question.
âMore than your average gardener, I would say. More important, I know the workings of the business, the wholesale as well as the retail side. How roses are grown commercially. How theyâre marketed and merchandized. Who the big players are â most of the small ones too.â
âExcellent,â said Alex.
Adellâs phone buzzed. He picked it up and, turning away from them, listened for no more than a few seconds. âTell him Iâll call him back within the hour. Thanks, Martha.â He placed the phone down and swivelled his chair back to face Alex and Kate. âSpeak of the devil. That was Charlie Compton â now let me see, where was I?â
âYou were talking about the commercial side of roses,â Alex reminded him.
âRight. Itâs big business â colossal, in fact. Itâs the worldâs oldest cultivated plant and the sales keep growing every year. To give you some general idea about the numbers, last time I checked â quite a while ago â the combined sales of cut flowers and plants, worldwide, was around forty to fifty billion US dollars. Thereâs an enormous worldwide interest in gardening these days, and roses are the star attraction. Jackson and Perkins, the largest volume grower in the States, sell more roses in greater quality and variety than any other brand name in the world. Last time I looked, they were closing in on growing twenty million rose bushes a year. Baker-Reynolds in Washington State is not far behind.â
Alex took a quick glance at Kate. She looked impressed. âTheyâre mind-boggling numbers,â he said. âSo the long-term value of a blue rose would be in the many millions. Ultimately billions?â
âA lot will depend on how the gardening public receives a blue rose, but my guess would be that, yes, it could â over the course of a few years â top the billion mark,â said Adell.
âKingston was right, then,â Kate murmured.
The conference continued for another half-hour. By that time Adell had sketched out a tentative but well-conceived plan of action. It was his last suggestion that took Kate and Alex by surprise: that the blue rose be sold to the highest bidder at an international auction. âHow would you achieve the maximum price for a Degas or van Gogh?â Adell reasoned.
âQuite ingenious,â said Kate.
Then he added a caveat. âIf we are to proceed down this road â and that is my recommendation â it stands to reason that we will not be able to contain the secret of a blue rose for long. So a word of caution. No matter how diligent we are or what constraints we apply, word will get out. And when it does, itâs going to spread like wildfire. Itâs going to happen very fast. Every rose grower on the planet is going to be on our doorstep wanting to know more, trying to circumvent the auction. From the very minute we contact the auctioneers, it wonât be a secret any more. I want you to understand that.â
âYou think weâre opening a Pandoraâs Box?â
âItâs impossible to say, Kate. How this is going to affect the two of you, we will never know until it actually happens.â He paused to take a sip of tea then flashed a genial smile from behind the gold rim of his teacup and shook his head. âAll Iâm advising is that you will have to exercise reasonable care and good judgement, because youâll become public domain as it were. Privacy will become a thing of the past.â
Alex was reminded of Kingstonâs similar words of caution. He said nothing.
Adell ran his pen down his list of notes and circled one. âThe question of security,â he said, rubbing his chin. âWeâll need to undertake measures to ensure the roseâs safety. Until we can move it to a properly secure location, it should be guarded around the clock. For the moment â if you are absolutely