Of some comfort was the fact that we had managed to recover the stolen luxury cars, even if it was only the ones that came into South Africa. I hadn't received any news from Uganda or Kenya, but, hopefully, the local police had rescued the three that were landed in Mombasa.
I would suggest to Julian Curtis that the cars were sold in Jo'burg as it would cost a fortune to ship them back to the UK. Fortunately, cars were driven on the left in South Africa so there shouldn't be a problem finding buyers for them. Before I returned home, I would get the name and details of a luxury car sales operation in Johannesburg. I wrote that task down in my notebook so as I wouldn't forget.
On further reflection perhaps I hadn't done too bad a job. My specific role had been to find the final destination of the motorbikes, and to establish whether they could be recovered. I now knew where the bikes were going, but also had established that once they reached Varna, they could not be recovered. The vans, carrying the bikes, would have to be stopped before they reached Bulgaria, preferably in a friendly country, with a police force that wasn't in the hands of the criminals.
What I had also learnt was that Africa was vast, with many diverse countries, often run by corrupt regimes where money bought favours. A criminal such as Hansie Joubert could operate with impunity right across the continent, simply by splashing money around. He had made so much cash from his illegal activities that he could practically buy one of the countries. His operation in Kyalami was at an end, but I felt that he would just set up another base and operate from there. For the moment, we had been able to stop the car thefts in London, so I suppose I should be happy that I had achieved that small success. After my brief assessment of the situation, I felt a lot better. Perhaps I had achieved something worthwhile. I ordered another beer in celebration.
I had a lot of telephone calls to make, so I wrote down a list of them.
First was my long suffering wife, Daphne.
Second on the list was Carol Newsome.
This was followed by Inspector Baird, Julian Curtis and lastly Dale.
I would also have to make a booking with British Airways for Monday night.
I finished my beer and went to my room to make the calls.
Daphne would be cooking the dinner, so I decided to leave her until last, and I dialled Carol's number.
'Vince, how nice to hear from you,' was her greeting.
'How are things going with you in London?' I asked.
'Great, although I have missed having you around.'
'How is the sale of the house in St John's Wood going and also the purchase of the one in Tonbridge?' I inquired.
'No problems so far. Both transactions have reached the paperwork stage and my Solicitor is handling that.'
'That's great news, Carol. So I imagine that you are more relaxed.'
'I am feeling great. When are you coming back to the UK, Vince? I would like to meet you for a meal or something to tell you the rest of my news? I really miss you a lot and so do the boys. You made a big hit with us all.’
'I am planning on flying back to London tomorrow night so will be back in circulation on Tuesday morning.'
'Will you give me a call when you have recovered from the journey?'
'I'll probably come and see you on Wednesday, which will give me Tuesday to recover from the flight.'
'I'll see you then Vince. Thanks for phoning me as I have been worried about you.'
That was the first call out of the way.
I tried to get Inspector Baird on his mobile, but he must have had it switched off. This was the first time I had ever found him uncontactable. I hoped that he was OK.
Not being able to contact the Inspector made me realise that it was Sunday. I decided not to 'phone Julian Curtis until the morning.
I called Dale, and he confirmed that I should come for a meal at his house that evening. He offered to pick me up but I reckoned that I would find the way to his house on my own, so I declined his offer. Hertz had already delivered a replacement car to the hotel for me.
Next task was to book a flight. There were two flights out of Jo'burg to London the following evening, and I managed to book onto the second one leaving at 21.20 hours.
I finally dialled my home number.
Victoria answered the 'phone.
'Hi Dad,' was her enthusiastic welcome. 'How are you and how is Africa. Have you seen any lions or elephants?'
'I did stay on a Game Reserve, but there weren't any big cats or anything dangerous.'
'Wow, did you get close to the animals.'
'The owner of the lodge took us on an evening game drive, but I didn't see much.'
'When are you coming home Dad?'
'I will be arriving in London on Tuesday morning.'
'Will you promise to come and pick me up from school that afternoon?'
'I'll make every effort to do that, but I am not making any promises.'
'Can I speak to Mummy now Vickie?'
'Here you are; she is standing beside me.'
I could hear the handset being transferred and Victoria running up the stairs. No doubt she would tell her brother that I was coming home on Tuesday.
'Hi Vince, how are you?'
'I'm in good form; how are things there?'
