~ 5: Trick or Treat ~

I knew that my father was just starting to get his buyers in packs, but I had to deal with selling the diamond. I wanted to give my parents a better life than living in a house with walls peeling off and repairing spoilt things when they needed to be replaced instead. I wasn't asking for more than a simple life. I just wanted that life to be comfortable when I wasn't going to be around taking care of my ageing parents.

Although I wanted to help my father, he didn't want me there and said to stay home. He didn't understand that letters for colleges were not going to come home like in his time. I already had an email to get such stuff done. Nevertheless, I was determined to make my time useful.

I marched off to the sea to wash the gore off my limbs and replaced the sword. I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Next, I went to the marketplace where the jewellery shop was stationed.

Over the years, this store had grown from a wooden shaft one into a truly well-built and decorated shop. But the owner of it had never changed. He was as stingy as ever, demanding high prices for shoddy trinkets and bargaining for very low prices for actual stones. He deceived everyone he could to get his job done.

Not many suspected him, and those who did couldn't get the better of him. Thus, I wanted to get him down and let him feel what it was like to take away money from the poorest of the poor.

The little bells chimed, claiming my entrance. The man greeted me most graciously, although I knew he was faking it. After taking a look around his shop to see what expensive items he had bought with the falsely earned money, I placed my hand into my pocket and got out the frail wire ring.

"How much are you 'planning' to give for this stone?" I drawled in a bored voice since I already knew what was about to unfold. It wouldn't take much time for the storm to blow up.

He looked at it very carefully and curiously with his magnifying lens and then under a microscope. I saw his eyes widen for a second or two and his face contort in fascination before it returned to its usual form. I guessed that he had figured out that the true worth of the gem.

After weighing it on his scales, he cleared his throat and said, "Two grand."

I whistled, trying not to blow off. It was madness to offer a nearly one gram diamond at that rate. He was deliberately trying to rob me of a diamond that was five or six times more than his stated value.

"Interesting. I never knew that glass could be turned into such a beautiful piece," I replied, pretending to think deeply with a finger rubbing my chin.

His face twisted in shock. It was nearly laughable to look at, but this wasn't my leisure time. I couldn't be overconfident to lose this business.

Not trusting my judgement made him go back to scrutinizing the little thing. To destroy his belief, I said, "It must be worth more, don't you think? After all, who can make glass shine like that?"

"Five grand should suffice. Indeed, it is an excellent invention." Then, he mumbled, "I can make more money this way and nobody would know."

"I will not have it for less than twenty-five grand. A first-time invention is being sold to you. You must be grateful that I brought it here. But since you are unwilling, perhaps the other jeweller I trust is better."

"That's a robbery! It's only a glass bit! Who do you think will buy something so foolish and think that this is an uncut diamond when it doesn't give any brilliance?"

"I'll have it back then. It has been a good luck charm, although it is what it is."

Seeing that he didn't have a way out, he begged me on his knees, "I will give you fifteen grand for it. This will change everyone's life. But it is glass and it can't be priced any higher."

"If you didn't know, my dear sir, let me say it plainly," I replied curtly, turning around and snatching up my stone before he could get his hands on it. "Such glass-shaped diamonds already exist, but not even uncut glass can give such brilliance. Are you genuinely stupid, or are you trying to deceive me?"

"My lady, I know that it is a diamond and I will agree that I deceived you. For a moment, I was struck with my greed. I was not going to offer it for anything less than eighteen grand unless you want me to have a look at it again and give you a better estimate."

I knew that once it was back in his hands, I would never get it back. However, I had a better plan than using words with him. He wasn't one who one could deal with in such kind ways. It would worth the risk.

"This is one of the best ones I have ever seen," he exclaimed. "If you tell me where you found this, we will be able to negotiate the price better."

"In the sea," I remarked simply. "It is a marine diamond. So you will have to give me what I ask for, isn't it? It's worth nothing less than that for sure."

He laughed like a monster who had caught his prey. When he stopped, his amber eyes gleamed. Being able to foresee this was no joke, but the difficult part was to put it into action.

"With the diamond in my hands and you, a gorgeous lady, in my shop at the time of day when not a soul comes, do you think things can get any better?" he asked as he strolled towards me.

That's when I remembered that I had stepped into the lion's den, although I had a plan. Without people here to witness, nobody would definitely ever hear of me again.

'Damn,' I swore. 'Could the day get any worse?'

'Don't lose any hope now,' said the voice. 'You have a plan and it is going to work.'

"Maybe, maybe not," I answered him as he came around the counter and straight towards me. I didn't make a move. Instead, I kept my penknife ready in my hidden hand and another evidence ready in case things went horribly wrong.

He came up to me and placed his hands on the counter on either of my sides. I just leaned back calmly, giving him a small glare of warning. He chuckled as he replaced one of my misplaced strands of hair. Then he trailed his fingernail down my nape, bringing my plaited hair forward to smell it.

"You're a good girl, aren't you?" he spoke softly as he kissed my hair.

"No, sir. You are very much mistaken there," I pointed out.

"Call me Jarvey, Hon—"

With a swift movement of my left hand, I jabbed him right on the back of his shoulder. He hissed in pain, clutching the wound as I took the knife out. With a sharp kick between his widely spread legs, I pushed him, grabbed my diamond and ran straight from there.

From the store, the whole marketplace could hear him yelling, "Thief! Murderer! Somebody catch her!"

I ran straight into the ranks of the police, who I had SOSed the minute I knew the trap I had fallen into. And then I had resumed the recording on my phone to let the public know that he was much worse than we had thought.

I threw my phone to one of the policemen, who I supposed was the head, right before a female officer handcuffed me.

"That's more like it," Jarvey said, as he limped out. "Seducing a man and then stealing jewellery!"

My head became hot with anger. The little voice was the only one cooling down my hot head full of worries with its solaces of 'Keep calm. It will be resolved quickly then.'

"She is too plainly dressed to be called a temptress," one of the officers barked.

"Release her," the head policeman ordered. "The culprit is right there."

Pointing in Jarvey's direction gave me a source of relief, even with him screaming, "No, it wasn't me, I swear! She was the one who came—"

When he realised his words weren't going to work as the police kept moving towards him, he made a run for the deep and dark forest called Laumar. He shoved people down and ran like a mad man as we chased after him. But at the end of the aisle, a smart officer was waiting for him and like an uncautious prey, he had walked into the trap.

"Ugh!" he shouted as he was captured. "This is totally unfair! How can you plainly believe what she told you?"

"The lady never told us anything," the head officer replied. "She had evidence to prove her point. And you have crossed the line by lying to the police force, sexually assaulting a woman and deceiving your customers. You will serve three years in prison."

They pulled away the screaming man from the place into a van. When he was inside, he glared at me as though he would kill me with his eyes. But I just smiled and waved bye-bye.

"You are a true hero and warrior, young lady," the officer said after making sure the man was safely locked away. "The people have been complaining to us about these incidents, but without proof, we couldn't act. Your evidence is detrimental enough for him to be imprisoned for at least five years."

"Thank you, sir," I said with a big smile and a small bow of my head. "Anything for the justice of the people."

"We want you to come to the police station in the evening to give your statement. Please do be there with your identity documents."

"I will be there this afternoon if it isn't a problem."

With a nod of his head, he went off in the police car that had come up. As the van went by, I gave Jarvey my biggest grin as I waved him goodbye.