Mike leaned back in the office chair, making it squeak. “I thought the name of the diamond was the Koh-i-Noor. Why is the exhibit called the Jewel of the Lion?”
Victoria was now lit up like a Christmas tree. “The Koh-i-Noor translates to Mountain of Light, but I didn’t think that flashy enough to draw the American crowds, but I did want to capture the history of the stone a bit, so I looked to the source—India. When England annexed Punjab in 1849, the youngest son of the Lion of Punjab himself, fourteen-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh, was forced to hand over his family’s most priceless possession, the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Hence, Jewel of the Lion. Do you like it?”
Mike said, “Very much. It’s very dramatic. And no wonder the Indian people feel it was stolen from them. It was.”
Victoria said, “Incidentally, England annexed Singh, too—he was exiled to Britain for the rest of his life. The poor man wasn’t allowed to practice his religion or leave England for decades.”
Nicholas was tapping away at his laptop, pulled up a photo of the young Maharaja. “Well, maybe he wasn’t so pitiable. He cut quite a dashing figure in 1850s Victorian society, evidently charming everyone he met. He became a favorite of the queen—she was godmother to several of his children—and he was a well-known figure in Scotland, where they dubbed him the Black Prince of Perthshire, because he had darker skin than anyone was used to. He had two wives and eight children, but the line died with them. He was, quite literally, the end of an era.”
Mike stared at the photo of a young man, slender and beautifully dressed all in gray. He had expressive dark eyes, and he stood alone and proud for the camera. There was no insolence to mar that unsmiling mouth, but still, Maharaja Duleep Singh managed to radiate an air of defiance. She wondered if he’d come to accept, even love his new country, given all the honors and attention heaped on him by the queen herself and Victorian society. She asked, “Did Queen Elizabeth like the exhibit name?”
Victoria grinned again. “I don’t know if she liked it, but she approved it.”
Nicholas said, “Do you know the Koh-i-Noor has only ever belonged to the women of the Royal Family because of the curse?”
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Mike said, “There’s a curse? What curse? Come on, Nicholas, you’re joking.”
“I don’t joke about curses. It says only women are allowed to have the diamond because it brings bad luck to any man who tries to wear it. Trace its history. India, Pakistan, Iran—all historically led by men, and they all lost the diamond in huge, bloody battles. Terrible losses, families killed and torn apart. This went on for generations.”
Victoria said, “He’s right. The original curse was first seen in 1306 in a Hindu text. He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity.”
Mike said, “But why can only women wear it?”
Victoria said, “I’ve done quite a bit of research on this question. Back in that era, women were greatly valued, as sages, gurus, even magicians. There were several goddesses in the holy texts, and the various sects worshipped the feminine, or Shakti. Women were considered pure, unlike men, who would do anything to get what they wanted.
“Indian legend says the Koh-i-Noor is the very first diamond in existence, and belonged to the sun god Surya, who bestowed it to Krishna. It was stolen from him by a servant, and because of this treachery, the treachery of a single man, the curse was born.”
Mike asked, “Are there any more replicas out there?”
Victoria said, “Only the two. One is here in the crown, and the other is still missing. Hence their creator’s panicked call to me. Grisley is in some serious trouble. He should have had them properly secured, but I think this situation is going to make his problem seem minor. There is something else—” Victoria’s tone changed.
Nicholas’s alarm bells went off. His voice was sharp. “What?”
“Elaine York oversaw the testing of the diamond when it arrived here at the Met. She used a standard diamond tester to check all of the jewels. You are welcome to watch the video feed; you see her testing the Koh-i-Noor, smiling and saying, ‘Brilliant. All’s well, then,’ and they close up the vitrine case.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know why we’re dancing around this. It seems clear what happened. It was said all roads lead to Rome, or in this case, Elaine York. And she is, most conveniently, dead. And the diamond is gone.”
Nicholas said flatly, “You are being disrespectful to a New Scotland Yard inspector who’s been murdered and is unable to defend herself. We will not indict her without a shred of evidence. Do you read me?”
Victoria didn’t back down. “I’m sorry the idea upsets you, Nicholas, but facts are facts.”
Mike said, “Tell me, Victoria, what did you think of Elaine York? You worked with her for months, both long-distance and in person. What leads you to think Elaine had something to do with this?”
“Fact is, I wasn’t suspicious until the diamond disappeared. I thought she was a very nice woman, competent and focused. We even had drinks and dinner together on occasion.” Victoria looked over at Nicholas. “Elaine even spoke to me about you.”
“Did she, now?”
She nodded. “Don’t worry, she said only that the two of you had been close, once upon a time. She said you had a fascinating family and a very old home with a ghost. She also said you lied very well, but only when you had to, and she knew she could always trust you. But no matter now. The diamond is gone, and she’s gone as well. As I see it, either Inspector York was deeply involved, or something much worse is at play here.”
What could be worse? Nicholas wondered.
A red light began flashing on the screen in front of Mike. She stared at the screen. “Well, I’ll be. There’s a match. We’ve got ourselves a criminal in the house.”
Nicholas bent over the screen. A man’s dark face stared back at him, large and rectangular and hard, with dark hair and eyes, a flat nose, and a thin, sneering mouth.
Mike said, “I didn’t expect this, I really didn’t.”