‘No, you’re right. He can’t be trusted.’
‘Does your boss ever make threats against people who owe him a lot of money?’
‘He has been known to, but he has never asked me to carry out his threats.’
‘Were you the messenger that brought the threats from your boss to Harold Fortiscue,’ I asked him directly looking straight into his eyes.
‘I did on two occasions, but he just laughed in my face and told me that my boss would get his money all in good time.’
‘You say that you never met Brian Fortiscue, Harold’s brother?’
‘No, I had never even heard of him. Harold and his father were our only contacts with that family.’
‘Well John, they are saying that you killed Brian Fortiscue by mistake. The Inspector told me that your boss instructed you to kill Harold Fortiscue. He also said that you killed his brother Brian instead, by mistake.’
‘That’s a load of baloney. I know what Harold looks like as I have met him many times before. Anyway, I couldn’t kill a fly, and they say that he was shot. I have never fired a gun in my life and wouldn’t know how to.’
I thought to myself; If this guy is a murderer then I am the Queen of Sheba. My first impressions of him, when he came into the room with the Inspector, were that he was a meek and mild individual, and this had been reinforced by his answers.
‘Please can you help me Major, I didn’t murder Brian Fortiscue?’ he pleaded.
‘I’ll give my views to the Inspector, and it will be in his hands.’
I waved to the officer who was standing guard outside the door to let him know that I was finished. He came in and conducted John Power back to his holding cell.
Inspector Baird joined me in the interview room.
‘Well how did you get on Vince?’
‘He was no trouble, and, in fact, was very keen to talk to me,’
‘I must say that I had the same reaction from him, and he appears to be telling the truth.’
‘He is either an exceptionally good actor, or he is totally innocent,’ I added.
‘To be perfectly honest with you Vince, I don’t believe that he did it, and I think that you support my view. My motive in arresting him is to send a message to whoever did it that we have whom we think murdered Brian Fortiscue under lock and key. I am hopeful that the real murderer will relax a bit and make a mistake.’
‘That’s a bit hard on poor old John Power, isn’t it?’
‘John Power is safe with us in custody. If I release him, I feel somebody might try and kill him, so it is ultimately for his own good.’
I didn’t quite follow the Inspector’s logic, but no doubt he knew what he was talking about.
‘Listen Inspector I must go as I have an appointment at Westminster Pier at 5:00 p.m and I am already late.’
‘Before you go Vince I want to give you a word of warning based on my understanding of the situation and also on my policeman’s nose. Be very careful; you are involved in something that is a lot bigger and more dangerous than you think. I am going to give you my card, and if you ever need my support you must phone me.’
I put his card in my wallet. ‘Thank you Inspector, I will certainly remember your offer of help.’
I rushed out of the police station and hurried to the nearest tube station to catch a train to Westminster Pier, although, it was now most unlikely that I would get there in time.
Chapter 22
I arrived at the Ferry terminal at 5:15 p.m so had missed the boat that I had told Harold that I would meet him on. He thankfully hadn’t taken the five o’clock ferry and was looking around anxiously for me on the quayside. I waved to him, and a very relieved Harold came up to greet me and shake my hand.
‘I’m sorry Harold, I got delayed at a previous meeting, and I couldn’t get here by five.’
‘I was wondering where you were, and I was convinced that I had missed you or that you weren’t turning up.’
‘If you give me your ticket, I will get them to change it to the 5:30 p.m ferry, when I buy mine.’ I joined the ticket office queue and then we made our way to the ferry.
Harold looked exhausted, and his eyes seemed to be sunk deep in his face. He also looked extremely agitated and was nervously clicking his finger nails. He was dressed casually in jeans and an anorak, wearing a pair of Nike shoes.
‘Thank you for meeting me Vince. I appreciate you giving up some of your time to come and see me. You must be run off your feet with the investigation.’
‘No problem Harold. What did you want to see me about?’ I tried to make eye contact with him, but he was looking past me with a vacant stare.
‘I just wanted to find out how the investigation is going and whether you are getting any closer to the source of the diamonds?’
The ferry pulled in, and the queue started to move.
‘Just hold on a minute Harold while we get on board.’
On the ferry, I took the steps to the upper deck and sat down in an area with plenty of empty seats where we would have privacy.
‘Does your father not keep you up to date on progress,’ I asked him as we sat down.
‘No, I hardly ever see him now as he is spending all his time at the office and he doesn’t want me there.’ Harold still didn’t look at me as he spoke, but was looking around him, which was highly disconcerting.
‘Well, since you were the one to hire me Harold, I can’t see any reason why I shouldn’t tell you what has been going on. In fact, I had decided that there was no way I was telling Harold the truth after what his father had told me about him, plus the strong possibility of him being involved in the diamond smuggling in some way.
‘Thanks Vince. I don’t like to be kept in the dark.’
‘To summarise Harold: I have been to Rotterdam twice to see Willem, whom you introduced me to. I have also been to South Africa twice and have talked to Moira Fortuin, who again you introduced me to.’
