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Finally Fluette drew out, cursing me. I brought the Italians to a showdown. Still they hesitated. I became suspicious. One night Cristofano Paternostro, the head of the firm, called at my hotel. He was nervous and ill at ease.
But, after all, am I not premature in making this last assertion? Perhaps it will appear before we are through. The gem first became known to the world and acquired its name through one Luca Paternostro, an Italian dealer in precious stones having his place of business in London, who claimed to have purchased it in the rough from some adventurer whose name is unknown to history.
But they never grew disheartened; and at last their opportunity came. It was Tshen's father who slew Paternostro. It was he who won undying honor by recovering the jewel. It was he who, hard-pressed by the police, was obliged to seek the nearest sanctuary, which happened to be France. The rest we know.
On the fourth night after he received the cut ruby from the Dutch lapidaries, Paternostro was murdered and the gem stolen from his apartments in Hatton Gardens.
He was in rags, starving and broken in health. Thus it was that the rough, uncut gem passed into the possession of Luca Paternostro. The recovery of the Heart of Budda straightway became a sacred charge upon all the priests. Tshen's father devoted his entire fortune to the cause.
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