Curse of Thieves: Another Major Vince Hamilton Investigation

by Patricki Slaney

  He pulled alongside a jetty where we were able to hop off. He immediately cast off and headed back for Rhodes. It was certainly an extremely civilised way of getting to Turkey.

  There was a taxi rank just beside where we were dropped off so, rather than walk; we asked the taxi driver to drop us off at a good hotel. We realised that we could get ripped off, but we decided to take the risk.

  In fact, the taxi driver took us to a hotel quite far away from the centre of the town. We would pay less for the rooms, but the taxi fare was more. He was obviously a smart man as he made us happy by getting us a low room rate while he got a better fare. This type of trading was obviously the way things worked in Turkey.

  After we had signed in, the Inspector said to me, 'It's now 1.30pm Vince so why don't we have lunch here in the hotel and then go to Icmeler to try and find out why the Maserati vanished off the tracking system close to there.'

  'Sounds like a good plan. I'll meet you in the restaurant in ten minutes.'

  The room I had been allocated was of a much higher standard than the one I had in Lindos. I had a quick shower and met the Inspector in the restaurant.

  'What's your plan for the next few days Inspector?' I asked him as soon as we had food in front of us.

  'I am pretty confident that the headquarters or the nerve centre of the syndicate, who have been organizing all the recent thefts, is here in Marmaris.'

  'Why are you so sure?'

  'I suppose the main reason is that the car we were tracking disappeared near here and also we saw one of the luxury motor yachts in Lindos probably on its way here.'

  'As we motored into Marmaris bay this morning everything we saw reinforced that assumption,' I added.

  'If I was looking for a base for a place to hide away stuff then this is perfect. There is easy access from the sea but yet it is very secluded. My senses say that we are on to something big here Vince.'

  'I agree and just hope that we will not be disappointed. I asked the receptionist on the best way of getting to Icmeler, and she told me that there is a water taxi that leaves on the hour and the half-hour from a pier close to the beach in front of the hotel.'

  'Let's try and make the 3.00pm water taxi then and we can spend the rest of the afternoon looking around Icmeler. Hopefully, we may be able to find the key to the puzzle.'

  'I have to organize a flight back to the UK so as I can get back to support my wife at this difficult time for her. I will try and book it for tomorrow evening that should give us plenty of time to have a look around.'

  'I won't book anything yet in case I need to spend more time here. I will be fine on my own Vince. Get the hotel to try and book a flight for you.'

  'I think that some of the package holidays terminate on a Thursday, so there are bound to be flights leaving from Milas airport tomorrow night. I gather that this is the most appropriate airport for the region of Turkey we are in.'

  'I have no idea, but the hotel will sort it out for you,' the Inspector added. 'You can now focus on our trip to Icmeler.'

  Chapter 26

  The trip on the water Taxi to Icmeler took us about half-an-hour. The owner of the taxi was a small elderly local man who looked as if he had been doing this job for the past fifty years. His wife, who was also in her seventies by the look of her, was his assistant. He kept us amused during the voyage carrying out various tricks and blowing an enormous seashell. The latter item was passed around the passengers to see who could produce a trumpet sound. There was a holiday mood amongst the other people on the water taxi, and I am sure that we looked a bit out of place amongst the tourists.

  We disembarked from the taxi at the harbour in Icmeler to see what we could find out. The maximum width of the strip of land that contained the town was around two hundred meters. At either end, there were narrow roads that connected it to the other similar towns that were dotted along the edge of the bay. We decided to explore the road that ran along the sea heading in the opposite direction to Marmaris.

  Just out of the town the houses stopped, and the road ran along the side of the mountain, it wasn't much more than a track. There was a sizeable concrete structure that looked like an abandoned hotel built on the hillside above the road. It was derelict and looked as if it had been abandoned at least twenty years before. There was an entrance that had a barrier across it, and this was secured with a number of padlocks. I took some photographs of the abandoned structure.

  We continued to walk along the narrow road. We passed another derelict property on our left, below the road. This one extended for a considerable distance along the shore. The gate to this building was also locked, but there was a Turkish flag flying over the porch. A lone scruffy policeman was sitting in a chair, reading a newspaper, underneath the flag.

  We continued walking along the road, both of us silent, taking in the strange sights. Around the next corner, there was a barrier across the road, and two fierce looking guard dogs were tethered either side of the entrance. The ropes that the dogs were attached to were long enough for the animals to be able to attack anybody who tried to get through the barrier.

  'Not very friendly is it Inspector,' I said.

  'I wonder what is beyond here Vince. It is obviously something that needs to be protected.'

  'It's all very strange as all this is in the middle of nowhere. We can't see what is down there as the road bends around the headland and whatever needs protection is out of sight.'

  'I see that there are loads of tourist boats on the bay. You must be able to see what is on the shore from those boats. Perhaps we can get on board a tourist boat and go and have a look.'

  'We will walk back to Icmeler and see if we can rent a boat,' the Inspector suggested.

