Pearl Cove (24 page)

Who is the owner?

We are, Archer said, indicating Hannah.

Sengs eyebrows shot up. I dont doubt you, but I dont understand.

The pearl is Australian, Hannah said. My late husband developed the strain of oysters that
produces these black rainbows. He kept it as secret as he could. Now that hes dead...

I was Lens partner, Archer said, picking up the thread. Mrs. McGarry asked my help in
tracing the stolen pearls.

Sighing, Seng closed the box and handed it to Hannah.

No, she said, pushing the box back across the counter. Its our gift to your granddaughter.
But if anyone comes to you with pearls like these, please call us immediately.

Dont tell anyone else what you know about rare black pearls, Archer added. Gems like these

are to die for, Seng finished dryly. I understand.

If anyone comes to you with a handful of these pearls, or an unstrung necklace of matched
spherical pearls, pay whatever you have to, Archer said. Just get those pearls. Better
yet, call me and let me take care of it. Youll get a generous finders fee.

Seng measured both Archers restraint and his intensity, and nodded.

Whatever you do, Seng, Archer continued softly, be careful. No pearl, however rare and
beautiful, is worth dying for.

Again Seng sighed. Tell me. Are the rumors true? Is there such a necklace as the Black
Trinity?

Yes, Hannah said before Archer could decide. Two people have seen it. One is dead. The
other is on the run. Do you want to try your chances?

Seng crossed himself and shook his head. What I want is to see my granddaughter grow tall
enough to look me in the eye.

Then call me if you hear anything, Archer said. If other people come to you with rumors,
call me.

I bought the black pearl from Jason Taylor, Seng said. He had a bill of sale from a pearl
farm Id never heard of, owned by Angelique Dupres.

Hannah was glad Seng wasnt looking at her. She didnt think she had managed to conceal her
shock very well. Angelique Dupres was Cocos half sister, who had stayed in Tahiti to have
babies and run a tiny pearl farm for the family.

Whats the name? Moonbeam Limited. Archer almost smiled. After the old legends? Seng
smiled. I hadnt thought of that. He saw another customer approaching.

Is there anything else? he asked Archer politely.

Nothing that we havent already talked about.

I will be in touch, Seng promised. Then he smiled at the elegantly dressed, very large
woman who was looking into the display case. Mrs. Janzen, thank you for taking time from
your busy schedule to see me. Is your family well?

Leaving Seng and his formidable customer to exchange greetings, Archer and Hannah drifted
off to another booth.

Unless there are two women named Angelique Dupres Hannah began.

Later, Archer cut in softly.

She looked around. While no one was close enough to overhear what they were saying, that
could change at any moment as people wandered from booth to booth.

Okay. Whats this about moonlight and legends? she asked.

He took the change of subject without a pause. Some folks Pliny the Elder was among them
believed that pearls were formed when oysters swam up to the surface of the sea at the
full of the moon, opened themselves, and were delicately impregnated by moonbeams.

The tension in Hannahs face dissolved into a smile. Talk about the ridiculous and the
sublime...

It gets better. In India, where pearls have been pursued for thousands of years, both
Buddhists and Hindus have a category of god called nagas. Theyre snakes that have a human
head.

I think Ive met them, Hannah said wryly.

A smile flickered over Archers mouth. Nagas are guardian gods. They guard pearls, drops of
rain, and the elixir of immortality.

Maybe Jung was right about all those archetypes running around in human brains, she said.
Not to mention Freud. He would have a lot to say about snaky phallic symbols and pearly
drops and all.

This time Archers smile stayed on his lips. I can imagine. So could she. And what she was
imagining made heat slide into her blood. She wanted to hold Archer

like that again, only this time she would taste as well as touch the liquid pearls that
escaped his restraint.

He saw the small shiver that coursed through her. Do you want Honors jacket?

What? she asked, dragging her mind away from the image of him naked and potent as she bent
down to him.

This, he said, holding up the jacket that had been folded over his arm. Youre shivering.
Youre used to temperatures a lot warmer than the open floors of the Pearl Exchange.

Rather than tell him that the goose bumps coursing over her came from thinking about
getting him naked, Hannah let him settle the jacket over her shoulders like a cape. The
casual touch set off another shiver.

Why didnt you tell me you were cold? he asked, rubbing her arms briskly, careful to keep
the jacket as a barrier to direct touch.

I didnt notice.

He gave her an odd look.