‘That’s a lot of travelling Vince. I believe that you were involved in a serious car accident in Limpopo.’
‘Yes, I was exceedingly stupid and drove off the road while looking at a magnificent African sunset.’
‘It sounds from what I heard that you were extremely lucky to survive.’
What had he heard and who had he heard it from. I had only given his father minimal details of the car accident?
The ferry had called at the pier beside the London Eye and was now heading downriver towards Tower Pier, where I intended to get off before it travelled the whole way down to Greenwich.
‘Harold I must disembark at Tower Pier as my family are expecting me for dinner. As you must realise from what I have told you, I haven’t found out a lot, and still have no definite leads to work on.’ I spread my arms out and gave him a vacant look. ‘I have suggested to your father that I am not experienced enough to be able to get to the bottom of this problem, and he should get somebody else.’
‘Have you not found out anything then?’ For the first time he looked at my face, and I was able to look him in the eyes.
‘I have found precisely nothing; all I have to show for my efforts is a lot of bruising received in a car crash.’
The ferry was approaching Tower Pier.
‘Thanks for telling me what you know Vince. Please don’t tell my father that I asked to see you as it might upset him.’
‘OK Harold. Mum’s the word.’
He got up, looked around him and slunk off into the crowd getting off the boat. I got up a little later and mingled with the last passengers getting off the ferry. Keeping an eye out for Harold, I headed up Tower hill to catch the tube home. I couldn’t see him, so the chances were that he had gone off in another direction.
On the way home, I had a chance to reflect on my meeting with Harold. He
had looked terrible and had appeared to be very much on edge. He obviously knew about the car accident, which he could have heard from his father. I had been surprised that he had stated that it had taken place in Limpopo as I hadn’t mentioned that name to anybody else. He had seemed to relax slightly when I said that I hadn’t made a significant breakthrough, and it was still the same mystery. I am sure his reaction would have been totally different if I had told him that I knew how the diamonds were getting from South Africa to Europe. I was now certain, Harold was involved in the smuggling business?
Just before the train got to my station in East Putney, I switched my investigative brain off and transferred into family mode. The weekend was ahead of me, and it was about time that I totally focused on my wife and kids. Nothing was going to disturb my weekend, and I could relax knowing that the yacht Belle Diamant was still sailing down the coast of Africa. The Fortuins were also due to pick Moira’s car up from Hermanus and bring it back to Cape Town. I would phone Sir Montgomery Fortiscue on Monday morning, but till then I was off duty.
Chapter 23
With money to treat my family, we had a marvellous weekend, with no expenses spared. In my army days, my time never seemed to be my own, and there was always some reason for not being able to do what I wanted. Sir Montgomery had put my fee into my account, so I was flush with funds for once.
Monday morning I got up at 6:00 a.m and headed for the gym. My wife had suggested that I was getting out of condition, and I had sadly agreed with her prognosis. I wanted to be back in time to take the kids to school, and knew that if I left the Gym till later my resolve would weaken and I would probably never get there.
With all my family duties done for the morning, I telephoned Sit Montgomery at 9:30 a.m.
‘Hello, Sir Montgomery speaking,’ he answered in his usual way.
‘Good morning sir, its Vince Hamilton here.’
‘Good morning Major, did you have a good weekend?’
‘I had an excellent weekend with my family and was able to switch off totally for once.’
‘How did you get on with John Power? The Inspector phoned me on Saturday and told me that you had been in to see him.’
‘Yes, I was there Friday afternoon. I must say that the Inspector was extremely friendly, and he allowed me to talk to John Power, on my own, for quite some time.’
‘What did you think Vince? Have they caught my son’s killer?’
‘It is hard for me to judge based on my short conversation with the man; however, he claims to be innocent, and, personally, I would be inclined to believe him as he certainly doesn’t appear to a cold blooded killer.’
‘That is what the Inspector told me on Saturday and, in fact, he also said that he is going to have to release him.’
‘Did he say when he was releasing him?’ I asked.
‘Yes, he said that he was releasing him on Saturday and he wanted me to know in case I read it in the newspaper.’
‘The Inspector mentioned to me that he was concerned for John Power’s life if he released him. He was afraid whoever killed your son might want Mr Power out of the way.’
I was trying to remember what exactly Inspector Baird had told me. It seemed strange that with John Power’s life under threat, he still had released him. Perhaps there had been no choice if a legal man was pulling the strings.
I could hear Sir Montgomery talking to somebody at the other end of the phone......
‘Vince, my secretary has just told me that the Inspector is at reception and wants to see me. I will phone you back.’
I waited in suspense for 15 minutes for Sir Montgomery to phone back. On the first ring, I answered.
‘Vince, terrible news I am afraid. The police got a tip off that there was a body in a disused warehouse near the Wapping Basin docks in East London and it turns out that it is John Power.’
‘How terrible, so the Inspector was right in thinking that John Power’s life was in danger if he released him.’
‘I am afraid so and you can imagine how the Inspector is feeling.’ Sir Montgomery said, sounding very upset.
