A very pleasant evening suddenly took an extraordinary and unpredicted turn. I needed to visit the toilets, and was directed by the waiter to a door close to the entrance to the restaurant. I squeezed past a number of tables and found the sanctuary of the Gents.
It was on the return journey that my whole evening changed. As I emerged from the toilets, I looked over towards the window that opened out onto the esplanade of the Waterfront. Who should be sitting at a table near the window but Moira Fortuin, accompanied by a distinguished looking gentleman. I assumed he must be her ‘missing’ husband, Jacques Fortuin. After a momentary pause, I hastily ducked down behind a convenient partition and went back to my table at the other end of the restaurant.
I called the waiter over and asked for my bill.
‘Is something wrong sir?’ the waiter asked me.
‘No, there is nothing wrong. The meal was excellent,’ I replied.
‘If you want I can get the manager if you want to complain about something,’ he persisted.
‘I have no complaints and your service was first class. I have just remembered that I was meeting someone, and I have stayed here too long. I am now late for my appointment,’ I just wanted to escape from the place, in case I was spotted, and go and grab my car from the multistorey car park.
‘Oh I am sorry if I delayed you by serving you too slow. We have been extremely busy tonight with the party beside you,’ the poor waiter was still convinced that he had done something wrong.
I paid my bill, making sure that he saw that I had added a good tip for his services. I got up and managed to sneak out without the Fortuins seeing me.
On my way to the car park, it suddenly struck me how lucky I had been that the Fortuins had not been seated closer to me. Moira Fortuin would have undoubtedly recognized me, and an embarrassing situation would have arisen. Also, if they knew I had seen her with Jacques, they would have had to put their ‘monsters’ on to me to get rid of me as his cover would have been blown.
I rushed back to the guest house to get the electronic listening device before going to get my car. When I arrived back at the Waterfront, I selected the car park nearest the restaurant. I drove around to see if I could spot a black Mercedes 500. Even amongst the affluent of Cape Town, a Mercedes 500 was not a terribly common car. In fact, the Fortuins had made it exceptionally easy for me to find the Mercedes. Sitting in the car park was a black Mercedes 500 with the registration number MER500GP. They must have both bought personalised number plates at the same time and used the same format for each one. All I had to do now was follow the Fortuins home, and I would find out where they were staying.
I found a vacant parking bay where I could keep an eye on the Mercedes, and waited for them to finish their meal.
They obviously weren’t in any hurry to get home as it was about an hour and a half later that I saw them eventually approach their car. I followed them as they left the car park, keeping what I felt was an adequate distance behind them. There was quite a lot of traffic about, which had its disadvantages as I found it difficult to stay close; however, it also had its advantages, as it would be pretty well impossible for them to detect that I was following them.
Instead of heading out of the city towards Hermanus and the coast, the car took a turn towards the Kloof area and then towards Camps Bay. Not much further on the car slowed down and stopped. To the right of the road an automatic gate opened. The car started moving again and drove into the driveway of the house. A few minutes later the gate closed behind them. I drove just past the house and dumped my car, rushing back with the listening device.
What a bit of luck and how easy was that. It had taken me nearly a week to locate the house in Hermanus, and it had only taken me a few hours to track them down to this house. It all made sense to me now. Hermanus was ninety minutes from Cape Town, and this house was only fifteen minutes from the Waterfront and the Royal Cape Yacht Club. Jacques had obviously wanted to be in a house where he could see what was going on until the diamonds were shipped.
I found a group of trees to the left of the entrance gate and wriggled my way through up to the fence where I managed to point the listening device towards the house.
In fact, I didn’t need the device as I could hear them talk quite clearly with my own ears.
‘Thank you Jacques that was a fabulous meal,’ Moira said, confirming to me that it indeed was Jacques.
‘It’s always good there isn’t it darling,’ Jacques replied.
There was the sound of a door closing so they must have gone inside. I tried the listening device, but there were no more voices that I could pick up.
Getting back in my car I stowed the listening device and went to find a street name. The number of the house was 16, and the name of the road was Geneva Drive. A point that I noted was that the security system surrounding this house wasn’t up to the standard of the two properties I had seen in Johannesburg and Hermanus. This fact just might prove a flaw in their armour.
A very happy Vince returned to his room, and a good night’s sleep.
Chapter 19
The following morning the first thing I did was to phone Willem.
‘Hi Vince, you’re up and about very early. I didn’t expect to hear from you until you got back,’ I could hear the eagerness in Willem’s voice.
‘I have, what I consider is good news. I have found out where Jacques and Moira Fortuin are staying in Cape Town.’
‘How did you do that?’ he asked.
I told him the whole story, from the time that I went into Balduccis’ restaurant at the Waterfront until I heard them talking in front of the house in Camps Bay.
‘What a bit of luck that you went to the toilet when you did, and, well done for acting so quickly,’ he sounded impressed.
‘I had better give you the address now so as you can add it to the other details I have given you. Are you ready?’
‘Yes, go ahead.’
