Danger Down Under: Another Vince Hamilton Investigation

by Patrick Slaney

  We were interrupted by the sound of a large helicopter settling down on the runway. It was considerably bigger than the ones flown I had flown in with Larry Lawrenson and the down draft was extreme.

  'This looks like your transport Vince. I will catch up with you when we get to Darwin, he shouted above the noise of the helicopter. 'Thanks for your concern and also for being involved in rescuing the rest of my family.'

  'No problem Stuart. I am just very pleased that it all worked out OK, and we finally managed to find you.'

  They loaded the severely injured driver into the helicopter and then myself plus the wounded member of the drugs squad. He had received a bullet in his leg. Thankfully there weren't any other injuries. I noticed that they had handcuffed the driver by his wrist and his ankle to the seats that he was stretched out on to stop him moving around.

  I was surprised when Stuart then joined us in the cabin.

  'The Inspector decided that I had been through enough and that I should go back to Darwin with you lot. There was space for one more in the helicopter,' Stuart shouted at me over the noise of the engine.

  'You can look after me now.' I grinned. I was feeling very vulnerable, so I was glad to have his company.

  We had a tail wind, so we made good time to Darwin Airport. I dozed most of the way as a result of the morphine.

  When we touched down and taxied to an area where there were hangers, I noticed that there were two ambulances waiting for us and also some armed police.

  'I am going to leave you here Vince and head for a hotel,' Stuart said. 'I haven't slept properly for about a week and need to crash out for a bit.'

  'Which hotel will you go to?' I asked him.

  'I'll stay in the Hilton as I know that it is a good standard.'

  'When I am finished at the hospital I will come and join you there. I will see you in the morning.'

  They put the injured driver in one ambulance together with two policemen. I travelled in the other, together with the wounded drug squad officer.

  After treatment in the Emergency section of the hospital, I was allowed to go and stay in the hotel. It was close to one o'clock in the morning when I finally got to my room. I didn't see my injured colleague again before I left the hospital; they had most likely kept him in overnight as he required more than a dressing change.

  I left a message with the reception desk to be passed on to Stuart Smith in the morning. I wrote that I was in room three hundred and twenty-four, and he could call me after 9.00am.

  Secure in my hotel room I put through a telephone call to my home in Putney. It was Saturday, so my wife was at home even though she sometimes had to work on a Saturday.

  Victoria answered the phone.

  I heard her shout, 'Mum it's Dad.' She then put the phone down rather than speak to me.

  There was a pause while Daphne came to the phone.

  'How are you, Vince?' She sounded out of breath.

  'I'm not too bad. I can't talk much now as I have just got to my hotel and its 1.00am in the morning. I just wanted to tell you that both Tony and I are fine, and we have also rescued Stuart.'

  'That's great news. How is Stuart?' She sounded worried.

  'He has come through his ordeal well and seems OK.'

  'So is your involvement in the case at an end now and when are you coming home?'

  'The answer to the first part of your question is that the gang have either been killed or arrested so are no further trouble. As to when I will fly back to the UK, it should be in the next week.'

  'And how is your injury?'

  'It took a bit of a battering, but I have just been at the local hospital to have the dressing changed, and they said that I should be back to normal in about a week. I need rest so I will fly from Darwin to Melbourne with Tony as soon as he gets here and stay with him for a few days.'

  'Is Tony not there with you?'

  'No, there wasn't room on the helicopter for him, so he is coming back via a different route. He should be here sometime tomorrow.'

  'Will you please phone me tomorrow when you have sorted out your plans? I am relieved to hear that you're OK and also that Tony is unharmed.'

  'I'll phone you tomorrow as soon as Tony gets here.'

  'Bye, dear.' She terminated the call.

  I put my mobile on charge, took some more painkillers and went to bed.

  I woke up a few hours later and found myself sitting up in bed and shouting.

  I had experienced a very vivid dream. Back at the airport at Peppimenarti, Tony was about to be shot by a drug smuggler who was creeping up on him. I had to tell him to take cover otherwise he was going to be killed. So I shouted at him. My dream had been as realistic as if I had been there.

  I was so shaken by the nightmare that it took me quite a bit of time to get back to sleep. I had been in firefights before, both during my life in the military and as a Private Investigator, but I had never previously had a nightmare afterwards. I must be getting old. Perhaps my wife was right, and it was time that I sought an easier life.

  When I eventually went downstairs, having showered and dressed, it was around ten o'clock. Stuart was sitting in the lounge drinking a cup of coffee. I went over to join him.

  'Good morning Stuart, did you sleep well?'

  'Yes, very well thank you. I have only just come down which is very unusual for me as I am normally an early riser. I was about to call you to see if you were in the land of the living.'

  'How did you organize a coffee?'

  'I asked at reception as the breakfast service finished at 9.30am and they have to bring it from the kitchen.'

  I got up and went over to the reception desk.

  'Is it possible to get a pot of coffee and some toast?' I asked the receptionist.

  'I can't get you toast, but I can get you an assortment of pastries and croissant. Will that do?'

  'That will do fine. Can you tell them to bring enough for two?'

  'If you go and sit down with your friend, they will bring it over to you.'

