Chapter 86
February in Lagos can be steamy but isn’t much different from other months. The equatorial climate is fairly consistent : hot all the time.
When Ashby arrived after a ten hour flight, having changed planes in Rome, he found Lagos to be another world after Athens.
The Portuguese had been there over four hundred years earlier. They gave the coastal inlet its name as they thought it resembled a lake. The business district grew up on an island linked to the shoreline.
Ashby had asked his secretary, Tara to book him into the same hotel where Christoforou and his crew had stayed in March 1980. It seemed no coincidence that the hotel was close to the harbour, the docks and the Port Authority.
Almost as soon as he’d checked in and was unpacking, there was a knock on the door of his room. It was the Lagos loss adjuster who had arrived promptly to introduce himself with his business card which said
Jonathan Mzenga
Lagos Representative
Paxton Loss Adjusters
Nigeria
On the other side of the card were the names of twenty five cities around the world where Paxton had offices.
For Mzenga, it wasn’t every day that the managing director of a London reinsurer visited Lagos. This was his chance to hook a big fish who could bring in a lot of business for him.
“When you told me on the telephone that you needed urgent assistance, Mr Ashby, I took the liberty of finding out your time of arrival. The manager downstairs is very co-operative, if you catch my meaning,” said the adjuster, rubbing thumb and forefinger together, “and he has the original hotel register from two years ago together with photocopies all ready for you to take to London.”
“You’re certainly efficient. I’ve only just got off the plane and through customs.....” said Ashby who had slept on the flight and wanted to press on with his enquiries.
“It’s all part of what we do here. We handle a lot of work for insurers and we would very much value Plantation as one of our regular clients.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem at all – we’d be happy to nominate you as our adjusters for southern and western Africa – if you can get me what I’m looking for.”
“Our other offices in Cape Town, Bulawayo, Freetown and Nairobi can also handle work in any other part of Africa.”
“I’ll tell our office in London to add you to our list, assuming we’re successful. Now, could I meet the manager and see the register ?”
They both went downstairs and the manager saw them in a separate room where they could talk without being disturbed. He’d worked at the hotel for over five years.
“Before we begin, I understand there is an additional charge,” said Ashby and taking out his wallet, counted out two green notes. “And also for your time,” while adding another note, making a total of three hundred dollars.
“We try to help our guests in any way we can,” said the manager as he folded the notes and put them carefully in a pocket book. “Please tell me, sir – how may I help you ?”
“You were in charge of the hotel in February 1980 ?”
“Yes, sir, that is correct, I was.”
“And is this your 1980 register for your guests who were staying here at the time ?”
“Yes, it is – this is the one we used.”
“Jonathan here, has told me that you had a large booking which was made on 6th February 1980 by a Captain Christoforou and the members of his crew ? Do you remember that booking ?”
“Yes, sir, I do – it was rare for us to have such a large number of guests all staying here together. We don’t usually have sailors.”
“I’m especially interested in the date of the booking.”
“That’s very easy, sir. If you look at the register here, you’ll see there is a handwritten cross-reference from the period booked in the register to the booking made by telephone or fax and the charges. This booking was first made by fax letter from Athens in Greece.”
“And it was made on that specific date – 6th February 1980 ?”
“That is correct – the 6th February 1980.”
“How was payment made for the booking ?”
“By cheque in advance.”
“Who sent the fax and paid the cheque ?”
“I don’t have that information with me at the moment, sir. I would have to go into our basement and find it in our records.”
“I would be especially grateful if you could get it for me,” said Ashby, taking out another two hundred dollars.
“I will try and find it for you later today, sir. You’re staying here for another day or two, aren’t you ?”
“Yes, that’s right. Now, do you remember the Captain and the crew members checking in and when they were here ?”
“Yes, I remember them very well. The Captain stayed for around a week but all of his crew were only here for two days, then all of them left together at the same time. I seem to recall.....they were all flying back to India.....I think they were Indians....”
“They came from the Philippines.”
“Yes.....you’re right, they were Philippinos.”
“Can you remember what they did when they were staying here ?”
