I was jolted from my thoughts when a cyclist came flying out of the station, right in front of me, nearly knocking me down.
‘Silly bugger; watch where you’re going,’ he shouted out after me.
That would have been an impressive start to my new role as a private investigator - run down by a cyclist in Parsons Green.
I managed to get home without further mishap.
‘When I have put the kids to bed there is something that I want to talk to you about Daphne,’ I said to my wife, sticking my head around the door into the kitchen.
‘I am not planning on going anywhere so we can have a glass of wine together when you have put the kids to bed. I am almost finished the ironing.’
‘See you in about fifteen minutes,’ I said as I chased the children up the stairs to bed.
In fact, it took me longer than fifteen minutes, and it was about forty minutes before I pulled the cork on a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, and we sat down in the lounge.
‘Are you going to tell me what all these strange meetings you have been having are all about?’ Daphne asked me sitting back and taking a sip from her wine.
‘Yes, that’s exactly what I am going to do. You know that since my injury and being told that I couldn’t stay on in the army any longer, I have been extremely worried as to what I might be able to do, job wise.’
‘I know that you haven’t been the same person since your injury, and you felt that, at forty three, you were too young to become a pensioner and be put on the scrap heap,’ Daphne chipped in with a smile.
‘Well, on my way back from Iraq a few weeks ago I got talking to the guy sitting beside me on the plane, and, when he asked me what I was going to do with my life, I told him that I was going to become a private investigator.’
‘You were going to become what,’ my wife exclaimed, nearly choking on her wine.
‘It was the first thing that came into my head. I didn’t want to answer that I hadn’t decided yet, when he knew that I had been lying in hospital for months with nothing to do other than to think!’
‘But why a private investigator Vince, you wouldn’t know where to start.’
‘Let me explain what happened dear. The guy on the plane asked me for my contact details and, much to my amazement, he actually phoned me and asked me to come to his offices to meet his father to discuss a possible job.’
‘I don’t believe it,’ Daphne said as she resumed her relaxed attitude.
‘The outcome of that meeting, and tonight’s in Parsons Green, is that they have offered me a job as a private investigator.’
‘Well done you. Is it well paid?’
‘Yes it is well paid, and they cover all my expenses as well,’ I replied, surprised at the enthusiasm of my wife whom I had expected to object strongly.
‘What is the snag? There must be a colossal downside in all this as it sounds all too good to be true,’ she said sitting forward in her chair again.
‘The biggest drawback is that I will have to travel a lot and don’t know, at this stage, for how long. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks, spending time at home and getting to know the kids and you again.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about us, and it isn’t as if you are going to be away for long periods. We are used to coping on our own, and the kids will soon get back into their usual routine. They have enjoyed having you around for a few weeks, dropping them off and picking them up from school and being part of their lives.’
‘Are you able to tell me what you are going to investigate as it sounds terribly mysterious?’ She asked.
‘I think that it is better if I don’t as it is highly confidential and you are better off not knowing anything about it. All I can tell you is that I must go to Holland next Monday, and I will be going to South Africa when I return from Holland. I will book all those tickets tomorrow.’
‘Our bank account won’t be sufficient to fund all those tickets Vince,’ she said with some concern in her voice.
‘That’s sorted I am pleased to say. They are going to place adequate funds into the account tomorrow morning to cover all my expenses.’
‘It sounds a fantastic opportunity for you Vince. Let’s hope it all works out and is the beginning of a new career for you. You should probably open up another bank account for your business and keep everything separate.’
I went over to the chair that she was sitting in and bent down to give her a tender kiss.
‘Thanks for being so supportive dear it means a lot to me to have you behind me after all we have been through together over the past year.’
Chapter 3
The money was lodged into my bank account on Friday morning and I was able to book my flights for the following week. Leaving on the first available flight on Monday morning from the Docklands airport to Rotterdam, I would stay overnight, returning to London on the Tuesday morning. I would take a flight to Johannesburg on British Airways on the Wednesday evening, arriving twelve hours later on Thursday morning. That left the weekend to spend with my family.
Sunday Harold phoned me with the name of the person I had to see in Rotterdam. He explained that Willem van Grimbergen would meet me at Hague Airport. I gave Harold details of my flight, and he promised to pass on the information to Willem. He wished me a pleasant flight.
My house in Putney was a short walk from a Tube Station, so on Monday morning I was able to bypass London’s congested streets and arrive in a relaxed state for my flight.
As I left passport control in Rotterdam, I easily found Willem. There was this very large, smiling, Dutch man holding a placard with my name on it. His handshake was like a vice and was an indication of the strength of this extremely fit looking man. Blond haired, about 40 years of age and dressed in a light brown suit that moulded itself to his muscular body. He was somebody that I would want on my side in any argument.
