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right leg. There was nothing stuck under the heel, and nothing between the toes. ‘The other leg,’ said Granger but he ended up with the same result. He walked round to
face him once again. ‘Open your mouth.’ Jeremy opened wide as if he was in the dentist’s chair. Granger shone a pen-torch around his cavities, but didn’t find so much as a
gold tooth. He could not hide his worry as he asked Jeremy to accompany him to the room next door.
    ‘May I put my clothes back on?’
    ‘No, you may not,’ came back the reply immediately.
    Jeremy followed him into the next room, feeling worried about what torture they had in store for him. A man in a long white coat stood waiting next to what looked like a sun bed. ‘Would
you be kind enough to lie down so that I can take an X-ray?’ he asked.
    ‘Happily,’ said Jeremy, and climbed on to the machine. Moments later there was a click and the two men studied the results on a screen. Jeremy knew it would reveal nothing.
    Swallowing the Kandice Diamond had never been part of their plan.
    ‘Thank you,’ said the man in the white coat politely, and Granger added reluctantly, ‘You can get dressed now.’ Once Jeremy had his Etonian tie back on, he followed
Granger back into the questioning room, where Crombie and the two guards were waiting for them.
    ‘I’d like to leave now,’ Jeremy said firmly.
    Granger nodded, clearly unwilling to let him go, but he no longer had any excuse to hold him. Jeremy turned to face Crombie, looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘You’ll be
hearing from my lawyer.’ He thought he saw him grimace. Arabella’s script had been perfect.
    The two flat-nosed guards marched him off the premises, looking disappointed that he hadn’t tried to escape. As Jeremy stepped back out on to the crowded Piccadilly pavement, he took a
deep breath and waited for his heartbeat to return to something like normal before crossing the road. He then strolled confidently back into The Ritz and took his seat opposite Arabella.
    ‘Your coffee’s gone cold, darling,’ she said, as if he’d just been to the loo. ‘Perhaps you should order another.’
    ‘Same again,’ said Jeremy when the waiter appeared by his side.
    ‘Any problems?’ whispered Arabella once the waiter was out of earshot.
    ‘No,’ said Jeremy, suddenly feeling guilty, but at the same time excited. ‘It all went to plan.’
    ‘Good,’ said Arabella. ‘So now it’s my turn.’ She rose from her seat and said, ‘Better give me the watch and the cufflinks. I’ll need to put them back
in Daddy’s room before we meet up this evening.’
    Jeremy reluctantly unstrapped the watch, took out the cufflinks and handed them to Arabella. ‘What about the tie?’ he whispered.
    ‘Better not take it off in The Ritz,’ she said. She leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. ‘I’ll come to your place around eight, and you can give it back to me
then.’ She gave him that smile one last time before walking out of the morning room.
    A few moments later, Arabella was standing outside De Beers. The door was opened at once: the expensive necklace, the designer bag and the Chanel watch all suggested that this lady was not in
the habit of being kept waiting.
    ‘I want to look at some engagement rings,’ she said shyly before stepping inside.
    ‘Of course, madam,’ said the doorman, and led her down the corridor.
    During the next hour, Arabella carried out almost the same routine as Jeremy, and after much deliberate delay she told Mr Crombie, ‘It’s hopeless, quite hopeless. I’ll have to
bring Archie in. After all, he’s the one who’s going to foot the bill.’
    ‘Of course, madam.’
    ‘I’m joining him for lunch at Le Caprice,’ she added, ‘so we’ll pop back this afternoon.’
    ‘We’ll look forward to seeing you both then,’ said the sales associate as he closed the jewel box.
    ‘Thank you, Mr Crombie,’ said Arabella as she rose to leave. Arabella was