The White Diamond

Rachel Malaney could barely concentrate on the tedious conversation taking place in front of her. She and her husband, Paul Malaney, had invited three other couples to a five-course dinner at the new French gourmet restaurant that had just opened on Main Street. She had agreed to the invitation on the grounds that it was to celebrate their upcoming fifth anniversary. Ever since Mr. Malaney had joined the most envied and private social club in town, their circle of friends had been filtered and cut down to a few elite members of the privileged class. Paul had always been better than her at socializing with these kinds of people, she thought. She could not bear faking another ounce of interest in the stock market or 19th-century art movements. Rachel could not believe Paul had invited Sharon Cole and her husband Bill when he knew exactly how she felt about them. She considered them the most pretentious couple of the bunch. Their pompous attitude, their superiority complex, and their desperate keeping up of appearances were exasperating her. Everyone was dressed up to the nines to impress the others, but the Coles had gone the extra mile. Sharon was displaying her finest jewelry as a demonstration of their household’s wealth. As far as Mrs. Malaney was concerned, the night had not been the five-year anniversary she was hoping for. 

While Rachel’s mind was wandering, not paying any attention to the discussions around her, a waiter caught her eye. He was wearing the same black uniform as the other waiters, but his movements seemed erratic; as if he was not exactly sure what to do or where to go. Maybe it’s his first day on the job, Rachel thought. The man walked towards their table carrying a pitcher of cold water in one hand and a white towel in the other. The waiter leaned between Bill and Sharon to fill everyone’s glass. He then stood upright and left as quietly as he had arrived. As the man was walking away, Rachel noticed that Sharon’s bracelet was missing its white pear cut diamond ornament. As though it had magically vanished under the waiter’s white towel. Of course, everybody else at the table was too busy arguing about who was the most accomplished impressionist artist to pay any heed to the waiter’s presence. Rachel had however witnessed the whole thing. She was convinced that she had not imagined the diamond since, from the moment she sat down, Sharon had been dangling the gem in front of everybody’s face as a hypnotist swinging a pendulum would. Even though the irony of the situation was truly delectable, Rachel was not the kind of woman to stay quiet when a crime transpired before her very eyes. Besides, if she was able to retrieve the diamond from the thief, she could rub it in Sharon’s face for many years to come. Rachel excused herself from the table and precipitately followed the man outside of the restaurant.

“Hey, you! Excuse me,” she exclaimed. 

Sounding surprised, the man replied, “I’m sorry. Do we know each other?”

“I saw what you did! You were serving water at my table and you stole my friend’s diamond. Very impressive sleight of hand by the way,” she added confidently. 

“You must be making a mistake, ma’am. I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Don’t play dumb! My friend hasn’t noticed that her diamond is missing but it’s only a matter of time. Give it back before I call the police.”

The pickpocket’s dumbfounded expression quickly turned into a conceited smirk. 

“Alright, you got me,” he sighed after taking a hammer out of his inside pocket. “There’s no need to call the police though. It’s not like she’s gonna miss it.” 

Rachel, startled by the heavy object, took a few steps back and said, “What do you plan on doing with that? When my friend realizes her precious diamond has disappeared, she’ll throw a fit, and everybody will be looking for you,” Rachel replied.

 “Oh, this?” he asked, perfectly aware of the intimidating effect that the hammer had on the woman. “Don’t worry it’s not for you. Besides, there is no need for your friend to make a fuss about her bracelet. The stone is most likely fake. I’m doing her a favor, taking it off her hands. I’m saving her the embarrassment of walking around with a counterfeit.”  

“Why should I trust the words of a pickpocket?” Rachel asked, unconvinced. 

“I can prove it! Have you ever heard of the fog test? It’s simple enough. If you blow on the stone, the heat from your breath will create a light fog on the surface of the diamond. Since diamonds are excellent heat conductors, the fog will dissipate almost immediately. However, if the stone is fake, the fog will remain”

The man finally revealed the diamond he had stolen from Sharon’s wrist and held it between two of his fingers. 

