Waiter!
What's that? Oh, my god.
Hi.
Madam. Thank you.
Hold on one second.
Well, yes.
Hold on one second. One second.
Hi. Sorry I'm late.
Cassie Jane, I'm the features editor at the paper.
We spoke on the phone earlier. It's, um...
Laura Quinn.
Robin, go ahead.
I got front page?
Perfect. Thanks.
Thanks, bye.
Whoo! We should be careful what we wish for. Hmm.
Having it all at 25 cannot be biologically correct.
So, thank you for contacting us.
As you know, we're running a series
of features called "Women Who Led."
All about the everyday women
who back in the late fifties, the early sixties,
started breaking the boundaries,
really inventing the modern woman.
A lot of people who turned up in our research
turned out to be dead, but you're...
alive, so that's great.
I, um, I need to paint a picture.
You're hired by the London Diamond Corporation.
It's number one in the world. It is the fifties.
It's a fiercely male-dominated environment.
You take on the men.
You battle your way up and become... a manager.
Well, that's not going to impress anyone these days,
but you were the only female manager that had ever existed
in that company and I want to know your story.
You know, I haven't set foot in this city
as a free woman in over 40 years.
Really?
It's changed.
It's an exceptional piece, isn't it?
168 carats, 58 facets,
very rare.
I stole it...
from London Diamond.
Good deal took place at London Diamond.
It may not be in your notes.
You've been in prison. That's where you've been.
Good morning, gentlemen.
Miss Quinn, good morning.
Good morning, Miss Quinn.
Good morning, Mr. Hobbs.
Aiming to beat the sunrise, Miss Quinn?
Literate, Henry. Literate.
No more blood for diamonds!
I see our fan club is assembled.
Murderer!
Good morning, Mr. Milton.
Morning, gents. Good morning.
I'm sure by now you're all aware...
tensions reached a head yesterday in Kimstad.
What are the final figures?
What do you mean? Dead? How many dead?
A hundred, give or take,
most of them on our pay roll.
It is a cock-up.
Everyone is pointing their fingers at us.
Christ Almighty!
The whole pissing South African regime is our fault.
What are the Soviets saying?
I'm afraid the Russians are leading the charge.
They're pressing for U.N. sanctions.
They're going to war with us
the week that we are renewing their contracts.
We don't need the Russians.
With respect, sir,
if the soviets broke away, it would be disastrous.
They could align with Botswana,
Sierra Leone, or even Angola.
Combined production would exceed our own.
We would no longer control global supply.
The cartel collapses and prices would free fall.
The Russians are paid well above market.
They won't break ranks.
In any case, officials from the Soviet diamond trading organization
are en route as we speak.
Precisely. To end our relationship.
Very well.
Now we have two days.
Two days to find a solution.
Wait, wait, uh, um...
one final item.
I'd like you to join me in congratulating
our newest Managing Director,
who, god willing, will keep us afloat in Cape Town,
Mr. Peter Boland.
Congratulations. Well done.
I'm speechless.
Boland over you?
The old man is losing his mind.
No, he's thinking straight.
In addition to being several years my senior,
Boland's experience is far better suited to the position.
Besides, they're doing me a favor.
Didn't you know cape town's a furnace in the summer?
Well, I hope that they've got something better lined up for you.
"Lon Di subsidiaries worldwide, 1,223.
"Female Managing Directors,
"0."
"Don't give up.
"Work harder.
"You will win."
You forgot again.
Lunch? Lunch?
It's a holiday, middle of the day,
people meet, unwind, buy make-up, plot against men.
Oh, it's all the rage.
I'm so sorry.
Look, it's one crisis after another.
Can we reschedule?
Tuesday it is, but not with me,
with Kenneth Pearson,
a friend of mine that would like to meet you.
Judy, it's so kind,
but I really don't like the name Kenneth.
Don't leave it too long, Laura.
There won't be any plots left.
Oh, working late again, Miss Quinn?
Always the first to arrive and the last to leave.
Your colleagues must value your dedication.
What's that bit from the, uh, from the Bible?
You know, "he who is last shall be first
"and he who is first shall be last."
Is that how it goes?
Yeah.
What a load of rubbish.
We all know you take what you desire.
Fortune favors the bold.
Take those South Africans, for example.
Do you think we should hand them their freedom
or let them seize it for themselves?
Well, that's an interesting debate, but a dangerous one maybe.
But for my money,
I'd say things are never as simple as they would seem.
I'm sure you're right, Miss Quinn.
You're the one with the suit.
Good night.
Good luck.
Living dangerously, Miss Quinn?
Recklessly, Henry. Recklessly.