  'Thank you, I appreciate it.' I went back and joined Stuart.

  I had just sat down when the receptionist announced that Stuart Smith was wanted at the reception desk. There was a telephone call for him. He went over to take the call.

  The coffee and pastries arrived, and Stuart returned to join me a few minutes later.

  'That was Mags, my wife. We talked briefly last night but didn't have a chance for a proper chat.' He had a big smile on his face.

  'How is she?' I asked.

  'She is very relieved that I am back in the land of the living and OK.'

  'Is she still at the hotel?'

  'Yes, the kids and her are still under guard at the hotel, although, since last night, there is only one policewoman around. They were even given permission to have a swim in the hotel pool this morning.'

  'How have your kids reacted to the situation?'

  'They are fine and have taken it in their stride. I think that they enjoyed the whole adventure. Something to tell their friends.’

  'Did your captors tell you that your family had been rescued? I asked him/.

  'No, they told me that they were still being held in a house on the outskirts of Melbourne. I had to keep flying because I didn't want anything to happen to my family; it was a hell of a strain. They said that they would kill them if I didn't do what they ordered.'

  'That guy Luigi is an animal and seems to have no feelings,' Stuart said this with a lot of emotion in his voice. 'He was an absolute thug.'

  'Well, he isn't going to trouble you anymore. As you are probably aware, he was killed last night when Rod ran the Ute into the 4 x 4 he was escaping in.'

  'Good riddens; he was a nasty piece of work.' Stuart obviously didn't like his former captor.

  'Where did you spend most of your time as a captive? We couldn't find any trace of the Beechcraft although we were told that you had been seen in certain places?'

  Stuart then gave me a day by day account
of where he had been. Of interest was the fact that he had spent most of the time he wasn't actually flying on Tiwi Island at the airport beside Bathurst Island Lodge. He told me that Luigi Bandarella liked his comforts and had stayed in the Lodge while he, Stuart, had been locked in the shed. They brought him food periodically from the hotel.

  'You must have been worried sick about your wife and kids?' I suggested.

  'What kept me going was the belief that you and Tony would be searching for me and would have got the police involved.'

  'The problem being that we didn't have much to go on,' I explained. 'We knew that you had flown north the night the plane was stolen, so we assumed that the drugs were coming in from Indonesia.'

  'Did air traffic control or the military not pick up the flight paths from the plane's transponder?' Stuart asked me.

  'For a long time they didn't want to help for what they said were security reasons, so we weren’t able to get that information. It was only after I was wounded at Lekunik Airport that they took us seriously.'

  'Thank God you managed to get out of there and also get back to Darwin.'

  'We met a pilot in West Timor called Pete Adams who we contracted to fly us around. He was marvellous. When I was shot, he put his business on hold and flew Tony and I the whole way back to Darwin.'

  Stuart continued telling me his story for the next hour, in fact; he kept going until the others arrived. It was quite an emotional reunion, and we all gave each other man hugs. We had been through a lot together and had survived.

  Chapter 25

  The Inspector took charge and announced that we would all have lunch together to celebrate a successful conclusion to our operation. He had also reserved two rooms for the team's use in the hotel for the afternoon. They could use these rooms to have a shower, change their clothes or even get their heads down for a few hours. I, of course, had my own room as did Stuart. Even better news was that he announced that we were all booked on a Virgin Australia flight to Melbourne that evening. It was due to depart at 18.15 hours. We would need to be at the airport just after five.

  Tony came to my room, Kevin and the Inspector shared another of the rooms while the other three shared the remaining room. A much fresher looking bunch of guys assembled for lunch in the main dining room at 12.30pm.

  We all selected the food we wanted and, being Australia, everybody ordered a beer rather than wine. Once the drinks had arrived, Inspector Johnson stood up.

  'I want you all to drink a toast to the successful outcome of our operation to rescue Stuart here.' He put his hand on Stuart's shoulder. 'Thank you all for your support. I should add Rod, that certain members of the team are questioning your driving skills.' He smiled at Rod, and we all gave him a round of applause.

  All members of the group stood up, clinked their glasses together in a toast and then sat down. Although everybody was dead tired, they managed to obtain new energy from somewhere, and the conversation flowed.

  'How are you feeling now Vince?' the Inspector asked me.

  'I must say that I am a lot more comfortable than when I was bouncing around in a fast moving Ute or in the helicopter,' I replied.

  'You will be glad to hear that the flight this evening is on a Boeing 777 so you should have plenty of space to spread yourself out. I have asked for a seat next to an exit for you so you should have more room.'

  'It will seem funny to be on a standard sized aircraft after all the others I have been on over the past week.'

  'When are you flying back to the UK?' he inquired.

  'I will stay with Tony for at least a week before I attempt the twenty-three-hour flight home.'

  'If you are going to be around I might ask you to talk to your old friend Clive Newsome if you have no objections.'

  'No, that is fine. I would like to speak to him now that the big boss is out of the way. I want to try and obtain the names of the people he dealt with in London so as I can give them to Inspector Baird of the Hampstead police.'

  'I'll let you rest tomorrow and I will set up a meeting for Tuesday. Will that suit you?'