“Blow on it,” he asked Rachel. 

Curiosity prevailed over skepticism and Rachel reluctantly breathed on the gemstone. The thin layer of condensed heat covering the white diamond quickly dissipated. 

Taken aback, the man blurted, “Well I’ll be damned. Looks like I was wrong. This is the real deal.” 

To Rachel’s surprise, the pickpocket handed the diamond back to her without any second thought. 

Confounded, Rachel asked: “You’ve just proved that the stone is real and you’re going to give it back just like that?

“Well you see, the stone I’m looking for is a counterfeit. I offered it to a woman I deeply cared about. I thought she was my soulmate, but she eventually broke my trust and sold the diamond to a pawnshop. I tracked down the stone to a pawnshop nearby. The owner told me that he had just sold it to a man wearing a blazer with your social club’s logo on the chest pocket. According to the owner, it was a gift for his wife. The poor fellow probably didn't even realize he was buying a fake. You gotta be careful in these kinds of places.”

“I still don’t understand,” said Rachel. “Why would you go to such lengths for something that isn’t worth anything?”

To which the pickpocket replied, “The stone might be fake, but who said it was worthless?”

Suddenly, a loud shriek was heard from inside the restaurant.

 “WHERE IS IT? IT’S GONE!” Sharon screamed. 

Rachel turned around to look through the window where she saw the woman looking under every table in dismay. When Rachel turned back to the man, he was gone. 

She rushed back inside, and Sharon’s husband had already called the police. Rachel gave her statement to the two police officers that had just arrived and provided them with a description of the suspect. She, however, omitted to mention the fake stone and the pawnshop. She was not exactly sure why she decided to withhold that information, but she judged that the investigators did not need to know. Soon after everybody at the table had given their statement, they all went home. 

Later that night, Rachel and Paul were still uneasy about how their dinner turned out. 

“What a crazy night,” Paul said. “Bill just called me. He said that the police are still looking for the guy, but considering that the perp gave the stone back, the case is not a priority anymore. I guess the pickpocket thought it was too risky when he realized you had seen his face.”  

“I guess…” Rachel answered distracted. 

She was still trying to make sense of everything the man had told her earlier. 

She was brought back to reality when Paul announced, “I have a surprise for you.” 

Rachel looked at Paul, curious. Her husband reached in his blazer’s pocket and took a tiny blue box tied with a white ribbon. 

“I wanted to give this to you at the restaurant, but considering everything that happened tonight… the moment was not ideal.”  

Rachel opened the box to find an exquisite white diamond pendant mounted on a chain. 

“Sharon and Bill got nothing on us, my love. Happy anniversary.”

 Rachel could not believe the size of the rock attached to the necklace; the white pear-shaped diamond was almost as big as her eyeball. She wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and kissed him dearly. 

"Oh Paul, it's lovely. Thank you so much," she exclaimed. 

"You're welcome, darling. I’m glad it pleases you.”

After exchanging a few words and wishing each other good night, Rachel and Paul laid down in their king-sized bed. Unlike Paul who fell asleep almost instantly, Rachel's mind was too busy going over everything that had happened to even close her eyes. A small yet important detail was missing. A feeling similar to the one someone has when they are convinced that they have forgotten something soon after leaving the house for a long trip. Then, it hit her. It seemed so obvious that she cursed herself for not realizing before. The white diamond. The pickpocket. The anniversary. The blazer. The hammer. Rachel rushed downstairs with her necklace in her hand and exhaled a puff of air on the stone under the kitchen light. The thin layer of condensation lingered on the stone. She reached for the toolbox that Paul keeps under the sink and grabbed the hammer. Rachel held the tool high above her head and resolutely brought it down on the white stone. Amongst the shattered shards of white crystal was a genuine red heart-cut diamond with shades of orange that shined bright like a thousand suns.