‘That’s fine. Where can we meet?’
‘Well if you don’t mind meeting in a Pub I would suggest the King’s Head in Parson’s Green. It is fairly quiet and easy to find as it is close to the tube station.’
‘No, that sounds good. I’ll see you there at 4:00 p.m if that suits.’
‘OK Inspector, see you then.’
I grabbed hold of a trolley and set off around B&Q to get all the items I needed to decorate the kids’ rooms. The taxi driver looked at my piled up trolley, and I thought he was about to refuse to take me, but, talk of a handsome tip, changed his frown to a smile.
I had a leisurely lunch after stowing my purchases out of the way under the stairs. It was an easy decision not to start the job until after my meeting with the Inspector. I ended up arriving in Parson’s Green very early and had to take a walk around the area to kill the time.
As it turned out I had an even longer wait as the Inspector didn’t appear until about twenty past four when he came rushing in looking for me.,
‘Sorry I am late Vince. I couldn’t get away, and then the traffic wasn’t too kind to me,’ he apologised.
‘I have been quietly sipping a pint here, so it was no hardship.’
The waitress stopped at our table, and he ordered a pint of Carling.
‘I suppose you have heard about John Power?’ the Inspector asked me.
‘Yes, Sir Montgomery mentioned it to me. So I suppose that proves he didn’t kill Brian Fortiscue.’
‘Not necessarily so, but it’s unlikely that he was the culprit.’
‘Have you any idea who killed John Power then?’
‘I have some ideas and have been following up some of my hunches, and that is what I want to talk to you about.’
‘You think that it is connected with the diamond smuggling?’
‘I have a strong feeling that it could be and you might be able to help me.’ The Inspector moved his chair much closer to me and leaned towards me.
‘You have met the Fortuins in Johannesburg haven’t you?’
‘I have talked to Moira Fortuin twice and have seen her husband in a restaurant.’
‘What about their two sons Dale and Phillip?’
‘To be perfectly honest I didn’t even know that they had two sons,’ I replied genuinely surprised.
‘Well, in fact, they have only one surviving son and he is in prison for murdering his brother.’
I was gob smacked! When I met Moira Fortuin in Johannesburg she had never mentioned that she had two sons, or even one son, and she also never mentioned that he was in prison.
‘When did this event occur Inspector?’
‘Phillip was found shot at an airport in Stellenbosch a year ago, and his brother was arrested at the scene of the crime.’
‘How do they know that it was Dale who carried out the murder?’
‘Out of curiosity I got in touch with the South African police, and amazingly enough, he was convicted on the testimony of a visiting Englishman, who just happens to be called Harold Fortiscue.’ The Inspector announced this last bit of information with a note or triumph in his voice.
I put my hand to my head and sat back, it was hard to believe this latest piece of information. Why on earth would Harold Fortiscue have been in the Western Cape just over one year ago and be at the scene of a murder? Then the penny dropped.
‘You know Inspector that the first shipment of diamonds probably occurred one year ago. Harold Fortiscue was most likely in South Africa to oversee their shipment back by yacht from Cape Town. He wasn’t just on a holiday.’
‘I think that you are one hundred percent right Vince. Harold Fortiscue is in this right up to his neck and probably as a result of his gambling debts. What is also fascinating is that all the murders have been by shooting, although a different gun has been used each time. Even the murder of Phillip Fortuin was the result of a shooting.’
‘What are you going to do Inspector? Can you arrest Harold Fortiscue on the charge that he murdered his brother, John Power and probably Phillip Fortuin?’
‘At the moment I am not in a position to act on my suspicions. I have no hard proof. He will just hire a top lawyer who will pick holes in my case and most likely have it thrown out. I will have to continue building up the case against him, and that is where you can help.’
‘What would you like me to do?’ I asked, now extremely keen to help in whatever way I could.
‘Vince, I would like you to go and visit Dale Fortuin on your next visit to South Africa. He is being held in the maximum security prison at Leukop, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. I have tried to get permission from the South African authorities to see him, but have met a brick wall. I can’t even ask them for special permission for you to visit him, so you will have to go as a general visitor.’
‘It sounds a bit daunting. Are you sure that they will allow me in to see him?’
‘I telephoned the South African prison service, and they said that, as long as you bring some form of ID with you, such as a passport that you will be allowed to see him. Sorry, I forgot to mention that the only visiting days are Saturday and Sunday.’
‘If you think it will help I’ll go and see him. I was planning on flying direct to Cape Town in two weeks’ time but can now fly to Johannesburg on the Friday. I’ll go and visit Dale on the Sunday.’
‘I would really appreciate you doing that for me Vince. I would go myself, but there would be hell to pay if they found out I was a police officer.’
I’ll phone you from Cape Town on the Monday to let you know how I get on.’
‘I won’t delay you any longer Vince so as you can get back to your decorating. If anything comes up before you fly, I will phone you.’
He stood up and shook my hand and I left to catch the tube back to East Putney and home.
