The Shah twin diamond. Detective

«Are you going somewhere again?» – Mother asked uneasily.

– To Igor, we work in the technical bureau together, and, it seems, have become friends.

«Well, look, Valik, so that this friendship does not lead you to the bottleneck.»

– He is a serious guy, just like me, he doesn’t drink or even smoke. – I answered with a smile, gobbling up croutons, and drinking coffee, – Well, mom, I ran.

– Wait, where are you? Eat another serving.

– Thanks, mom.

Ten minutes later I was already in the subway, and after another 30 I clicked on the bell button of Igor’s apartment…

Chapter 4

It was 1945. In Berlin, at the headquarters of the Soviet Army, Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov summoned the first secretary of his office.

– Allow me to enter, Comrade Marshal.

– Come in Shitikov.

A taut, high officer with a red folder under his arm entered the office. He straightened up, standing at attention.

– Colonel Shitikov, at your order arrived. – Colonel struck in a firm voice, standing as if in a parade on a stand, quietly at the door.

– Come in, sit here. – Zhukov indicated the nearest place to his desk.

The colonel, with a chased step, came closer to Zhukov, sat down on a chair and laid out a folder on the long meeting table with chairs installed around the perimeter of the marshal’s desk. From his breast pocket he took out a fountain pen with a golden pen tucked with purple ink and began to listen to what the Marshal of Victory would say.

– That’s What Colonel, find me the commander of the Army of the First Ukrainian Front, Major Peremet Oleg Mikhailovich. Deliver here immediately. And tell me, let the adjutant write out a pass in the name of Comrade Major, so that he does not have delays. I will sign. That’s an order.

«Yes, comrade Marshal!» Let me do it?! – said the colonel in a military manner, rising from his seat.

«Yes, do it as soon as possible so that he is here.» «By emphasizing the last word, Zhukov added.

An hour later, Major Peremet was already standing in front of the Marshal. Zhukov got up from the table and walked closer to the major. He reached out and shook him, with the words:

– Oleg, I remember our conversation in Kiev, where before the war I was the head of the Kiev military district. You then literally broke into my office. – Zhukov opened his safe, took out a bottle of American whiskey JAMESON poured into glasses.

– Let’s drink Oleg for our victory. «And he served the whiskey to the major.»

– For the Victory, for Stalin, and for the Motherland! the major said loudly and drained the drink in one gulp.

Zhukov watched him with a grin, sipping whiskey in small sips.

– Well, how? – he asked.

– Wow, but our vodka is better. – with a grin said the major.

You remember, before the war, the soldiers of the building battalion built defense structures in great secrecy, and in my basement, according to my order, a bomb shelter was built with the latest lock system and the entrance from your room.

«Of course, everything was done according to your instructions.» I even sent my daughter to a boarding school where repressed children studied. Now they are evacuating with my wife in Kazakhstan.

«Well, I suppose your daughter is already quite an adult?»

– Yes, she even managed to study for one year at Shevchenko University. That’s just one bad jumped out early in marriage, and she was widowed right away, her chosen one died for the first time during the war.

– Say, let them return to Kiev, it is time to rebuild the city, and indeed the entire economy of the country.

I invited you on a very important matter. You are a professional antique dealer, besides a hereditary collector of antiquity. – Zhukov led the major to an antique small table with crooked legs, each inlaid with gilded faces. There was a small safe on this table. The marshal took the keys from his pocket and opened the safe. From it I got two objects of oblong shape. Put next to the safe.

– I want to know what it is? Is there any value in general that can be bailed out at an antique auction?

– Oh, Georgy Konstantinovich, these things have no price. This is from the royal collection of very valuable items. They were once donated by the king of France to the imperial throne of Russia. And during the fire in the Winter Palace, these two objects disappeared without a trace. It can be said only now that they have been found and will be returned to Russia.

«Well, suppose I know that without you.» But on the other hand, now in Russia the devastation associated with the war and the consequences of the war on the face. Banditry and mismanagement are everywhere. It is necessary to restore order, legality, and raise the national economy. So tell me, how valuable is this find?

– According to my estimates, and so on an estimate, each Faberge egg will pull one and a half million dollars, if you are guided by the prices that went before the war. But in fact, given the fact that the lost collection is found, the price can reach ten million for each. Of course with documented authentication.

«And how can this be done?» asked the marshal with extreme interest.

– I know that an authoritative and famous jeweler expert worked here in Berlin, many value’s throughout Europe used his assessment of the authenticity of jewelry.

«Did you know him?»

– And not only knew, but had some correspondence, because of which I almost suffered. Thank you Georgy Konstantinovich, you saved me then.

– Let’s remember the address and for the cause. I need documented evidence of the authenticity of the products. I will give you a special pass, you will look for him with security. For everything about all three days.

– Allow to proceed immediately. – Major readily spoke out.

– No not today. But tomorrow you will arrive here and with two machine gunners you will leave in search.

Zhukov gave the order to print the order on the business trip of Major Peremet O. M. in submission to the marshal, until further notice. With this order, the major appeared in the unit, and the next day with two submachine gunners from the scout squad began searching for an expert.

An examination established the authenticity of Faberge and diamond products, which were examined by an expert and issued certificates of authenticity for each product. Then the marshal sent a major with captured furniture to Moscow with a detailed description and an order to deliver to the Kremlin. To the treasures; Faberge eggs and Zhukov diamond wrote a handwritten order to deliver these masterpieces of jewelry to the Kremlin’s treasury. The major folded the sheet in four and hid it with diamond in the breast pocket of the tunic. The diamond, neatly wrapped in a scarf, remained there in a pocket to be stored right up to Moscow, then Kiev, suggesting that after restoration, he, along with the safe of Catherine the Great, and an antique table, would bring the diamond to the Kremlin’s treasury. The seine was taken along with furniture and the safe of Catherine the Great for restoration. In Moscow, a sealed wagon from Germany was met by a special person authorized by Lavrenty Beria. He thoroughly checked the list of objects, examining each. All delivered pieces of furniture, carpets, fashionable clothes and kitchen utensils had numbers and marked names in a long list.

When the turn came to the safe of Catherine the Great, the captain accepting the wagon asked: —

– And this item, why is it not marked here?

– This item is intended for restoration. I was instructed how to deliver it to an antique dealer in Kiev for restoration. Look, the locks do not work, the tiled lining is covered with cracks, and rust appears in some places. After restoration, it will be delivered to the Kremlin, to the Armory.

– Discover! – ordered the captain. The seine opened a creaky heavy door. On the shelves were two cardboard boxes.

«What kind of things are these?!» – sternly, looking at the major, the captain asked.

– These are already my two toys for children from my grandfather, gifts from the war. – The major was misleading, hoping for the captain’s lack of awareness of rare specimens of Faberge priceless jewelry.