Brandon and Olivia were stunned, they could not speak, they could only stare. Both of them were staring at Walter as though they were seeing him for the first time.
Walter looked at them and said, “Hello Uncle Brandon, Hello Aunt Olivia.”
Olivia rushed forwards and hugged Walter, and Brandon did the same. They ruffled Walter’s hair as though he was still a little child. Michael was looking at the trio with a wide smile on his face.
Walter said, “And you know what? Michael here…”
“…is going to tell you the rest of the story when you’re done,” interjected Michael and looked at Walter. Walter gave Michael a quizzical look, but Michael just gave slight nod of his head as if to say – “everything in due time.”. Walter understood and he said no more.
Once Brandon and Olivia were seated once again and had forced Walter to sit beside them, Michael continued. He told them the events which had taken place on the ship, but Brandon and Olivia still had questions.
“So, who was the person you were going to sell the diamonds to?”
Michael laughed and said, “Don’t you get it? There was no one there to buy the diamonds, it was just something that the FBI was made to believe.”
“But if you told Walter what was going on, that the captain’s diamond was fake, then why would he check the diamonds and get his footage on the camera?”
“Did you really think that after all we had done, we would be stupid enough to let ourselves get taped on CCTV? No, he inspected the diamonds in the camera to make sure that he was recorded. There had to be some proof for me as well as the other agents to see.”
“But then why did you two fight each other?”
“To make Will hear the sounds which he did, so that the agents could not even guess that the two of us were a team,” and then turning towards Walter he said, “oh and, by the way, you didn’t pull your punches.”
Walter gave a slight smile and said, “Was I supposed to? I thought we had to stick to the plan and make it as realistic as possible.”
“Very funny.”
Suddenly Brandon realized something. “So that means Walter didn’t drug you in the bar, that’s why the bartender did not see anything!”
“That’s correct,” said Walter.
“Yep, I just took a little tablet afterwards to knock myself out,” said Michael.
“But why did he sprinkle alcohol on you?” asked Olivia.
“I must admit, I asked him to do that for entirely selfish reasons, I had to quit the FBI because my job was done, but I couldn’t just resign without a reason, given the circumstances, it would have seemed suspicious, so I got Jefferson to ask me to leave.”
“Brilliant!” exclaimed Olivia.
“The perfect Plan” commented Brandon.
“Thank you very much, coming from the best thieves of their time, it means a lot?”
“Of their time?” asked Olivia with a smile.
Walter laughed and Michael said, “Oh, I think you will agree you’ve got some competition now.”
Once the laughter had died down, Olivia realized something. There were things that didn’t make sense.
With a confused expression on her face, she said, “Wait a minute, you said you found Walter, that all of it was your plan.”
“Yes, what’s your point?” asked Michael but he knew exactly what her point was.
“My point is, why would you plan to get us out? Why would you plan to humiliate Jefferson? Why in the world would you specifically target Les morceaux De Lumiere?”
Michael’s face went slack. He was feeling nervous, and he didn’t want to admit it, but he was scared. He had feared this moment since he was thirteen, he was unsure of how to proceed, and he was at a loss for words. This time it was Walter who came to his rescue.
“It’s all right Michael, it’s time. Tell them.”
“Tell us what?” asked Brandon.
“The truth,” said Michael. His heart seemed to skip a beat, but he could feel his pulse quickening, his hands were cold and for the first time in his life, he felt butterflies in his stomach.
“Tell us what Michael?” repeated Olivia.
Michael got up and went and sat down near the couple’s feet. They started, but they were too stunned to move after seeing the expression on Michael’s face. Michael’s eyes were filled with tears and his voice was quivering, but when he spoke, he expressed all his emotions with each word that escaped his lips. “It is time for me to tell you the truth,” said Michael. “And the truth is, I’m your son.”
Aurum Regium 