One for the Road

by Will Roberts

  When they arrived back in Changwon, Adam was invited into the Lim’s apartment for a drink, and after a few sojus and beer, Adam was about to say goodbye to Mr Lim and his wife and to Jin, but before he could, Mr Lim went into the bedroom and returned with a quite large, ornate, Korean box.

  “These are Joe’s things, which I have kept. You should give them to your mother when you tell her my story. Tell her she should be very proud of her little brother. He was not a common thief. He was a wonderful man and a great friend. Goodbye, Adam. I have very much enjoyed our short time together and if you ever return to South Korea, make sure you come and visit.” Mr Lim handed Adam the box and shook his hand before he turned to leave the apartment.

  “Mr Lim,” Adam called out as was about to enter the lift. The old man turned.

  “My full name is Adam Joseph Evans,” Adam said.

  Mr Lim then nodded and said, “Joe would have been pleased to have a nephew named after him, and also very proud of you, Adam Joseph.”

  Adam then embraced Mrs Lim and said goodbye and that he would be sure to return to visit them. He and Jin shook hands and they said their goodbyes but before he left, Jin gave Adam a small card.

  “These numbers are mine and my grandfather’s telephone numbers – if you need to call for any reason, it would save you the cost of an air flight,” Jin said with a smile.

  “Yes, thank you Jin, and here is mine,” Adam said, as he handed Jin his own business card. “If your grandfather remembers anything, perhaps you could let me know?”

  “Yes, of course, Adam! Have a safe journey home.”

  Adam then returned to his hotel room, intending to pack the box in his suitcase, but before he went to the bar he decided to open the box. Inside was Joe’s Gloucestershire Regiment beret, with its crest on the back as well as the front, and a bugle. Adam sniggered when he picked it up; it was battered and dented. I bet Joe hated that, he thought. There were also three Zippo cigarette lighters, several un-posted letters, addressed to his mother and grandparents, and a tub of Brylcream that contained something that rattled when he shook it but was sealed with scotch tape. Strange, he thought as he shook it again. “I’ll open that later,” he said to himself.

  There was also an old bankbook, in the name of Joseph Watts, from Lloyd’s Bank of Holborn. Adam flicked through it. There was a balance of a little over two thousand pounds. The last entry was a deposit of five hundred pounds on the fifteenth of December 1949.

  He then removed two medals, one a bronze round medal with the United Nation symbol clearly visible, with blue and white vertical stripes and with KOREA displayed across the ribbon. The other was silver coloured, with the Queen’s head shown on one side and, on the reverse, a depiction of what looked like Hercules slaying the Hydra, with KOREA written at the bottom. The ribbon was yellow and blue. I’ll look these up on the internet when I get home, Adam thought.

  The box also contained a pair of dog tags, bearing the name ‘Gee, J’, his service number, blood type, A1+, and C of E, his religion.

  Adam sat for a few moments and stared at the dog tags. What had frightened Joe so much that he felt he needed to assume a new identity?

  On the bottom of the box, he found a folded piece of paper now brown, torn and dog-eared. He opened it carefully not wanting to damage it further. It was a picture of a man in a suit and sporting a beard. It was done in crayon by a child and Adam could just make out the name ‘Joe’ at the top of the page and at the bottom of the page, ‘by Sian’, Adam’s sister.

  Adam was somewhat taken aback by this and was overcome with emotion. He definitely needed a drink. He sat on the bed to compose himself. There had been so much to take in over the last few hours. Slowly, he managed to force the box into his suitcase.

  “Just one more thing I need to do before I go to the bar,” he said to himself, as he took his mobile phone from his coat pocket.

  He pressed the speed dial number and held the phone to his ear. The phone was ringing but it was a while before the call was accepted.

  “Hello,” the frail voice answered.

  “Mum, it’s Adam! I’ve found Joe!”

  York, England

  February 2000

  Adam arrived at Heathrow on the Korean Air flight and, after passing through customs and collecting his luggage, picked up his pre-booked car from the rental company. His next job, a technical assistance contract for a melt shop in South America, didn’t start for another month and he intended to investigate further Uncle Joe’s disappearance fifty years ago. Why had he feared for his life? After all, he’d only been a get-away driver.