  We retraced our steps back to the harbour and contacted one of the tourist boat operators. We were told that we needed to purchase a ticket for a boat that was going to Green Sea Bay. Their next boat would be departing at 5.00pm. We bought two tickets and decided to go and have a beer while we waited.

  'I think that we may have stumbled on the solution to our problem Vince,' The Inspector suggested.

  'There is obviously something there that the powers that be don't want people to see. Why else would they have a policeman on guard duty with savage looking dogs in situ to prevent people going any further.'

  'The Maserati that was being tracked vanished very close to here, so perhaps it went into the place that we saw. The fact that there are tall mountains surrounding the site might explain why the signal suddenly stopped.'

  'It will be interesting to see what is around that corner that needs guarding.'

  We didn't have long to wait and what a surprise we received when we visited Green Sea Bay.

  As we came around the headland, we saw an extensive network of massive derelict buildings towering above us. I asked the tourist guide what used to be here.

  'Around twenty years ago the Mafia decided that they wanted to take over the holiday industry in Marmaris. They built this huge complex which included a casino and two hotels,' the guide explained. 'The local politicians got involved and decided that they didn't want the Mafia taking over the region. The police and army moved in to get rid of the Mafia. There was a major gun battle and the Mafia were thrown out.'

  'So it's been derelict like this for the past twenty years,' I said, not believing what I was hearing.

  'At the time, the authorities took out the windows and doors, but they didn't knock the buildings down. They have been exactly as you see them now since they were abandoned twenty years ago.'

  'Thank you for telling us about it. You have been most helpful,' the Inspector said.

  We moved towards the stern of the boat so as we could have a better look. The boat owner had dropped anchor so as the other passengers could look at the green seas through the glass bottom of the boat.

  'What do you think Vince?' The Inspector asked me.

  'Probably the most interesting piece of information is that it was the Mafia who owned the
site and, presumably, the Mafia invested millions of their money in a project that went bottoms up.'

  'We need to have a closer look. I wonder if we can get access to the site from the land side.'

  'From here it looks as if the cliff face above the collection of buildings that we want to look at is far too steep to come down without proper equipment. I also don’t fancy trying to get past those two fierce looking dogs,' I added.

  'It looks as if the only way in is from the sea and I imagine there would be police patrols at night.'

  'You're thinking of coming back here tonight, aren't you?' I asked, doing a bit of mind reading.

  'It wouldn't do any harm to have another look once it gets dark. We are bound to be able to find a boat owner who would bring us here for a fee.'

  'It might be worthwhile talking to the skipper of this tourist boat to see if he would help us out.'

  'That's a good idea. I will ask him when we get back to Icmeler,' the Inspector suggested.

  When the boat had tied up back in the harbour, the Inspector went over to talk to the owner. After a few minutes, he joined me on the quayside.

  'All fixed Vince. He will meet us here at 11.00pm and take us out in one of his smaller boats. He said that people often go to Green Sea Bay at night and shine lights into the water. He says that the effect is very spectacular.'

  'Did you explain to him what we wanted to do?'

  'I told him that we were writing a book on the Mafia and wanted to have a look ashore to get some more details.'

  Let's go back to our hotel in Marmaris, and we can have a meal there as it is included in the price of our rooms. We can come back here in a taxi at 10.30pm.'

  'We can take a taxi back now to see how long it takes. I am excited by what we have found, and I feel that we are at last getting somewhere,' the Inspector said.

  'I agree with you Inspector and just hope that it is not a wild goose chase.

  Back at the hotel I checked with the receptionist, and she said that I was booked on a flight from Milas airport to Gatwick for the following evening. It was due to leave at 9.45pm, and I would have to be at the airport two hours before.

  I went to my room and put a call through to Daphne to tell her the news.

  Michael answered the phone and informed me that his mother was out at the shops. It gave me an opportunity to ask him how he was settling into his new school. Thankfully he told me that he had settled in and was enjoying it as much as you could ever enjoy a school. I told him that I would be home early on Friday morning as my flight only got into Gatwick at close to one o'clock in the morning, and I wouldn't be home until at least two hours after that. He said that he wouldn't be up to greet me, and not to wake him up. I terminated the call just hoping that my forgetful son would remember to give his mother the message.

  Chapter 27

  At 10.30pm we caught a taxi from a rank close to the hotel that got us into Icmeler fifteen minutes later. The boat owner; who we had travelled with earlier in the day was waiting for us on the quayside. He brought us to a small boat, similar in size to the water taxi we had taken from the beach in Marmaris to Icmeler, earlier in the day.

  We climbed aboard, and he cast off. We headed out of the harbour and turned west towards Green Sea Bay. There were a lot of clouds around so the moon was struggling to shine through, and there was, luckily, very little light. We didn't want to be too visible once we arrived at our destination even though we had dressed as tourists.

  Luckily he was a local and knew the coastline well, so, even in the dark, we managed to reach the area safely. He moved close to the shore and a landing stage, turned the engine off, dropped an anchor over the bow of the boat and poled us, in reverse, towards the shore.

  Very skilfully he brought the stern of the boat close to the small pier, and we were able to step ashore onto the jetty. He said that he would move out away from the shore and would wait for us. We should just call him when we wanted him to pick us up.