She looked straight ahead and wondered how other women dealt with being ambushed by
passion in public places. Especially when they were with a man who was doing everything
but walk on the ceiling to avoid touching her, skin to skin.

Angelique Dupres is Cocos half sister, Hannah said in a low voice.

He simply nodded and filed the information away.

Side by side, not touching at all, Archer and Hannah went to every booth in the room. They
traded off asking about the special black pearls. Some people had heard of them. No one
owned any. Or if they

did, they were keeping it secret.

Here they come again, Hannah said under her breath.

Our shadows?

Um, she agreed. What would they do if we walked up and introduced ourselves?

Chat with us until backup arrived. Then wed have to go to the trouble of picking the new
bureaucrats out of the crowd.

Better the devil you know, is that it? Sometimes. Is this one of those times? So far.

And when it changes?

Well lose them. He looked at his watch.

Youre really angry underneath all that calm, arent you?

Archer looked at her with steel-colored eyes. The realization that she could see so well
into him made him even more angry. Yes.

Why? Someone told the Changs where we were. When I get my hands on her Her? Hannah cut
in. Archer thought of April Joy: beautiful, intelligent, and above all, ruthless. Her.
Definitely.

Fred and Rebecca Linsky were in their eighty-first year of life and their sixty-second of
marriage. Despite, or perhaps because of, that, they were known as the Battling Linskys.
Lean, white-haired, childless, no taller than five and a half feet, they ruled their small
pearl kingdom with a firm hand and an eye toward their employees offspring. The lustrous
pearls that had passed through the Linskys hands had paid for many college educations.
Their doctor, who lived next door in one of Seattles many waterfront condominiums, made
house calls at least once a week and never charged them a fee; her entire education had
been paid for with Linsky pearls.

While Fred and Becky didnt live at the Pearl Exchange, it was their true home. They had
built it, nurtured it, and continued to enhance it with the presence of their Third Planet
Pearls collection. The huge collection was housed on the top floor of the Exchange.

Hannah barely acknowledged the introductions Archer performed when the Linskys greeted
them. She was riveted by the cases of pearl objets dart, the one-of-a-kind jewelry, and
all the rest of the Linskys eclectic collection, including the sorting tables just visible
through a doorway at the end of the huge room.

Excuse me, she said, turning back to Becky. What was your question?

Becky laughed and put her fragile but not frail hand on Hannahs. I asked if you were
interested in pearls. Your eyes tell me you are. Would you like to see the collection?

We both would, Archer said, but Im afraid we dont have time for the full tour.

Hannah made a soft sound of protest.

Becky smiled. There are other days, dear.

Because she didnt know how to say she might not live to see those other days, Hannah
simply smiled in return.

A short tour, then, Becky said, pinning Archer with her faded blue eyes.

A short tour, he agreed. Beckys eyes might be faded, but her will wasnt. Displaying their
collection to an appreciative audience was one of the Linskys greatest pleasures. He
wouldnt deprive them of it.

Smiling, Becky walked eagerly toward a smooth cherry wood cabinet that was four feet high
and divided into drawers that were wide and shallow. The top of the cabinet was clear,
beveled glass, giving a view into the contents of the first drawer.

Pearls were the first and most perfect of all the gems men used to make themselves and the
things they prized more beautiful, Becky said to Hannah. The oldest pearl fishery we know
of started off in Sri Lanka more than two thousand years ago. Others contend that the
honor belongs to Persians, who have been bringing up shell in an organized manner for at
least that long.

Hannah looked down into the cabinet and saw what appeared to be irregular gold links
forming a chain perhaps sixteen inches long. Small pearls, impaled on thin strands of
gold, hung from some of the links.

Forty-three hundred years ago, Becky said, pearls are mentioned as tribute in China.
Mother-of-pearl has been found in Babylonian ruins that are more than four thousand years
old. Where there is mother-of-pearl, there is, inevitably, pearl itself.

Is that how old this necklace is? Hannah asked, startled.

Four thousand years?

No. Unfortunately, pearls are fragile. Buried in places that are either too damp or too
dry, pearls die. The necklace youre looking at has the oldest pearls in our collection. It
graced the neck of a Persian aristocrat probably a priest or priestess before Christ was
born.

Archer had seen the necklace many times, but the history of it still fascinated him, as
did the bottomless orient of the natural pearls themselves. White, ethereal, the luster of
the pearls was like a sigh whispered through the ages.

