“I wanted to see Mr. Cullens on a matter of business.”

“What business?”

“Something about which he’d consulted me.”

“Was he a client of yours?”

“Not exactly.”

“All right, then, what was the business?”

Mason said, “I was looking for a man named George Trent, a gem expert. I had reason to believe Cullens knew something.”

“What made you think so?”

“Call it a hunch if you want to,” Mason said.

“I don’t want to,” Holcomb told him, “and it doesn’t sound logical.”