Danger Down Under: Another Vince Hamilton Investigation

by Patrick Slaney

  After around three minutes, I heard somebody approach the phone, and the receiver was picked up.

  'Hello; McClatchy here.' He had a resonating Australian accent.

  'Hi Mr McClatchy, thank you for taking my call. My name is Vince Hamilton, and I am phoning you in connection with your son.'

  'Has he been involved in some sort of accident?'

  'No, it is a bit more complicated than that. From your point of view, I want to assure you that he is safe.'

  'That's a relief. So what has this son of mine done now, the bloody fool?'

  'It is quite complicated and I would like to come and see you if I may.'

  'I will be here in Bendigo for the rest of the day and we don’t close until eight o’clock. Will you be here by then.'

  'I am in Tullamarine at the moment,' I said. 'How long will it take me to get to you?'

  'It shouldn't take you longer than an hour-and-a-half.'

  'I should get to you by six o'clock then. I'll see you later.'

  I terminated the call and went to see the Inspector.

  Luckily he was free, and I was able to go in to speak to him.

  'I have just talked to Will's father and he is willing to talk to me. Can you please organize a driver to take me to Bendigo?'

  'No problem Vince. If you go downstairs to the main reception area, a driver will be waiting for you by the time you get there.

  'True to his word a police constable greeted me when I arrived in reception.

  'Where do you want to go to Sir?'

  'I need to go to Bendigo to the Costcutter store to meet the owner a Mr McClatchy.'

  He nodded and led me out to an unmarked police car.

  There was quite a lot of traffic on the road so it took us a little longer than the ninety minutes I had been told it would take to get there.

  ‘I wandered into the store and had no problems locating my man.

  'Is my son alright?' He asked me as soon as we had shaken hands and introduced ourselves. When he shook my hand, he had told me that his first name was Rory.

  'It all depends on the meaning you attach to the word alright. To put it simply, he has got himself into quite a spot of bother,' I explained.

  I was trying to work out where to start to avoid having Will's father get too big a shock. I decided to start with him taking drugs as that is where the whole situation started.

  'Are you aware that your son, William, has been experimenting with drugs?'

  'I suspected that something was going on as he kept phoning his mother for money. Initially, she didn't tell me anything about it, but she finally informed me that she had been sending him extra funds.'

  'How is he funding his studies?'

  'He has a bank loan, and I also give him an allowance of five hundred dollars a month,' he explained. 'Why; has he got himself into financial difficulties?'

  'Yes Rory, he has. He was initially fed with free drugs to get him hooked on the habit and then, having given him more drugs; they came after him for money. He now owes them a lot of cash.'

  'Bloody fool; you think that he would have learnt from what happened to one of his friends.'

  'Sorry, what happened to his friend?' I asked.

  'He is in a drug-induced coma in a Melbourne hospital.'

  'And Will knew about this?'

  'Yes, he knows all about it. I even laid down the law to Will the last time he was home. I told him that if I ever heard that he was taking drugs I would stop all his funding, and he would have to give up University. I also said a few other things to him that are not repeatable here.'

  'The drugs are only the start of his problem - I have more to tell you.'

  'Before you continue can I get you a coffee or a beer?' he stood up as he asked the question.

  'I'll have a beer thanks.'

  He went over to a fridge in the corner of his office and came back with two beers. He unscrewed the caps and gave me one.

  'Okay Vince, I suppose you had better give me the rest of your bad news.'

  'An Italian gentleman named Luigi Bandarella, threatened Will. He warned him that if he didn't pay his debts in full he would end up at the bottom of Melbourne Bay with a lump of concrete attached to his legs.'

  'That must have put the frighteners up, my son.'

  'He didn't know what to do as he couldn't get hold of the money.'

  'That must have been when he contacted his mother. She said that he was pretty desperate.'

  'When he didn't pay they picked him up again, but this time they said that he must help them in a kidnapping. He had no option but to comply with their request because they said that they would tell you that he was on drugs.'

  'Crikey, so you are telling me that Will was involved in a kidnapping. Presumably if you are here telling me this, and you also have come from a police station, he has now been arrested.'

  'That's right; it's a long story, but he and the man in charge have been detained, and the family they were holding, freed.'

  He put his head in his hands and let out an enormous sigh.

  'I came to tell you all this because I didn't want you just to get a telephone call from the police. I have kids, so I know how you must feel.'

  'I appreciate you coming all this way to see me. I now have to work out how I am going to tell his mother.'

  'My secondary purpose in coming to talk to you is to find out if you know anything that might help us track down the pushers of the drugs,' I continued. 'The family that were abducted were used to pressurise the husband, who is a pilot, to fly for them. We suspect that he is now in the Northern Territory, but we want to try and find a link through the supplier of the drugs.

  'Is this pilot one of them?' Brian asked me.

  'No, he has been forced to fly the plane having been told that his wife and kids will be harmed if he doesn't agree with their request. He won't know that his family have been rescued, and they are unlikely to tell him his family are safe.'

  'And you think that this is all related to the supply of drugs.'

  'All we know at this stage is that the Italian gentleman, Luigi Bandarella, seems to be calling the shots and the police suspect that he has mafia connections.'