Why do you say a religious figure wore this necklace? Hannah asked. It looked more
decorative than symbolic to her. Odds, Fred said before his wife could answer. Throughout
recorded history, whether in this hemisphere or the next, pearls were objects of
veneration. Priests of both sexes had first call on pearls, except for the supreme ruler
who was likely a priest as well. It doesnt take a great feat of imagination to see pearls
and think of the moon, which was worshiped along with the sun. What is part of a god is
also holy. If you own those pieces, youre holy, too.

Thats the fascinating thing about pearls, Archer said. Theyre symbols of both chastity and
carnality, depending on the time and place.

A gem for all occasions, Hannah said with a sideways look at him.

A gem for all cultures, Becky corrected. Once pearl fisheries were established, pearls
became the ultimate status symbol around the world. Whether in India, China, or Persia,
the more pearls you wore, the higher you were in the pecking order. Romans wallowed in
them. Caligula was mad for them.

Caligula was mad, period, Archer said dryly.

Just because he gave his horse a high appointment and hung a pearl necklace around the
equine neck? Fred asked. Cant say I blame Caligula. Most men havent the sense of a horses
butt, much less the whole horse.

Cleopatra won a bet with pearls, Becky said.

Who had enough nerve to bet against her? Hannah asked.

Marc Antony. To prove to him how powerful and wealthy Egypt was, Cleopatra bet him that
she could serve a feast that was more expensive than any in history. She sat him down with
an empty plate and a goblet of wine. She probably smiled like her pet cat to see him
watching her skeptically. Then she took off one of her earrings a single huge pearl
smashed it dissolved it in wine, and drank it. When she was finished, she handed the other
earring to Antony and dared him to do the same. He conceded on the spot, for the earring
she had drunk was worth almost two million ounces of silver.

Legend has it that he financed an entire military campaign with the proceeds of the second
pearl, Fred said.

That was the general Vitellius and it was his mothers pearl earring, not Cleopatras.

No, it was Antony, and it was Cleopatras pearl!

Squaring off face-to-face, Becky and Fred started quoting sources, talking louder and
louder, and generally having a great time. The higher the volume of the argument rose, the
brighter their eyes got and the quicker their minds.

Which was it, Antony or Vitellius? Hannah asked Archer quietly. Vitellius. Antony took his
to Rome, cut it in half, and made earrings for a statue of Venus. Cut it in half... Hannah
repeated faintly. For a statue.

It was an act of piety as much as arrogance. Romans were completely in thrall to pearls.
The more they got through conquest, the more they wanted. They were insatiable and quite
happy to bankrupt themselves for pearls.

You sound wistful.

I am, Archer admitted, smiling a pirates kind of smile. It would have been a great time to
be a pearl trader.

Now isnt so bad, she said, looking around. To see pearls like this at any other time, you
would have to have been an emperor or a god.

A gleam from another display case caught her eye. She looked at the Battling Linskys no
sign of a

truce and sidled closer to the new case. Sealed within its glass walls was a rectangle
perhaps eighteen inches by fourteen inches. Its surface was gold. Countless pearls set in
the gold depicted the clothes of a saint: headdress, robes, girdle, all glowed with the
ethereal inner light of pearls. Rubies, emeralds, and sapphires were scattered about, but
it was pearls which dominated, pearls which were the true measure of piety and wealth.

Where on earth....? she whispered.

Either a monastery or the library of a very wealthy man, Archer said quietly. Its
medieval, Russian, and one of the finest manuscript covers ever made by man. It fairly
vibrates with awe and reverence, with hope for immortal life laced with fear of hell
everlasting.

For a moment all Hannah could think of was Lens fingers digging into her arm as he
screamed at her that the Black Trinity wasnt finished, couldnt be finished, or he would be
whole. The image of his rage and fear was so vivid that she said his name in a low, husky
voice.

Dont think about it, Archer said. He wasnt the first man to go crazy and equate the
temporal and temporary with the divine and eternal. There is something shimmering just
beneath the surface of pearls that brings peace or madness, depending on the man.

I know. Its just... sometimes its so fresh, as though it happened two seconds ago and the
screams are still backed up in my throat.

Archer reached for her before he remembered that all she wanted from him was protection
and sex. Comfort wasnt part of their deal. He put his hands in his pockets and turned
toward the next display case. Give it time. It will get better.

He walked to a new case. Heres another piece of pearl history. Strings of pearls that
could have graced the royal treasury of India or Persia any time in the last two thousand
years. Probably did, if I know Fred. The traders know that hell pay more than anyone else
for pearls with history attached to them.

