Danger Down Under: Another Vince Hamilton Investigation

by Patrick Slaney

  I heard Clive come down the stairs and this time somebody was with him. I heard them talking animatedly to each other.

  'Did you see the police?' I asked him.

  'I did, but there don't seem to be very many of them.'

  'There are another twenty armed officers a bit further away. You are totally surrounded.'

  'You had better come inside then,' he said.

  This request was not what I expected. If I joined them inside, I would be another hostage. I had to take a quick decision. I came to the conclusion that I should take a risk on Clive not harming me and go in to talk to him.

  I turned around and spoke to the Inspector.

  'He wants me to join him inside and talk to him there. I will go in, so please don't fire when he opens the door.'

  The door opened wide enough to let me in, and Clive kept the door between himself and the police while I slipped in through the gap.

  The first thing I noticed was that the house was in darkness so I couldn't get a good look at his young accomplice.

  'Come into the kitchen, we can talk there.' Clive ordered.

  We moved through into the kitchen where we sat down around the table.

  'Who is this guy?' Clive's sidekick asked.

  'He's a private investigator who I know from back home in London, Will.'

  'What do you want me to do with him?'

  'Nothing at the moment; let's hear what he has to say.' He turned towards me.

  'Clive we tracked you to this house through your Red Ute. It was spotted outside a shop in Dromana and followed to this property.'

  'You bloody idiot Will, I told you that it was risky to go to the local shops,' Clive barked, poking Will with his finger. 'You wouldn't listen to me and now see what has happened.'

  'Your Ute was also seen in Fir Tree Gully when Stuart and his family were abducted. We assume that Stuart's wife and the two kids are in this house, and you and Will are guarding them.'

  'What makes you think that they are here?' Clive asked aggressively.

  'Why else would you be here in Dromana and not back in the UK,' I replied.

  'I could be here on holiday with Will.'

  'Let me search the house then. If Mags, Stuart and the two boys aren't here, I will apologise and leave you in peace with your new pal Will.'

  'You can't search the house. I have a lot of private things here I don't want you to see.'

  'Let's cut out all the bullshit Clive. If I don't return to the Inspector in the very near future, the police are going to raid the house. The result of that will be that you will most likely be shot and severely injured in the firefight, or something worse could happen. Do you really want to be shot?'

  'Mr. Newsome, you never told me that I was going to be shot at.' Will became aggressive.

  'Oh shut-up Will, you knew that there was a risk involved. Why would I have paid you all that money?' Clive was apparently getting tetchy.

  'Let me be perfectly honest with you Clive,’ I intervened. ‘I don't believe that you are a criminal or want to get involved in a firefight with the police. It is my belief that Luigi Bandarella has something to do with this and has forced you to act in a way that is contrary to your character. If you give up now, then a much more favourable attitude will be taken by the police. If you don't, then they will mount an assault on the house. You can't go anywhere they have surrounded the house with marksmen. They will pick you and Will off without any problem.'

  'Can you put a word in for me with the police Vince?' His resolve was weakening.

  'I already have Clive. They allowed me to meet you and try and resolve the situation in a peaceful manner based on what I told them about your character. Also, if you give us information relating to Luigi Bandarella they will take that into account when they are sentencing you.'

  'So, I'll go to prison.'

  'I would think that is inevitable.'

  'What about me?' Will interjected.

  'The same applies to you. If you surrender the family you took as hostage to us now; then you will be treated a lot more leniently. If you resist, you will most likely end up dead.'

  ‘Fuck this; I am going to give myself up now.' He jumped up and ran to the front door before we could stop him. He opened the door and went out the front shouting 'Don't shoot, don't shoot.'

  'You win Vince; there is nothing that I can do now on my own. Thanks for risking your life and having faith in me.'

  'I'm sorry that it had to come to this, but I am sure that there is a perfectly logical explanation.'

  I opened the front door again and called out.

  'Inspector you can come in now, Mr Newsome isn't going to resist.'

  I started to relax. I hadn't noticed, but I had been like a coiled spring since I had entered the house, and I was sweating profusely. I had been on the brink for what seemed like hours but was in fact around twenty minutes. My gammy leg was throbbing as it did when I was under threat.

  The Inspector and the two female officers went upstairs to deal with the hostages. Clive and Will were taken to police vehicles, which had miraculously appeared, and were driven away.

  Chapter 12

  I went back into the house and waited in the hallway for the Inspector to come down. A Mercedes Vito minibus was driven into the yard in front of the house, and an ambulance also parked outside on the road. The Inspector was evidently taking no chances. Hopefully Mags and the two kids wouldn't require the latter mode of transport.

  About ten minutes later the Inspector eventually appeared.

  'How are they?' I asked him.

  'Much better than expected I am glad to say.'

  'Were they all kept prisoner in the same room?'

  'No, they were held on their own in different places. They are back together now in a tearful huddle.'

  I heard a door open on the landing, and the family came down the stairs accompanied by the two female police officers. Mags came over to speak to me, and she put her hand on my arm.

