An African Adventure (Vince Hamilton Private Investigator Book 4)

by Patrick Slaney

  ‘Good; how can I help you, gentlemen?’ I can now give you my undivided attention. What did you want to see me about, I don't recognise you?

  'Let us introduce ourselves first; this is Peter Taylor, I pointed to Peter, and my name is Vince Hamilton. We are from a firm of accountants who are carrying out the audit for a business called Clive Newsome Luxury Cars.'

  'What has that to do with me/' He genuinely seemed to be mystified by my introduction.

  'While going through the accounts, we came across some rather large payments that were made to the bank account of this restaurant.'

  'I don't know anything about the payments. I have never even heard of Clive Newsome.' He seemed to be very flustered.

  Peter produced a piece of paper from his inside pocket and put it on the table.

  'This is a copy of the bank statement showing that three payments were made to the bank account of your restaurant, Mr Mariello. You can see; they were definitely made.'

  Alessandro studied the copies of the bank statement looking utterly perplexed.

  I decided on a different approach.

  'Are you the only shareholder in this restaurant?' I asked him.

  'No, in fact, I only own a small portion of it. I have two major shareholders and they handle most of the financial affairs. I am an excellent chef but not too hot on the business side.'

  'What are names of the two major shareholders?'

  'I suppose that I can tell you as you will be able to find out for yourself at the companies office. They are Luigi Bandarella and Padovani Orazio.'

  I didn't have to ask him any more questions. We had found the link.

  'Are they both still partners in the business?' I asked as innocently as I could.

  'No, Luigi Bandarella was killed in a car accident in Australia and he has been replaced by the new Maserati agent for the UK, a man called Ugo La Rossa.'

  'Who is the more senior of the two; Mr La Rossa or Mr Orazio?'

  'I assume that Ugo La Rossa will take over the financial affairs of the restaurant as Mr Orazio is a Chef like myself and is not good with figures.'

  'Can you tell me where I can get hold of Mr La Rossa?'

  'The best place to find him is at the Maserati office in South Kensington. I will give you one of his cards with all his personal contact numbers before you leave.'

  'Thank you, Alessandro you have been very helpful.' I shook his hand as he stood up.

  'Would you like another coffee or a liqueur?' He asked us.

  'No thank you. The meal was perfect; I congratulate you on a very fine restaurant.'

  As we passed through the entrance area, he gave each of us a business card for Ugo La Rossa.

  Once out on the street, we both gave a big sigh of relief.

  'Well done Vince, that was a masterful performance,' Peter said giving me a pat on the back.

  'Thankfully, it went a lot better than I could have expected. We wanted to find out how the payments were linked to Coritos and we got that information.'

  'Are you convinced that the owner isn't involved and they are only laundering the money through his business,' Peter asked me.

  'That appears to be what is going on and the man we have to contact is this Ugo La Rossa. I will contact the Inspector and get his input before I contact Mr La Rossa.'

  'Do you think that Mr La Rossa is linked with the Mafia?'

  'Probably Peter, and if he is, I don't want to get on the wrong side of him.'

  We reached the tube station and I decided that it was time to head for home; I didn't have time to see Carol. Peter said that he was going back to the showroom in St John's Wood.

  'Thanks for all your help Peter. I'll be in touch as soon as I have decided the best way to approach the situation. I want to pay our Italian friends the two point three million pounds as soon as possible.'

  'I'll await your telephone call then.'

  We shook hands and went in opposite directions. I was going home while Peter was returning to finish the accounts at the showrooms.

  Chapter 15

  I used the time on the tube travelling back to East Putney to do some hard thinking. Being early afternoon, the carriage wasn’t crowded, so the journey was quite pleasant.

  At the first opportunity I ‘phoned Carol to let her know that I couldn’t see her this afternoon, but that I would be at her place bright and early the following morning for our trip to Tonbridge. She sounded very disappointed that I wasn’t on my way to see her. She very pointedly told me that she had been on her own all day as Nick had been persuaded to go to school.