  'I don't have any further details to give you; however, it might be worth your while talking to a man who helped Will's friend when he got hooked on drugs. His name is Rod Charlesworth, and he runs a rehabilitation clinic in the St Kilda area of Melbourne.'

  'Do you have his details so as I can phone him and try and set up an appointment?'

  Brian searched in a drawer and finally found a business card with the details I needed. He wrote them down on a piece of paper which he passed across to me.

  'There you are, and I will also give you my card.'

  'If it is alright with you I will tell Will that I have talked to you and that you are aware of the situation. Do you plan on going to see him?'

  'I'll talk to my wife this evening and we will decide what we are going to do. I also need to organize a lawyer to represent him.'

  'I'm sorry to be the carrier of such bad news. If anything changes I will let you know. If you think of anything else that might help in tracking down who is behind all this, please phone Inspector Johnson at the Tullamarine police station.'

  'Thanks Vince for coming to see me and a safe journey back.'

  We shook hands, and I went outside to join my driver for the return trip back to the city.

  When I arrived at Tullamarine, I found that Inspector Johnson had gone home. I made two telephone calls before leaving myself. One call was to Rod Charlesworth's mobile to make an appointment to see him tomorrow, and the other was to my long-suffering wife.

  Rod would see me at 10.00am at the rehab clinic in St Kilda.

  I phoned Daphne at her work as with the time difference it was only ten o'clock in the morning. It was eight o'clock here. I was relieved to hear that she had survived the flight home and had no problems in transferring to the UK flight in Hong Kong. On returning to
our house in Putney she had found Gran and the two kids in good form, but glad to see her back. While they were surprised when she arrived home without me, they weren't upset by the scenario.

  'So when are you flying back? Have you booked a flight yet?' This was the specific question I was expecting but was dreading.

  'No, I haven't had time to look at flights yet. We managed to rescue Mags and the kids, and they are unharmed. I have been helping the Inspector to interview the culprits, Clive and his accomplice Will, but we still haven’t got a lead on where Stuart is.'

  'Are you still on the case then?' She fired down the phone.

  I could picture her standing in the boutique with a scowl on her face.

  'Sort of!'

  'What do you mean sort of, you are either involved or you are not?'

  'The Inspector asked me to help, but he is in charge. I am merely trying to locate where they took Stuart. There seems to be a drug ring involved with Luigi Bandarella being the driving force.'

  'Vince you promised me that once you found Mags and the two children that you would take a backseat. Instead, you appear to be still in the heart of the action.'

  'It's not my case and the police are running it. Stuart is a good friend of Tony's, but he can't help as he has his business to run. I feel obliged to assist when I am asked. As soon as I feel that I am of no use to them I will opt out and return to London.'

  'It sounds to me as if you are back in your role of Private Investigator,' Daphne said with a resigned tone in her voice. 'I suppose if you're extra careful and are supporting Tony it is OK.'

  'Thanks love. I just feel that I have to help. Poor old Stuart must be going through hell.'

  'Vince, I have to go, a customer has just walked in. Ring me soon.'

  'Love you,' I replied.

  The phone went dead.

  There was one other police officer working in the open plan office, so I called over to him.

  'Is there any chance of getting a lift to Brunswick East?'

  'I can take you as I live up that way. Give me another ten minutes and I will be ready to go.'

  I busied myself for another few minutes and then he took me to Tony's.

  'Have you eaten Vince?' Sally asked me when I stepped out onto the veranda.

  'No, I never had a chance to get anything - I am starving.'

  'Tony will cook you some meat on the barbeque and I will get the salads from the fridge. Will that do you.'

  'That's perfect.'

  'How did it go Vince?' Tony asked me as he lit the burners on the gas barbeque.

  'It is going better than I expected, and we are definitely making headway,' I replied.

  Tony took a beer out of the fridge that resided on the veranda and handed it to me.

  'I imagine that you could drink one of these.'

  'You presume correctly. It's been a hard day, and I am exhausted.'

  'Why are you back so late?' Tony asked me.

  'I had to go to Bendigo to talk to Will's father. I reckoned that it was better that he heard the news about his son from me. I also wanted to see if he knew who was behind the drug scene that had ensnared Will.'

  'Was he able to tell you anything that might help find Stuart?'

  'He told me about a friend of Wills who was in a coma as a result of a drug overdose and he also gave me the details of the rehab centre where he had been treated. I am seeing a guy called Rod Charlesworth tomorrow morning. He is the Director of the centre.'

  'So, you are making some progress.'

  'We still have no idea where Stuart is,' I replied. 'All we know is that he flew North on the night that the plane was stolen, and both Clive and Will heard their bosses talk about the Northern Territories. He could be flying from some airport up there, but we really don't know.'

  'Perhaps this guy you're seeing in the morning may be able to help.'

  'How are you getting to St Kilda for your meeting?' Sally asked me.

  'I will phone Inspector Johnson and get him to organize a lift.'

  'I'll drive you over there if you want. You can then get the train back home,' she suggested.

  'If you don't mind that might be a better arrangement.'