‘Welcome to Holland Major. Mr Harold has told me all about you and that you will be helping him to run the London dealership. He has asked me to show you what goes on at our offices in Rotterdam,’ Willem spoke good English with an exceptionally strong Dutch accent.
‘Thank you for meeting me Willem, and, please don’t call me Major, it sounds so formal, and I am no longer in the army. Please just call me Vince.’
‘I have my car outside so we can leave now and go to my office. Perhaps we can start by getting to know each other over lunch.’
‘Sounds good to me Willem; I am entirely in your hands,’ I said as we left the terminal building and retrieved his silver SLC Mercedes from the car park.
We travelled to a restaurant in an old windmill, where Willem ordered the food.
‘Well, now that the important part of the meal is complete and we have ordered the food, what would you like to know,’ Willem asked me, putting his arms on the table and leaning towards me.
‘What has Harold told you about me and has he given you the reason I have come to see you,’ I said, raising my eyebrows innocently as I looked at him.
‘He said that you would be working at their offices in Hatton Garden and that you needed to find out as much about the way in which diamonds were supplied to their workshop in London as was possible. He said something to me about wanting to use you to increase the security of the business. I agreed to help and to tell you what happened at this end.’
‘I suppose that the first question I have for you is why do the diamonds need to come through Rotterdam at all? Why don’t they go directly to London and New York etc.?’
‘It is mainly for historical reasons. Most of the diamond mining has been done in South Africa and its surrounding states by De Beers. Historically this company has a strong Dutch connection through the Afrikaners, who, as you probably know, were originally Dutch settlers. They even speak a form of Dutch in their homes and businesses. During the aparth
eid years, and the severe international sanctions against South Africa, the Dutch connection proved the saviour for the industry,’ Willem explained.
‘Does that mean that virtually all the diamonds that are mined in the world will ultimately pass through Rotterdam?’ I asked.
‘Yes, the expertise required to deal with the raw diamonds is all here in Rotterdam. If a dealer in New York, for instance, wants to buy some diamonds, he will come to Rotterdam to get them, knowing that they will get them for the right price, and they will be of the correct quality.’
‘It sounds extremely complicated and open to interpretation if the trust is based on the views of experts.’
‘There are four criteria for judging a diamond and every stone will be assessed according to the four C’s - Clarity, Carat, Colour and Cut. If you want to buy a diamond then you must go to an expert, and these experts are available in Rotterdam.’
‘Sounds like a very complicated business and if you weren’t alert you could end up with worthless diamonds.’
‘You are right,’ he paused as the waiter approached. ‘Here comes our food so let’s conclude our discussion about diamonds at this point, and we will take it up in my office this afternoon when I can show you some examples of what I am talking about.’ He moved his chair back leaving space for the waiters to place the food on the table.
We discussed personal details such as our families, football and general things about Holland as we ate our lunch. Back in the car he asked me:
‘Have you booked a hotel for tonight or where are you going to stay?’
‘No, I decided that it might be better to get a hotel room after I met with you. I didn’t want to select a hotel that would be far away from your offices.’
‘That should be no problem. There is a large Hilton Hotel close to my office, and I am confident that we will be able to get you a room there.’
He parked the car in a parking garage under his offices in Kipstraat and led the way up the stairs. As we passed through the reception area, he asked the girl on the desk to book a room for Major Vincent Hamilton for one night in the Hilton, and also to book a restaurant for three people for 7:45 p.m. He then brought me into a impressive modern office, decorated to an exceptionally high standard.
Seeing me look around the room in admiration Willem commented.
‘I had no hand in doing this room up Vince, my wife is an interior designer and, as you can see, she has an artistic flair. I gave her a free hand in the refurbishment even though it ended up costing me a small fortune.’
‘I am impressed Willem, she is obviously a remarkably talented woman.’ I added.
‘You will meet her this evening as I have asked her to join us for dinner,’ Willem said as he went to sit at a table at one end of the room.
‘Join me here Vince and we can have a coffee together while we work out how to use your time for the remainder of the afternoon.’
I joined him at the table, and he poured me a particularly strong cup of coffee which would have kept me awake for a week if I had drunk it.
‘I think that it would be a good idea if you paid a visit to The Diamond Centre. This is a museum cum information centre situated just up the street from my office. You will be able to get a darned good understanding of every aspect of the diamond industry there, from the mining to the cutting. They may even have an expert demonstrating how a diamond is cut,’ Willem suggested.
‘That sounds an excellent idea. If I can actually see it for myself, then it will make a much bigger impact on me.’
‘You can leave your bag here; when you come back I will drop you off at your hotel.’
The Diamond Centre was just a few doors away in Kipstraat, and I quite comfortably spent the rest of the afternoon there until I was chased out at closing time.
