An African Adventure (Vince Hamilton Private Investigator Book 4)

by Patrick Slaney

  'Before I commit to sending him you had better tell me what you have in mind.'

  'We have a tracking device on the motorbike that is now inside a van, so we don't have a problem following it to wherever it goes,' the Inspector explained. 'As soon as it stops at its destination someone needs to get there pronto to ascertain who and what is there.'

  'So you want my friend Reggie to be available to fly out at very short notice to scout out the land.'

  'That's exactly what I have in mind. Once I have confirmation that the motorbike has arrived I can then contact the relevant police force and ask them to move in.'

  'Sounds simple Inspector and well within what Reggie should be capable of. I will phone him tonight and let him know what we have planned for him and that he should be on his starting blocks.'

  'Just to bring you up to date on the cars, Vince,' the Inspector added. 'We still haven't located the lockup where the cars are being taken to. There are no further developments on that front although we are getting warmer.'

  'Thanks, Inspector, I look forward to hearing from you as soon as you know the location that the motorbike has stopped at.'

  I terminated the call and then tried to phone Reggie. He didn't answer.

  I tried him a few more times over the next hour. Still no response; it went to messaging each time.

  My one fear about using Reggie to help me was that he wasn't reliable. He liked his booze and most nights he was the worse for wear. In the past if I needed to get hold of him I would make sure that I contacted him in the morning. I reasoned with myself that it was unlikely that I would need him to travel during the next twelve hours so I could leave contacting him until the morning.

  Daphne had already gone to bed, so I joined her. The day had been more eventful than I was used to, and I was exhausted. I would sleep well.

  Chapter 6

  There was no need to get up early the following morning as both Michael and Victoria were off school for the week on their half term break. Daphne left the house at about a quarter past nine to go to her job of running a Boutique in Putney High Street. She was responsible for opening the premises by 9.30am. I had peace until the kids got up and was able to relax in the kitchen drinking a coffee and eating some toast and marmalade while reading the newspaper.

  Clearly the first task that I had to do was to contact Reggie and get him on his starting blocks. He needed to be ready to fly to some, yet unknown, location in Europe as soon as the Inspector or the tracking station notified me where the motorbike had ended up. It would also be a good idea to contact Carol's parents to make sure that her three boys were OK. Reggie would most likely have a hangover, so I decided to leave contacting him till later in the morning. I punched in Carol's number.

  'Good morning; the Newsome's residence, Carol's mother, answered.

  'Hi; Vince Hamilton here, Carol's friend. I am just checking that everything is under control, and there are no alarms.'

  'Yes, everything is fine; the boys are all still in bed, so we have hardly seen them since we arrived yesterday evening.'

  'Have you got everything you need; bread and milk for instance?'

  'Carol left the fridge well stocked, and we will ask Brian to go to the local shop for us as soon as he appears.'

  'It sounds as if you have everything under control. You have my mobile number so don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything. I have Carol's car, so I can be with you in about half-an-hour in an emergency.'

  'Thank you, Vince; you are very kind to be helping our daughter like this.'

  'It’s no problem; I'll talk to you later.' I ended the call.

  My next call was to the duty operator to find out where the motorbike was.

  I had the telephone number from a previous time I had been involved with them. The number rang for quite a time before it was picked up.

  'Sorry, I didn't hear the phone ringing; I had earphones on.' The person who answered the phone sounded flustered.

  'It's Major Vince Hamilton hear; I would like to get an update on the white van with the Harley on board.'

  'Ah good morning Sir. As expected, it went through the Channel Tunnel yesterday evening, and it travelled all through the night. It is now in Germany.'

  'Can you work out yet where it's likely destination is?'

  'No Sir; all I can tell you is that the van has stopped at a hotel close to the city of Stuttgart,’ he explained. ‘The hotel's name is Erbschenk, and it is in a small town called Wendlingen which is a short distance away from Autobahn number eight.'