  'It will take about half-an-hour to get there so we should leave at 9.15am. You will definitely be there by ten.'

  'I'm dead beat so; it is time I went to bed,' I said. 'I will see you all in the morning if I wake up before you have left the house.'

  Chapter 15

  Luckily we had left a bit of extra time to locate the rehabilitation centre in St Kilda. Sally drove me there as promised; however, by the time that she had showed me where the local train station was, and we had located the rehab centre it was after 10.00am.

  I had half expected to find a load of spaced out druggies hanging around the entrance and wandering around the building, in fact, there was nobody to be seen other than the receptionist. She told me to wait, and she would contact Mr Charlesworth, who would come and pick me up. I didn't have to wait long before this colossal, casually dressed, muscular man came down the corridor facing me. He came over to where I was sitting. As he approached, I ran my eyes over him. He looked to be in his early fifties, very short slightly grey hair, with a soft and pleasant smile. I suppose he was around two meters tall. A very impressive looking man for his age and not somebody to pick a fight with.

  'Good morning Vince.' He shook my hand in his vice like grip.

  'Good morning Rod, thank you for seeing me at such short notice.

  'Let's go across the road for a coffee, I don't recommend the stuff they serve here.'

  We went outside and crossed an extremely broad six lane dual carriageway that the rehab centre fronted onto. There were tram tracks running down the centre with parallel strips of grass, ten meters wide either side. Then there were three road lanes in each direction. I was grateful to reach the other side safely as there was a lot of traffic.

  As we were waiting for the traffic to stop, so as we could cross, he said to me. 'You sound very English, how come you are working with the Melbourne police?'

  'Inspector Johnson, of Tullamarine police station, asked me help out in a case involving a man who he has arrested that I had dealings with in the UK.'

  'That solves that puzzle then. I was trying to sort it out in my mind while I was waiting for you to arrive. I couldn't work out why a very English sounding guy would want to talk to me on behalf of the police. By the way, I served with the Victorian Police Force for twenty years.'

  We spotted a gap in the traffic and made our way to the other side. He took me to a large bicycle retailer that surprisingly incorporated a small café. The owner welcomed him when we entered. Obviously Rod was a regular.

  'What can I get you, Vince?'

  'I'll have a cappuccino if they have it.'

  'Would you like a croissant with it? He makes them himself, and they are quite tasty.'

  'Sounds good.' I nodded as I looked at the range of cakes.

  We carried our coffees and croissants over to a table in the corner of the café and sat down.

  'I'm all ears Vince so fire away and tell me why you wanted to talk to me.'

  I gave him a summarised account of the events that had taken place in the last week and how a drugs ring seemed to have been behind the abduction of Stuart and his family.

  'So, you have managed to release the wife and the two kids, but the husband is still being held by whoever is behind all this?' Rod asked for clarification.

  'That's right; we are reasonably sure that he flew north. Also, both the men who were guarding the family have told us that they heard the boss talking about the Northern Territory.'

  'If drugs are involved then it makes sense that they would be using this pilot in the northern part of Australia,' Rod said. 'The source of most of the drugs that are smuggled into the country is Indonesia and Northern Territory is the first point of call when you are flying from Indonesia.'

  'OK, I can see a possible link now,' I added. 'If t
hey are bringing drugs in from Indonesia they would require a plane and a pilot to transport them.'

  'Who did you say gave you my name?' he inquired.

  'A man called Brian McClatchy. His son, Will, was one of the men that were arrested at the house in Dromana where the hostages were being held. When I spoke to Brian last night, he told me that you run an organization that had tried to help a young guy called John Griffiths who was Will's best friend.'

  'Yes I remember him; I tried to help him but didn't have any success. He is now in a coma in hospital, and it is touch and go whether he will pull through.' I could see that Rod was very upset by what had happened.

  'There is a drug problem of epic proportions at the moment, with all types of drugs flooding on to the Australian underworld scene. Because of the large quantity available, the prices have been reduced, making it easy for the young people to buy them. We have to find the source and wipe it out without any further delay. They are total bastards who are dealing in death.'

  'You obviously feel very emotional about the situation.' I commented seeing the emotion in Rod's body and face.

  'I am, because the Rehab is full, and we can't cope with the numbers affected. We are trying to pick up the pieces, but only scratching the surface of the problem. A lot of young lives are being wrecked, and we have around three fatalities a month. There is still a culture amongst young adults that it is cool to take drugs.'

  'How did you get involved in the rehabilitation centre?' I asked.

  'As I said earlier, I was in the police force for many years and ended up in the drugs squad. There was an opportunity to take early retirement, so I left the force and took on my present role. It is very rewarding but a massive challenge.'

  'Have the drugs been coming in for a long time or is it a recent phenomenon?' I asked him.

  'They have been pouring in through the north of the country for a number of years. Believe it or not the drug barons were using a submarine for a time; however, that was damaged in a storm and finally sank. They have probably replaced the submarine with a plane. It's all starting to make sense.' Rod sat back in his chair with a worried look on his face.

  'So if you are correct in your assumptions, I presume Stuart will be operating from some airfield in the Northern Territory. All I have to do is go up there and check out the landing strips, and I should locate him.'