The Criminal Escapades of Geoffrey Larkin

by R. W. Hughes

  It worried Geoff, it had been over a week and he had not been able to make contact with the Bolton brothers, he hoped this journey with all its problems and the pain that his mate Sooty had endured was not in vain. While he and Sooty had been struggling over the mountains, Derek and John Bolton could be languishing in some Italian or Austrian jail. But then he and Sooty were trapped by circumstances and had nowhere else to go. They could only head for Austria and hope to make contact with their friends, they were running out of options and far more importantly, he was running out of cash.

  He reckoned it would be a close run thing, which came first, the Italian/Austrian border, Sooty collapsing in an unmovable heap, or them ending up broke. Sooty still couldn’t eat solid food and he was even struggling to take soups through a straw. Geoff was getting very worried, the big lad still had a lump on his cheek but the severe bruising had subsided. With all this cycling exercise, the heat and no proper solid food, he could see as each day passed the weight just dropping off his mate.

  The weather was beginning to break and they were encountering torrential local thunderstorms. These were very frightening if you were caught in one of these storms high on one of the exposed mountain tracks with nowhere to shelter, as had happened on several occasions.

  It was because of this, and the fact that if he had to quickly find medical attention for Sooty, that Geoff had decided to come off the sparsley populated high ground. They were now travelling alongside the River Sieve on the plain. According to his map, this would bring them to the town of St. Piero, north of Florence, and this town had a railway station, once on the train network they could make their way to either Austria or Switzerland, whichever they chose.

  The path alongside the river was bumpy but quite good on dry days. It quickly turned into a quagmire of sticky mud after a storm which made progress very slow and very tiring, especially for Sooty, who Geoff could see was now fading fast, even though, he still struggled on manfully without a word of complaint. Geoff’s heart went out to the big lad who carried on struggling to place one foot in front of the other using the bike for support.

  They had reached the outskirts of St. Piero, there they had camped for the night on a camp site at a village of Petrona. The following morning, he told Sooty to have a lie in as he was going to check out the trains. Geoff thought that Sooty was absolutely knackered as he looked at the grey, fatigued lined face of his mate; it was of no surprise that he was not objecting to the extra rest.

  Geoff enquired at the station for two single tickets to both Switzerland and Austria using his basic knowledge of Italian. ‘Quanto costa two singola biglietto due Austria.’ Fortunately, the clerk spoke a little English, being used to tourists. Geoff had enquired about the cost to Switzerland as a second option with and without the bikes. With all his information written down on a piece of paper he retired to a wooden bench outside the station and worked out the costs.

  He could take the train and leave it just before the Austrian border then, if he followed the track through the country lanes given to him by Werner Fisher and used by John and Derek Bolton, he could enter Austria without the risk of going through a check point, but that would mean taking and using the bikes. He doubted that Sooty, in his present condition, was up to that task.

  The other alternative would be to dump the bikes, travel through to Switzerland by train and meet up there with either the Bolton brothers or Herr Merkel, but that would most likely involve using identification. But Geoff’s first priority would be to try and get some medical attention for Sooty as quickly as possible, if they were stopped for any reason and asked for their passports they would have to use the ones lifted from the New Zealanders and risk it.

  Either way, the purchase of the one way train tickets would leave them flat broke. In the end, Geoff decided they would catch the train to Austria, another EU country, as he knew that it was unlikely there would be any checks, if any.

  He had decided he would take the folding bikes with the camping equipment just in case there were problems at the other end and then they would not be destitute. This did, however, create a little problem of its own. Cycles, could be taken on Italian trains but technically they had to be in containers or bags, but after the purchase of the tickets he had not enough money to buy any plastic covers for their transport.

  It was as he was cycling back to the camp site to collect Sooty that he saw what could be a solution to his problem.

  After collecting a very sick companion, he set off on his way back to the railway station, stopping en route outside a garden he had passed previously. Geoff sent Sooty on ahead then, slipping over the low boundary wall, he stripped two of the set of six protective covers from wooden chairs that were placed around a matching dining table. It was as he was clambering back over the wall that a medium sized, yapping, terrier dog attacked and held on to a loose end of one of the plastic seat covers, starting a tug of war between himself, pulling on one side of the garden wall, and Geoff holding on to the loose plastic on the other.

  It was only when Geoff leant over and tried, but failed, to brain the dog with his cycling helmet that the dog jumped back, letting go of the plastic but continuing with its loud yapping, as Geoff, holding the plastic covers, went chasing off down the road after his mate who he could see in the distance.

  There was a minor incident at the goods van at the rear of the train when Geoff presented the bikes with the makeshift covers held together with elasticised bungees. The attendant said something to Geoff and shook his finger. Geoff didn’t understand and just pointed to a very sick looking Sooty saying, ‘Nauseante! Vomito!’ The attendant looked at Sooty who, by now, was in a pitiful state looking, as Geoff observed, like death warmed up.