  'It looks as if the driver is catching up on his sleep,' I suggested. 'He must be going a lot further if he has stopped off at a hotel in Wendlingen rather than finish his journey.'

  'My best guess is that he is heading down towards the Balkans, but we won't know until he has driven another six hundred kilometres or so,' the Operator offered.

  'I'll phone you this evening to see if there are any further developments.'

  'That's fine Sir. I will not be on duty, but a guy called Peter will be here in my place.'

  'Many thanks.' I finished the call.

  Next on my list of things to do was to try and get hold of Reggie.

  I was surprised when he answered on the second ring.

  'Hi, Vince what can I do for you.' My name had apparently come up on his mobile as the caller.

  'Good morning Reg. There have been some developments that I need to pass on to you. Can you please meet me at the usual place for lunch at 12.30pm?' Our usual place was in the Riverview Pub overlooking the Thames in Putney.

  'Can you tell me what has come up?'

  'It's quite complicated so I would rather tell you all about it when we meet.'

  'See you then mystery man,' he joked. At least, he didn't sound too hungover.

  For once I was at the pub before him. Normally he was seated drinking his first pint when I arrived.

  'Hi, Reg.' I greeted him when he joined me.

  'Hi Vince; not often you are here before me.' He smiled.

  'What would you like to have?' I asked him as I stood up ready to go over to the bar.

  'I'll have a ham and cheese sandwich and an orange juice.'

  I froze and put my hand on his shoulder.

  'Reg I have never heard you order an orange juice before in my life. Are you sick?'

  'I am not going to drink until I finish this job that you have for me. I don't want to screw it up and make a fool of myself.'

  'I'm impressed Reg. I never thought that I would see the day when you would change your drinking habits.'

  'You've given me a new lease of life Vince, and I don't want to let you down.'

  'I had better go and place the order before you change your mind. In fact, I will have an orange juice myself so as I don't tempt you.'

  I went over to the bar to place the order.

  When I was seated, Reggie leant towards me.

  'OK, Vince put me out of my misery. What is this job you want me to do?'

  'A very expensive motorbike has been stolen in London and is being taken across Europe in an unmarked white van,' I explained.

  'How on earth do you know where it is going if it inside a van,' Reggie interrupted.

  'The owner of the motorbike fitted an expensive GPS tracking device to it in case it was stolen. 'Using the transponder details provided by the owner, the police are presently tracking the bike at their monitoring centre in Hampstead.'

  'So where is it now?' Reggie asked.

  'Last time that I checked with the police, the van was sitting outside a hotel close to Stuttgart in Germany. The driver was apparently catching up on his sleep.'

  'So what is my role in all of this?'

  'As soon as the van arrives at it’s the final destination, you will have to fly to the nearest airport to that location and go and locate the van or the bike. I will get a handheld GPS device for you so as you can track the bike down to the coordinates the tracking operator has given us.'

  'Can I
not just go to an address?' Reggie asked.

  'No, you will need to be more accurate than that. It could be a warehouse in a business park with no physical address.'

  'I am worried I won't be able to use the device. I am not good with gadgets.' Reggie looked seriously worried.

  'I will arrange for you to pick up the device at the police monitoring centre in Hampstead this afternoon. They will teach you how to use it.' That seemed to calm his anxiousness.

  'What about buying my ticket if I have to fly off in a hurry?'

  'I'll make an arrangement with the local travel agent so they can issue you with tickets and then charge me. They know me well from all the travelling I do, so there shouldn't be a problem. The other alternative is for me to buy your ticket on my credit card.'

  'Can you phone the tracking centre to arrange a time when I can pick up the GPS device that I will be using,' Reggie asked.

  'I'll do that immediately for you.'

  I phoned the Operator and arranged for Reggie to visit their premises during the afternoon. They told me that he was to report to Hampstead police station, and somebody would take him from there to the centre.

  Once we had finished eating, Reggie left to travel on the underground to Hampstead to collect the GPS device. I visited the local travel agent to open an account and sort things out so as they could issue him with flight tickets.