I had set myself up for another new experience; visiting a maximum security prison in South Africa.
Chapter 24
I got up the following morning at 6:00 a.m and headed for the gym, keeping my agreement with my wife that I would get back in shape. Returning home, suitably exhausted, I had time for a shower and a rushed breakfast before delivering the kids off to their school. Finally, at 9:00 a.m, dressed in an old tee shirt and a pair of jeans, I was ready to start my redecoration of the bedrooms.
The work didn’t stretch my brain too much, so it tended to drift to the investigation, especially the problematic parts.
One thought to hit me was that I still hadn’t listened to the rest of the tape that I had recorded using the listening device at the Fortuins’ house in Camps Bay. My curiosity won, and I set the listening device up in the kitchen, made myself a cup of coffee and played the tape.
Most of what I heard was just the usual chatter between husband and wife, but there was one piece that caught my attention.
‘Jacques, will you be able to fit in a visit to Dale next week when you are in Johannesburg?’ It was clearly Moira’s voice asking the question.
‘No, I haven’t planned to go and see him; anyway, I don’t think that he would want to see me.’
‘You’re still his father Jacques.’
‘Maybe Moira, but I am not going to see him.’
If I had listened to this piece of conversation before I had talked to the Inspector, I wouldn’t have known where Moira was suggesting that Jacques should go to visit his son. I would have been able to work out that Dale was a son of the Fortuins, but he could have just been in school or in a hospital. I would never have imagined him being in a maximum security prison.
I went through the rest of the tape, but there were mostly long periods of silence interspersed with casual conversation as they prepared to go to the shops.
It certainly didn’t sound as if the relationships between parents and son
were particularly good. Of comfort to me was the fact that I wasn’t likely to bump into either of them when I went to visit Dale at the end of next week.
Armed with my sponge and bucket of sugar soap, I got back to cleaning the rooms and wiping down the woodwork. It was later in the afternoon, when I was filling and sandpapering the walls that my next thought hit me.
When I had met Harold the first time at the restaurant in Covent Garden, he had mentioned that the firm selling the cheap diamonds was called Charlton Diamond Traders. They were a competitor of theirs based also in London. I had never asked him or his father anything about them. I had been so focused on South Africa, Rotterdam and the yacht Belle Diamant that I had failed to obtain information on the company that was trying to put them out of business. I decided to phone Sit Montgomery in the morning and try and make an appointment to see him to rectify the gap in my knowledge.
I changed back into my ‘collect from school’ clothes and went to pick up Michael and Victoria
The following morning I was feeling decidedly stiff from the two previous days at the Gym, so I decided to have a lie in and give the workout a miss.
When I returned home from dropping the kids off, I phoned Sir Montgomery.
‘Sir Montgomery Fortiscue here,’ he answered in his usual formal way.
‘It’s Vince Hamilton sir. Good morning, is everything alright this morning?’
‘Yes thank you Major. What can I do for you as I take it that you haven’t phoned me up just to ask me how I am?’
‘Would you have the time to see me in the next day or so sir? I need to learn a bit more about the competitor who is undercutting your prices.’
‘OK Vince let’s look at my diary.....’
There was a pause as I assumed that he was getting his diary out and opening it to the relevant page.
‘I have time tomorrow if you like at around 12 noon at the usual place.’
‘That’s ideal sir. I will see you then.’
‘Bye Vince.’
I occupied myself with all the domestic chores, plus my family activities until I took the tube to see him the following morning.
True to form I found him waiting for me at the same table in the Sherlock Holmes Hotel.
This time he stood up as I approached and shook my hand.
‘Great to see you again Major .... sorry Vince.’
‘It’s a pleasure to see you too sir.’
He sat down and called over a waiter.
‘Vince, I am going to have a sandwich while I talk to you, would you like to join me?’
‘Yes that would be perfect thank you.’
The waiter gave us a menu to select what we wanted.
‘I’ll have a toasted cheese and ham, please,’ I said, handing him back the menu.
‘I’ll have the tuna sandwich untoasted, and, please bring us a pot of tea as well?’ Sir Montgomery ordered.
‘How is the decorating going Vince?’
‘It seems to be going well, and I should be finished my children’s’ bedrooms by the end of this week.’
‘Take your time Vince. If you go too fast your wife will have more jobs lined up for you for next week,’ Sir Montgomery showed a humorous side to his character.
‘I enjoy keeping busy so I will probably do something else around the house next week if I get the bedrooms finished this week.’
‘Anyway, we are not here to talk about your redecorating projects, so I better start telling you about our competitor who is causing all the problems.’
I sat back ready to be educated.
‘The company is called Charlton Diamond Traders and it is run by a man called Edward Crawford, known to his friends as Eddie. He hasn’t been in the diamond business very long, I think about three years. I am told that he made his money as a dealer in armaments before he got into diamonds.’
‘Sorry to interrupt you sir, but can anybody just open up as a diamond trader.’
