7. The Surgeon
First Published: 1960
Robert Sandy is a surgeon at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. Recently a student had a serious accident and now that the young man has recovered, he tells Robert that he saved his life. The man is a Prince in Saudi Arabia, and he wants to pay him some fee in gratefulness, but Robert refuses. Yet, the student tells him that his father has sent a present and he won't take no for an answer. He gives Robert a pouch, and inside there is a diamond.
After work Robert cycles to the city centre and steps into a famous jeweller's, Harry Gold. Robert wants to know how valuable the diamond is, and Gold tells him that he could well sell it for half a million dollars or even a million. When he goes home and tells Betty, his wife, the woman is astonished and says that with that money they can afford travelling and even help their grown children. That weekend they are going away and spend two days with some friends. Betty thinks that they shouldn't take the diamond with them, and they need to hide it at home, so she comes up with the idea to place it in a ice-cube tray and leave it in the freezer.
On Sunday evening when they return home, they are aghast to discover that their home has been broken into, and the house is a mess. Everything is spread on the floor, even the contents of the fridge. When the police come, they tell them that this is a usual occurrence lately as some young yobs come into the house with the intention to get free drink and then they leave the house in chaos just for fun. The Sandys tell the police about the diamond which is nowhere to be found. Betty says that she does not care about the diamond any longer.
That Monday in the hospital William Haddock, a surgeon, is operating on a young man who got a chicken bone stuck in his stomach. Yet, when they remove the object obstructing the stomach, they find a diamond. He and a nurse go to Harry Gold's to have it valued, and the jeweller recognises the rock and calls Robert, who alerts the police. Robert arrives to find his colleague and the nurse in handcuffs, and eventually, they discover that the diamond was in a young man's body, and the explanation that he was too drunk and swallowed what he thought was a piece of ice.
This was an entertaining story with a happy ending.
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