Page 42 of In Just a Year
“Right, and your idea with the layers of Izaac Pearler’s clue made me think about the layers of this building. It’s like the mines. When you dig into just the right depth, you’re bound to find something.”
“But what are those depths? What does that mean in the palace?”
“That’s what we need to find out. Otherwise, I doubt you’ll be bringing anything more home than the loot from the mines. Izaac Pearler hid his treasures very well.”
CHAPTER18
Back in London, Esther was preparing to leave after another successful piano lesson at the Klonimus house at 35 Regent Street. She often took the back door when Raphi brought her home in his carriage on the way to his house where he lived with his wife Laila and their son Joseph.
“Please give me a moment, Esther,” he said. “I just need to lock these pieces away.” He polished a large jewel in the shape of a wreath with open prongs in the center.
She admired the lovely jewel. “What will you put in there? Diamonds?” Raphi’s dexterity at the piano was unmatched, but she imagined it paled compared to his abilities as a jeweler.
“This is going to be a brooch, it’s part of a set. Yellow pearls will go here.” He pointed at the center.
Esther touched the prongs gingerly with her index finger. “How will they stay put?”
“It’s a delicate process, but Arnold can do it. He’ll drill small holes about one-third through the diameter of each pearl, and then I’ll mount them on each of these prongs.”
“Aren’t there normally at least three prongs?”
Raphi chuckled. “I see you’ve been paying attention to more than my music. Very good!” He picked a pointy tool up from his workstation. “Look, a pearl is a sphere, so too much of it would be hidden by the prongs, whereas a gem usually has a flat table.” He produced a large light blue stone from a small metal container lined with velvet cloth. “Like this aquamarine. It’s cut so it can stay securely mounted with three prongs. A perfectly round pearl like the ones from Japan that Arnold imports can’t be held like that.”
“You speak just like him.” Esther blinked at Raphi, who stood a foot taller than her, like Arnold. He was tall and muscular with dark hair like Ben and Raphi gave her a brotherly smile. Oh, how her chest hurt when she thought of Ben. When she thought of him, her arms tingled and grew cold.
Raphi left for the small room to lock the brooch in the tresor. Esther knew the safe was tucked away and bolted into the wall, but she’d never been interested in seeing what was in it. As crown jewelers, the Klonimuses and the Pearlers had such precious gems that she feared making a fool of herself with stupid questions.
Her mind drifted and her eyes fell to Ben’s workstation. She’d seen him there many times, hunched over the tiny gems he placed on the jewels. The only thing on his wooden table was a leather etui displaying several pointy tools. Ben’s work surface looked as deserted as her heart felt, devoid of his warmth and presence. Wrapped like a brown parcel with a string to tie it together, she closed his etui and set it down on the table. It looked like a lonely ship on the vast ocean of the workstation. Esther wondered where Ben might be now. She hadn’t received a letter in a few weeks and worried that her love might not return. Like the string that tied his tools, her stomach was in knots.
The back door opened with a click and the little bell over it chimed lightly. The grumpy frown of the stranger who entered contrasted starkly with the friendly sound of the bell. The scrawny man gave a cursory glance around the room and didn’t acknowledge her with as much as a nod. She stepped back.
He looked as if he hadn’t shaved in days, making his face as prickly as his demeanor. His hunchback became evident when he shrugged off a dripping wet coat and laid it on Ben’s empty desk. Esther was taken aback by the way in which this man—who was obviously not a Klonimus, nor anyone else she’d have expected here—made himself comfortable as if this was a space that was his to occupy.
He ignored her as he fumbled in his waistcoat and produced a tattered piece of paper. As if he’d done it a hundred times, he unfolded it and walked directly to Gideon’s workstation, where piles of books and ledgers were stacked with several loose papers sticking out. The stranger pulled the chair back and sat at Gideon’s desk, rifling through the pages.
Esther looked to the door where Raphi had disappeared but it was shut and no light came through the gap between the door and the floor. She figured she could observe the intruder, who paid her no attention as if she were an invisible servant, so she stepped closer and looked over his shoulder.
A cold chill ran down her back when she recognized the drawings from Raphi’s notes that she’s seen among the sheet music. She took another step forward and tried to decipher the notes that the man had scribbled in the margins. She needed to see what was on it.
The workshop was silent, and it was dark; only a gas light from the wall sconce and the flickering of the fire in the fireplace gave the room an ochre sheen.
Trickle, trickle! Drops from the coat that the stranger had left on Gideon’s table fell to the wooden floor like raindrops. Whoever this man was, he’d brought the discomfort of a rainstorm into the Klonimus workshop.
He ironed out the folds of the paper with his wet hands and the ink bled.
“Nagy!” Raphi’s voice thundered through the room.
Esther jumped. Engrossed in trying to decipher the stranger’s notes, Esther hadn’t heard him come in. The stranger folded the paper up and stuck it in his pocket.
“Ah, Klonimus. Which one are you?”
“Raphael,” Raphi answered through his teeth. “I see you helped yourself to my brother’s ledgers again?” He cast Esther a look and rolled his eyes as he took a wide stance before the man.
Next to Raphi, the stranger resembled an evil leprechaun from a particularly mossy part of a swamp.
“Harumph!” Nagy waved at Raphi.
Esther gaped. Nobody she’d ever met had been so disrespectful to one of the Klonimuses. They were admired in the community. Crown jewelers! How could this man peruse Gideon’s ledgers without being kicked out?
