by Peche, Alec
“Believe it or not, Interpol did not know what she looked like all these years. If you look at their website, the picture posted is not what Laura looks like. A headshot taken of her at the mortuary was shared with a few diamond shops that suffered thefts. Even though the thefts were as long as a decade ago, there was still video surveillance that the shops had kept for insurance purposes in which they were able to do a computer match of facial recognition. Once Interpol found the match in three stores, according to Inspector Graaf, they sent out notification worldwide over the last couple of days, so they are just compiling fifteen years of crimes potentially.”
“To think a nut allergy brought this incredible career to an end. Someone really wanted her dead,” said Marie thinking about Laura’s astounding run of thefts.” If she had not revealed her name, she might have died under one of her aliases. What a break that she gave her real name in the restaurant, especially since her ID had someone else’s name on it. Someone knew who she was and what she did for a living. So how are we connected?”
“I think that whoever killed Laura believed she told us something in the restaurant,” suggested Jill.
“I would think that before someone chased us through two cities, they would have asked at the restaurant if we engaged in conversation and anyone who was there at the time could have told them that Laura had been too sick from the start,” said Angela.
“Are they worried that she gave you something in the restaurant?” said Jo. “If she was so good at this sleight-of-hand thing, she might have slipped something to the two of you in the restaurant. She was unconscious when she left in the ambulance and you didn’t speak to her at the hospital. However, while you guys knew she didn’t recover consciousness in the ambulance, whoever is after us doesn’t have that same knowledge. Have both of you gone through your clothing that you had on that night? Man, has my imagination taken off with this case. Usually I am two thousand miles away from your cases, Jill. My imagination is much more active when people start trying to kidnap me.”
“Good suggestion, Jo. Let’s go look in our purses,” said Jill to Marie.
They left the room to go find their purses and returned to the suite’s living room.
“What are we looking for? Diamonds in a side pocket?” queried Marie.
“I have no idea. Perhaps a piece of paper, or maybe some diamonds, that were not in your purse when you left the United States,” suggested a laughing Jo.
The two women proceeded to search every nook and cranny of their purses looking for something out of place. Five minutes later, they gave up disappointed not to find diamonds or anything unusual.
Angela added, “Look at the bright side, if you had found diamonds, you would have had to turn them over to the police lest you end up on Interpol’s most wanted list. Maybe the next time someone tries to kidnap one of us we can yell that Laura neither said anything to us nor gave us anything, then these perpetrators would just have to believe us and go away.”
“I have not had enough beer to believe that will work, but let’s try it next time, since you know there will be a next time. Shouting that statement should at least provide us with a laugh. Until everything comes out on this case, I think we will remain targets,” Marie said.
Nick had been sitting quietly typing away while they discussed the case and their research when an email arrived from the Dutch police.
“Hey, I just received an email from the Dutch police. Unfortunately, there is little new information. The two men were already on the most-wanted list so they were aware of their crimes. During the interview, they let slip that they had been hired, but not by whom or for what purpose. I think it was safe to assume that the men were operating on someone else’s direction before they admitted that during the interview.”
“Will they be questioned again?” asked Angela. “I would really love an opportunity to question them.”
“Wow, you people don’t give up,” said Nick with exasperation. “No you can’t question them. It is against police procedure rules, and the Geneva Convention rules. Once the Dutch police are done with them, Interpol will want to interview them and assume custody, and likely transport them to their headquarters in Lyon, France, since they are wanted by so many countries.”
All four women turned and looked at him with indignation.
“Uh, Nick, how do think we solve cases? By waiting for information to drop in our lap? Of course we would like to speak to the two gentlemen, if for no other reason than to tell them off for trying to kill us, if that is one of the men in custody,” said Jill.
Nick threw his hands up in surrender as he said “Are all Americans like you four? You are rather terrifying in your desire to pursue this case!”
“You forget the huge incentive we have - we want to take many more vacations together and we can only do that if we stay alive,” Marie said.
“OK, we have gotten off track,” Jill redirected the conversation, as she was the one who always kept them on task. “So we have a lot more information about Laura’s criminal behavior. We don’t know what she did with diamonds, or presumably the money she earned as a thief. We also don’t know what she did to make someone want to kill her, or how they knew who she was if neither Interpol, nor anyone else did. She wasn’t a random murder-it was very deliberate and it was planned so that it wouldn’t be obvious. Is a millionaire upset with her chandelier being stolen also a murderer, or is it someone from the consortium, or is it one of the retail store merchants? It seems a little extreme for it to be one of the merchants. I think we have to focus on the diamond consortium or a millionaire in a rage.”
“I don’t know about you guys, but I am dead tired,” said Jo as she stood up to head to her bedroom. “A contact lens is irritating my eye, so I am heading for bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I have to agree with Jo,” said Marie, “except for the contact lens. I have crashed after the adrenaline rush of running away from those guys.”
Jill stood up, preparing to head to bed, and paused at the doorframe, “Nick, thanks for your help. We’ll call you in the morning before we head for the train station. How about thirty minutes’ notice - will that work for you?”