  The man shrugged his shoulders and waved Geoff forward to load their bikes, which he did with a sigh of relief, then going back because he had forgot to franc his tickets on the machine on the platform before boarding the train.

  The long train journey to Innsbruck in Austria went without any incident. Sooty slept through most of the journey and there was no inspection of the documents required, the only official they came in contact with was the inspector who clipped their train tickets before moving on down the coach to the great relief of a very tense Geoff.

  It was late afternoon when they unloaded their bikes at Innsbruck railway station. Parking a still very frail Sooty at a bench at the station with the bikes propped either side of the seat and their camping equipment forming a prop for the big lad, Geoff then made his way to a line of telephone kiosks.

  Looking back he could see that to any casual observers Sooty just looked like a very weary, touring cyclist. Geoff checked his change, he had just enough loose coins to make one short phone call, leaving a few cents left over, not even enough for them to share a coffee.

  After ringing the number given to him by Werner Fisher there were several agonising seconds while the phone rang at the other end. He was so relieved when he recognised the voice at the other end of the phone. He did not have time to exchange any pleasantries, and felt quite guilty at being so curt.

  ‘Werner Fisher! Herr Fisher, it’s me Geoff. I haven’t got much money left we’re at Innsbruck railway station.’ He was trying to give more information on their situation when the digits finally clicked quickly away.

  ‘Hello! Hello!’ he shouted as the phone went dead. He’d run out of time and money. He slowly made his way back to a sleeping Sooty and sat alongside his mate. Many thoughts were flashing through his mind.

  Well that’s it, I can’t do any more. We’ll just have to sit it out at the station but if no one comes for us tonight then it must mean that John and Derek Bolton have been pulled in, if that’s the case, then I’m taking Sooty to the hospital before he collapses. The problem is New Zealand is not a member of the EU so those passports would create further risks. But, one obstacle at a time.

  Before he fell asleep he thought of what his attitude would have been several years ago. He would have defin
itely dumped the rest of them to save number one. He was quite surprised that he had put himself out on a limb so many times on their behalf. Still, he did enjoy the feeling of trust they placed in his ability to pull them out of the shit, something they seemed to be ending up in on a regular basis lately. He had enjoyed their stay in the villa and the company of the two old soldiers; their stay in the high class hotels had been an experience of a lifetime. What was money for if not to buy a good time? Life was short enough anyway and who’d have thought that he, Geoff Larkin, could have pulled off a massive bank job. What a buzz that was!

  Both Geoff and Sooty were dozing on the bench, leaning against one another for support, their folded bikes in their makeshift covers beside them.

  ‘Geoffrey Larkin!’ Geoff woke, startled at the mention of his name, as his eyes slowly focused from his sleep. Standing in front of him with a big smile on his face was Herr Werner Fisher.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Ronald B. Hutch was in his hotel room in Florence and in the process of updating his coded report for his superiors, taking details from his notes.

  The international meeting had proceeded without any serious incidents apart from the usual minor demonstrations which had been well contained by the Italian authorities.

  The raid on the hotel in Pisa by the Italian police was planned from information supplied by my group and it had led to the arrest of five males, two Italian nationals and three others with forged British passports.

  They have also confiscated several silver ingots and 75mm armour piercing shell, as well as obtaining a series of credit cards under various names, and a substantial number of forged English £20 notes along with the access numbers to several Swiss bank accounts.

  A resident who lived near the Municipal Building that was being used to store the new vault had made a statement to the effect he had come into contact with the gang shortly after the robbery. He had identified the largest one of the group as being one of four English speaking men travelling the wrong way down a one way road near the town in the early hours of the morning of the bank robbery. In addition, two of the men arrested had injuries consistent with a blow back from a large artillery piece when the barrel had split. In my opinion, through diligent undercover and surveillance work along with the co-operation of the Italian authorities, we have out manoeuvred the destructive attempts of what was a well organised international gang with terrorist connections. The British authorities, on information provided by my team, have carried out raids and arrested several members of this gang operating from the UK town of Stockport and the city of Manchester.

  We are, at the moment, still following further information which we have obtained. We are confident that this will lead us to other members of this gang who unfortunately slipped through the net that was organised by the Italian authorities and out of our control. But with the information that my team has made available to the Italian and British police, further early arrests are anticipated, along with the recovery of the remainder of the silver bullion and two boxes of gold ingots that had also been locked in the vault. I conclude that with the gang acting so quickly after the delivery of the gold being delivered at such short notice to the bank, I suspect they had an informant at the highest level. I recommend that for the time being and until this situation reaches a conclusion, any further information we obtain relevant to this case we keep within our own network of operatives. A further detailed report will be forwarded in due course as more information becomes available.

  Ronald B Hutch looked at his finished report, smiled to himself and placed it to one side ready for coding and sending to his superiors.

  *

  After leaving Innsbruck railway station with Werner Fisher, Geoff and a very weary Harry Sutton were reunited with John and Derek Bolton who were enthralled with the experiences

  Geoff told them they had encountered on their journey over the mountains.

