The Diamond Chain

by Patrick Slaney

  One of the men went up the ladder onto the yacht. He connected a light which he hung from the boom. This extra light meant that I could identify the figure of Caas Teifel on the deck. The man on the ground, whom I couldn’t make out clearly, passed the packages that were on the trolley up to Caas Teifel, and he threw them into the cockpit of the boat out of the way.

  I had a quick look around me to check if anybody was in sight, and, seeing nobody, I left my refuge and moved along the pontoon to the jetty. I pulled my anorak hood over my head and moved as close as the darkness would allow to where they were loading the yacht. The light they had rigged on the boom made it possible for me to identify a number of similar sized packages. They looked just like those packages you see when the police are photographed with the evidence of a drug bust.

  I was also able to see that the person passing up the packages was Jacques Fortuin. The final two packages he handed up looked a noticeably different shape. They had the appearance of black plastic rubbish bags heavily wrapped with what looked like packaging tape. I assumed that these must be the bags with the diamonds.

  I was focusing so much on the activities on the boat that I wasn’t keeping a look out around me. Too late I realised that I was not alone and I saw the shadow of an arm descending towards my head.

  I came to, frozen through, coughing and choking, with water in my mouth and ears. Freezing water was all around my head. It took me a bit more time to realise that I was floating in the water. In fact, I was wedged beneath one of the pontoons, my face up against the boards. I managed to put my hand up to my throbbing head and found out there was blood flowing from a head wound. I had obviously been clubbed by some heavy object. My head felt as if it had been split in two; the back of my head was under the cold water.

  I heard some steps on the pontoon coming towards me. The danger had the effect of making me stop coughing, and I stayed as still as I was able, the only noise being the lapping of the water against the piles of the pontoon.

  ‘Well we won’t see him again Torben,’ a voice said with a French accent. I suspected that this was the crazy Frenchman who had hit me.

  ‘The blow that you hit him with would have killed anybody, Bernard. If he survives the blow, he will drown in the harbour. He was unconscious when we threw him in.’

  ‘I can’t even see his body so he must have sunk to the bottom of the harbour. He was wearing so many clothes that the sodden weight of them will have been pulled him to the bottom.’

  ‘We’d better go and tell Caas.’

  They moved off. I waited a few more minutes and then ducked under the water and came up on the seaward side of the pontoon I had been wedged under. Still dazed, I had a look around me. I spotted a boat that had a ladder on the stern, and I slowly moved towards it. With a huge effort, I managed to pull myself up onto the boat, and I then had a further look around me to make sure that they hadn’t returned. Soaked through and freezing, I waited for what seemed like hours, but, in fact, it must have only been about fifteen minutes. More alert now, I got off the boat and made my way to the safety of the boat I had been lent.

  I had brought a towel with me together with some spare clothes, so I was able to struggle out of my wet clothes and get dry. What had saved me was the life jacket I was wearing under my anorak and the padding in the hood of my anorak. The life jacket had enabled my head to stay above water. My attackers would have had no idea that I had a life jacket on as it wasn’t visible. They had assumed that my bulk was due to my clothes. I was starting to get warmer, but there was nothing that I could do about the throbbing in my head. I was extremely lucky to be alive.

  I had learnt a valuable lesson; I must learn to be more vigilant and not to get totally wrapped up in what I was looking at. I had made the mistake in Hermanus of getting careless, and exactly the same thing had happened here. I wouldn’t survive much longer as a private investigator if I kept making mistakes.

  Making sure that the hatch to the cockpit was locked and that there were no external signs that I was on the boat, I was safe provided that I didn’t venture outside. It was unlikely they would come looking for me anyway as they thought they had killed me and I was now fish fodder.

  I searched through the drawers on the boat and managed to find some Paracetamol. I risked taking four tablets to try and combat the pain in my head. I then had time to reflect on what had been happening on the Belle Diamant prior to my being thrown into the harbour.

  I was 100% sure the diamonds had been handed up to Caas Teifel. I was also convinced that a large quantity of drugs had been loaded on board. This whole operation was a lot bigger than I had ever imagined, and, with drugs as part of the cargo, there were even larger amounts of money involved. The fact that drugs were being carried as well as the diamonds would also explain why they were so protective of their activities. In fact, the diamonds were only a miniscule part of the total deal.

  So what did I do now? An ordinary citizen would go to the police to report what I had seen, and let them handle it. If I took that course of action, would that complete my assignment for Sir Montgomery Fortiscue? The answer to that was - No, it wouldn’t.

