Heritage of Deceit

Lloyd yawned as he clicked Random Article. It was lunchtime on a Monday afternoon. He knew he had plenty of work to do, but was not in the mood. He was passing the time on the Internet. He let out a deep sigh as the page loaded: Sarie’s Ring. He shot up in his chair and moved closer to the screen. He knew that ring! He read intently:

Sarie’s Ring is a small metal ring, consisting of a large, central cubic zirconium flanked by two smaller ones. Legend has it that Sarie de Jager, the alleged killer of thousands during the great genocide of 1992, possessed a ring. The central stone supposedly contained, in miniature text, a record of all the atrocities committed by de Jager.

Lloyd continued reading, but the words did not register. His mind was racing. Sarie de Jager? Everybody knew that name–the evils that woman stood accused of were legendary! She had killed herself before she could stand trial, so many families desperately longed for closure.

The article explained that, after her death, her father had supposedly hidden the ring. He had denied its very existence until his own death years later, after which the ring had been lost.

Now, where had he seen that ring before?

Carla–of course! Carla was the shy woman in accounts. He had seen that ring on her finger many times before. What were the chances of it being the same ring? It could not be… could it?

He trembled with excitement. It was the same ring; he was sure of it!

Lloyd had been growing restless over the past few weeks. His position in the operations department at CGT Steel had been his first, given to him because he had exhibited such young, unbridled passion during his interview. That was four years ago, though, and he was getting bored. It was becoming apparent to Lloyd that he was not the kind of man who worked the same job for fifty years. His passion was still there, but it was no longer concerned with the company. It wandered to new things, different things, ways he could make a difference and perhaps a little money on the side. Sarie’s Ring offered such an opportunity. He salivated over what it could be worth. Of course, helping the thousands of families of that evil woman’s victims would be a nice bonus too, he convinced himself.

Just then, Robert walked past him, flashing a cigarette lighter as he passed. Perfect timing! Lloyd was burning to tell someone, and he could do with a smoke after the excitement of his find on the Internet. He nodded, stood up, and followed his friend.