Hannah turned and focused on the case. There was indeed a mound of natural pearl strands,
enough to make a maharajah or a prince weep. Beautiful, she said.

And they were, but not to her. Not at the moment. The ugliness of man still overwhelmed
her. Iran has chests overflowing with strands like this. Priceless, even in the age of
cultured pearls. Without touching Hannah, Archer led her down a

row of cabinets, pointing out some of the highlights within. Pearl-encrusted necklaces
from medieval Russia and England. Persian slippers smaller than his hand that were
completely covered with seed pearls. A necklace of pearls, diamonds, rubies, and amethysts
that had once belonged to a Mogul princess. A tiny gold box completely framed with pearls;
it was reputed to have belonged to a mistress of Henry VIII.

Hardly a recommendation for exclusivity, Archer added. He had mistresses the way some men
had cups of wine.

Hannah didnt say a word. She was still working hard just to cope with the present.

The interesting thing is that we only associate valuable pearls with salt water, he
continued, pointing to another case, but modern appraisers of centuries-old jewelry find
freshwater pearls again and again. Even today, the best of the freshwater pearls are sold
as saltwater gems. We have an enduring prejudice in favor of the seas mystery.

Exactly, Fred said as though he and his wife hadnt spent the past five minutes arguing
with each other. Ive always said that freshwater pearls beat saltwater gems any day.

Ha! Becky said. Thats foolishness and you know it. No freshwater pearl on earth can stand
against a good South Seas gold.

Bull, Fred roared. What about that natural pink pearl I bought last year from Tennessee?
What about it? Archer hid a smile. The Battling Linskys were off and running.

Hannah looked at the old couple and smiled despite the turmoil of her own emotions. Their
enthusiasm for an argument was matched only by their enthusiasm for each other; their love
was as transparent as tears.

Becky handles the saltwater end of their business, Archer said.

I never would have guessed, Hannah said dryly.

He looked at his watch, sighed, and knew it wasnt going to be a short visit. Silently he
followed Hannah down the first row of cabinets and display cases. They passed in front of
a wall with photographs of the most famous pearls in history, from Western queens to
Eastern potentates, all of whom were draped with huge, priceless ropes of natural pearls.
There was a photo of the Hope pearl, a monster white baroque weighing in at eighteen
hundred grams. There was a nod to Elizabeth Taylors La Peregrina, bought for her by her
lover and two-time husband, Richard Burton.

La Peregrina was a huge five-hundred-year-old pearl that had been owned by royalty. It was
rumored to have been eaten by one of Taylors lap dogs; the pearl had emerged from the
canine digestive tract a shadow of its former sizable, lustrous self. The picture on the
Linskys wall was taken before the incident. Afterward, there probably hadnt been much left
to photograph.

Sad, sad story, Fred said, materializing at Hannahs elbow. Pity she didnt feed him one of
her whacking great diamonds. It would have emerged unscathed. Calcium carbonate is
susceptible even to mild acids such as sweat, much less to the horrific acids in a
mammalian gut.

I heard it was only well chewed, not swallowed, Becky said.

Either way, a legendary pearl was lost. I cant imagine anyone feeding pearls to a pet.

I doubt that she fed La Peregrina to the dog. Archer looked at his wristwatch and added,
It probably scarfed the pearl off a bedside table.

Barbara Hutton fed Marie Antoinettes pearls to a goose, Becky said.

What? Hannah said in disbelief.

She heard that it was the best way to add luster to pearls.

Good God. Hannah shook her head, appalled that anything so unique and valuable could have
such an ignominious end. So much history and beauty reduced to dog and goose droppings.

Look at it this way, Archer said. When Rome burned, the cream of the Persian pearls for
the last millennium went up in smoke.

Stop, she said. I dont want to think about it.

Then think about this. He gestured to a prayer rug whose elegant geometric designs were
outlined in pearls. A devout, and devoutly wealthy, Muslim said his prayers on this five
times a day.

Elegant and beautiful, Hannah said. But it would be like kneeling on frozen peas.

Archer gave a crack of laughter. His hands reached to touch her, just for a few seconds,
but he turned the automatic motion into one of looking at his watch.

Its still there, Becky said tartly. Is the buckle loose? You keep checking as though you
expected your watch to be gone.

Guilty, he said. Hannah and I are on a tight schedule.

Young people. Always rushing from one place to another. Never enough time to appreciate
the place where they are.