The Pink Gem

"This is the one!”, said the little girl showing her father a magazine, "The pink one!”
He picked up the magazine and, as he sipped on his coffee, saw what his daughter wanted to show him: a pink bike that took over most of the ad.
“It comes with a helmet, knee pads and wrist guards. It also has a basket in front, a ring bell, ribbons on the handles, a bottle holder, and a secret compartment under the seat. It's so cute! Please, please, please daddy!”
 In one of the lower corners was the price: $99.99.
“$100!?”, asked the dad almost choking with his coffee.
"$99.99", his daughter corrected him. 
"I think it's very expensive for a bicycle", was his only reply.
"Your golf clubs’ cost three times as much", said the mom who was washing the dishes.
He started coughing like if he was chocking again. As he did so, he looked at his wife as he always did when he knew he was going to spend money on something. But he knew that this time was different, it was his only daughter's birthday. She was about to turn 6. 
"Oh daddy, please!”, she begged her dad.
 
Saving him from that situation, his cell phone rang when he received a call. He saw who it was, and answered immediately, “Good morning”
He heard a voice on the other end of the phone.
“I'll be on my way now. Keep me informed”, he said and hung up. Then, he drank his coffee in one sip, put it on the table, got up and said he had to go.
His wife, still with her hands wet and with soap, turned and asked, "Is everything all right?"
"Yes. It's from work, you know” 
"Well, be very careful please"
"Of course," he replied, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Then he said goodbye to his daughter and told her that when he returned they would talk about the bike. She gave him a kiss and they hugged.
 
The detective arrived at the scene of the crime, the mansion of a well-known jewel thief. He had stolen and paid for his crimes for many years, and now he said he was a good man. The police had his house surrounded. No one could enter, and no one could leave. Within hours, the jewel, known as the pink diamond, had been stolen from the city's national museum. The pink diamond was a diamond the size of a child’s fist. And it was worth $85 million. It was a unique piece.
 
Giacomo Perucci, an investor and philanthropist, according to him, was pouring himself a drink in his large bar in the middle of his great room. All the policemen were dazzled to see his mansion. Giacomo offered them something to drink, but they, as they were working, thanked him, but refused his attention. Giacomo finished pouring his whiskey, went out to his yard, and sat down at a table near the pool. He had a smile from ear to ear as all the cops went from room to room looking for the stolen jewel. 
 
They had already been searching for an hour when the detective arrived. The policeman in charge, realizing who he was, greeted him with great respect and lifted the police cordon that surrounded the entrance to the mansion so that he could pass. There were many patrols and many more policemen. Everyone was everywhere coming and going like a colony of ants.  Inside, the policeman in charge informed him of the situation; the suspect had been followed home just after the theft of the pink diamond. If he had stolen it, as they suspected, then the diamond had to be there. But if not, then they will only have made a fool of themselves, and Giacomo would get away with it again. They had to find it.
 
The detective went with Giacomo to introduce himself. Giacomo greeted him and asked if he wanted a drink, but the detective declined his offer. Another hour passed, and they still found nothing. Giacomo asked the detective how long he would have to wait; him and his family had things to do. He had already given them enough time to search for what they wanted and they had found nothing. The detective approached him and told him they would search until it was necessary. Then, he yelled at his men to keep looking. They had been on him for many years. They were able to put him behind bars for some years, but it was never enough since his lawyers always fought and appealed until they got a shorter sentence. He was in and out of prison, but every time he was out, some very expensive and extravagant jewel was stolen and could never be recovered. And in the meantime, he was getting away with it.
 
A couple of hours later, they still couldn't find anything. They had searched every room, looked under mattresses and beds, in closets and in the bathroom but had found nothing. In every drawer and corner where they could search, there they were searching like bees collecting pollen from a flower. But no matter how hard they searched they hadn't found anything yet. Many of the cops had slowed down. Some had stopped to drink water and rest for a moment. Others had gathered in different areas of the house to talk; everyone wondered where he could have hidden the diamond.
 
The chief policeman approached the detective and, for the umpteenth time, told him that his men had not yet found anything. Not far away, Giacomo was finishing his drink and, with a smile in his face, asked if they had finished yet. The detective looked at him and knew he was right. They had spent more than three hours searching, and they had nothing to show for. Maybe Giacomo was telling the truth. But the detective thought otherwise. He knew that Giacomo was behind all of it, but without evidence there was no culprit. The detective ordered everyone to stop and evacuate the scene. Their work there was finished. Everyone looked at him for a second, and then, like ants, obediently followed his orders to the T.
 
"We're leaving", the detective told Giacomo.
"Cheers to that", Giacomo replied as he raised his drink.
Giacomo said goodbye to everyone from the entrance of his house. He smiled as he watched the cops come out of his house. Almost all the policemen had already left his house, only the detective was still inside.
 
When he came out, he didn't even say anything to Giacomo. He just gave him a glance as he crossed the door. Giacomo's smile shone brighter than the sun. The detective felt embarrassed, he had gotten away with it again. And as he was mentally lamenting the ridicule they had made; he went downstairs into a small courtyard where there were some plants. On the background, where you could hardly see, he saw something that caught his attention and stopped. In a corner of the yard, there was the same toy that his daughter had asked for that morning. That pink bike she wanted so much. And suddenly he remembered what his daughter had said to him, especially the last part: "... and a secret compartment under the seat."
 
That day, Giacomo Perucci was found guilty and was sentenced to 20 years for the theft of the pink diamond. This time, not even his lawyers were able to save him. The next morning, when the detective’s daughter woke up, the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes, was the pink bike she so much wanted.