I couldn’t have gone to a better place to learn about diamonds. There was even a museum, where I was able to garner a lot of information on the history of diamonds, and of the key players who had been involved since the 1880’s. De Beers and Anglo American seemed to have the entire industry in their control. I was even able to see a diamond being cut and the expert explained the whole process from the selection of the diamond to the finished article.
As I learnt more about the industry, so I became more confused as to how diamonds could be siphoned out of the system and sold at a discount on the London market, without the perpetrators being discovered. It wasn’t a large industry so some of the traders must know what was going on. The other crucial question mark in my thought process was, how did they expect me to find the source of the illegal diamonds, as I was a stranger in the diamond business?
I got back to Willem’s office at about 5:15 p.m and was surprised to find the front door locked. Hard knocking on the door brought a response, and I was admitted.
‘I should have warned you Vince that we lock our doors here at 4:30 p.m so as we can get everything secure for the night. Having diamonds on our premises means that we have to have highly sophisticated safes and alarm systems,’ Willem explained as he led me to his office.
Entering the room I glanced at where my overnight bag was. I immediately saw that my bag had been moved. When I had originally entered Willem’s office I had lent it against the wooden cabinet beside the chair that I had sat in. I distinctly remembered that the label with ‘ACE’ on it was facing outwards. It was now on the other side against the cabinet.
I made sure that Willem didn’t see the surprise on my face. I sat down in the same chair, filing away in my mind the fact that I must check my bag later.
‘Was going to the Diamond Centre a worthwhile exercise Vince?’ Willem asked.
‘It was fascinating Willem and certainly the most profitable way of spending the afternoon,’ I genuinely felt that it had been time well spent, even if it had given Willem an opportunity to go through my bag!
‘Well, you have been booked into The Hilton. I will take you over there now, and my wife and I will come by and pick you up around 7:00 p.m for dinner if that is OK.’
‘That sounds an excellent plan and thank you for looking after me so well. There is no need to take me out for dinner as I can just eat in the hotel if you like. You must be an exceedingly busy man.’
‘No Vince, you are only here for a day, so there is no problem in me spending time with you, he added. ‘My wife will enjoy the meal tonight as we will go to a restaurant close to the harbour that she is particularly fond of.’
As soon as I got to the hotel I went to my room where I closely examined my bag. It had obviously been rifled through, and no attempt had been made to disguise the fact that it had been searched. Clearly Willem was trying to send me some sort of message, but what exactly the message was eluded me.
I took my notebook and a pen and went to the bar on the ground floor. Buying a half litre of Heineken at the bar, I then found an empty table in a quiet corner of the room where I would be able to have a good think and write down some notes on my day.
My time in the Centre that afternoon had convinced me that there were only two possible sources of the illicit diamonds. I opened my notebook and wrote down:
1. Blood diamonds - obtained by the rulers or rebels in countries where diamonds could be found - being sold at discounted rates on the black market - money obtained being used to procure arms.
2. Diamonds being stolen somewhere along the chain that extends from the mine to the dealers. Probable place to steal the diamonds would be at the mine before they had been logged onto the chain - controls seem to be very tight.
What was also becoming abundantly clear to me was that specific knowledge would be required to handle the stolen diamonds. Some of the people currently employed by the industry, and in top and influential positions, must be involved.
I added:
Industry experts must be involved for the smuggling to be
successful - I must find out the names of experts who could possibly be involved.
Start of the chain is most likely to be in a Southern African country - most likely South Africa, because of the Afrikaner connection.
Must be a link in the chain in Rotterdam - perhaps Willem van Grimbergen.
He had recently spent a fortune on his office - was that relevant?
The last link will be in London - probably Charlton Diamond Traders.
Writing it down, made the problem look really straightforward. The problem confusing the whole issue was that the industry was intensely secretive and to get information that would provide visibility to the chain was going to be very difficult. Clearly South Africa was going to supply a lot of the answers; however, it also could be exceedingly dangerous.
I went up to my room, showered and was down in the reception area, with my notebook stuffed in one of my pockets, when Willem came to pick me up at 7:00 p.m. I was learning that I mustn’t leave any traces of my investigation where people might be able to find them, hence my decision to keep my notebook on my person.
Chapter 4
When I went out of the hotel with Willem he led me towards a taxi where I joined his wife Helga in the back. We talked in a relaxed manner until we pulled up at a restaurant on the edge of the harbour. Adjacent to the restaurant there was a marina containing a large number of expensive looking yachts.
Instead of going straight into the restaurant Willem took us towards the marina.
‘We have a few minutes to spare before we need go in as the reservation is for 7:45 p.m. I have time to show you the pride of my life, my Beneteau First 46.5 Yacht,’ Willem said with considerable enthusiasm, leading the way.
‘Notice that he doesn’t say that I am the pride of his life Vince,’ his wife said smiling in a good humoured way.
The Diamond Chain Page 2