Fire and Ice – The retrieval of Jupiter’s heart

It was rare. So rare it shouldn’t even be here. Eric looks closer at the object in the case. He feels stunned. In fact, everything feels a little surreal. Emma stares at the gem with pent up breath. They were both feeling a sense of wonder. As for Eric, the wonder is cascading into even more realizations about what they are dealing with.

He sets the small glass case with the gem inside, to the side, and reaches into the metal box for another item. So far they have found ten small glass cases, with impressive gemstones mounted inside them. Each case has a name plate and a description of the gem. Eric looks at Emma. They have six more of these armored boxes, and so far they are looking at a veritable fortune in the first box alone.

Eric sets the empty box down and picks up the last glass case again. The nameplate reads that the gem is a diamond. A ten carrot diamond. There are more details on the nameplate. Such as the area the diamond was found. Also the name of the one who made the cut of the diamond. Eric feels a tug at his instincts. He sets that case down, and picks up the first case they pulled from the armored box.

Fire and Ice

Emma watches Eric examine the case. The diamond inside, is impressive. It glimmers in the soft light of the apartment. Then Eric sets that case down and picks up the first one they pulled from the box. It is a ruby, also ten carrots. The nameplates attached to the base of the glass cases, were almost museum quality. Not for the first time, Emma wonders where this treasure came from.

Furthermore, they still had six of the armored boxes to open. Eric sets the ruby down, and picks up the case with the Emerald. The gems are immaculate and obviously hold immense value. There are six diamonds, two rubies and two emeralds. Emma feels astounded. However, she can’t help but wonder about the other six boxes. And then there is the safe. In fact, now that she thinks about it, how were they going to open the safe?

Indeed, it was meant for them. It even had their names engraved on it. Eric picks up the armored box again, and begins putting the gem cases back inside. Emma helps and within minutes they are opening the second box. Fire and ice, he thinks. And it is also filled with smaller glass cases. In this one there are two cases with a coin mounted in each. The nameplates list them as very rare. However, they could only guess at the value.

The Retrieval of Jupiter’s Heart

An hour later and they have found fifty three glass cases. All with rare gemstones of varying size, and worth. Additionally there are seven cases with extremely rare coins. Eric is putting the last of the cases away, when he pauses, and speaks quietly,

“Somehow this little garage apartment doesn’t feel as secure as it once did.” He smiles at Emma, and they both look at the large and imposing safe. It is obvious the safe is formidable. In fact, Eric isn’t sure how they will open it without a combination. It is extremely durable looking, and he didn’t have the tools needed, to crack it.

Fire and Ice

Detective Laraby watches the empty lot with the garage and the shipping containers. Two people are inside the garage. Until just a few weeks ago, there was a house on this lot. Now it is vacant, and somehow this case found its way into Detective Laraby’s lap. Now he is on a stakeout. He hasn’t been on a stakeout in years. In fact, he wouldn’t be on this one, except someone put the screws to the Chief. Therefore the Chief is putting the screws to Laraby.

He sits in the dark and muses. This must be pretty important. The Chief was well connected. Laraby hadn’t seen the Chief nervous before, but this one was different. The Chief had come to see Laraby personally. Detective Laraby knew this was out of the ordinary. However, Chief Fred Jones had a way of getting what he wanted.

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