Chocolate Diamonds (Jill Quint, MD, Forensic Pathologist Series Book 2)

by Peche, Alec

  After they performed introductions, Jill took the lead describing the group’s background in crime-solving as well as the case of Laura Peeters. She had pulled up an article from their last case in the spring so that Nick would know they were legitimate. When the women sheepishly described hiding in the red-light district window, he knew he was in for great entertainment mixed with some hair-raising moments, given their courage. Nick was tired of dealing with egocentric actors and musicians, the usual clients he met face-to-face. He was looking forward to assisting the American tourists.

  “I can help you with your online search. I have a computer expert back in my office and I still have connections to both the Dutch police and Interpol. We will look for information on Laura Peeters and whatever aliases you have discovered up to this point. I know that some buildings and streets have cameras aimed at the street, so if you can tell me where you hid last night, I’ll see if there are security cameras in those areas and we might be able to track down the stranger. The red-light district has cameras due to the number of pick-pockets in that area. You will be relieved to know that none of the cameras were aimed at the red-light windows, so your appearance last night was likely not saved on camera. I will also have my office check the cameras around this hotel to see if we can find anyone that seemed to be stalking you.”

  “We are not exactly sure of where we hid last night,” replied Marie. “At least not the street name. We would have to visit it in daylight to figure it out. We’re running late for our museum itinerary at the moment. If you are done at this hotel and have a car, perhaps we could go back to the scene of the crime right now and then you could drop us off at the Rijksmuseum?”

  “Ladies, that sounds like a plan. Give me ten minutes to talk to my security staff at this hotel, and then I will meet you at the hotel exit. Look for a silver Volvo.”

  Nick exited the suite and Angela closed the door. Leaning against it, she said, “Okay, he was most helpful.”

  The other three laughed out loud.

  “What?”

  “You liked him about five seconds after you met. Helpful seems like a mild term - like the hotel concierge. He was more than helpful, I got the feeling that our story might bring him the most entertainment he has seen in a month. Best of all for us and Dr. DeGroot, he's going to apply his resources to our research, which will help us solve the case quicker,” said Jill.

  “We better grab our stuff and head down to the lobby,” said Marie with a smile. “Angela, you can have the front seat of his car to help direct him to where we hid last night.”

  The four of them arrived in the lobby. A man in a suit approached them, introducing himself as hotel security. He had them wait inside the hotel until he saw his boss’s car out front. They headed outside and got into his car.

  Angela directed Nick to the taxi stand that they had used last night. From there they traced their steps to the ice-cream shop and then they weaved through the streets until they found the door with the corridor to the back entrance of the red-light windows. In the daylight, the area looked deserted and seedy. They were grateful that there would be no film record of their appearance in the windows. Nick wrote the address down and then proceeded to drop them off at the museum. He had the phone numbers of Marie and Jill as Jo and Angela had left their cell phones back in the States, and he promised to update them on any research that was relevant. They all agreed that they were safe on their museum tour, as the crowds would provide their own protection if someone was following them today.

  They proceeded on their whirlwind tour and did not notice anyone following them around. At the very least, if someone had followed them around they would be poorer for it after all the admission fees they’d paid at the various tourist sites. They had been on the go all day, and were now relaxing in a pub close to their hotel. It was the first chance they’d to check their e-mail since that morning.

  “Is there an e-mail from anyone concerned with this case?” asked Angela. “Did Nick or any of his people send us some information?”

  “I see an e-mail from Dr. DeGroot and from Nick. I'll take the Dr. DeGroot email Marie, why don't you read Nick's e-mail,” suggested Jill.

  “Hmm, this is interesting from Dr. DeGroot. He did some more research on the diamonds in Laura's stomach. There is a strong possibility that they are conflict diamonds. He also did the DNA studies of the chocolate and was able to locate the chocolate store where Laura made her purchase. He had a conversation with the store’s chocolate artist. The artist was aware of Laura and her nut allergy. He had been selling her chocolate for seven years, after she toured his kitchen. He's devastated to learn of her death and his store’s role in it. He has pulled out of his display cases all of the chocolate that he advertises as having no nuts. He doesn't want another accident on his hands.”

  Jo asked, “Did he have an explanation as to why or how the nuts got in the chocolate?”

  “Now that Dr. DeGroot has confirmed the origin of the nuts, it will be up to the police to question the chocolate artist. So we may not have that answer if it is not shared with Dr. DeGroot, since we have no legitimate authority in Belgium,” said Jill.

  “Perhaps Nick could find out that information if his connections stretch that far,” suggested Marie.

  “Let me read his email to you all. ‘Ladies, hope you had a great day visiting our famous museums. I have a lot of interesting information about your case. We could either meet for dinner or I could meet you later at the hotel. Let me know your preference,’” read Marie.

  “Well, that sounds like an intriguing email,” said Jo. “I for one would like to do dinner with him. It would be nice to hang with a native. Plus we need to look out for Angela's interests. Ask him to give us a time and place for dinner.”

