A driver had not shown.
Michael accepted another shift.
The mystery waited.
Three weeks after Danny borrowed the stones, Michael’s phone rang during dinner.
Unknown number.
He almost ignored it.
Then Danny texted immediately.
ANSWER.
Michael picked up.
“Hello?”
A man spoke quickly.
“Michael?”
“Yes.”
“This is Carlos Ramirez.”
Michael glanced toward Bruno.
The cat was asleep on the radiator.
“Oh.”
“The rock guy.”
Carlos laughed nervously.
“I guess.”
“Danny gave me two samples.”
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“Where did you get them?”
“My cat.”
Silence.
Carlos said:
“Danny told me that.”
“He wasn’t joking?”
“No.”
Another pause.
Carlos’s voice changed.
“Can I come over?”
Michael looked at the clock.
“Tonight?”
“If possible.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to say something before I inspect the rest.”
Michael frowned.
“That sounds dramatic.”
“I know.”
“Is there something dangerous about them?”
“No.”
“No radiation problem?”
Carlos immediately answered:
“No.”
“Nothing like that.”
“Then tomorrow.”
“Fine.”
“Six?”
“I’ll be there.”
Michael hung up.
Bruno opened one eye.
“What did you do?”
The cat closed it again.
Carlos arrived the next evening with Danny.
He was thirty.
Thin.
Black-framed glasses.
Dark jacket.
A canvas equipment bag slung over one shoulder.
He did not resemble the geology-obsessed teenager Michael remembered except for the way his attention snapped immediately toward the stone boxes.
“Those?”
Michael nodded.
“All from the cat?”
“Unless he has subcontractors.”
Carlos knelt.
He put on gloves.
Michael laughed.
“Are they dirty enough for gloves?”
“I’m trying not to contaminate surfaces.”
“That sentence is not helping.”
Carlos removed a small hand lens.
Magnet.
Digital scale.
A portable conductivity meter.
He picked up one fragment.
Magnet near it.
The rock responded strongly.
Carlos looked at Danny.
Danny grinned.
“Told you.”
“Told him what?”
Michael asked.
Carlos did not answer.
He examined the outer surface.
Then the edge.
Another stone.
Another.
After ten pieces, he stopped speaking completely.
Michael became nervous.
“Carlos.”
“One second.”
“You’ve had ten minutes.”
Carlos picked up one of the larger pieces.
He weighed it.
Recorded the result.
Then held it beneath a bright flashlight.
“Did you cut any?”
“No.”
“Clean them chemically?”
“I threw half of them in the trash.”
Carlos stared.
“You what?”
“Bruno brought them back.”
Danny started laughing.
Carlos did not.
“How many did you throw away?”