I gave him the details spelling the address out for him.
‘Do you still plan on returning to Europe this evening?’
‘That is still my intention. I will go back to Camps Bay today and have a scout around to see if there is anything else of interest, but I will definitely fly this evening.’
‘Have a good flight and well done,’ Willem sounded genuinely pleased.
‘Bye.’
I had my breakfast, collected my car from the car park and set off for Camps Bay to take another look at the house and see if I could pick up any incriminating evidence on my listening device.
In my elation at having found where the Fortuins were living, I had assumed that I would remember the route that I took the previous evening. I didn’t and got totally lost ending up beside the University. I set up my trusted Tom Tom and used it to guide me to the correct address.
What faced me here in Camps Bay was a totally different scenario as the house had occupants living in it, and they no doubt would be on the lookout for suspicious activity. I would have to be ultra-careful that I didn’t show myself. If Moira spotted me, she would recognize me and the game would be up.
I drove past the house and took the next turn right down a hill. At the bottom, I turned right again until I was immediately below the house. I was now on the side of a hill, with the house the Fortuins were staying in, on the top to my right. To my left I looked out over other houses to Table Bay and beyond to the Atlantic. From his elevated view, Jacques could see any vessel entering or leaving Cape Town harbour. Granted he would need binoculars if he wanted to see details on the vessel, but I am sure that he would have thought of that.
Between the street I was now on, and the back of the property, there was a piece of waste ground about fifty meters long that was quite overgrown. I could see a well-worn path that wove its way up the hill and seemed to terminate at a gap between two houses. As
I was watching, a man appeared from between the two houses. He was accompanied by a large dog on a lead. Once he was in the patch of waste land, he let the dog off the lead, and the dog started to hare around, sniffing at everything. The man continued down the path. On reaching the road the man called the dog, and he set off down the hill to my left, through another gap in the row of houses below the road. Clearly this was a route used by the dog walkers of the area.
I reckoned that if I could walk up the path as far as the back of their property, I could probably conceal myself in the long grass and small bushes that filled the left hand corner. I then would be able to point my listening device at the rear of the house while still concealed from sight. Looking from my position on the road, there wasn’t any obstruction between my proposed hiding place and the house. Whether I would be able to hear anything, was another matter and could only be proved by taking the device up there.
To be on the safe side, I decided that I had better find an escape route, just in case things went wrong, and I needed to get away in a hurry. It was lucky that I had the foresight to check a route out, as, when I took what looked like a main road, I came to a dead end after about 500 meters. I retraced my route and found that if I had turned left down the hill instead of going straight, there was a main road that went back to Cape Town by the coast. Satisfied I had an escape route, I went back to my spot on the road below the house.
I spent an additional twenty minutes just sitting in the car before I felt that I knew enough about the area to put my plan into action. I could see some activity inside the house, but they didn’t come out and stayed inside what I presumed was the kitchen.
One last look around convinced me there was no dog walkers about. I got out of the car, grabbed hold of the listening device and started walking up the hill. I left the path near the top and moved towards the spot that I had picked to hide in. Pushing my way through the long grass and bushes, I managed to get right up close to the rear fence of the house. I was invisible to anybody using the path, and also it was impossible to see me from the house. The only problem I now had was that it was so quiet that the voices coming from the listening device would disturb the peace and would probably be heard by someone casually walking on the path. With this problem in mind, I had a good look at the device. It must be a problem that users frequently faced. I was right, and I found that it was possible to set it on record and to switch the sound off.
I had a look around me and saw that nobody was currently using the path, so I switched the sound back on again to make sure that I was, in fact, picking up voices from the house.
‘I want to go to the shops this morning Jacques; do you have time to take me?’ I heard Moira’s voice eerily close.
‘We really must go and get your car from Hermanus so as you can come and go as you wish,’ Jacques replied. ‘I know that you hate driving the Merc as it is so large,’.
‘Perhaps you will have time to take me at the weekend,’ Moira suggested.
‘I will drive you down there on Saturday, and we can also give the house an airing. It has been shut up for over three weeks by now.’
‘I’d appreciate that as I hate not being mobile and I have things to do next week that I will need a car for.’
‘I have to go to Jo’burg next week for meetings so you will be on your own here for a few days and I will be leaving my car at the airport. I have to get a number of things out of the way before Caas gets here.’
I was so wrapped up in listening that I had forgotten to switch off the sound. Waking up to my mistake, I hit the button and went into silent mode.
Presumably, the Caas being referred to here was Caas Teifel the dealer from Rotterdam and skipper of the Belle Diamant. I now had another piece of the jigsaw to fit into my puzzle. Jacques Fortuin was undoubtedly part of the whole set up and my assumptions were now being proved correct.
It was a bit disconcerting not being able to listen to the conversation. I wasn’t able to check I was actually recording something, but I just kept the device running until I heard a car start up. Peering through the fence I could see the Mercedes being driven out of the property. I switched the device off and decided that I probably had enough recorded to have made my sojourn in the grass worthwhile.