  Marie typed in the message. They ordered a second round of drinks and looked at the pictures Angela had snapped that day. Fifteen minutes later they had a response from Nick. He would meet them in their present location and they could go from there. They ordered their third round of beers and were having a great time conversing when Nick joined their table.

  “Hello, ladies. It appears that you had a great day exploring my city.”

  “Hello, Nick,” said a grinning Angela. “We had a splendid day. If anyone followed us, we are hopeful that we bankrupted them with admission fees for all the museums. We are re-hydrating after the thirsty work of the day.”

  “What was your favorite place?”

  “Hmm, I didn’t have a favorite place,” said Jo and the other three nodded. “There was something I liked in every museum, and the collections we viewed at each were so different.”

  A waitress appeared and took Nick’s order for a beer, as they all had nearly full glasses.

  Tipping her mug to Nick’s, Jill urged, “So tell us what you found out about this case. We were so busy sightseeing, we didn’t do any research today.”

  “Let me talk about your safety first,” Nick replied. “I was able to view some grainy footage of your incident last night. I could see the four of you on the street, although the picture was so bad, if I hadn’t known it was you four I would have been unable to identify you. As you can imagine, your mystery men were also poor images. I couldn’t identify their faces nor see if they were holding a knife or gun –it was that blurry. They walked by the windows you were appearing in at least three times, but didn’t notice you under the red lights. They searched the area you hid in about five minutes after you exited the corridor with the prostitute, so good timing on your escape plan.

  “I also looked at the footage around the hotel where we have better cameras, but I didn’t see anyone hovering close to the hotel. Unfortunately, you can’t see the entire street, so someone could have been located in a car.”

  “How about earlier in the day?” asked Jill. “We had someone follow us from the hotel to Anne Frank’s house. When I confronted him he said we were mistaken, but I was sure he had been on our train. He would have to have followed us from the t
rain station to the hotel to Anne Frank’s House.”

  Angela reached over with her camera and showed Nick the screen. “I took his picture while Jill was confronting him.”

  “You ladies scare me. You seem to disregard your own safety. I can't believe you confronted a complete stranger and accused him of following you.”

  "It was daylight, and there were other people on the street,” explained Jill. “Why wouldn't we confront someone? I have found in other cities that confronting people that are following me deters pickpockets.”

  “Angela, can I borrow your camera to make a copy of this gentleman's picture? I have some databases I can match it against. Why don't I do that now? I’ll walk you ladies back to the hotel. I will return in less than an hour and we will head out for dinner. I didn't tell you the rest of the information I gathered on Laura Peeters.”

  They all finished their beer and exited the pub, strolling down the street toward the hotel. Nick kept an eye out for strangers on the street, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. Angela lingered behind while the other three women entered the hotel with the plan to meet up in about an hour.

  Later, they joined Nick in his car and drove to a favorite restaurant of his. It was nice dining in an area not filled with tourists. With his help understanding the menu, they each tried a different Dutch entree.

  Jill could wait no longer. “Nick, tell us what you learned about Laura Peeters. You've kept us in suspense long enough.”

  Nick leaned his blond head in and gazed at the women with his blue eyes, and he began softly speaking.

  “I think you ladies have accidentally discovered the tip of a diamond industry conspiracy. With the potential size and scope of this conspiracy, I'm worried about your safety.”

  “In my most recent case, people at the heart of a political conspiracy combined with a powerful para-military corporation and threatened the lives at different times of Angela and I. We survive that and will survive this situation as well. Walking away from an investigation doesn’t mean that the diamond conspiracy will go away,” said Jill. “Nick, tell us everything.”

  After a pause he sighed, “Okay, this is the situation. I don't have all the facts yet, as the story is still unfolding. I think that there are some very bad people involved in this case who are anxious to make sure that Laura Peeters’ killing goes unsolved. I believe that Laura was playing Robin Hood to the miners of conflict diamonds. A diamond merchant consortium, tired of her years of success in stealing diamonds from them, hired a contract killer to kill Laura. That person may now be after you four ladies.”

  “What? That is unbelievable! It all started with a random encounter in a restaurant. Could we really have the bad luck to fall into another case with contract killers?” commented Jill.

  “Nick, please continue with the story. Where did you get your information and what more can you tell us?” asked Angela. She was torn between wanting to know more about him and learning what new information he had.

  “Angela, it was your picture that opened up the case for me. A friend in the Rijkspolitie, which is our state police, ran the picture through his computer system and your stalker was identified as Jan Storms. He is wanted by Interpol for illegal trafficking of precious stones.

  “That leads us to investigating Mr. Storms. He associates with three other men who are also wanted by Interpol for various crimes. My friend also did some research on Laura Peeters. As you know, she was wanted by Interpol for those diamond thefts. We thought they were associated, but it turns out they were on opposite sides. We believe the four men were hired by the diamond consortium, whereas Laura was stealing diamonds as a means to stop the diamond consortium from mistreating miners.”

