Decker said, “Marge, go on. We’re long distance.”

“Milligan has been investing heavily in the defunct companies for over two years.”

“That’s predating Yalom’s angry letters to VerHauten.”

“Exactly. But not predating Yalom’s purchases in his African companies. Maybe Milligan and Yalom had done some investing together. Because the same companies kept cropping up.”

“Why would Milligan invest with Yalom?” Decker asked. “What does she need him for?”

“If she was working for VerHauten, she couldn’t very well invest in competing companies.”

“He was her front?”

“Maybe,” Marge said. “Except somewhere down the road, they obviously parted company. Maybe it was over Southwest Mines. Arik bought in when the company was still operable. VerHauten and Milligan bought in when it had gone under. Still, if VerHauten ever decides to mine it, Milligan and whoever owns Arik’s shares will make a nice chunk of change.”

“But VerHauten’s sitting on it at the moment.”

“Exactly,” Marge said. “I think she had hopes for Southwest Mines, but with Yalom owning so much and VerHauten sitting on it, she decided to move on. Orblatt did some checking around mining stocks and co-op funds. Much to his surprise, he discovered some recent movement upward in these investments. Plus, three of the prominent companies in the mining funds were also in Arik Yalom’s portfolio.”

“Did Yalom own large quantities of those stocks?”

“He owned some, but nothing like Southwest. And VerHauten isn’t even in the picture. Now even though shares have been changing hands, the price hasn’t risen. But the activity indicates something.”

“Interesting.”

“It gets better. These companies are also being heavily traded by the African exchanges with an influx of buy orders coming out of countries like Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt.”

“Arab countries.” Decker paused. “They’re also North African countries.”

“Exactly,” Marge said. “I don’t know which fact is more significant.”

“Maybe both,” Decker said. “With oil prices dropping, could be some Arab countries are trying to branch out into diamonds. And why not, Marge? They are African countries. The continent is their sphere of influence.”

“Good point,” Marge said.

“Is it the government or individuals who are investing money?”

“That I don’t know,” Marge said. “But it doesn’t take a lot of money to buy stock in these companies. They’re either bankrupt or moribund. So they’re cheap.”

“Why invest in them in the first place?”

“All I can say is, look at Southwest Mines. It has potential. VerHauten’s just sitting on it. Maybe Milligan has found other companies with the same potential as Southwest.”

“Any indication?”

“Nothing yet, but it takes a while to get that kind of information.”

Decker said, “You know, Marge, no matter how much potential the land has, Milligan would still need huge chunks of capital to develop it.”

Marge said, “You told me that Rina followed Milligan into the occupied territories, right?”

“Yep.”

“So maybe Milligan’s on a mission to convince the Arabs to invest with her.”

“Except the territories are inhabited by poor Arabs. And while I don’t know my per capita incomes by heart, the countries you’ve mentioned are also the poorer Arab countries compared to the oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia or Kuwait.”

“Libya has oil.”

“Libya has been in the doldrums economically since the United States bombed it.”

“Well, all I can tell you is someone from those countries is trading in diamond mines.”

Decker heard a knock on the door.

“Peter, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Rina. Go back to bed.”

“What are you doing in there?”

“Hold on, Marge.” Decker reached over and unlocked the bathroom door. “I couldn’t sleep. I’m talking to Marge.”

Rina was squinting from the light. “Go back to bed and use the phone there. You can’t possibly be comfortable.”

“I’m really fine.”

“Pete, are you there?” Marge said over the line.

“Yeah, I’m still here.”

Marge said, “Rina knows more about that part of the world than we do. Ask her who the rich people are in Egypt or Libya.”

Decker said, “I’ll put her on the other phone. You can ask her the question yourself.”

Rina said, “Marge wants to talk to me?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m up anyway,” Rina said. “I’ll get the extension by the bed.” She crawled back under the covers and picked up the receiver. “I’m here, Marge.”

“Sorry about this.”

“It’s not a problem. What would you like to know?”

“Who are the rich people in Egypt?”

Rina kept her voice low so she wouldn’t blast out her husband’s ear. “The usual. Businesspeople, international financiers, ex-royalty, of course. And politicians probably.”

“But the country of Egypt itself,” Decker said. “It’s poor, isn’t it?”

“Very poor.”

Marge said, “So money is probably coming from individuals rather than the government.”

Rina said, “What’s going on?”

Decker quickly brought her up to date. “We’re trying to figure out if these land investments are government sanctioned or just the doings of some private individuals.”

Rina asked, “What does any of this have to do with the murder of Arik and Dalia Yalom?”

“Yalom owned stock in companies heavily traded in Arab countries,” Marge said.

“Someone killed him for his stock?” Rina asked.

Decker said, “We don’t know. All I can tell you is that Yalom had investments in companies being heavily traded in African exchanges-Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia-”

“PLO,” Rina said.

“What?” Decker asked.

“PLO,” Rina repeated. “The PLO’s corporate office is in Tunisia. Has been for years.”

Marge said, “So maybe I’m right, Pete. Maybe Milligan did go to the territories to raise capital. Maybe not from the inhabitants, but from their government, which is essentially the PLO. Aren’t they and Arafat representing the Palestinians in the peace talks?”

“Yes, they are.” Decker grew excited. “Aren’t they highly capitalized by rich Arab countries?”

“Not anymore,” Rina said. “They’re broke.”

“Well, so much for my theory,” Marge said.

Rina said, “They used to be highly capitalized. The Soviet Union gave them money. But now there is no more Soviet Union. They used to get money from oil-producing Arab countries. But times change. Libya has never fully recovered from the U.S. bombing. The Gulf War just about did in Iraq economically. The war put a nice dent in Saudi Arabia’s economy as well. And it couldn’t have come at a worse time for them, with oil prices being depressed. The PLO’s cash cows just don’t have the disposable income they used to have.”

There was silence across the line.

“Then how does the organization exist?” Marge said.

“As a matter of fact, Arafat was very, very weak until Israel gave him and the PLO power by giving them Gaza and bringing them into the peace talks. If Arafat ever gets a real government-and it looks like that’s a strong possibility-the PLO has been pledged hundreds of millions of dollars by the United States and Europe to get the Palestinian economy off to a rip-roaring start. Even if half that money comes through, Arafat will have plenty of investment capital.”

Again no one spoke.

Finally Decker whispered, “Milligan saw it all coming. She’s been cultivating the PLO for several years. Now that everything is almost in place, she’s making her move.”

Rina said, “What move?”

Decker said, “First, Milligan buys out undercapitalized land with potential for diamond fields. Then she cultivates the PLO, betting that eventually they’ll get a government and lots of start-up capital for its economy from the Western countries. Now that Israel and the PLO have struck some kind of deal, she knows she’s in like Flynn. She’s just waiting for someone to sign on the dotted line, so she can tap into those pledges.”