''Everything is fine. Michael was picked for the Under Fourteen cricket team, so he is on top of the world, and Victoria is enjoying school. She also had a sleepover with two of her friends last night that went surprisingly well.'
'I am sorry I haven't ‘phoned you recently. I was suspicious that my calls were being listened to, so I didn't want anybody to know what was going on.'
'When you didn't 'phone, I assumed that you had a valid reason. Have you booked your return flight yet?'
'Yes, I have booked to fly back tomorrow evening. I should be home early on Tuesday morning.'
'You can tell me all the news then,’ Daphne said. ‘My cooking of the dinner is at a critical stage dear, so I'll have to say good-bye.'
'OK honey; I'll see you Tuesday. I'll come by the shop and take you for lunch.'
She terminated the call.
At least, I had been excused the interrogation as to whether I was giving up my role as a Private Investigator.
It was time to go to the Fortuin's for dinner.
I found the house OK and had a very pleasant evening in a relaxed atmosphere. Once I had brought Dale up to date on the outcome of the raid, we talked about other topics, entirely unrelated to the case.
I didn't stay very late and was back at the hotel by 9.30pm. I then enjoyed a good night's sleep; I hadn't slept properly for a few days.
I was woken by the buzzing of the phone beside my bed.
'Hi Vince,' it was Johan Nel. 'I will come by the Holiday Inn at around 10.00am as there is something I want to ask you.'
'I'll see you then Johan.'
I decided not to pre-guess what he wanted to ask me, but got up, showered, and had breakfast. By 10.00am, I was fully charged up for the day and ready for whatever he wanted to talk to me about.
When he arrived, we found an empty table in the corner of the lounge area and ordered coffee.
We covered a range of general topics until we each had a coffee in front of us.
'Let's get down to the main business of why I wanted to see you, Vince.' Johan sat forward in his seat moving closer to me.
'Vince, I spent yesterday evening formulating a plan as to how we can go after Hansie Joubert. I am not willing to accept defeat on this one. I know that we have recovered a vast amount of drugs, but I want to get my hands on Mr Joubert before he sets up a new supply route.'
'I agree with you Johan, he has made a right mug out of us. He is now probably laughing at us from a luxury hotel suite in Mozambique or some such place. The fact that he has his own aircraft and pilot means that he can hop in and out of countries at will.'
'I am glad that you are of a like mind to me, Vince. Are you willing to help me catch him?'
I was stunned. It wa
s the last thing that I had expected him to ask me.
'I don't see how I can help.'
'Over the past week I have got to know you, Vince; I have also learnt to trust you. Initially, you were a pain in the butt, and I was nervous that you were going to blow my case wide open. We ended up working as a team, and you didn't even criticise me for botching up the attempt to capture Hansie Joubert. I know that you must have thought that I was an idiot, but you kept your thoughts to yourself. It is probably the main difference between a rough-necked Afrikaner and a British gentleman.' He smiled.
'I don't know about that, but I understood what we were up against.' I replied. 'I still don't see why you need my involvement?'
'Very simply, Vince, when we were closing the net around Hansie Joubert, somebody warned him. He must have one of my team in his employ, and I have no idea which one. My idea now is that you and I will do the legwork and track him down. Once I know where he is likely to be, I will personally select a team to capture him. Are you willing to help?'
'When do you want me to commence my involvement?'
'Perhaps, in around two weeks' time. I want the dust to settle and Hansie to think that we have forgotten about him before I start again.'
'Johan, I enjoyed working with you, even with the frustration of letting our man slip through the net. The role of helping to corner Hansie Joubert would obviously involve spending time in Africa, so I would have to clear any further involvement with my wife. Just to warn you; at the moment, my intuition is not to get involved. My wife is not happy for me to be away from home for extended periods, and I have given her a sort of promise that I will retire gracefully after this trip. I have also told a Drugs Rehabilitation Centre in London that I will help them.'
'Vince, will you, at least, think about it and give me an answer after you have talked to your wife? You never know, but Joubert’s organization may be supplying drugs to the English market so you would be killing two birds with one stone.'
'If there is some way that I feel I can help I will accept the challenge, but I have a significant obstacle, called my wife, to overcome.'
'I understand, so I will not put my expectations of your helping me, too high.' Johan sounded disappointed. 'If you decide to join my team, I will, of course, pay your daily rate plus your expenses.'
He shook my hand and left me to think about what he had said.
Next on my list of things to do for the day, was to visit Reggie at the Sunningdale Hospital. He should be out of ICU by now and able to receive visitors.