Something troubling you, Miss Quinn?
The existing Russian contract.
I propose we simply extend it.
I'm sorry. You've lost me.
Was it not you that suggested the Russians
were on their way here to sever all ties?
If we allow the soviets to publicly disassociate with London Diamond,
let them pound the table at the U.N.,
denounce racist capitalism and so on and so on,
but secretly we extend our contract
and keep it a strictly private matter,
at least until the storm has passed over.
While they continue to wholesale
diamonds at a magnificent price.
That's not bad. That's not bad at all.
Who else have you told about this?
It's much better now than it ever was.
In such a short time.
Laura, is that you?
Harold Reynolds, good god.
Gentlemen, this lady is the cleverest person
I've ever met, and she's American.
Ran circles around the lot of us at Oxford.
Of course I don't talk to her anymore.
She turned me down for dinner three times.
I was just testing his resolve.
If he had tried one more time, I would have said yes.
I'm with allied banking heading up syndications.
We've just been sweating over your accounts.
A lot of ice down there.
No doubt impressive, but it's making people nervous.
But now I know you're here,
I can sleep a little easier.
Um, unless of course you're considering a career change,
with allied banking,
world domination can also be arranged.
Earliest and brightest as usual, Miss Quinn.
Oh, I do my best, Henry.
Thank you.
No, you won't.
Miss Quinn. Miss Quinn.
Why don't we sit in there?
Mr. Hobbs?
Yes.
Mr. Hobbs, I'm flattered,
but I'm... I'm... I'm really not looking.
Oh, please... please don't panic, Miss Quinn.
I'm... I'm a happily married man.
And I wouldn't be so courageous.
I... I have a proposal to put to you.
It's... it's a trifle.
Just give me five minutes. Please.
Come and sit.
It's something I do to get sympathy.
War wound. The Blitz.
My wife and I, we went for some music at Wilton's.
Very explosive performance.
Anyway, we both survived that one,
only to find out that my wife was living on borrowed time.
I thought you were happily married?
Oh, I am, Miss Quinn.
And I always will be.
Are you always in the habit of reading private correspondence?
Would you hold these for me, please?
Correspondence?
This is more like a diary of frustration.
"Number of Lon Di subsidiaries worldwide 1,223."
"Number of female Managing Directors, 0."
That first number is not correct.
It's 1,224 now,
but the other number, that is quite accurate.
You've succeeded in arousing my curiosity.
Now, I'm wondering what it is you want.
Well, I... I think the question is, Miss Quinn, is,
what is it that you want?
Hey, this is ridiculous.
They're... they're going to knock over a bank
in the middle of London in broad daylight.
I could have your job for this.
Yeah, and they might just give it to you.
I know that you've been passed over six times
in the last three years
for someone less qualified than you.
You know this has been illuminating,
but I am really am very, very busy.
Miss Quinn, please. Please sit down.
Please sit down. Please.
I... I haven't got to my point yet.
They're going to fire you.
Excuse me?
Yes, your ingenious Russian proposal.
How do you know about that?
How do you know all of my business?
Shh! Shh!
I'm only trying to help.
You know, it's extraordinary
the conversations people will have in front of their cleaners.
It's like... like we don't exist.
What conversations?
Well, I'm not a businessman,
but I certainly got the gist of it.
What conversations?
Well, the Russians won't accept your plan
unless it's kept secret among senior staff...
and only the senior staff.
They don't seem to think that you qualify.
Well, I don't believe you.
Well, uh, you... you're probably right.
The ramblings of an old man, eh?
Who would notice?
Hey, this is a good bit.
Look there.
Would you like a peanut?
Oh, is MKA in?
He's just left. That's odd.
Someone from the Prime Minister's Office is in the lobby.
Says he has an appointment.
Hmm.
Oh, no, that's not right at all.
Ahem.
Well, I seem to be the end
of the whole restaurant.
You look wonderful.
Well, I heard reinvention was the latest craze.
Thought I'd try it on for size.
Thank you for seeing me.
Well, don't thank me too quickly.
Um, ahem.
It's bad news, I'm afraid.
We can't offer you a position.
Really, why not?
There's a conflict of interests.
Lon Di is our largest client, back to the Boer War.
We funded Ernest Ashtoncroft's first diamond mines 70 years ago.
Well, it's done all the time.
You simply ask their permission to speak with me.
Say I know nothing about it, unsolicited.
That sort of thing. I did.
Look, and I tell you this in confidence as an old friend.
But they're saying you're grossly incompetent.
Claim you botched their relations with the Russians.
That is absolutely ridiculous.
I am sorry.