  He left Heathrow airport and drove west on the M4, over the Severn Bridge, and into Wales. Arriving at his flat overlooking the River Usk late in the evening, he took a quick shower and put on some fresh clothes; he then immediately got back into the rental car and drove to his ex-wife’s house to pick up his son, Paul.

  He had called Helen from Incheon airport in Seoul before the flight to ask if it was okay to have Paul for the weekend, as he was planning to spend the weekend at his sister Sian’s house in York. Naturally, he wanted to spend some time with his son. Helen had agreed, as he knew she would. He then called Sian to ask if she could accommodate Paul and himself; she said that she was sure they could arrange something.

  Sian had two boys, Jack and Lewis, both in their teens: Jack was at university in Southampton while Lewis was in high school studying for his A-levels. Peter, Sian’s husband, had died suddenly two years ago following a heart attack.

  Sian was extremely excited about Adam’s story as, indeed, was their mother, Jen, who was desperate to hear about her long-lost brother. Sian suggested that Paul call their sister, Rachel, who was also still living in south Wales and bring her to York for an impromptu family reunion.

  Adam called his sister, who wanted to hear the story just as much as her sister, but said that first she had to make some calls but would call him back. After a short time, Rachel called and it was arranged she would travel by train and Adam pick her up at the station and that they would travel together in Adam’s rental car.

  That night, Adam and Paul walked into the city centre to their favourite Italian restaurant, where they both chose pizza, washed down with a glass of Italian beer (Adam) and coke (Paul). Afterwards, they took a leisurely walk back to Adam’s flat and had an early night, ready for the long drive to York the following morning.

  Adam checked his mail during breakfast the next morning and, after packing an overnight case with the bare essentials and not forgetting the ornate Korean box containing Joe’s personal items, which they put in the boot of the car, they began the trip to York, with their first stop being to pick up Rachel from the railway station.

  After parking the car in the ‘Pay and Display’ car park, Adam and Paul each got a platform ticket and, after finding out the correct platform, they waited for Rachel, Adam’s sister, Paul’s aunty. The train was on time and after hugs all around, the three walked to the car and so began the journey to York.

  Rachel was full of questions, not only about Adam’s trip to South Korea but to Paul as well. It had been a long time since Rachel had seen Adam and Paul, and Paul had grown considerably since their last meeting. After several breaks, both for conveniences and for snacks, they arrived at Sian’s home in York.

  Adam tried to get to see his mother and Sian as often as he could but he felt bad that the visits were so infrequent. Paul, however, was the real centre of attention; it was even longer since they had seen him. Sian had laid out a buffet supper and there was a plentiful beer and wine. It was a lovely evening with everybody catching up with the family gossip.

  Adam was on his third bottle of lager and was in conversation with Lewis, Sian’s youngest son, who was also enjoying a bottle of beer. Adam was asking what Lewis wanted to study at University after he had finished his A levels. Lewis was a fine athlete and excelled at the multi-discipline event, the decathlon; he was hoping to study Sports Science at Loughborou
gh University.

  Adam also asked after Jack, who was studying at Southampton University.

  “He’s doing okay, Adam. An out of work alcoholic, but Mum’s proud of him,” Lewis answered cynically.

  “If you are going to be an athlete, Lewis, I guess you won’t be following in his footsteps, then?” Adam asked.

  “Everything in moderation, Uncle Adam!” Lewis replied holding up his half-finished bottle of beer.

  “Absolutely, Lewis! I agree entirely!” Adam held up his bottle and the two clicked them together.

  It was then that his mother called to Adam. “You cannot keep us in suspense any longer, Adam. Now, come over here and tell us all the story of my long lost brother, Joe,” she demanded.

  “Of course, mum. Now is the time,” Adam replied as he left his nephew and sat on the sofa alongside his mother. He took another swig of lager before launching into the story told him by the old Korean War veteran.