  The Bolton brothers had slipped quietly over the border into Austria taking the route which they had been instructed to follow. They had then made contact with Herr Fisher and he, in turn, had made arrangements for the safe storage of the silver.

  They had then taken the car back over the border the same way and parked it at a railway station just inside Italy. They then returned with Werner via the railway system. Contact had been previously arranged with the owners of the Mercedes, to come by train and collect their vehicle.

  An x-ray at a private clinic showed Sooty had been travelling around with a jaw broken in two places. It needed wiring together, but first he needed a course of antibiotics to take down the infection which was causing the swelling but, hopefully, the big lad would be back to his usual self within a few weeks after the operation, and without any ill effects.

  Geoff was still finding it difficult to believe it was all over. Peer and Werner had arranged a celebration dinner at a large house they were renting on the outskirts of Innsbruck, they would all be staying there until they decided what they were going to do and where they were going to go. If necessary there were enough funds for them to stay where they were for many, many years in the future.

  Geoff, prior to the party, had just slipped out. There was just one thing he had to do and he needed a little privacy. His telephone call from the small café near to their rented house to the UK was connected within a few seconds.

  ‘Hello! Is that Alice?’

  ‘Yes it is, who’s that?’

  ‘It’s Geoff. Yes, I know it’s been a long time. Sorry about that. Listen! Would you like a holiday in Austria? You’ve got days owing to you. Great! You would, that’s fantastic! No, all you have to do is to catch a flight to Innsbruck. No, it won’t cost you anything I’ll reimburse your fare. There’s a flight on Thursday morning from Manchester airport. I’ll meet you at Innsbruck airport. Look forward to seeing you then Alice. Bye!’

  He left the telephone kiosk making his way back to the house. He had a broad smile on his face as he joined the rest of the group celebrating in the dining room. The arrest of the terrorist group in Italy had been reported in the Austrian press and on their national television in great detail. Geoff still had in his possession most of the Swiss bank account numbers, which had been in code and successfully broken by Derek Bolton with the help of the notebook that came with the credit cards.

  He would over the next few days have to give that a little more thought now that his previous pursuers were behind bars and would be there for many years to come. Perhaps it would be worth mentioning to the newfound contacts of Herr Fisher.

  *

  Sergeant Paul Robinson was not having a very good time since being promoted to acting inspector. His conviction rate had dropped; it was well down on the previous year. He was reading aloud a copy of the report to Constable Wilson. The chief constable had received this from the Italian authorities after it had been emailed to them by the CIA’s chief agent, Ronald B. Hutch.

  ‘According to this report this Agent Hutch guy was solely responsible for the detainment of an international terrorist cell. Stopping an attack on the world leaders’ business meeting recently held in Italy. The information he sent to our department in the UK made it possible for us to arrest those gang members based here. This bloke certainly builds up his own ego,’ concluded Paul Robinson.

  ‘He certainly writes a good report on his own achievements; he’s a right ladder climber,’ added his constable.

  ‘There’s a list on the end of this report,’ continued Acting Inspector Robinson, ‘it contains all the items found in the possession of this gang. One unused 75mm artillery shell, two 75mm used casings, a large number of credit cards, numbers listed below, all registered under false names and at false addresses, several ingots of silver and, also a large amount of £20 forged notes, details of several Swiss bank accounts, access in code and yet to be confirmed. I don’t understand that sentence, either they are bank accounts or they’re not, we need to follow that one up with this Hutch bloke and have it clarified. Mmm, tha
t’s interesting. One of these characters was carrying a brass knuckle duster and the pathologist report on our Mr. X indicated he could have been beaten close to death with something similar.

  ‘We’ll see if they will do a DNA test or send it over for us to do one. This could be promising, Wilson, you sort it out. Meanwhile I’ve got a meeting with the chief inspector about whether he will allow us to continue the twenty-four hours surveillance on that girl that Larkin knocked about with for a while longer. You know what he’s like about keeping costs down.’

  Acting Inspector Robinson went to his meeting with the Chief Inspector feeling a little happier. At last, he had something positive to give to his boss after weeks of negative information, while his constable William Wilson proceeded to carry out his instructions making contact with the relevant Italian authorities about the brass knuckle duster.

  Half an hourlater after his meeting with the Chief Inspector actinging Inspector Robinson was feeling very pleased with himself, and walking with a spring in his step which he had not felt for a long time. He had been informed at the meeting that his position was now permanent, due to his team’s contribution in the arrests and breaking up of the international counterfeiting ring.

  ‘I’ll find Wilson and take him to the pub when he finishes his shift.’ He thought.

  ‘We’ll drink a toast to that little sod Larkin, where ever he his.’

  The End

  A Note…

  As I finished this novel in 2014, I decided at the end of my book to include this poem I had written. Which I was moved to write after seeing a small display of First World War artefacts loaned by local families at our village garden fete Wincle, Cheshire, 01-06-2014 during the centenary of the start of the First World War.