‘Well, he actually bought out a small dealership that already had an office in Hatton Garden. The owner of the dealership died in an unfortunate fatal car accident, and his wife sold the company to Eddie Crawford.’
‘They didn’t suspect any foul play, did they?’ I asked. It sounded highly suspicious.
‘There was a lot of talk, but nothing was proved.’
‘A fact that you might be interested in, is that my sons Harold and Brian went to the same school as Edward Crawford. They all went to Winchester College at around the same time.’
‘So Harold, your son knows Edward Crawford quite well.’
‘Yes, and there is something else that you should be aware of; Harold’s wife and Edward Crawford’s wife are sisters.’
‘Crikey that makes them extremely close.’ I couldn’t believe what Sir Montgomery was telling me, and, I was also wondering, why the old boy hadn’t felt it necessary to tell me all this before now.
‘A few years ago they rented a boat on the Canal du Midi in the South of France, and they had a family holiday together with their kids.’
‘So they are more than casual acquaintances then,’ I suggested.
‘I am afraid so Vince, and I have my suspicions.’ Sir Montgomery suddenly looked very sad, and the cares of the world seemed to descend onto his shoulders.
‘I appreciate you telling me these family details sir, and know how difficult it must be for you. I just hope that when we get to the bottom of all this we don’t find that Harold is involved.’
Before I heard all this latest information I had already felt that Harold was probably in it up to his neck, and probably even deeper than that. Having heard about this link with Edward Crawford, I was now convinced that he was one of the main people involved.
‘Is there anything else about Charlton or this Edward Crawford that you think that I should know about?’ I asked Sir Montgomery.
‘Before Eddie Crawford bought out the diamond business, he is purported to have had a lot of dealings in Africa, so he knows the African continent exceptionally well and has a lot of contacts there.’
‘Unfortunately, if things go to plan and I follow the diamonds back to London, I am likely to bump into him. I will take your advice to heart and be even more careful.’
‘I don’t know if it is relevant, but you should also know that the company used to be called Hatton Diamond Traders. He changed the name to Charlton Diamond Traders when he bought a controlling share in Charlton Football Club.’
‘So he is a football club chairman as well,’ I smiled at the thought of diamonds and football being in the same camp.
‘I think I have told you all I know on the topic of Charlton Diamond Traders Vince, so I am afraid that I will have to get back to the office. If I do think of anything else, I will call you.’
‘Thanks sir that is fascinating and opens up a lot of new possibilities at the London end. It could be that we are up against a much bigger operation in the UK than I envisaged.’
You’re right Vince, so please be exceedingly careful, there have already been too many deaths linked to this problem.’
We both stood up and went towards the entrance where we shook hands and went our separate ways.
On my way home, I called in to the travel agent in Putney High Street and booked my ticket to fly to South Africa for Friday week. I decided that I would fly to Johannesburg on the Friday and then book a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town for the Sunday afternoon. I booked a substantial 4 x 4 car for both places with Hertz.
Inspector Baird had told me that the visiting hours at the prison started at 9:00 a.m, so I should have plenty of time to visit the prison on the Sunday morning and then catch a flight in the afternoon to Cape Town. The last task on my list was to confirm my reservation for a room in the guest house with Mrs Cronje. She was delighted wi
th my call and confirmed that she had reserved the same room for me, and it would be available from the Sunday.
Chapter 25
The two bedrooms finished and fully meeting my children’s expectations, I caught the 8:05 p.m British Airways flight to Johannesburg on the Friday evening. Hopefully this would be my final visit to South Africa on this particular investigation. It was a much fitter and reinvigorated Vince that boarded the plane after two weeks of intensive gym work and plenty of physical activity redecorating the bedrooms. Something told me that I might need my enhanced physical fitness on this trip.
I had checked with Willem in Rotterdam a few times over the past week to confirm the Belle Diamant was still on target for the end of the month. He had confirmed that all was well, and the yacht should be in Cape Town as expected.
Having cleared immigration control I picked up my rental car from Hertz and headed for Midrand to the Mercure Hotel where I had stayed the last time I had been in Johannesburg. I hadn’t booked as I thought that being a weekend there wouldn’t be a demand on the rooms. Not only were there plenty of rooms available, but there was also a special weekend rate.
In studying a map of Johannesburg, prior to my leaving the UK, I had found that the prison where Dale was being held, was relatively close to Midrand. In the afternoon, I took a short drive to locate the prison and to scout out the land as it covered a vast area on the map. If I got lost and delayed on the Sunday I might easily miss my flight to Cape Town. I parked in a car park beside the main gates to the prison and went to talk to a guard who was lounging in a chair with his legs on the barrier, deep in conversation with another man.
‘Excuse me,’ I said as I walked up to where they were talking.
He totally ignored me, so I had to wait patiently until he acknowledged my presence. They were speaking English but with a particularly strong accent that made it difficult for me to understand what they were saying. There was also a lot of laughter so obviously they were amused, but I wasn’t, standing there waiting to be acknowledged.
The Diamond Chain Page 14