“Jill, that will work for me. What is your best guess of when you’ll leave?”
“Angela, would you agree that we’ll be ready to leave around 10a.m.?”
“Yes, that sounds reasonable. See you in the morning, I’ll see Nick out.”
“Goodnight.”
The room had emptied fast. Angela was left alone with Nick.
“Unlike my friends, I’m not sleepy. How are you holding up, Nick? We seem to be a new experience for you.”
“It’s never a dull moment around you ladies. I like the way your minds work. I like your confidence and the way you have managed to still have fun on your vacation despite the seriousness of this situation. You have me thinking about what I want to do with my life. It now seems pretty dull and I’m enjoying the intellectual work of this case. So I have a lot to think about.”
Nick stood to leave and Angela followed him to the door. As she approached he wrapped her in his arms for a first kiss. Exactly what Angela had wanted to do since she met Nick two days before - explore Nick’s kissing ability.
Chapter 10
The night had been quiet. In the morning they packed and then ate breakfast at the hotel. Angela took some ribbing for making the most of her opportunity with Nick the night before. Afterward, they called Nick to tell him they were ready to leave for the train station. They had debated simply driving to Brussels, but five adults and their baggage simply wouldn’t fit in Nick’s car. Instead, Nick had arranged for a friend to accompany him carrying the baggage in his car as they drove to the airport. At the airport, the two cars entered long-term parking and departed fifteen minutes later from that lot and then returned to the train station. They might still be followed, but at least they would make it difficult.
After they were dropped off at the train stati
on, they purchased tickets for the train to Brussels. It was a three-hour ride and they had wireless Internet on the train to continue their research. Nick was close by in disguise and they had his loaned laptops so they all could continue their research. Nathan was meeting them at the station to help with their luggage. They didn’t see anyone suspicious, so perhaps their airport ploy had worked. But, they didn’t know if there were new hired thugs that they wouldn’t recognize trying to chase them down, as there appeared to be no criminal activity around them.
As the women were in an open compartment, with strangers around them, they kept any discussion about the case to a minimum, with their voices low. They spent the first thirty minutes loosely planning their tourism itinerary for the three nights in Brussels.
Since Jill and Marie were the early-risers, they had spent a little time organizing the next round of research while waiting for Angela and Jo to finish their preparations and pack their luggage. They wanted to do more research on the diamond consortium, as well as on Laura’s financials.
Jo would study Laura’s finances using Angela to follow any loose threads once Jo spotted them. Marie had three consortium members and Jill the other three members. Nick was keeping an eye on passengers and new arrivals and departures at the few stops they had along the way. Natives had a habit of getting on one rail car and walking to another car. Nick would tense after each stop and then relax once all the passengers settled into seats or left for the next car. In the end, it was an uneventful ride. Nick had informed them that they could safely discuss their research in the final twenty minutes of the ride, as none of the seats were occupied.
“Marie, what did you find in researching the consortium members,” asked Jill?
“So I took two of the South African companies and the one Russian mine. The Russian mine is interesting. They announced a huge find of carats in an asteroid crater in Siberia. Apparently, asteroid craters are a known source of the minerals that create diamonds. On closer examination, the diamonds turned out to be industrial grade rather than jewelry grade, so its stock declined upon the diamond quality clarification.”
“What does industrial grade mean?” Jo asked.
“You know, I’m learning a lot about diamonds with this case. Apparently, diamonds are divided into two grades: those used for cutting and those used for jewelry. I had heard of diamonds used for cutting, but had assumed they were the same type of diamonds used for jewelry. It must have something to do with mineral content because they can now grow diamonds in the lab that are destined to be used for cutting. Isn’t that a weird idea, growing a diamond in a lab?
“So this Russian company discovers a huge crater and is riding high on the diamond discovery, and then their company stock plunges when the diamonds are discovered to be industrial grade only. Since that announcement, they have had a smaller diamond mine discovery in an area close by, but it is nowhere near the size of the industrial mine. So the company recovered their fortunes somewhat. It has been a couple of years of rapid changes in both directions. They seem to be the most creative among the three members I looked at as far as advancing ideas to promote profitability.”
“What did you find out about your two South African companies?” Jill asked.
“My two companies are the oldest mines in the world. There is some talk that they will run out of diamonds within seven and ten years respectively. Neither company has located any additional mineral resources so in theory they will be out of business. They have paid for exploration in other parts of the world, but it hasn’t come to fruition. Based on what I read, these two members will drop out of the consortium when their reserves are depleted and cease to exist. I wouldn’t concentrate any more attention on them. Instead I would focus on my Russian company and perhaps all three of Jill’s companies depending on what she says,” Marie suggested.
“OK, I guess that means we are moving on to you, Jill.” Angela said while taking notes of their conversation.
“Thanks. My three companies are South African-based with mines in Namibia, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A significant number of their diamonds come from mines where the workers are paid poorly and they are laundering conflict diamonds through a few shell companies to put them into the wholesale market. In summary, I found few redeeming qualities about them. They seem to be behind every strategy that treats the workers poorly or forces higher prices for their diamonds. If I were to guess who hired our kidnappers, I would bet it would be these three companies,” Jill speculated.