“Huh, I can tell you that in one word. They were drunk all the time and I had lots of trouble with them because they were upsetting the other guests. Some of them had picked up women in the town and were trying to slip them in to their rooms. These were prostitutes and call-girls. I spoke to the Captain about it and he quietened them down but they went out on the town both nights and were going in all the bars and pubs. They were having a big celebration.”
“So, it looked like they had plenty of money to spend ?”
“Oh yes, they did and they were living it up, as if they had a big win on the horses.”
“And do you recall, was the Captain getting drunk too ?”
“No.....I remember that when the crew were going wild in our hotel bar and around the swimming pool, I tried to get him to quieten them down but he was nowhere to be found. He was always out on some sort of business or other. It was just as well they were only here for two days. Any longer and we would have kicked them out.”
“Do you remember any of them saying where they had come from and why they were in Lagos ?”
“At first, we didn’t know who they were. The booking gave the Captain’s name and listed each of the crew by name. They were always talking about getting another ship after they left Lagos. Many of them said they would look for work on a ship together. I can’t remember where they said they’d been.”
“And Captain Christoforou was here for around a week, I see from the register ?”
“Yes. I remember him in his blue uniform – he stood out amongst the other guests who were all business people. He used to go out during the day and sometimes for part of the night too, so he must have been seeing someone here in Lagos.”
“But he didn’t say who that was or what he was doing ?”
“No, but I doubt that he was sight-seeing. He looked hot in his uniform all the time.”
“Did anyone call at the hotel to see him ?”
“I’m sorry, sir, I really can’t remember.”
“Can you tell me the date when he checked out of the hotel ?”
“Yes, it was the 5th April 1980.”
“And do you know where he went when he checked out ?”
“I think.....he said he was going back to Greece. I remember.....he had a flight to catch.”
“Do you remember seeing his passport ?”
“Yes, we hold them for all of our guests. It must have been a valid Greek passport in his name, otherwise he couldn’t have stayed here.”
“Thank you. You’ve been very helpful. Now, if you could find those details for me which we discussed, I’d be extremely grateful. Also, if we needed you to make a statement for us, would you be willing to do that ?”
“I’m not sure, sir, to be honest. I would prefer not to get involved.”
“We would compensate you for your time, of course.”
“Perhaps we could talk about it later,” suggested the adjuster.
And when Mzenga went with Ashby back to his room, the adjuster said “He’s just trying to get more money out of you, Mr Ashby. Leave him to me. He’ll co-operate, I’m sure of it.”
“Once we get the copies of the booking and who paid the account, we will need him to sign an affidavit for us so that the court in London can see that he’s telling the truth. Could you fix that up for me before I go ?”
“Not a problem, Mr Ashby. Leave it to me.”
“And now, I’d like us to go to the Port Authority. I want to find out if Captain Christoforou arrived or departed on any ship to or from the port of Lagos during the months of February, March and April 1980. We know that he arrived here on 27th March 1980 and checked out of the hotel on 5th April 1980. Where should we start ?”
“I would suggest the Harbourmaster’s Office. They should be able to tell us. With luck, we should get the information very quickly.”
Before leaving the hotel, Ashby rang Simon Wells in London to find out what had happened at the appeal hearing that day. The unwanted decision of Mr Justice Hedley wasn’t a complete disaster : Plantation hadn’t been given the leave to appeal that it wanted but it hadn’t yet lost its twenty million pounds ; it seemed to be a half-way house. Although the judge now accepted that fraud had been involved, following the arrest of Christoforou in Athens, the prospect of barratry had been unexpectedly raised by Hellas Global. If Plantation was unable to establish the connection between Christoforou and Elefthriou conspiring together to sink the Captain Stratos, then barratry – the criminal actions of the Captain and crew at sea – would be proved and the policy would pay out.
Ashby needed to prove that Christoforou and the shipowners had conspired together to sink the Stratos. This was the missing piece of the fraud which he had to produce. Without it, the twenty million sitting in court would find its way to the fraudsters.
Plantation A Legal Thriller Page 86