  My original plan was to track the diamonds to Europe and then follow them to London to find those in charge at the distribution end. If I wasn’t able to find out who was involved at the London end, then they could just arrange another delivery at some other time in the future. Where the drugs fitted in was another day’s work, but it clearly significantly increased the stakes that were involved and increased the risk to me and anybody else that got in their way.

  I also decided that I shouldn’t use the Cape Town airport to leave the country as they most likely would be watching it. It was time that I did a disappearing act from Cape Town.

  There was now no need for me to hang around in the Western Cape; I had seen the diamonds being placed on board the yacht. I also knew that the yacht would leave Cape Town by the weekend on the freighter to Agadir. There was no need for any more ‘spying’, which meant that I would be able to depart in the morning. The only remaining task was to return the gun and the keys to Laurie Scott in Tokei.

  At three in the morning, I decided it was time to leave my sanctuary. I slowly opened the hatch to have a good look around the marina. The temporary light on the Belle Diamant was no longer shining, and the whole yacht was in darkness. There was nobody around the yacht, and, as far as I could see, there was nobody on guard looking for me.

  Time to go then!

  Packing up all my bits I got ready to leave. I found a couple of plastic bags in the cabin to stuff my wet clothes into, prior to putting them in my bag. I left the remainder of the food and drinks behind me as I wanted to travel as light as possible. I had made a plan to get to the main gate by water rather than walk along the quayside. There was a small dinghy tied up to one of the boats nearby. Somebody had carelessly left two oars sitting in it, and I could use it to paddle to the gate across the harbour.

  I rolled up the awning that I had been using over the cockpit and stowed it in the cabin. I then placed my bag into the dinghy and locked up the boat. Very carefully, keeping close to the other yachts moored along the pontoons, I paddled the boat towards the exit to the marina. I then cut back across the harbour towards the main quay. It was a pitch black night, without any moon, so it was impossible to see me from the Yacht Club and its approaches. I found a place where there was a ladder built into the wall of the wharf and, tying the dinghy to the bottom rung, I climbed to the top with my bag. I then casually walked towards the gate and out of the dock area onto the main road. Glancing at the security hut I noticed that the guard was sound asleep. My first bit of good fortune for some time.

  I reached the shelter of the city streets and made my way back to the guest house. To prevent any awkward questions, I dumped the two plastic bags of wet clothes in my car, before entering the guest house. What I was goi
ng to tell Mrs Cronje about the large lump on my head when I met her in the morning, I hadn’t worked out yet. Reaching my room I took two of the strong pain killers that I had been given when I had the accident north of Pretoria. I climbed into my bed and, making sure that I didn’t lie on the damaged area of my head, I fell asleep.

  Chapter 33

  I woke up a few hours later with a splitting headache and took two of my strong pain killers. After a further half an hour in bed, the pills started to have their effect, and I got up to prepare for the new day. Showered and dressed, I went down to meet Mrs Cronje and have a late breakfast; ready for her inquisition.

  ‘Good morning Mr Hamilton, you were in extremely late last night.’

  ‘I hope I didn’t disturb you when I came in?’

  She turned around to look at me and suddenly straightened up from what she was doing. She had spotted my damaged head.

  ‘What on earth happened to you and how did you get that lump on your head? She exclaimed.

  ‘A man, who had been thrown out of a nightclub, hit me over the head with a whiskey bottle,’ I explained to her. The story sounded plausible, so I was hoping that she would swallow it.

  ‘You poor soul. What did they do to the bloke who hit you?’

  ‘He was grabbed by the bouncers and handed over to the police.’

  ‘Are you OK? It looks really nasty, and I see that it was bleeding. You probably should go and see a doctor.’

  ‘I took some strong pain killers that I had in my bag, so I should be alright.’

  ‘Don’t do anything strenuous today and take it easy,’ she advised.

  ‘Well actually I have some bad news for you. I am afraid that my time in Cape Town has come to an end, and I will be leaving today.’

  ‘Will you be coming back in the near future?’

  ‘No, I doubt if I will this time. The job I was doing is complete, and there will be no need to return. I will pack up after breakfast and get on the road.’

  Are you flying out of Cape Town airport today then?’

  ‘No, I thought that I would travel up the garden route and stay around Port Elizabeth for a few days. I then might travel to Durban. It’s time that I saw an area of South Africa that I haven’t seen before.’

  ‘That’s a good idea, and the weather is settled at the moment so you should be able to see the views. I’ll be sorry to see you go.’