  When I arrived home shortly after two o'clock, I found Michael and Victoria waiting expectantly in the hope that their father would take them somewhere.

  'Dad, Vickie and I would like you to take us to Leicester Square to see the movie Kung Fu Panda. It's the only one that we both want to see.'

  'Do you know what time it starts at?' I asked them.

  'Yes, we checked, and if we get going now we can make the show that starts at 3.45pm.'

  'OK, so what are we waiting for,' I said with more enthusiasm than I felt. 'I will just visit the toilet, and then we can leave.'

  When we got to East Putney station, I telephoned Daphne on my mobile to let her know what we were up to. I also told her that I would probably take the kids for dinner in the KFC located in Leicester Square before we returned home. She declined my invitation to join us for dinner.

  It was just after eight o'clock when we arrived home. It had been good fun, and even I had enjoyed the movie. KFC was not my preferred choice of food, but it hadn't been too bad.

  I put in a call to the Police Tracking station to find out where the van was. Peter, the replacement operator, told me that it was on the move again and was presently close to Graz in Austria. I gave the operator my mobile number and asked him to contact me if there were any developments during the night. Basically, I told him that I was only interested if the van stopped and didn't appear to be moving on.

  I 'phoned Reggie to give him an update.

  'If they have gone that far it looks as if they are heading for the Balkans,' he commented.

  'We will have a better idea tomorrow,' I added. 'If they follow the same pattern as today, they will drive all night and then find a hotel to lie up in for a few hours.'

  'Well, I am ready to go as soon as you tell me where I have to go to,' Reggie said.

  'Keep your mobile close to you and I will contact you when I hear from the tracking centre.'

  'I'll even keep it charged Vince.' I pictured him smiling at the other end of the phone.

  'Good night Reggie, I'll be in touch.'

  'I am having a glass of wine dear, do you want to join me?' Daphne called out.

  'Thanks, I'll bring a glass.'

  With all that had been going on, we hadn't sat down with a glass of wine and had a chat for at least a week.

  'How is business in the boutique at the moment? Are sales holding up?' I decided that it might be better to focus on her job.

  'It's always better at half term, but, for some reason, it has been fairly steady for the last few months.'

  'Vince, what are you rushing around doing? You seem to be very busy again.' It didn't take her long to switch the conversation to the topics I didn't particularly want to talk about.

  'I have been lining up Reggie Talbot to help Inspector Baird track down a white van with a stolen motorbike in it. The van is currently being tracked across Europe. When it finally arrives at wherever it is going, Reggie will fly out to scout out the land and find out what is going on.'

  'So you won't be involved and won't have to travel.' She gave me a quizzical look.

  'That's right; the idea is that he will do the travelling. I gave you my word that I would take a step back from my involvement, and I have done that.'

  'Do you trust Reggie; I thought that he was a bit of a drinker?'

  'Believe it or not, he has stopped drinking. When I met him for lunch today, he had an orange juice instead of a beer.'

  'That sound's promising. What about Carol Newsome and her family, how are they?'

  'Her parents gave her enough money to buy a ticket so as she can fly to Melbourne to see her husband. She needed to talk to him, face to face, about his bank accounts, etc. She is afraid the banks will close his account once they know he has been locked up in prison, and she wants to transfer any money, still available, into a new account she has opened for herself before that happens..'

  'So what is happening with the kids while she is away?'

  'They are being looked after by her parents for the week. I have told them that they may call on me if a problem arises that they can't deal with themselves.'

  'That is her Lexus outside isn't it?'

  'Yes dear, I will be using it to travel to Tonbridge School on Thursday. I am going to see the headmaster about their schooling to find out what he suggests. I will also be picking her up from Heathrow on Saturday morning when she gets back from Melbourne.'

  'How did you get landed with the task of going to see the Headmaster?' Daphne's attitude had suddenly changed. She was clearly upset that I was still involved.