I heard a noise of something swishing through the grass and the next I knew there was a cold nose touching my arm. I jumped in surprise which had the effect of causing the dog to bark.
‘Assegai, what is it?’ the dog’s owner called out coming over to investigate what was going on.
I stood up and moved out of the bushes, giving the man quite a surprise.
‘What are you doing here?’ the man asked me, still in a state of shock.
‘If you like to put your dog on its lead I will tell you,’ I replied thinking hard as to what I was going to tell him.
‘You are not going to attack me, are you,’ he asked as he slipped the lead onto the dog’s collar, keeping the dog between him and me.
‘No, you are 100% safe. I am only doing reconnaissance for the police. Here is my ID,’ I said, taking my wallet out and flashing my old service card which I still had in my possession.
‘What are you looking for,’ he asked, taken in it appeared by my ID and story.
‘We had a report of suspicious activity from a resident of those houses up there.’ I pointed at the houses above where we were standing. ‘They reported that they were convinced that there was a member of Al Qaeda staying here, and I have been trying to find out if it is true. You see this device; well it is able to pick up conversations up to 100 meters away.’
‘Wow, that’s amazing. Fancy a member of Al Qaeda living in this area.’
‘It’s extremely important that you don’t tell anybody that you met me. We don’t want to cause alarm do we?’ I emphasised to him.
‘No, I can see that, and thank you for explaining to me what you were up to,’ he said moving off with his dog.
I retreated to my car thanking my lucky stars for my ability to create a believable story even when unexpectedly sniffed and licked by a dog. I returned to Cape Town by my prepared escape route gaining the safety of the multistorey car park and my guest house.
Before I left that evening, I negotiated with Mrs Cronje that I could leave my various tools and the ladder in one of the sheds in the garden of the guest house. I told her that I would be back to stay with her for a while in about two weeks’ time. She was delighted that she would be getting more of my custom and said that it was a small price to pay for having one of her best customers back.
The flight to London gave me plenty of time to reflect on what I had achieved on my second visit to South Africa. My main aim had been to locate Jacques Fortuin and to find out where he and the diamonds were hiding. It had been a piece of good fortune that had helped me locate Jacques, but I also now had a firm connection between him and the yacht Belle Diamant. It was also essential that, as far as I could make out, they didn’t know that I was on to them. I thought it unlikely that the man with the dog would go knocking on their door telling them that were being spied on. I also hadn’t had time to listen to the rest of the tape that I had recorded with the listening device, so there was a chance that I might pick up some other information.
From an active army Major, I was now developing into a reasonable investigator. I felt confident that I was getting close to being able to provide Sir Montgomery Fortiscue the answers he was looking for, justifying the fee I was charging.
Chapter 20
On landing, I took the tube from Heathrow Airport to East Putney. On my way out of the station, I purchased a copy of the Telegraph to bring myself up to date on the latest news. The kids would be at school, and my wife always worked on a Thursday, so I would be on my own until the evening, giving me plenty of time to get some badly needed sleep.
I made myself a cup of coffee, and sat d
own to read the newspaper, feeling extremely relaxed and appreciating being home. My relaxation didn’t last long. A headline jumped out at me from the newspaper; ‘Arrest Made in Fortiscue Murder Case’. My brain switched back on in an instant, my attention now fully focused on the article.
‘At a Police News Briefing yesterday, Detective Inspector Terence Baird of Hampstead CID, announced that a man has been arrested in connection with the recent murder of Mr Brian Fortiscue, the late son of Sir Montgomery Fortiscue. At this stage, no name has been released; however, this reporter has information in their possession that the man arrested works in the betting industry.’
I skated through the rest of the article, but it just listed facts about Brian Fortiscue and details of where and when he had been murdered. I was already aware of all that.
I leaned back and looked vacantly out the window, reflecting on how this piece of news might affect my investigation. The first thought to hit me was that, if this man worked in the betting industry, then he was unlikely to have any role in the diamond smuggling. This would distance Brian’s murder from the jigsaw puzzle that I was presently building.
All idea of going to bed was now removed from my head. I still needed more sleep, but my mind was now so full of new possibilities that my chances of actually falling asleep would be slim. Talking to Sir Montgomery was now top of my list of things to do.
I phoned the private number that he had given me.
‘Hello, Sir Montgomery speaking,’ the phone was answered on the fifth ring just as I was giving up hope.
‘It’s Vince Hamilton here.’
‘Ah Major, you’re back in the UK are you?’ he still liked to use my army title.
‘Yes, I got in this morning. Is there any chance of seeing you today as I would like to bring you up to date with what I have found out on my latest trip? I’d also like to hear anything you know about the arrest of the person who murdered Brian.’
‘I am tied up with meetings in the office for most of today,’ there was a pause.... ‘I have just looked at my diary, and I should be able to meet you at the hotel in Baker Street at 5:30 p.m this evening if that suits you.’
The Diamond Chain Page 11