Word came down quietly you are not to be touched by us
or in all likelihood by anyone doing business with Lon Di.
Well, that's every last company on earth.
You said you, um, had something else to discuss.
Well, I... I feel stupid now.
I was going to finally accept your offer of dinner.
Well, that, um, would have to be unadventurous.
Married now five years,
three rather boisterous girls to prove it.
You should come over one Sunday.
Mmm, good soup.
Early lunch, Miss Quinn?
Very early and very long.
I'm taking the afternoon off.
Placed a bet, Miss Quinn?
Oh, I never gamble.
Not on dogs, cards, or strangers.
You were right.
Was I?
Why do you want to steal from the company?
Who said I did?
Hypothetically.
War and plunder,
the two most reliable sources of income.
I didn't realize we were at war.
In six months' time
I shall retire to a hearty pat on the back
and a not to hearty pension,
a situation in dire need of attention.
So money, plain and simple?
Suppose I wanted to do something for my wife.
Your wife who died 15 years ago?
The one you're happily married to?
Lovely. You did your homework.
I guess you would.
What else did you uncover?
That you're far from stupid,
and you were forced to apprentice under your father,
the one with the drinking problem.
Oh, yes, married at 21 and years later when your wife became ill,
you took the night job at London Diamonds
so you could spend your days by her side.
You never did use those qualifications.
Clever, Miss Quinn.
Clever.
How do you know I won't turn you in?
Are we still speaking hypothetically?
I mean, what makes you think you can pull off such a thing?
Well, simply because I have a plan.
What I propose involves the least possible risk
because we don't have to change our normal routines.
Each night at 9:00...
they lock the front doors,
which means, that for 10 hours,
no one can go in or out of the building.
They increase the security on the main floor
but on the lower floor they just keep these two guards,
here and here by the lift,
which is the sole point of access.
You intend to go for the vault?
That's where the diamonds are.
You can't be serious.
Generally, each evening I start on the fourth floor
and work me way down, see?
Nice day today.
Once through the outer floors
I'm escorted to the sub basement.
The next few hours are spent on rubbish collection,
mopping, waxing, minor repair and maintenance.
During that time, I'll work mostly unattended.
Once an hour or so, someone checks up on me.
Otherwise, I'm left entirely to myself.
I mean, in theory,
I could take off all my clothes and walk around naked.
A frightening thought, Miss Quinn.
Don't dwell on it.
I'll try not to.
I've saved the vault hallway for last.
The long corridor that leads to a circular door,
behind which
lies one of the largest singular deposits of riches on earth.
For 16 years I've been working
within a hare's breath of that door,
and for 16 years I've never opened it, not once.
You couldn't if you wanted to, not without the codes.
The codes are changed weekly and entrusted to only two people.
Mr. Eaton, lifelong company servant, portrait of reliability.
Rumor has it that the swiss use his pulse to set their clocks by.
And, of course, Sir Milton Kendrick Ashtoncroft,
aging ruler of everything that daylight touches.
And you plan to obtain the codes how?
That's where you come in, Miss Quinn.
Until recently, this was supposed to be a solo operation.
A year ago, quite by accident,
I discovered that Sir Milton kept the codes concealed in his desk.
Then some months back, they were gone.
Night after night,
I searched the office, but they never turned up.
Why'd you wait?
Why not do it while you had the chance?
Oh, I've asked myself that question a thousand times.
I told you, I'm... I'm not courageous.
But my hesitating will be your gain.
Will it?
And what will that require?
Here, proof of conviction.
You are on the, uh, guest list, are you?
It's business. I'm expected.
We're entertaining the Russians.
You suspect he keeps the codes at home?
On Saturday, go to his study
and look under the center drawer in his desk.
This is ridiculous.
Say I did find the codes
and you were able to slip in and out of the vault undetected.
How would you get the diamonds out of the building?
How much will it hold?
How much would you like it to hold?
What's the price of revenge?
Difficult, eh?
Would a million pound do?
Each? I should think so.
They wouldn't even notice that much.
Well, by then...
I'll be retired and you'll have been let go.
Why should I trust you?
The same reason I have to trust you.
We have the same objective.
Oh, you make it all sound so easy.
Is that a yes?
No, it isn't.
Be sure to wear something nice.
Good evening, sir.
Come on in.
The Russians here?
To pressurized carbon.
Here here!
Now that's a sight worth seeing.
Sir Clifton Sinclair, our very own insurance man,
making a rare trip down from his ivory tower at King's Row.
No doubt losing sleep over our somewhat top heavy inventory.
Oh, I don't think Sinclair's the type to lose sleep.
It's rather unnerving to consider a man
with that history as London diamond's greatest guarantor.
