Free Return to Mandalay by Rosanna Ley

onwards and upwards as they say. There were still Bagan and Mandalay. And she had also been able to talk to Thein Thein about the packaging and shipping damage that Jacqui had complained about. In fact she’d arranged an inspection the following morning of a shipment that was due out this week. She’d caught it just in time.
    Thein Thein was doubtful about her conclusions. ‘I am surprised that your company not want these special goods I have found,’ he said. ‘Very surprised they not want to take advantage.’
    He could raise his eyebrows and widen his eyes as much as he liked, Eva thought. It wouldn’t affect her judgement.
    ‘You are likely to find better items in Mandalay,’ her companion now told her.
    ‘That’s good,’ said Eva, ‘I’m going there next.’ She eyed him curiously. ‘And what about you?’ she asked. ‘Are you over here on business?’
    ‘I am.’
    She raised a questioning eyebrow.
    ‘I have various interests,’ he admitted. He sipped his beerand regarded her appraisingly. ‘I help to run a German charity which supports an orphanage in Mandalay.’
    ‘That’s nice.’
    He sipped his beer, still watching her. ‘And I like to buy gemstones.’
    ‘Ah.’ Eva’s gaze was drawn to the signet ring he wore. ‘From here?’ she asked.
    He nodded. ‘A small Burmese ruby.’ He smiled warmly. ‘I’m sure a connoisseur such as yourself, knows that Burma is very famous for her rubies.’
    Eva twisted her own diamond daisy ring. It was the only jewellery she was wearing. In this heat she had decided to dress light, in a simple white sleeveless cotton blouse and a flowery wrap-around skirt; she wanted to fit into the culture as far as possible and it was the best thing to wear to preserve the required modesty and to keep relatively cool. ‘Hardly a connoisseur,’ she protested. ‘Especially not of jewellery.’
    ‘Ah.’ He smiled. ‘Every beautiful woman is a connoisseur of jewellery, is that not so?’
    ‘Perhaps. But tell me …’ She leaned a little closer. ‘How do you know the stones are genuine?’ Her guidebook had advised not to purchase unless you could truly identify the real thing. And Eva had seen the jade and the rubies in the jewellery shops and on market stalls, there were so many, you couldn’t help but. If they weren’t genuine, then they were very clever imitations.
    He touched his nose. ‘Contacts,’ he said. ‘For those whoare interested in buying good stones, they must make contacts who can be relied on. It is like furniture, I think.’
    ‘So it’s all about who you know?’
    ‘In Myanmar, yes.’ He frowned. ‘The government here is very strict about the export of gemstones. There are disreputable dealers. You must find a dealer you can trust.’
    Disreputable dealers …
Eva thought of the pieces she’d seen so far and the reaction of their contact Thein Thein. How trustworthy was he? He had seemed disappointed about the amount she had purchased and yet he must have seen for himself that some of the pieces were of dubious quality.
    She looked thoughtfully at her companion, who seemed pretty knowledgeable about such things. Eva had gone into this business because she loved old artefacts and the history they could tell. But in the end, how could you make people really care that a diamond was a real diamond and not a piece of glass, or that an intricately carved teak Buddha painstakingly made by hand hundreds of years ago was still in its original condition?
    ‘It is the price, of course,’ her companion said when she put this to him. ‘Look at the buses.’
    ‘The buses?’
    He was pointing towards the busy wide road. Two buses were creaking and hurtling down the street as if they were on fire, people hanging tightly on to the handrails. ‘Why do you think they drive so fast?’
    She shrugged. ‘Because they’re running late?’
    He laughed. ‘Because they are paid by the number ofpassengers on board. So they race and overtake each other to