Randall Garrett

“ Drake said kindly. "If you hurry, old Belgezad will give you the antidote. It will be painful, but—" He shrugged.
"And by the way, Brother Dobigel," he continued, "let me give you some advice. The next time you try to get near a victim with one of those things, don't do it by talking to him about things he already knows. It doesn't distract him enough."
Dobigel stood up, his fists clenched. "I'll get you for this, Drake." Then he turned and stalked off through the crowd.
No one had noticed the little by-play. Drake smiled seraphically and finished his drink. ”

“ Her eyes were very trustful. "I've heard a lot about you, Drake, and I happen to know you never doublecross anyone unless they doublecross you first."
"Trade about is fair play, to quote an ancient maxim," Drake said, grinning. "And I am a firm believer in fair play.
"But that's neither here nor there. The point is: what do you have to offer? Why shouldn't I just pinch the gems myself and do a quick flit across the Galaxy? That would give me all the loot."
She shook her head. "Belgezad is on to you, you know. He knows you're here. ”

“ There were some worlds where Anson Drake would no more have stayed in a public hotel than he would have jumped into an atomic furnace, especially if his enemy was a man as influential as Belgezad. But Thizar was a civilized and reasonably well policed planet; the police were honest and the courts were just. Even Belgezad couldn't do anything openly. ”

“ Drake shook his head. "That necklace is mine. I can prove it. It was made for me by a respectable jeweler on Seladon II. It's a very good imitation, but it's a phoney. They aren't diamonds; they're simply well-cut crystals of titanium dioxide. Check them if you don't believe me."
The Lord Prosecutor looked dumbfounded. "But—what—why—"
Drake looked sad. "I brought it to give to my good friend, the Noble Belgezad. Of course it would be a gross insult to wear them at the Shan's Coronation, but he could wear them at other functions. ”

“ His own private police and the Shan's own Guard will be at the Coronation to protect all that jewelry." She cocked her pretty head to one side and looked at him. "What's between you and Belgezad, anyway?"
"I stole his toys when he was a child," said Drake, "and he hasn't trusted me since. How do you propose to get the Necklace of Algol if I can't?"
She smiled and shook her head slowly. "That would be telling. You let me take care of my part, and I'll let you take care of yours."
Drake shook his head—not so slowly. "Absolutely not. We either work together or we don't work at all." ”

“ The girl put her arms around his neck. "His mistakes don't matter as long as we have the necklace, do they?"
Anson Drake was never a man to turn down an invitation like that. He held her in his arms and kissed her—long and lingeringly.
When he broke away, he went on as though nothing had happened.
"Two mistakes. The first one was thinking up such an obviously silly plot. If it were as easy to steal jewels from the palace as all that, nothing would be safe on Thizar. ”

“ Belgezad will go into his suite in the Palace to change. He'll be accompanied by two guards. One will stay on the outside, the other will help Belgezad dress. I've got the room next to his, and I've managed to get the key that unlocks the door between them. I'll use this—" She pulled a small globe of metal from her belt pouch. "It's a sleep-gas bomb. It'll knock them out for at least twenty minutes. No one will come in during that time, and I'll be able to get the necklace and get out of the palace before they wake up."
"They'll know you did it," Drake pointed out. ”

“ Drake said nothing as they took him off to the Royal Police Station and locked him in a cell.
It was late afternoon of the next day when the Prosecutor for the Shan visited Drake's cell. He was a tall, imposing man, and Drake knew him by reputation as an honest, energetic man. ”

“ He headed directly for the spaceship terminal. Never once did he look back, but the detector on his wrist told him that he was being closely followed. Excellent!
Inside the terminal, he went directly to the baggage lockers. He found one that was empty, inserted a coin, and opened it. ”