower value than initial tests show, but he was the project’s chief geologist after all. It was his responsibility to get accurate results, so he might very well have feared for his and his family’s safety.’

‘Or his job at the very least.’

‘Exactly. Not to mention his future. But I think there was another reason. He didn’t admit to it, but I think he decided to make some money out of his knowledge. I can easily see a scenario where he would have contacted Prism and said “I have some valuable information about the value of the diamond deposit, you’d better pay up if you want to hear it”.’

‘But wouldn’t it have been stupid to try and extort money when the truth would have come out at some point anyway? I mean, you can’t continue mining a deposit when there is nothing to mine, can you?’

‘True, but don’t misunderstand – there was, and still is, a lot to mine. Just not as much as everyone originally thought. I think he was hoping to buy time and financial security. Whatever his reasons were, he definitely spoke to Prism, and it sounds like he spoke to them only, or definitely first.’

‘It sounds quite calculated.’

‘Think about it. At this stage, he would have been well aware of the conflict between the two companies and the Russians’ desire to push Prism out in order to get all the benefit of the rich deposit.’

‘And?’

‘Who would have valued the information more? Sibraz, who’s trying to get Prism out of the deal so they can have all the wealth for themselves or Prism, who’s fighting to save their investment?’

‘Each would have seen the information as critically important.’

‘Let me qualify my original question: who would have been more likely to pay for the information without harming the messenger?’

‘Prism. Without a doubt. So you’re saying that the geologist saw more gain in it for him if he went to Prism first?’