  ‘I’m sorry Carol but I had to go and pick Victoria up from her school today as we won’t be back from our trip to Tonbridge for me to pick her up tomorrow.’

  ‘Can your wife not walk her home from school?’ She still sounded upset.

  ‘She has to take her lunch break very late if she picks her up, so she prefers not to.’

  ‘She’d have to if you weren’t around Vince.’

  ‘That is what the whole argument with Daphne is about. She reckons that as I am retired now, I should be able to go every day,’ I tried to explain.

  ‘I am just very disappointed Vince that you didn’t think it worth your while to come and see me.’ She was making me feel bad about letting her down.’

  ‘Bye Carol, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ I ended the call.

  I had a few more phone calls to make, but I decided to postpone them until I got home. The noise of the train made it difficult to hear what people were saying. The near empty train seemed to rattle a lot more than a full one.

  Back home after my trip to Victoria's school, I telephoned Chief Inspector Baird.

  ‘Hi Inspector, it's Vince here, can I talk to you?’

  ‘As long as you don’t speak for too long; I have a meeting to go to in a few minutes.’

  ‘I want to ask your advice about something.’

  ‘OK, fire ahead Vince, I’ll just have to be late again.’

  I quickly explained how we had met Alessandro Mariello at Coritos restaurant and what had transpired at that meeting.'

  ‘So you are saying that Luigi Bandarella was a partner in that restaurant.’

  ‘That’s right, and Clive paid large sums of money into the restaurant’s account. It was and probably still is a front for the Mafia.’

  ‘So what has happened now that Luigi is dead?’ I had obviously got the Inspector’s interest.

  ‘He has been replaced by another Italian by the name of Ugo La Rossa. This gentleman has also taken over the Maserati agency for London.’

  ‘So what do want me to do for you, Vince?’

  ‘Would you be able to check him out for us? I want to go and meet him and do a deal re the loans that Luigi gave Clive, but I don’t want to end up at the bottom of the Serpentine with a concrete collar.’

  ‘I will certainly do that for you and also for my own benefit. If he is on my patch, I want to know all about him.’

  ‘I won’t do anything until I hear back from you,’ I said.

  ‘Listen, Vince, I must go as I have to get to the meeting I mentioned. I will probably ‘phone you tomorrow.’

  The line went dead.

  I made a quick call to Reggie to let him know that he was still in my plans and I would sort out his flight on Friday. I had done some investigation into what flights were available and he would have to fly to Nairobi from London and then fly on by an internal flight to Mombasa. I also told Reggie that one of the Inspector’s officers would be travelling with him. He sounded very relieved at that last piece of news. Lastly, I suggested that we meet for lunch at our usual pub in Putney on Friday.

  My telephone calls finished, I then applied myself to cooking the dinner. I needed to accumulate as many Brownie points as I could to cover my next trip. I had decided to tell her, for better or for worse that I was going to Tonbridge the following day. I needed to build up as much credit as possible with my wife.

  When she eventually arrived home,
I opened a bottle of Chardonnay, which had been nicely chilled in the fridge. She was getting the full Vince treatment.

  I even gave her a kiss when she had taken off her coat.

  ‘Sit down dear and take the weight off your feet and I will bring you a glass of wine.’ I could creep with the best of them when I had to.

  The dinner wasn’t quite ready, so I sat down beside her.

  ‘What was your day like?’ I innocently asked.

  ‘Oh, the usual quiet Tuesday. We are never busy on Tuesdays as it is too soon after the weekend and people haven’t got the buying bug back again. How was your day?’

  ‘It went well and I obtained a lot of useful information to progress one of my cases.’

  ‘What have you got planned for tomorrow?’ Daphne asked.

  ‘I’m going to Tonbridge with Carol to help her look at houses. The local sales agent in St John’s Wood thinks that her house is going to sell relatively quickly so she needs to start looking for a new property close to the boys’ school.’

