Free Trustee From the Toolroom by Nevil Shute

still a youngish man, under forty, I would say. He told me that he knew Commander Dermott well. He served under him in the recent war, when he would have been between twenty and twenty-five years old. He has a very high opinion of your brother-in-law. I am telling you this in order that you may understand the background of this business.'
    He paused. ' I would say that Elias Franck is a Jew, and a very good one. He inherited the family business from his father. He told me that Commander Dermott came to him last spring and wanted to buy diamonds that would be readily saleable in any part of the world. Mr Franck told me that they sometimes get"inquiries of that sort, and in such cases they avoid asking questions. It is no business of theirs what the purchaser wishes to do with the gems. Their business is to sell precious stones in London.'
    Keith nodded. 'I see. They don't want to get mixed up in anything.'
    'Exactly.' The solicitor went on, 'Commander Dermott bought diamonds to the value I have stated, twenty-seven thousand pounds odd, and took them away with him.' 'Just like that?'
    Mr Carpenter inclined his head. 'Mr Franck tells me that he was very careful in his selection of the gems for Commander Dermott on account of the sincere regard that he feels towards him. He thinks that your brother-in-law might well make money on the re-sale, and if the diamonds should come again upon the market he would like to have the first refusal of the business.' He paused. 'There is just one other thing. Commander Dermott asked him for the name of a reputable broker on the west coast of America. Mr Franck gave him an introduction to a firm in which he has confidence, in Los Angeles.'
    He paused. 'I have been wondering if Commander Dermott took those diamonds with him in the yacht.'
    Keith stared at him. ' I suppose he might have done. But why should he want to do a thing like that ?'
    Mr Carpenter sat in thought for a minute. 'I can only surmise, Mr Stewart,' he said. 'But, as I understand the matter, it was the intention of your brother-in-law to settle permanently in the dollar area, perhaps in British Columbia. There are restrictions on the transfer of capital from England to the dollar area, as perhaps you know. Under the present regulations your brother-in-law could only have transferred a very small part of his capital into dollars each year. It might have taken ten years, or more, to transfer the whole of it.'
    'You think he bought diamonds and took them with him in the yacht, to sell them'in America and get his capital that way?' , ' I think it possible.'
    'Did he ever tell you he was going to do that?'
    The solicitor placed both hands on the desk in front of him. 'Mr Stewart,' he said, 'if Commander Dermott did that, it was an illegal act. It was very highly illegal, and would have resulted in a considerable prison sentence if he had been detected. A solicitor must not allow a client to tell him that he intends to commit a felony. If the client should do so, the solicitor must refuse to advise him or to handle his case; in certain circumstances his duty would be to inform the proper authorities. Commander Dermott never told me or gave me any indication that he intended to do such a thing.'
    Keith said, ' I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know.'
    'That's all right, Mr Stewart.' He smiled. 'If your brother-in-law had such a thing in mind, he knew enough not to come and tell me about it.'
    'I don't understand why it should have been so illegal,' the engineer said. ' It was his own money.'
    'That is the law of the land,' the solicitor replied. 'Dollars are short in this country. I am not allowed to spend more than a hundred pounds in America if I wish to go there for a holiday. In the same way, your brother-in-law was not allowed to take twenty-six or twenty-seven thousand pounds to spend in the United States or Canada.'
    'I see.' Keith.glanced at the solicitor. 'He did tell me once that he wanted to buy a house when he got to a place called