Ruth Adler

Ruth Adler is 47 and has been cutting brilliants for twenty-six years, all of them on the third floor of the same Antwerp building. She was born in the city's Jewish quarter, the daughter and granddaughter of diamond cutters, and learned to read a stone before she learned to read a book. She says her father took her to the workshop at nine to show her what happened when someone was in a hurry, and that she has never forgotten the noise.

She lives in a bright apartment above a chocolate shop, near the central station, with tall windows, too many plants and a gray cat that sleeps on top of the gemology magazines. She eats standing up, listens to classical radio, and keeps in a drawer every loupeloupe Small magnifying glass used by jewelers and gem cutters to inspect stones. she has ever used, all clean, all labeled with the date. The house smells of mint tea and felt cloth.

Her brown hair is pinned in a low bun from which strands always escape; she has freckles on her fair face and short nails with a fine dust that won't come off even in the sink. She wears a brown leather apron over a gray blouse and a jeweler's loupeloupe Small magnifying glass used by jewelers and gem cutters to inspect stones. on a cord around her neck. She is dry and observant, speaks of stones with affection and of people with irony, and tends to finish a sentence before the other person has finished theirs.

About the weekend, her account is short and accepts no ornament: she closed the workshop at six on Friday and went home. If anyone asks more, she answers that she has nothing to add and that her time is money. When money comes up, she points out that no one pays her except her clients.

Ruth knows what the whole building says about those who wander the floors near closing time. If the detective pushes, her tone turns even drier, and she warns that the conversation ends there. It may be the reserve of a professional who distrusts people who ask questions for free. It may be someone choosing every word so as not to spend another. The detective will have to decide which.