  ‘Are you going in her car or are you taking the train?’

  ‘We had planned on taking her car as we may have to visit different parts of Tonbridge when we get there,’ I explained.

  ‘I think that you are mad Vince. It is going to take you hours to go there and hours to get back with all the traffic. It will be particularly slow as you will be leaving from her house in North London.’ I was surprised that she had an opinion on my travelling arrangements.

  ‘Well there is no other way of getting there and still being able to tour around Tonbridge.’ I didn’t see what she was on about.

  ‘All I am suggesting to you is that you take the train. You can meet Carol at Victoria station and it is only about an hour from there to Tonbridge.’

  ‘On the face of it that sounds a lot better than driving, but how do we get around Tonbridge when we get there?’

  ‘Have you ever heard of Taxis Vince? Anyway, the Estate Agent will probably take you around and their offices are almost certainly going to be close to the station.’ She smiled at me as the solution was so simple.

  ‘My dear you are a genius. I’ll phone Carol now and suggest we travel by train.’ I clinked glasses with her.

  I went to the kitchen to check that the food was progressing and while there phoned Carol.

  ‘Hi Carol, it’s Vince. My wife has suggested that it would be far less stressful if we travelled to Tonbridge by train tomorrow morning.’

  ‘How do we get to the houses we are viewing if we don’t have a car?’

  ‘We either go by Taxi or we get the estate agents to drive us,’ I explained.

  ‘That sounds an excellent idea. Where will I meet you?

  ‘There is Swatch watch kiosk at Victoria station on the main concourse; I’ll meet you there.’

  ‘At what time Vince?’

  ‘If we meet at ten o’clock it should be in plenty of time.’

  ‘Bring your mobile Vince in case we miss each other.’

  ‘Will do; see you tomorrow.’

  ‘Thanks, Vince; I’m relieved that I won’t be driving.’

  The following morning we met up without any problems at Victoria station and got the 10.25am train to Tonbridge where we arrived an hour later. We walked to the estate agent we had been in touch with and they drove us around to view a number of properties. The second one we visited was perfect and as well as being very suitable, it was the cheapest one that we were shown at £450,000. There were only four bedrooms but the attic had been opened up and one of the boys would be able to sleep up there when Carol had her parents staying. There were also three bathrooms with one of them being en-suite to the master bedroom.

  ‘Are you sure that you like that house enough to want to live in it,’ I asked her when we were on our return journey on the train.

  ‘I am happy with it, but I would like to bring the boys to see it before making a final decision.’

  ‘That's an excellent idea; they are old enough to have an opinion and they must buy into your decision to purchase the house.’

  ‘I’ll make an appointment to view the property again on Saturday and phone the school to allow Brian and Alex off for a few hours. Nick can travel with me.’

  ‘Are you going to go by train again?’

  ‘No, I will drive as I will have to pick up the boys from their school. Will you be able to come with me, Vince?’ She looked longingly at me.

  ‘I am afraid not. I have to go away to South Africa in a fortnight’s time so I need to be with my family for the intervening weekends.’

  Carol leant into me and put a hand on my knee.

  ‘Oh please Vince come with me,’ she pleaded. ‘The boys love having you around and I do too.’

  I put my hand over hers to stop it wandering.

  ‘I would love to come and spend the day with your family but I have a family of my own and they need me.’

  I managed to move her hand back to the table.

  Thankfully, some people got onto the train at the next station and sat opposite us. We weren’t alone anymore.

  At Victoria station, I walked with her to the underground where we would catch our respective trains home. She was heading East and I was going West.

  As we parted, she gave me one of her hugs and gave me a kiss on the mouth.

  ‘I really appreciate you coming with me today Vince it was a lovely day out; am I going to see you tomorrow?’

  ‘I have to go and see Peter Taylor in the morning, so, hopefully, I will drop in after that. We are making some progress in sorting out the loan. Resolving that issue will enable the sale of the business to go ahead.’

