Eye of the God Read Online Free Page A

still. Sporadic flashes of light illuminated faces in the crowd, but not so much that she could make out details. Almost four hundred people fanned out before her in the auditorium to watch the documentary unfold before them.
    She wore a simple cream suit, low heels, and reading glasses, and she had pulled her hair back at the nape of her neck.
    Slowly, the sound faded, and the short documentary wound to a close. The last image was replaced with a picture of the Hope Diamond as it looked in the special display case on the second floor of the museum.
    Abby stood just left of the screen silhouetted by a single spotlight. She took a deep breath and leaned into the microphone.
    “On November 10, 1954, the Hope Diamond arrived at the Smithsonian in a brown paper package sent via the U.S. Postal Service. Its courier was none other than my grandfather, James Todd, a thirty-four-year-old postman with a colorful past.
    “It was addressed in the flowing script of famous jeweler Harry Winston to Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., attention Dr. Leonard Carmichael. Winston insured the package for one million dollars, bringing the postage to a grand total of $145.29, a whopping sum for a parcel that weighed a mere 61 ounces.”
    Abby lifted her chin and surveyed the audience carefully. “James Todd escorted the Hope Diamond, alone and unarmed, for one mile. He was greeted at the Smithsonian by a crowd of reporters, television cameras, Washington socialites, and top museum brass. Harry Winston was noticeably absent. With great relief Todd delivered the package into the hands of Leonard Carmichael at precisely 11:45 a.m.” Abby paused for a moment and glanced at the screen behind her. “The blue-collar postman knew he carried a legendary, cursed jewel, and that he risked his life just by laying hands on it.”

    Alex Weld watched Dr. Mitchell give her presentation, mesmerized with the famous gem's history. An old thrill tingled his senses. He was eager to get back into the game after months of reconnaissance. Lifting a few paintings from a local museum in Rio was one thing; stealing the Hope Diamond from the Smithsonian was something else entirely. He sat fifteen rows away from Abby, remembering just why he'd chosen this career in the first place. Yet as he listened to the story, a deep sense of caution nagged at his mind. Something about her was familiar. Alex was a genius at remembering faces. It would come.

    “The Hope Diamond is the most infamous jewel in the world, and even in 1954 many people in the United States knew about its bloody history. Things are no different today. It is the most viewed museum object in the world, boasting more visitors each year than the Mona Lisa.”
    The picture on the screen behind Abby changed to a breathtaking blue diamond the size of a plum, surrounded by smaller white diamonds.
    “Although we can't pinpoint the exact date the jewel was found, it is believed to have been dug from the Kollur Diamond Mine in India sometime in the early sixteen hundreds.”
    Here the slide changed from the exquisitely cut blue jewel to a crude black-and-white drawing of an uncut, unpolished diamond of somewhat triangular shape.
    “This illustration was drawn by the French jewel merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. He acquired the stone in Golconda, India, in 1653. His memoirs were published in 1675, and although he goes into great detail about his voyages to India, he never indicates exactly how he purchased the diamond. This has led many to believe that he did not acquire the jewel by honest means.”
    Abby swept a strand of loose brown hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Tavernier was a noted jewel merchant who made a fortune buying and selling precious stones in Asia. At the time, India was the only established source of diamonds in the world, and Tavernier spent the majority of his career creating a trade pipeline between the diamond mines of India and the courts of Europe. He traveled