  It was almost midnight when Adam finished his story. He was not interrupted once and whenever he finished a bottle of lager, another was handed to him; now, however, he had finished the story and the questions began to come thick and fast.

  “Why did he feel he had to disappear?” Sian asked. “He was only a get-away driver.”

  “Why were the jewels never reported as stolen?” Rachel probed.

  “What happened to the five hundred quid he got for his Jag?” Lewis inquired, flippantly.

  “It so happens, I can answer that question, Lewis,” Adam replied, remembering the ornate Korean box for the first time since he arrived in York.

  He dashed out of the front door to the rental car, parked on the road outside the house. Within a few minutes, he returned with the Korean box and handed it over to his mother.

  “Here you are, Mum. You should look first,” Adam said.

  His mother slowly lifted the lid of the box. As she saw the contents, the tears began to flow.

  “After all these years, Adam finds Joe in South Korea,” she whispered, more to herself than anybody else. She tried to compose herself and wiped her eyes with a tissue given to her by Sian.

  The first thing she took from the box was the beret, which she laid with care on the table, then the dog tags,

  “Jacky Gee,” she said, “Joe’s best friend.”

  Jen then took the bankbook. “Lloyds Bank, Holborn,” she said, then flicked through the book until she found the last entry: “Five hundred pounds deposited in December nineteen forty-nine, and a balance of two thousand pounds,” she read out the last activity in the old delicate book.

  “Two thousand pounds was a small fortune in nineteen forty-five, let me tell you!” she added, as she handed the book to Sian. She then removed, from the box, the two medals.

  “What are these, Adam? Do you know?” she asked her son.

  “Yes, I do, in fact! Don’t get excited! They are campaign medals. Pretty much everyone who participated in the Korean War was awarded these medals. This one is from the British Government, the other from the United Nations,” Adam answered.

  Next out came the tub of Brylcream. “Joe was always greasing his hair. He had a fine head of hair.” She then realised there was something in the tub and gave it to Adam.

  “Open it for me, Adam, would you?” she said.

  “Sure, mum,” Adam said as he took the tub from his mother.

  His mother continued to take items from the box while Adam tried to remove the scotch tape from the Brylcream tub; next up were a number of un-posted letters, addressed to her and her parents. Finally, she withdrew from the box the picture that Sian had drawn all those years ago and handed it to her. Now it was Sian’s turn to burst into tears.

  Adam had managed to remove the scotch tape from the Brylcream tub and was staring open-mouthed into the tub.

  “Well, I’ll be…” he muttered.

  Everybody was now staring at Adam.

  “What is it, Adam?” his mother asked.

  Adam reached into the tub and pulled out a diamond the size of a small egg, holding it carefully between his thumb and forefinger. There was then a sharp intake of breath from everybody in the room.

  “As Alice once said, ‘Curiouser and Curiouser!’” offered the learned Rachel, quoting a favourite, Alice in Wonderland.

  “So maybe this was the reason for Joe to disappear!” Sian said.

  “If it was amongst the jewels that Jackie Gee had stolen, why was it not reported?” Adam asked.

  “But it might be why Jackie Gee was shot, that night at the dock,” this from Lewis.

  “Good point, Lewis,” Adam said.

  “Maybe he came across it in Korea!” Rachel put in, “or maybe he got it from one of the Americans!”

  “Or the mysterious Mr Lim?” Sian added.

  The conversation continued for several hours, with opinions and points view from everybody, but in the end, no conclusions were drawn.

  Adam then stated that the following day, Sunday, he would take Paul back to Wales because he had school on Monday, and on Monday morning he would travel to London to look at the backdated newspaper editions to see if he could fill in some of the gaps that were still puzzling everybody.

  “You want some company, Adam?” Lewis asked. “I’ve only got revision next week and this story is fascinating.”

  “Sure, Lewis! Many hands make light work, as they say. I hear you’re a wizard with a computer. If it’s okay with you, Sian?” Adam answered.