  Our eyes had adjusted to the darkness by this stage, so we were able to go inland towards the derelict buildings. A set of night vision goggles would have been a very useful addition to our kit. On reaching the ruins, we turned left and started to walk carefully along the concrete apron in front of the buildings. We had gone about seventy meters when we saw a dim light to our right. It was just visible, and we were able to make out the outline of a large door. The light outlined two figures; they were smoking, and we were able to pick out the glow of the cigarettes. Luckily they were looking intently at each other and talking animatedly as Italians do; there was no way that they would have heard or seen us.

  We crept slowly towards the light, making sure that we kept low. Not expecting to encounter people on this venture, I hadn't thought it necessary to bring the listening device with me. We couldn't hear clearly what they were saying, but they seemed to be speaking Italian.

  We moved closer. The light we had spotted was coming from a room set into the cliff face which was behind a large door which was slightly ajar. If the Italians weren't smokers, then we couldn't have seen the rooms that existed in the base of the mountain as the door wouldn't have been open.

  The derelict building we were now moving through had been built on the space between the rock face and the shoreline of the bay. There was a narrow space between the back of the buildings and the cliff face and the mountain towered over us.

  We went to the left to see if there were more doors set into the rock face, but couldn't detect another one. We also went to the right with the same result. There was a road that ran the full length of the rear of the building, and it led up to the door. It looked as if it was in constant use as it was not overgrown.

  The Inspector tapped me on the shoulder. 'I think that we have seen enough, and there is nothing more that we can do here. Let's go before they spot us.'

  We slowly made our way back to the jetty where we had come ashore and, rather than call out to the boatman, I threw a stone in the water beside him to get his attention. He poled the boat back in towards the jetty, and we stepped aboard. I was amazed that there were no guards patrolling the area around the jetty. The only explanation I could come up with was that that they were used to hearing the tourist boats come and go from Green Sea Bay and had no reason to be suspicious. Also, being further down the beach, the tourists would be unlikely to venture down there.

  When we were well away from the bay, the Inspector spoke.

  'Our friends have been extremely smart Vince; they are using the old buildings to camouflage their operation. They must have created a headquarters behind the rock face where they can hide stuff away, but from the outside world; it is impossible to see.'

  'But how do they get past the police guard and the dogs?'

  'There is so much money involved that it would be a relatively miniscule cost to bribe the police and anybody else who needs to be kept quiet.'

  'It looks as if they drove the stolen car down the road behind the derelict buildings and through the door in the rock face. That would explain why the transponder suddenly stopped working.'

  ‘The next step is to find a location where we can observe what is going on during the day at the derelict buildings. We need a much more accurate picture as to what is going on,' the Inspector said.

  'Why don't we take a tourist boat trip around Marmaris bay tomorrow and see if we can find a suitable place to use as an observation post. Posing as tourists will make us less conspicuous,' I suggested.

  'I'll see if the Hotel can book something for us. I would ask our skipper for help but he is probably getting suspicious already and, I feel; we should try a different approach.'

  'I agree. Let's get back to the hotel, and we can take it from there. I won't have to leave the hotel for the airport until 6.00pm and I can be all packed up and ready to go.'

  Unfortunately, the member of staff on duty at the hotel when we got back didn't speak any English. We weren't able to get any information about a boat trip around the harbour.
I volunteered to get up early in the morning, sort something out, and then tell the Inspector at breakfast.

  After a good, but short, night's sleep, I was at the reception desk at 7.30am and managed to organize a boat trip around Marmaris bay. It would depart from the main quay of the harbour at 10.00am. Conveniently, it was due back at its mooring at 4.30pm which would give me plenty of time to return to the hotel, pick up my bags, and then get to the airport.

  I shoved a note under the inspector's door letting him know the arrangements and telling him that I would meet him for breakfast at 8.30am.

  The cruise around Marmaris bay proved to be ideal for our purposes as we hugged the shoreline and stopped in numerous places so as the members of the tour could swim and participate in water sports. It was after lunch, which was provided as part of the package that we moored in Green Sea Bay. On this large tourist boat, we were much higher up than we had been when we were on the small boat that we had been on yesterday, we had an excellent view of the derelict buildings and the surrounding area.

  'From the sea you cannot spot the door in the rock face Vince,' the Inspector commented pointing at the massive structures.

  'If we hadn't seen the light last night we would never know that there is something sinister taking place behind the ruins,' I added.

  'Did you notice the building that looks like a cottage on the small island that faces this bay,' the Inspector turned and pointed towards a red-roofed cottage type structure on the island we had just passed. It was about half a kilometre away from Green Sea Bay.

  'If you could get on that headland, you could get a great view of what is going on here, provided of course you had binoculars,' I suggested.

  'I'll ask the tourist guide if he knows whether that cottage is still occupied. If it is derelict, I could hire a boat and spend tomorrow on that island watching our friends here.'

  He went to the lower deck to speak to the guide. Five minutes later the Inspector returned carrying two beers.