“I began looking into their finances. Fortunately they are traded on foreign stock exchanges, so there are European regulations that require company reporting similar to the United States. All have revenues above a billion dollars and no shortage of diamonds in their mines. They funded a resolution several years ago that created regulations around conflict diamonds, but with enough loopholes that it has done little to improve the lives of the miners. Their profits have grown in seventeen of the last twenty years,” Jo said while reading from the financial reports that she had located.
“So I am back to my two recurring questions,” Jill said. “What was their relationship to Laura and why are they after us?”
“In reviewing Laura’s finances, I found a charity she operated and I passed that on to Angela to investigate. Angela, what have you found on this charity that Laura ran?” asked Jo.
“Good idea on the strategy for locating her foundation. I tried companies set up in her aliases. Nothing. Organizations that serve this part of Africa and there are too many. Let me research this some more based on deposits to a foundation. Of course, it could be a private foundation rather than a non-profit charity or whatever they call it outside of the U.S. Jill, why don’t you talk about Laura while I do one more round of searching to see if I can find the name of this organization.”
“Thanks, Angela, and good luck locating Laura’s charity or whatever it is. Like Angela I tried to find any financial reporting for Laura and her aliases and came up with nothing. So then I tried her father and grandfather’s names and struck gold on the grandfather’s name. Someone is filing taxes and operating a checking account in her grandfather’s name even though he has been dead for fifteen years. The account seems to always contain around 20,000 euros. The account is paying mundane things like health premiums, insurance, and hotels bills in cities around Europe. Whenever money goes out, a deposit is made from a Swiss bank account. So I bet that the majority of her assets are held in accounts in Switzerland.
“I was going to pass this information on to Interpol as they should be able to access her account since she is a criminal and she is dead. Maybe we can trace her organization from there, as well as figure out the consortium’s role in her life,” Jill said.
She continued. “More information was sent to us by Inspector Berg and Interpol. They have a timeline developing that lists each of the diamond heists that have been attributable to Laura. They also have a running dollar total on the value of those thefts. It is more than they originally thought might be credited to her. We don’t know the name of the organization she created to provide services to the miners, so perhaps we could figure it out by cash deposits to organizations that fund services in those African countries that mirror a short time period after the heist. How did she dispose of the diamonds she stole? Wouldn’t she have to sell them somewhere in order to get cash?”
“Do you think Interpol will share that kind of information?” asked Jo.
“I don’t know. I thought we could feel them out on their level of cooperation,” suggested Jill. “After all, the U.S. is a member so they should be responsive to us. If they don’t seem cooperative, I’ll give Special Agent Ortiz from the FBI a call since she was helpful with our last case. As a final effort, we could withhold the name on the bank account unless they give us the information from the Swiss bank account. Let’s not share our strategy with Nick. He might give the name away to Interpol just to keep us safe and out of the case.”
&nbs
p; “He has continued to help us even though he clearly thinks we should give it up. Besides I think he has respect for you, Jill, since he read up on the Graeme St. Louis case. Let’s feel him out by telling him our strategy. If he is against us, then we don’t reveal the grandfather’s name to him. I would like to give him a chance. We could also wait to have this discussion after Nathan meets us in Brussels. I’m sure he would have an opinion on our argument,” Angela said.
“I like your suggestion about Nathan. Let’s do that,” Marie concurred.
“OK, we’ll give that a try,” agreed Jill.
“So our next steps are to finish this train ride and meet up with Nathan. Introduce the guys, settle into our hotel. Then share our latest information with the guys. Then I think we should start playing tourist in Brussels,” Jo suggested.
They all nodded in agreement and returned to the conversation about what to see and do in Brussels. The train slowed into the station and everyone removed their luggage, preparing to exit. Nathan was supposed to meet them at the arrivals hall.
They hauled their luggage down the steps at the station. Nick was in the vicinity but wouldn’t be introduced to Nathan until later at the hotel. Instead, he was watching the crowd to make sure that no one presented a threat to the women.
Jill was happy to see Nathan and gave him a hug and a kiss in the arrivals hall. Jo, Marie, and Angela had already met him during their visits to California, and they were happy to each get a hug from him. He had a van waiting outside to transport them to the hotel.
Nathan had visited two clients since his arrival and had two more clients to schedule. The wine industry in Belgium clearly took a back seat to the beer industry. It was an old industry, likely dating back to the ninth century in the regions of Wallonia and Flanders. Ninety percent of the wine was the white varietal. All of Nathan’s customers were in Flanders, which had Brussels as its political seat. When he designed labels for his clients in Belgium, he had the added complexity of language. Nearly all wines used French, which he spoke, on their labels. Artistically, he needed his clients’ help to think in French in order to develop the perfect one. He enjoyed the challenge of creating wonderful labels in another language, and so far his labels had been well received. He had planned to stay two days beyond when Jill was due to depart as he thought he might not get any of his work done if his first priority was to provide protection. This was a last-minute trip;he’d booked it when Jill mentioned the street chase in Amsterdam in an email.
