The Diamonds at the Chinese Monastery

This is one of my favorite stories. It was told by Erle Stanley Gardner, the man who wrote the Perry Mason books. He had traveled to China and wanted to express his appreciation to the people who received him so well. Since his specialty was writing detective stories, he decided to write a special one as a tribute to China.

The detective’s name was Terry Clane. He lived in San Francisco and fell in love with his best friend’s wife. So he decided to run away. Seeing in Chinatown an advertisement that a Chinese Buddhist Monastery was offering free diamonds, he immediately boarded on a boat to China.

One day, back in San Francisco, he was dining with a young woman and told her about the diamonds.

“Was it true?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “I saw the diamonds. But I had to stay in the Monastery for three years in order to get them. I had nothing to do, so I stayed there for three years.”

“And did you get the diamonds?”

“No. They are still there. After my three years in the Monastery, I no longer cared for the diamonds.”

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