  'Thank you, Major Hamilton; I believe that you were instrumental in locating us.' Her voice was very shaky, and I could hardly hear her.

  'It was actually one of my brother's engineers that spotted the Red Ute in the local town; we had already worked out that this was probably the vehicle that had been used to transport you.'

  The two children were hanging on to their mother.

  'I want to get out of this place Mum. Can we go now?' The eldest whined.

  'I was just thanking Major Hamilton for finding us.'

  'It's great that you and the children have survived your ordeal. I'll see you later Mags.'

  I looked down at the two kids. 'Well done you two; you have been very brave in what must have been a terrifying experience for you.' They just looked at me blankly.

  They were taken out to the minibus and driven away.

  'I want you and Tony to come back with me to the Police Station at Tullamarine where I am based,' the Inspector ordered.' They have taken Clive Newsome and his accomplice to the cells there.'

  'Where has the family gone?'

  'They have been taken to a hotel close to the airport so as they can get some sleep and whatever else they need. My two officers will stay with them to make sure that they are safe. I will also put a police presence in the grounds of the hotel to make sure that nobody tries to get at them.'

  'By the way well done Major,' the Inspector continued. 'You did very well considering things didn't work out the way that I had planned.'

  'Luckily you were correct in your assumption that Clive Newsome wouldn't want to fight. He grabbed the chance of a less violent way out,' I added. 'The young lad who was with him turned out to be a real wimp. When he ran out of the house, leaving Clive on his own, that destroyed any last strand of confidence that Clive had.'

  'Don't undervalue your contribution. You did extremely well in the circumstances.'

  'Thankfully it all worked out and was resolved without force.'

  'I have a forensic team comin
g to take this place apart,' the Inspector said. 'I will also leave a couple more officers here to protect the scene in case we get visitors. They will stay inside making it look as normal as possible. You never know, some third party might just happen to come along to check on the hostages and their guards.'

  He talked to one of the police officers in charge, and we then left to pick up Tony from the school. He was very relieved to see I was unharmed and to hear that it had all gone to plan. On the other hand, he wasn't too pleased to hear that he was expected to return to the police station at Tullamarine.

  As we were driving back into Melbourne, he brought up the topic of his continued involvement.

  'Inspector, do you really need me to stay around for the remainder of the night,' he inquired with a hint of anger in his voice.

  'Well, I gather you are a family friend of Stuart's wife and the kids. I thought that it might be a comfort to them to have you around when I talk to them,' the Inspector stressed.

  'I thought that they had gone to a hotel for the night,' I said.

  'They have, but I will be talking to them in the morning. Tony, how well do you know Clive Newsome?' the Inspector asked.

  'I hardly know the guy. It is Vince who knows him so he should be the one who stays around. There is no need for me to present. I wasn't even there when you made the arrests.'

  'OK; I agree. I will get you dropped off at your home once we arrive at Tullamarine. You live fairly close if I remember.'

  'Thank you. I greatly appreciate being allowed to escape.'

  I could see Tony visibly relaxing. He had obviously been under considerable pressure at the thought that he would have to spend the whole night hanging around at the police station. He could now get some sleep and pick up the reins of his business in the morning.

  'I have had an idea, Vince. You don't mind if I call you Vince and not Major?'

  'No, I prefer you calling me Vince.'

  'What I am thinking is, it would be an excellent idea if you are the one to talk to Mr Newsome. He seemed to listen to you at the house in Dromana. He appears not to see you as a threat.'

  'I got the impression that he was out of his depth in the role that he been asked to carry out,' I added. 'He doesn't have the qualities or personality required to be a hostage-taker. He is far too soft.'

  'Do you mind talking to him to see what you can get out of him,' the Inspector continued. 'As a matter of urgency we need to find out where Stuart Smith is and why they need his flying expertise?'

  'I suspect that Luigi Bandarella, the man I met with Clive at the Grand Prix, is an important cog in this particular wheel.'

  'I think that you are correct in your suspicion. With a bit of luck, Clive will tell you all about him.' There was a lot of hope in the Inspector's voice. I was just happy to help find where Stuart was. My confidence in my ability as a Private Investigator had been restored by the successful outcome of the events back at the house in Dromana. Inspector Johnson had even said that I had done an excellent job. My pride had been bolstered, and my wife wasn't here to remind me of my failings.

  We arrived at the police station, and the driver was asked to take Tony home.

  'Congratulations brother, you did well tonight,' Tony said before he left. 'I'll see you tomorrow sometime.'

  I was taken into the building and brought to an open plan office.

  'You can use this as your base,' I was told. 'There is coffee and tea over there and the toilet is just down that corridor.'

  'Thanks, Inspector. When do you want to start the interview?'

  'I'll set it up in about an hour's time if that is OK with you. I want him to be on his own for a while so he can think about the possible consequences of his situation. I believe the term for it is psychological torture.'

  'That makes sense,' I replied. 'I'll wait here until I am called.'