  ‘Don’t disappoint me again by not turning up?’ She gave me her disappointment look.

  ‘I’ll try not to Carol.’ I gave her another kiss.

  I wasn’t home long before Daphne came in. ‘How did your house hunting trip in Tonbridge go Vince?’ She asked me.

  ‘I think that we found a suitable property,’ I replied. ‘Carol is going to take the boys to see it on Saturday.’

  ‘What did you think of Tonbridge?’

  ‘I liked it and I was impressed with the size of the gardens that come with the houses. There are also a lot of trees and green spaces around the town.’

  ‘Perhaps we should move there to get more space,’ Daphne suggested.

  ‘I don’t think that Michael and Victoria would be too impressed if we announced that we were relocating to Tonbridge. In a few years’ time, there will only be the two of us and we would rattle around in a large house.’

  ‘Perhaps we should look at moving to Maidstone so as I can be close to my mother?’

  I ignored my wife’s remark.

  ‘You should make a plan to take the kids to stay with your mum for a few weeks in the summer holidays,’ I suggested.

  ‘I have already told her that we will be visiting her for a few weeks once the kids are off school. She’s lonely there since my father died.’

  ‘What have you planned for tomorrow, Vince?’

  ‘I have to go across and meet with the accountant for Clive’s business. We are close to getting the accounts in a state where the business can be sold. Nobody is going to touch it without doing a “Due Diligence” and for that, they will need up to date accounts.’

  ‘Is there any movement on her house in St John’s Wood?’

  ‘I think that there have been a few viewings. The fact that the price has been reduced should help it sell quickly.’

  ‘It must be dreadful for Carol, especially since Clive looked after everything and she lived a comfortable life, with home help and other perks. In one fell swoop, her safety net was removed.’

  ‘That’s why I offered to help her,’ I chipped in. ‘She had no idea where to start in the reconstruction process.’

  ‘I am glad that you can help and are not off in some foreign land chasing after criminals.’

  I felt very righteous. I had never expected my wife to congratulate me
for helping Carol. My attempt to understand the female mind was, as usual, a failure.

  The following morning I headed off to meet Peter Taylor with a new sense of purpose. This time, I wasn’t going behind my wife’s back, but everything was out in the open. For once in my life my conscience was clear.

  ‘OK, what is our first step, Peter?’ I said when I was settled down with the accountant.

  ‘Probably to go and talk to Ugo La Rossa. I think it would be preferable for us to approach him rather than the other way around.’

  ‘Good idea. Let’s see if he can see us this morning.’

  I took out the business card that Alessandro had given me on Tuesday and dialled the mobile number printed on it.

  A gentleman with a broad Italian accent answered.

  ‘This is Ugo La Rossa, who is speaking?’

  ‘My name is Vince Hamilton and I am responsible for sorting out Clive Newsome’s affairs. I take it that you know who I am talking about?’

  ‘Yes I know all about Clive Newsome,’ he replied. He had such a strong Italian accent that I had difficulty in understanding him.

  ‘I would like to meet with you to discuss the repayment of the loan.

  ‘That sounds like an excellent idea. I assume that Mr Newsome will not be attending the meeting as he is presumably still occupied in Australia and will be there for some considerable time.’

  ‘That is correct; it will be me and I will be accompanied by Mr Newsome’s accountant.’

  ‘Will you come and meet me in my office in South Kensington?’

  ‘Yes, and I will come straight over now if that is alright.’

  ‘That’s fine. I will see you in about half-an-hour.’

  ‘What did he sound like Vince?’ Peter asked me.

  ‘He was very Italian but seemed a nice enough guy. We’ll soon find out.’

  Peter placed all the necessary paperwork into a briefcase and we set off for our meeting.

  From the outside, there was nothing special about his office. It was part of a large showroom complex with Maserati’s dotted all over it. You could see that there was a lot of money around.

  The receptionist asked us to take a seat until Mr La Rossa was ready for us. A short while later we were shown into his office.