‘So, it looks as if John Power is innocent, and the police are no further on in trying to find your son’s murderer.’
‘I am afraid not Vince. Listen; is there anything else that you wanted to talk to me about as I need to get to a meeting?’
‘I just wanted to tell you that Harold phoned me and asked to meet me.’
‘Did you see him?’
‘Yes sir I did. I arranged to meet him on a ferry on Friday evening, and we had a brief discussion.’
‘What did he want?’ The quiet and assured Sir Montgomery had been replaced by an angry father.
‘He asked me how the investigation was going and whether I had found out anything.’
‘Did you tell him?’
‘No, I didn’t tell him anything of import, and he seemed to take what little I did tell him at its face value. Surprisingly he knew about the car accident and he knew it took place in Limpopo province. Did you tell him?’
‘I haven’t told him anything about you and where you have been Vince. He must have another source of information.’
‘That’s particularly intriguing in itself sir as the only source must be South Africa. Nobody in the UK or Rotterdam would even know where Limpopo is.’
‘I must go Vince. Just be extremely careful and keep me informed. If I hear anything in the meantime, I will phone you.’ With that the phone line went dead and I went to make myself a strong cup of coffee.
I had liked John Power when I had met him last Friday and had been pretty certain that he wasn’t the killer of Brian Fortiscue. He was now dead, most probably murdered by the same person or people who had murdered Brian Fortiscue. Clearly, there was some tenuous link that I hadn’t worked out yet?
It was time for me to sit down and try to work out the English end of the diamond chain. I now knew what was going on at the South African end and the people involved there. I even knew where the protagonists lived or stayed making it relatively easy for me to track them down and spy on them.
I was also pretty certain I knew what was going on in Holland, or more specifically, whom the good and unscrupulous dealers were in Rotterdam. Another known fact was that the diamonds would be transferred by yacht from Cape Town to La Rochelle or some other European port. The big gap in my knowledge was in London, and the identity of the people involved close to home. Harold was in there somewhere, but it was hard to tell what exactly his role was, and, where did the murder of Brian Fortiscue fit into to all of this.
Over the weekend, I had found it enjoyable to spend time with my wife casually talking about family matters. One of the decisions we came to was that I should spend the next two weeks redecorating the kids’ bedrooms. It would also give me something to do and take my mind off the investigation of the Diamond Chain.
I needed to check with Willem, but according to my calculations, the yacht Belle Diamant wouldn’t arrive in Cape Town for at least another twenty one days. There was no need to travel to South Africa for another two weeks. Without something to occupy me, I would go mad simply sitting at home. Doing up the kids’ bedrooms was the remedy to my boredom.
While I drank my coffee, I decided to phone Willem to check on the whereabouts of the yacht.
‘Good morning Vince. How are you today,’ his cheery voice came across the airways.
‘I’m good Willem thanks and how are you?’
‘Can’t complain Vince; it is a glorious spring day here in Rotterdam.’
‘I just thought that I would phone you to get the latest position of Belle Diamant. I need to plan my next trip to Cape Town.’
‘I checked this morning, and she is going well. After the doldrums, she has picked up speed and is making remarkably good progress. According to my latest c
alculations, she will be in Cape Town in about eighteen days.’
‘Oh, that’s a bit sooner than I thought, but it still gives me plenty of time.’ My idea of flying out to South Africa in about two weeks’ time, would still get me there well before the yacht.
‘Is there anything else Vince?’ Willem asked me.
‘No, I have nothing further to tell you. It has been reasonably quiet on the London front. If there any new developments I’ll be in touch.’
It was now time to switch my mind on to the redecorating of the kid’s bedrooms. I got out a piece of paper to make a shopping list of what I needed to do the work. Not having a car had a lot of advantages living in Putney, where public transport was so good, but it was at times like this where I needed to go to B&Q that a car would be particularly useful. I decided that I would get the bus to the Wandsworth store and take a taxi back with all my bits and pieces.
I was halfway there on the bus when my mobile phone rang. Digging it out I managed to answer it before it went to messaging.
‘Hello, Vince Hamilton here.’ I said quietly.
‘Hi Vince, Inspector Baird. Can I talk to you?’
‘I am on a bus at the moment and would prefer to phone you back in about ten minutes. Is that OK?’
‘Yes Vince, but don’t phone me back on this number. I gave you my card last Friday, so phone me on that number.’
‘Will do Inspector.’
For the rest of the bus journey, my mind was covering every possible reason that he wanted to talk to me.
I got off the bus and found a quiet spot where I reckoned I would get a good signal. I dug his card out of my wallet and phoned him.
He answered almost immediately.
‘Hi Vince, sorry I got you on the bus; are you able to talk now?’
‘Yes, I am all ears.’
‘Would you please spare the time to come and see me today? I would be willing to travel to somewhere near you, to save you travelling all the way to Hampstead if it would help.’
‘I am busy this morning buying some stuff at B&Q, but I could see you this afternoon if that would suit.’
The Diamond Chain Page 13