  In fact, it was about ninety minutes later that a constable came to collect me. My eyes were starting to close, and I was finding it difficult to stay awake. It was now four thirty in the morning. It had been a long night, and it wasn't finished yet.

  The only other police station that I had experience of was Hampstead in North London where Inspector Baird had been based. Hampstead was an old building that hadn't seen a paintbrush in over forty years - dark green gloss painted walls and a smell of Dettol. It was a dismal place to say the least.

  The building that I was now in was a modern office block with plenty of glass both internally and making up the outside walls. The room I was brought to was in the inner section of the premises but was still very bright from the high concentration of overhead lights and the colourful wall panels. My first impression was that it was a bit clinical for an interview room and lacked any warmth.

  The Inspector joined me in the room.

  'Don't worry Vince, I won't be staying. I just want to check if you want a police officer in the room with you while you are talking to Mr Newsome.'

  'No, that won't be necessary. I don't expect him to get violent.'

  'I agree with you, but I will have a man stationed outside the door just in case. The door will also be locked.'

  'Do you want me to take notes?' I asked.

  'No, I want your chat to be very informal. You must lull him into a false sense of security.'

  'Is there anything else that you can think of Vince?'

  'No, I am all set to go.'

  'I'll get him brought to you.'

  The Inspector left the room and went off to get the prisoner. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door, and Clive was shown in.

  'I didn't expect to see you, Vince.' Clive commented. 'What are you doing here?'

  'I asked the Inspector if I could talk to you before he does. I explained to him that you weren't the criminal type, and there must be a simple explanation as to why you ended up guarding a family who had been taken hostage.'

  'How have you come to the conclusion that I was forced into it?'

  'Well, from my limited knowledge of you, I don't see you as a criminal type.'

  'I'm not and this whole thing has been a nightmare. In some ways, I am thankful that I have been arrested.'

  'To your credit the family is unharmed, so it is not all black marks against you.'

  'I couldn't harm any of them even if the children were a bit difficult and gave us problems,' Clive added.

  'What I want you to tell me now is how you got involved and ended up in a small coastal town in Australia abducting and guarding hostages.'

  'I can't tell you. It is more than my life is worth to give you any information.' A look of fear came into his eyes.

  'Are you afraid that whoever got you into this mess will come after you if they think that you have grassed on them?'

  'I know they will. They have threatened me before.'

  'From our point of view it is important that your bosses aren’t aware that you have been arrested and that you may have given away information. Whether you tell us anything or not, we are going to use every resource available to find Stuart Smith,' I said. 'You will naturally be arrested and held in custody so they won't be able to get at you. I can ask the Inspector to make sure that you are isolated from the other prisoners just in case they have people on the inside.'

  'If I give you information will the police do a deal with me?'

  'I can't give you an answer to that question, but I promise to put a word in for you with the Inspector.'

  'If you can guarantee me protection, I suppose that I have no alternative but to tell you.'

  Thankfully my assurances seemed to have brought him to a place where he was willing to start relating his story, and what an extraordinary story I was about to hear.

  He started off. 'About three years ago my business got into severe financial difficulties. I ended up with debts of around three and a half million pounds, and there were no signs that things would change for the better. One of the people I owed money to was an Italian man who was the agent for Maserati. He introduced
me to Luigi Bandarella, the man who was with me at the Grand Prix in Albert Park. Stupidly I accepted a loan from Mr. Bandarella and then I was unable to pay it back.'

  Clive stopped talking and looked as if he was about to break down into tears.

  'So you had been able to pay off your debts but you now owed this Italian gentleman in excess of three and a half million pounds,' I needed to confirm this point for my own understanding.

  'Yes, that's right, except, with interest and other fees it was now closer to five million.'

  'What happened then?' I asked.

  'I was ordered to get involved in a lot of illegal activities, one of which was the theft of luxury cars from the streets of London. If I didn't, they said that I would be found in the Thames tied to a block of concrete.'

  'I don't believe it,' I exclaimed. 'You took me on as a Private Investigator to try and stop the car thefts when in fact you were behind the whole scam.'

  'That's correct; I never thought that you would be so successful and uncover the process that had been established. I had a problem because the Insurance companies wanted the thefts stopped, but my boss Luigi wanted it to continue. I was stuck in the middle and didn't know what to do.'

  'Now I know how the luxury car thefts started again after we had dismantled the process that stretched from London to Turkey,' I said.

  'While you were destroying our sophisticated chain that handled the luxury cars and other stolen items, we were setting up a new one. If you remember you gave me all the details of your investigation, so I was able to pass on the information to Luigi.'

  This was a surprising revelation.

  I told him how I felt about his deception. 'I wouldn't have ever imagined that the person who had employed me to stop the thefts was, in fact, the person who was perpetrating them. I saw you as an ally, but you were lined up with the enemy.' I was starting to get angry. My pride had been severely dented.

  'You can imagine that Luigi was not too pleased with what had happened to his sophisticated theft syndicate,’ Clive continued. ‘Out of the blue, he came up to me at the Australian Grand Prix and told me that he had a job he wanted me to do.'