  'Well the boys schooling has to be sorted out this week, and Carol had to travel to Australia. There was nobody else available to sort out their schooling. Brian and Alex are coming with me to show me the way.'

  'She doesn't know how lucky she is to have you as a friend Vince, but that's pushing the friendship a bit far.'

  'I still feel guilty for being instrumental in having Clive locked away in prison. I know that I am stupid to feel that way, but I do. The fact that I also know Carol from the time we were growing up together in Rainham makes me feel guiltier.'

  'Vince you really are impossible. It was the police who locked Clive up because he was involved in the kidnapping of Stuart Smith's family. It has nothing to do with you. You're a bloody fool if you think otherwise.' I hadn't seen Daphne so angry in a long time, and she never swore.

  'By the end of this week, there should be no further need for my involvement. If we get the schooling sorted out, and the business and house on the market, Carol should be able to manage.'

  'Well, Vince please make sure that you don't get heavily involved in another investigation. I had been hoping that you would be able to take the kids out every day this week, but you have been rushing around doing other things leaving them on their own at home.'

  'I did take them into Central London today to the movies and KFC,' I offered.

  'That just proves that the age of miracles is not over, but, they do seem to have enjoyed themselves. What are you up to tomorrow?'

  'At the moment, I have nothing planned. Perhaps I can use Carol's car to take them somewhere.'

  'They would appreciate that. They were muttering about you taking them to Legoland at Windsor.' Daphne sounded as if she was calming down.

  'Since it is half term Legoland is going to be very crowded so we would need to get away early tomorrow morning. I'll check the weather forecast before talking to Michael and Victoria.' With a bit of luck, I could bolster my credibility as a caring father and get back in my wife's good books.

  The weather was going to b
e perfect, so I called up the stairs for Michael and Victoria to join me in the kitchen.

  'Do you fancy going somewhere tomorrow?' I asked them.

  'Can we go to the zoo again Dad?' Victoria asked.

  'That's boring Vickie.' Michael was the only one who was allowed to call his sister Vickie; she insisted on Victoria from everybody else. 'Dad, you have a car at the moment so can you not take us to Thorpe Park or Legoland?'

  'I hate Thorpe Park,' Victoria whined. 'It's too scary.

  'I am the same,' I said. 'I have decided to take you to Legoland for the day. We will leave at 8.30am as masses of people are going to have the same idea as us.'

  'Thanks, Dad,' Victoria said enthusiastically. 'Can I ask my friend Anne from school to come with us, she never goes anywhere.'

  'I suppose so.’ Victoria would be a lot easier to entertain if she had a friend along. ‘Tell her to come and spend the night here so as she is ready to leave with us in the morning.'

  'That's great Dad; she will love a sleepover. I'll go and ring her now.' Victoria ran off to use the phone.

  'Do you want to invite a friend as well Michael?' I asked him.

  'No, there is nobody I know that would enjoy it. I'll make do with you, Dad.' He put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a grin. I didn’t know if he was being truthful or winding me up.

  I got up early the following morning so as I could telephone the Hampstead tracking centre. I was told that the van had stopped at a town in Croatia called Kutina. It was presently sitting in a car park outside a hotel of the same name. Clearly the driver was having another rest. When I asked the operator if he had any idea where the final destination might be, he told me that there were still too many options available to make an accurate prediction.

  I telephoned Reggie to bring him up to date and tell him that I would be at Legoland for the day with my kids. He sounded a bit disappointed that he still didn't know where he might be heading for.

  At 8.30am precisely we headed off for Legoland accompanied by Victoria's friend Anne.

  Chapter 7

  What a change in my lifestyle. Up to very recently I had been rushing all over the world after criminals and my family had taken second place in my priorities. Here I was, setting off to Legoland for the day, with a thirteen-year-old boy and two eight-year-old girls in tow. I wasn't trained for such a task and I felt totally inadequate. In army parlance, it was like going into battle without your armour.