Blue Sapphire
Cases unlock in order, like levels. This is case 91 of 100.
Wickramasinghe sapphire mine, outside Ratnapura, Sri Lanka, 12:15 am. The iron safe in the mine office is empty.
Inside it was the Ratnapura Blue, a 42-carat rough sapphire pulled from the gravel that afternoon. At 11:40 pm a monsoon storm knocked out the power, which only came back at 12:10 am. When the watchman made his rounds, at 12:15 am, the office door was ajar.
The river flooded and covered the road, and the gate stayed locked all night. No one came into or left the mine.
Three people were sleeping on the grounds. One of them made use of the dark.
The covered veranda of the mine office, a kerosene lamp, monsoon rain drumming on the tin roof.
Suspects
Lalith WickramasingheOwner of the mine, 61
Tharindu PereraGem cutter at the mine, 34
Siriporn ChaiyasitGem buyer from Bangkok, 46
Case glossary
Words from this case you might not know.
- carat
- A unit of weight for gemstones, equal to 0.2 grams.
- Ratnapura
- A city in Sri Lanka whose name means "city of gems", famous for its sapphire mines.