  “Does your friend have access to financial information?” asked Jo.

  “He has some access to financial information but the bigger problem is that he doesn't understand what he's looking at. He doesn’t know how to interpret such information.”

  “Nick, if you don't mind, I'll give him a list of documents I need for the people involved in this case,” offered Jo. “I will serve as a free financial consultant to the Dutch state police. I've helped Jill with enough of these cases that I think I can be of real help here, especially if high-stakes financial transactions are at the heart of the case.”

  “Okay, I'll do that. I don't know how he will feel about sharing information with an American civilian, though.”

  “I could send him my standard contract that usually satisfies police departments in the United States. Can you ask him if that might allay his concerns?” Jill proposed.

  “Good idea. Let me e-mail him and pose the question.”

  “Nick, do you have any other information on the players in this case and why they began following us?” asked Angela.

  “I don't know how they got your names or why they are following you. Of course it's true that if they got Jill's name, then they probably know you are connected to her and are good investigators. Depending on what's at stake, the four of you may be targeted for some reason – I can’t begin to speculate,” Nick said. He added, “You could end your vacation now and return to America,” added Nick.

  He faced four resolute women staring him down for his suggestion.

  “Sadly, if there are high-stakes behind the diamond consortium, America is not far enough away,” said Jill. “Nick, would you provide us with the names of these consortium member companies and CEOs?”

  “Yeah, okay, I’ll do that. Let’s talk about your protection and next steps.”

  “We leave Amsterdam the day after tomorrow and head to Brussels. We're staying at a boutique hotel, and I am guessing they won't have security,” said Jo.

  "I think I mentioned that I manage several hotels in Amsterdam as well as Brussels. If your hotel would allow, I'll arrange coverage for you. Like I said earlier, you have a very interesting story and I would like to ensure that you stay alive. I'll make some calls tomorrow and let you know what happens with your hotel.”

  “Thanks Nick. We really appreciate your help and protection,” said Angela.

  “You're welcome. Let's talk about research on this case. I have some ideas and I am sure you do as well. What are your plans for tomorrow?"

  “We're going to Zaanse Schans in the morning to view the windmills. We're taking the train there and in the afternoon, we're going to shop. We will have somewhat of a leisurely day, so we'll have a little time to do research on the train,” said Marie.

  “I'm going to tail you ladies tomorrow to provide protection and see if I can observe anyone following you. I would like to build a case that you need police protection and assistance with this investigation. Right now it feels very circumstantial, and culturally we are a precise country. My friend in the state police thinks we need a little more evidence before they would get involved.”

  “Again, we appreciate your help. Personally I feel safer just talking to you, and it will be a relief to know we have back-up if we run into trouble. Let's talk about the investigation and where we need your help. I want to know more information about Laura Peeters. Can you get me access to Interpol's information,” asked Jill?

  “Wow, you don't start small with the information requests. I don't have access and I'll have to pull in a few favors to get the information. What else?”

  “I'd like the names of the diamond consortium company members and their CEO names, which I believe, Nick, you were going to provide. I know where to search in the U.S. , but I am at a loss here so I expect to be slower in my discovery. Can you ask any of your friends how they or the state or local police search for such information for people suspected of crimes?” added Jo.

  “I'd like the full names of the men believed to be following us. I'll use my contacts to research them on the Internet.” said Marie.

  “Nick, I won't ask for anything from your contact in the police since I'll be helping Jill, Marie, and Jo with their research,” said Angela with a smile. “My skills are best used in interviewing pe
ople, and they are not being put to use much in this case.”

  The conversation had continued over dinner and they were contemplating dessert now. They agreed to share chocolate custard and a Rijstebrij, a cinnamon rice pudding. Afterwards, Nick dropped them off at their hotel promising to meet them in the morning before they traveled to Zaanse Schans. He asked Angela if she wanted a nightcap in the hotel bar and she accepted. Finally she would get to focus on the man rather than the case.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning, they awoke to rain and the weather forecasters said it would stay with them intermittently while they were at the windmills. The air and the clouds had an intriguing feel, as though something special would happen that day. It was either the electricity associated with approaching thunderstorms or anticipation of the case that fueled Jill's fanciful imagination.

  Nick had phoned their suite to let them know he was in place and ready to tail them. Perhaps that was where the sense of anticipation came from: They might have an adventure beyond their planned sightseeing excursion. If someone other than Nick did choose to follow them, the women hoped they would get drenched in one of the forecasted downpours.

  After a breakfast of chocolate croissants and coffee, they set off for Central train station on foot, armed with raincoats and umbrellas. They purchased round-trip tickets to Koog-Zaandijk to see the windmills. While they kept up their usual vacation conversation, they were all surreptitiously looking around to see if they noticed anyone familiar. They did not even see Nick in the crowd at the station, but they knew he was around. Relaxing, they boarded their train. It was a short thirty-minute train ride to their station.