Who stole big diamond? It’s alimentary …

Police in the Canadian province of Ontario say they are holding a man who is accused of swallowing a $20,000 diamond for as long as it takes for him to produce the evidence.

It has been nearly a week since Richard Mackenzie Matthews, 52, is alleged to have switched a diamond at a Jewellers and swallowed the real one.

Matthews has been held at police headquarters while they wait for the 1.7-carat stone to pass through his system. Sgt Brett Corey said yesterday that Matthews has gone to the toilet numerous times, but the diamond had, so far, failed to surface.

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Sgt Corey says a recent X-ray showed a pair of fake diamonds, or cubic zirconiums, stuck in the man’s intestines but because a diamond is translucent, it isn’t visible. He says the suspect is eager to get the ordeal over with and is co-operating.

In the early stages, Sgt Corey says Matthews was being given laxative type foods, but is now being fed whatever he wants.

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