  “Yes, it’s okay with me. Do you want to travel down to London by train on Monday, or travel with Adam and Paul to Wales tonight?”

  “Probably better if I travel with Adam and Paul,” Lewis said, but was cut off by Paul.

  “Dad, any chance I could come with you and Lewis? I’m pretty good with a computer myself,” he pleaded.

  Adam looked at Sian and his mother who were both smiling.

  “It’s okay with me, mate, but I’m not sure what your mother will think of it! Let me call her,” Adam stated.

  Adam took out his mobile phone and walked into the kitchen for some privacy to talk to Helen. He was in the kitchen for quite a while as he explained to his ex-wife, as best he could, what had happened and what he intended to do on Monday. Helen was not entirely happy about Paul losing a day at school, but eventually, Adam managed to persuade her to let Paul go with him. She would tell the school he was sick.

  Adam returned to the living room and smiled at Paul.

  “Your mother has agreed, but I must get you home on Monday evening,” Adam said.

  “YES!” Paul said, as he made a fist and punched the air.

  “What about you, Rach? How will you get home?” Adam asked his sister.

  “Don’t worry about me, Adam. I’ll get the train back,” Rachel replied. “I could never understand why you and Helen split up, Adam. You seemed to get on so well?”

  Adam looked at Paul and smiled.

  “Me too, Rachel, me too,” Adam repeated.

  There was only one topic of conversation for the rest of the weekend – Uncle Joe, the Great Diamond thief!

  Adam decided he could not wait until Monday to begin the research, so he instructed Lewis and Paul to search the internet for anything that might be related to missing diamonds, jewel theft in London in 1949, Jackie Gee and Joe Watts. Meanwhile, he got out his own laptop and typed in ‘The Korean War’.

  The whole family were involved and Sian produced a large notebook where everything was written down so that by the end of Sunday evening all that was known had been listed and what was not known was given a separate listing.

  Known:

  Joe and Jackie Gee were involved in a jewellery theft in London in… 1949.

  The theft was never reported.

  After the theft, Joe was pursued by somebody – but not by the police.

  Jackie was shot and probably killed, but not by the police.

  Joe sold the Jaguar on 15th December 1949 and deposited five hundred pounds in his bank account.


  Joe had a girlfriend? – Maria, an actress?

  Joe visited Jen, December 1949. The last time she saw him.

  Sian was then interrupted by her mother. “There’s something that I haven’t mentioned. Joe left five hundred pounds in the old tea caddie, where I kept the housekeeping money, the day he left.”

  “That was a lot of money in 1949, Mum. What did you do with it?” Rachel asked.

  “We paid for the house, in Cardiff, where you three were brought up,” Jen answered.

  “It was probably Jackie’s payment to him for the jewellery job,” Adam added.

  “By the way, how much would the two thousand pounds in his account be worth today? Any idea, Rachel,” Adam added.

  “Off the top of my head, I would think around fifteen to twenty thousand pounds,” Rachel replied. Rachel was an accountant.

  “Will the account still be valid, after fifty years?” Lewis asked.

  “I don’t see why not. That’s something you can find out when you’re in London tomorrow,” Rachel answered.

  “Yes we can,” Adam replied.

  “Let’s continue with the list,” Sian said.

  Sometime after visiting, mum, Joe enlisted with the Gloucestershire Regiment.

  “But why the Glosters?” Adam asked.

  “Maybe he liked the beret with the crest on the front and back!” Paul suggested as he handled the unique beret.

  “Could be, Paul,” Sian said.

  “Seems strange though. Gareth had mentioned to him that he had been asked by the Ministry of Defence, or War Office – whatever it was then – to re-sign for the Korean War. They even offered him a promotion to captain!” Jen put in.

  “But why the Glosters? He was in Wales at that time. Why not one of the Welsh regiments? Or something closer to home, – The Grenadiers are based in London, aren’t they?” Adam asked of no one in particular.

  “I would imagine if he’s assuming somebody else’s identity, he wouldn’t want to join one of the London based regiments, for fear of being recognised.” Lewis made another good point.