Ooh, you didn't know.
He was mixed up in all those insurance scandals
before the national health service.
Of course, he's completely innocent,
or he was never prosecuted.
Otherwise, we wouldn't do business together.
Allow me to present Vladimir Dmitriev,
head of the Soviet Diamond Authority.
Mr. Chanson, my second in command.
How do you do?
And miss Laura Quinn,
one of our brightest gems.
Ballet, vodka, diamonds,
the three things closest to the Russian soul.
And which do you prefer?
Diamonds, of course.
I'll drink to that.
My lord!
And what would you have done had I said ballet?
I would ask you to dance.
Of course, I have ulterior motives.
And, um, what makes you think I don't?
I shall miss her.
How's the old man bearing up?
Oh, I expect he'll outlive us all.
Well, I only ask because I should think hoarding
basically a worthless commodity would be very bad for his heart.
What am I doing?
I ask myself that repeatedly.
Sorry. I didn't see you.
Purely by design.
You've stumbled into my lair, my sanctuary of sorts.
Yes, I think I know what you mean.
At least the evening is a success.
Your father's spared no expense.
Never does, always first class,
so long as it's discreet and doesn't attract attention.
Yes, he's famous for his discretion.
Is it true he paid 100 pounds to the families
of the miners who died in protest?
Anonymously.
Pulled the bullets from the caskets.
Should be a discount for that.
What sort of man does such a thing?
A man of conscience.
Mr. Hobbs.
I'm having trouble with the heat in my office.
Uh, Miss Quinn, do you want...
more or less heat in your office?
If we do this, I want to know every last detail.
Understand?
Ok.
Now, if you just lock it off under there.
We have to call it off.
They've installed security cameras.
Closed Circuit Television monitoring everything.
I've been with them all morning showing interest.
Cameras in the building?
Yes, inside, outside, halls, lobby.
In the vault?
No, but the vault corridor.
They don't want security guards staring
at mounds of diamonds all day.
Can you blame them?
Oh, security cameras, goodness gracious.
What'll they think up next?
Is there any way around them?
No, absolutely not.
No?
There are eight separate cameras
covering the entire sub basement,
including one dedicated to the vault corridor.
The cameras link to the guard station,
and Eaton has a man on watch 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Basement's here.
We've got reception, boardroom, the corridor.
So you'll just have to reconsider that pension of yours.
All right. So, fool proof, eh?
And you came all the way over to the wrong side
of town to tell me...
when you could've told me tonight.
You've seen a way, haven't you?
I have not, Mr. Hobbs.
Your tenacity reminds me of my wife.
Why are you being so persistent?
Because I hate English winters.
Now, tell me how it can be done.
All right. There's one possibility,
but I'm telling you, it won't work.
Although there are eight cameras in the sub basement,
only four images are on screen at any one time.
Four on, four off,
and since the images cycle in 15-second intervals,
they reappear in the order they leave.
So each image is off-screen for...
60 seconds, yeah?
Yeah, 60 seconds, but that's not enough time.
Enough time?
I'll be in that vault in 10 seconds flat.
You can't be standing outside the vault
when the image goes off screen
and be nowhere in sight when it reappears.
You have to start at the end of the corridor,
and that's 40 yards long.
Well, I don't have a problem with that.
With all due respect, Mr. Hobbs,
you can hardly walk, let alone run.
I'm telling you, I can do it.
This has gone too far.
I'm sorry.
You're involved now, whether you like it or not.
I beg your pardon.
You gave me the code, Miss Quinn, so you're involved.
Make no mistake.
I'm going through with this.
And don't you pretend to me that you don't want it,
because you want it more than I do.
You want a life that means something that adds up.
And you know that this is the only way you're going to get it.
Miss Quinn, you said it yourself.
They're never going to notice it.
This is how it'll work.
Tomorrow we'll synchronize our watches,
but it has to be tomorrow
before they realize the flaw in the system.
At the exact moment you're at the vault corridor,
I'll call the guard station.
That should buy you at least 30 more seconds.
When this is over, I think best we not speak again.
Evening, Miss Quinn.
Evening, Henry.
Albert.
Evening, Miss Quinn. May I?
What's the word, Henry?
Ask me again on Friday.
Good night, sir.
Good night.
Ah!
Damn it.
Willis.
Hello?
Halt!
I'm afraid there's a problem.
If you won't mind, come along with me.
Uh...
Mr. Lewis, I'm afraid.
God knows what that man ingests.
Would you mind?
I'll, uh, leave you to it.
Mr. Hobbs.
Morning, Miss Quinn.
How are things this morning, Henry?
In a word, dull.