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"I have nothing to hide, not now"

"You cannot continue to go your oay as if the network didn't exist Everybody loses"

"Easy for you and your pals at the cartel to say when you hold monopolistic control over world diamond production"

"Why exploit the market on a whim?" said Strouser, "Why systematically cut each other's throat? Why disrupt a stable and prosperous industry?"

Dorsett held up a hand to interrupt He nodded to the waiter, who served a lobster salad from a cart

Then he stared at Strouser steadily

"I a on a whim I have over a hundred metric tons of diamonds stored in warehouses around the world, with another ten tons ready to ship from my mines as we speak A few days from nohen fifty percent of theh the House of Dorsett retail stores at ten dollars a carat, on average The rough stones, I'll sell to dealers at fifty cents a carat

When I'm finished, the market will tumble and diamonds will lose their luster as a luxury and an investment"

Strouser was stunned His earlier iy was for a temporary dip in prices to rand design "You'll impoverish thousands of retailers and wholesalers, yourself included What can you possibly gain by putting a rope around your neck and kicking over the stool?"

Dorsett ignored his salad, swilled his beer and gestured for another before continuing "I' where the cartel has sat for a hundred years They control eighty percent of the world's diamond market

I control eighty percent of the world's colored gemstone market"

Strouser felt as if he were teetering on a trapeze "I had no idea you owned so emstone mines"

"Neither does anyone else You're the first outsideand tedious process, involving dozens of interlocking corporations I bought into every one of themines in the world After I orchestrate the demise of diaht at discounted prices, thereby spiraling the demand Then I slowly raise the retail price, take the profits and expand"

"You alere a snatch and trash artist, Arthur But even you can't destroy what took a century to build"

"Unlike the cartel, I don't plan to suppress competition at the retail level My stores will compete fairly"