  'I'll look forward to it.'

  'I'll get one of my officers to pick you up and take you to the prison where he is being held,' the Inspector said. 'I'll phone you on Tuesday morning to give you a time for the pick-up.'

  He turned his attention to Stuart.

  'If you can all shut up for a while I would like Stuart to tell us his side of the story,' the Inspector said in a commanding voice. 'I know that Vince has heard the details of what went on, but the rest of us are still in the dark.'

  Stuart then proceeded to tell us what had happened to him from the time he had been kidnapped at his home in Fern Tree Gully until we rescued him at the airport in Peppimenarti. He included bits that he hadn't mentioned to me when he had told me his tale. A few of the guys asked him questions, so when he had finished his story, we were a lot the wiser. By the time he had finished, the meal was over.

  'OK men, you can all go and get some rest if you want,’ the Inspector suggested. 'I will have two taxis here at 4.30pm, so please don't be late. If you are not in the reception area at that time, we will leave without you.'

  We all dispersed to our rooms to spend the rest of the afternoon.

  'How are things now,' Tony asked me when we were finally lying on our beds.

  'I am a lot better thanks. I had a decent sleep last night, and the hospital also changed the dressing. The pain today is a lot less.'

  'I don't think that we had better tell Daphne or indeed Sally what you got up to since you were wounded,' Tony said. 'They wouldn't be impressed.'

  'I am just very relieved that we managed to rescue Stuart, and he is all in one piece. The fact that the drugs squad managed to get a large haul of drugs is a bonus.'

  'I can now get back to my business,' Tony added. 'Goodness knows what has been going on in my absence as I haven’t even been able to keep in touch with them by phone.'

  'Did you get any calls from your second in command while you have been away?'

  'I got one early on, but after that initial call I have heard nothing.'

  'You see Tony, you thought that you were indispensable, but, in fact, they can manage without you.'

  He threw a pillow at me.

  'There is now no problem in you and Sally bringing the kids for a holiday to visit us in England. Andrew and Peter are old enough to appreciate the trip, and you will enjoy showing them the London sites.' I suggested.

  'Peter is still a bit young. I will wait until he is eight before I make the trip. You can expect us in two years' time.'

  'I look forward to that. Michael and Victoria have never met their cousins in the flesh so it will be a significant event for them.'

  'Vince, I am going to have a snooze. I slept very little last night.'

  He turned his head towards the wall and in a few minutes was snoring his head off. I left him to it and went for a walk. For the first time in just over a week, I was starting to relax, and I was able to exist without taking painkillers.

  The rest of the day was uneventful, and we took off on time at 6.15pm. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get seats beside each other, so we were dotted all around the cabin. The Inspector had kept his word, and I was seated beside an exit so had more room.

  The flight took five hours, so I had plenty of time to recap on the events of the past week.

  As we were getting on the plane, Tony mentioned to me that it would be an excellent idea if I telephoned Daphne when we reached his home later that evening. He suggested that it would be perfect timing as it would be lunchtime in the UK. That got my brain working.

  While I had been chasing around searching for Stuart I had been able to park my wife's demand that I should give up being a Private Investigator. I was, therefore, certain that the first question my wife would ask me was: Had I definitely decided to do something else and put myself in less danger. The fact that I had been shot and wounded weakened my case considerably.

 
; By the time we got to Melbourne, I had convinced myself that I had only got into this recent investigation by accident, and it was not because I wanted to do it. I had only been assisting my brother trying to rescue Stuart Smith. In the same way as he would now go back to running his business, I would have to discover something else to do other than being a PI.

  I was greatly encouraged by the compliments people had been giving me. They thought I was good at my job, and it suited my expertise. Mind you, I also thought that I did a good job and got results!

  I clearly had to work out how strongly I wanted to hang on to my role in my discussions with Daphne. I didn't want to end up in the divorce courts.

  One minute it was easy to give up and retire gracefully. The next I was justifying why I had to stay on in my role as a Private Investigator. It wasn't an easy decision.

  We picked up our bags at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport, said our goodbyes and Tony drove me home. Before we parted, Rod said that he would phone me and arrange to have a beer together. The Inspector also said that he would call me tomorrow or early on Tuesday to fix up the time I could go and talk to Clive Newsome.

  When we reached Tony's house, it was in darkness. Sally had apparently gone to bed.

  'Right Vince, the first thing that you must do is telephone your wife,' Tony instructed. There was no way I was getting out of this. I had a horrible hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach and dreaded making the call.

  I took a momentous decision. I would tell Daphne that I was still determined to give up being a Private Investigator and, when I got back to the UK in a week's time, I would look for something else to do. Decision taken I started to feel a lot better. I picked up the phone and dialled my home in Putney.

  This time it was Michael who answered the phone.

  'Dad, how are you. When are you coming home? What's the weather like in Australia and how are Uncle Tony and Aunty Sally?' he said without breathing.

  'Which question do want answered first?' I asked him.

  'When are you coming home?'

  'At the moment I am planning on flying back next Sunday but I haven't booked a flight yet.'

  'Mum said that you got shot; are you OK?'