Feeling in good spirits, I approached the Reception desk and asked for Mr Reggie Talbot.
The Receptionist consulted her computer.
'I am afraid that he is not allowed visitors; he is back in ICU.'
'I don't understand; he was due to be moved out of ICU yesterday afternoon.' I was shaken. What on earth had happened to Reg that he was still on the critical list?
'Can I go and talk to the Sister in charge of the ward?'
'Yes, do you know where to go?'
'Yes, thank you, I was there yesterday.'
'May I leave his bags here? I brought them from the hotel we were staying in?'
Yes, just leave them behind here. She pointed to a space on the floor behind her desk.
I left his large suitcase there and brought the small bag holding his personal items with me.
I went up in the lift to the third floor and walked to the nurses’ station in the ICU.
The Sister that I had talked to yesterday was doing some paperwork on the desk. She looked up and recognized me.
'You are the friend of Mr Talbot, isn't that right?'
'Yes, I spoke to you yesterday about him.'
'I am sorry to tell you that he is in a critical condition. He had a severe stroke yesterday as a result of a blood clot, and he is in a coma at the moment.'
I felt as if I had received a blow to my gut with a hammer. Poor old Reg was in a coma and on the critical list.
'How critical is he?'
'Well he is on a life support machine, and we will assess his condition later today.'
'I am due to fly back to the UK tonight; do you think that I should cancel my flight and stay here?'
'That is entirely up to you Sir. All I can say is that he won't even know you are there if you do decide to stay, and his present condition could last a long time.'
'Do you have a telephone number that I can use to get an update on his condition?'
'I will give you the number that comes straight through to the nurses’ station here.' She wrote down the number for me.
'By the way do you know whether Mr Talbot was a heavy drinker?' she asked me.
'He is a constant social drinker as he lives alone. Recently he has cut back, but he used to drink a hell of a lot.'
'We thought that was the case, but it helps greatly in his treatment to have that information confirmed.'
'Do you have any contact details for next of kin?' I asked her. Reggie had never given me details of close family, but I felt I should contact somebody when I got back to the UK. As far as I knew he had been married once and had some children, but I had no details to enable me to contact them.
'Hold on I'll look in his file.'
She went to one of the filing cabinets and came back with, what I took, to be his file.
'He has given his next of kin as being his sister. I will write down her details for you.'
She handed me the piece of paper. I noticed that the address was in Scotland which would explain why I had never met her.
'Thank you very much, Sister, for your help. I hope that he makes a full recovery.'
'I hope you understand that it will be some time before we know how complete his recovery will be.'
She turned away to go and put the file back, so I left.
As I was returning to the Holiday Inn to get my bag, I was feeling guilty. Should I change my plans and stay close to Reggie until he was better?
In my conversation with Dale, he had offered to look after Reggie's suitcase if I dropped it off at his house. He also said that he and his family would visit him once he was allowed visitors.
If I remained in Jo'burg for a few more days, there was really not much more that I could do for Reg, and the Sister in the ICU unit had said that it might be a week or more before he was out of the coma. There was really no point in staying. I would fly back tonight as planned.
Dale wasn't there when I stopped by his place, but the maid opened the gate to allow me to drop the bag off.
I returned to the hotel, had a few hours' sleep, leaving for the airport at 6.30pm. The British Airways flight was due to depart at twenty past nine.
Looking down at Johannesburg, as the Boeing 747 climbed into the night sky, I wondered would I be returning in the near future to continue the hunt for Hansie Joubert. If Reggie didn't pull through, I now had an even greater reason to take Johan Nel up on his offer. It wouldn't take much persuasion to get me back. Of course, I had the challenge of convincing Daphne. The only comfort to me was that I wasn't responsible for Reggie getting shot. It had been his own folly that had created the situation. I had lost the battle, but the war wasn’t lost yet. I had a steely determination to defeat Mr Joubert.
After a few drinks and a typical airline meal, I dropped off to sleep in a semi-contented state. It had been quite a trip.
BOOKS BY PATRICK SLANEY
Historical Romance
The Smiles and Tears of Love
Family/War
War Brothers
The Tirpitz Legacy
Vince Hamilton Crime Mysteries
The Diamond Chain
Curse of Thieves
Danger Down Under
An African Adventure
These books are all available from Amazon in book or electronic format.
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An African Adventure (Vince Hamilton Private Investigator Book 4) Page 26