  ‘Thank you very much for all you have done for me here. It’s been like a home from home for me.’

  ‘Do you still have the ladder in my shed?’

  ‘No I gave the ladder to someone, and you can keep the other tools. I won’t be able to carry them with me.’

  ‘I’ll see you before you go then.’

  She went off to the kitchen to organise my breakfast. I was slightly later than normal and the girl who served the breakfasts had gone home.

  After breakfast, I decided that I had better phone Willem in Rotterdam, to bring him up to date on my latest adventure. I also phoned my wife to let her know I was on my way home,

  ‘Good morning Vince. How are things in Cape Town this morning,’ his cheery voice came on the line.

  ‘Other than having a particularly large lump on my head and a severe headache, everything is OK,’ I answered.

  ‘Sorry Vince my English is not good enough to know what a lump on the head is.’

  ‘Well, to put it another way, I was hit over the head near the marina last night and thrown into the water.’

  ‘What!’ he exclaimed. ‘You obviously survived, but what actually happened?’

  I spent a few minutes explaining to him what had happened and how lucky I had been to be wearing the life jacket under my anorak.

  ‘Just to clarify something Vince; you say that you are fairly sure that they were loading drugs on board the yacht as well as the diamonds?’

  ‘Yes that is exactly what I am saying. In fact, the majority of what they put on board was packets of drugs, and there were only two packets of diamonds.’

  ‘No wonder that they didn’t want people watching what they were doing. Fancy my old pal Caas Teifel being so heavily involved.’

  ‘He is not just involved Willem, he seems to be in charge down here.’

  ‘What are your plans now Vince?’

  ‘Well, I have decided not to fly out of Cape Town, just in case they are watching out for me. Instead, I will drive up the coast to Port Elizabeth and will try and get a flight from there to Johannesburg. I can then catch the British Airways plane to London.’

  ‘Yes I agree; you need to get out of there immediately, although, they probably think that you drowned in the harbour last night. They will assume that until they don’t find the body, and then they will undoubtedly come looking for you again.’

  ‘They will be loading the yacht onto the freighter today so they won’t have time to look for me, and they are expected to leave tomorrow. I should be safe.’

  ‘Phone me Vince when you get back. We can meet up and go over all that you have found out and what our strategy should be at the European end.’

  ‘I haven’t worked out yet what I am going to tell Inspector Baird or old man Fortiscue. I will have to tell them something, but I don’t want to reveal the drugs until I have a plan. I’ll phone you when I get home.’

  ‘Go carefully Vince, and keep your eyes on the lookout for trouble.’

  ‘I will Willem. Don’t worry.’

  I pressed the red button and terminated the conversation.

  I then phoned Daphne at her work number to tell her that I would be home in the next few days.

  Laurie Scott was next on my list, and I gave him a call to make sure that he would be in. I needed to drop off the gun and the boat keys. He was at home and would be waiting for me.

  I finished my packing, and it took two trips to the car to transfer all my stuff. It was a warm day with plenty of sun, so I spread my wet clothes out in the back of the 4 x 4 in the hope that they would dry.

  I punched in Laurie’s address into the sat nav and headed for Tokei.

  When Laurie found out that I had only used the Glock once, he generously informed me that I didn’t need to pay anything, on the understanding that I took his old friend Inspector Baird back a bottle of KWV 3 year old Brandy. He suggested that I should buy the brandy in the duty free area at Johannesburg airport.

  Having returned Laurie’s items, I punched in Port Elizabeth airport and left Cape Town behind me. It had been an extremely eventful time, but I was glad to be leaving. The estimate on the Tom Tom showed me arriving in Port Elizabeth at around 8:00 p.m so I would be far too late to catch a flight to Jo’burg today. I decided to find somewhere to stay in Plettenberg Bay, a resort that I would pass through on my way, and then drive to Port Elizabeth in the morning.

  When I finally arrived at the airport the following morning, I found that I had to wait a further day to get a seat on a British Airways flight to London from Johannesburg. I decided to spend the extra time in Port Elizabeth rather than travel to Johannesburg and wait there. Port Elizabeth turned out to be a good choice as it was organized for visitors and wasn’t as cold as Cape Town. I was also able to relax since there was nobody around who knew me, even if I still looked as if I had come a poor second in a fight.

  The following afternoon I dumped my rental car with Hertz at the airport and caught the 4.00 p.m. South African airways flight to Johannesburg. Shortly after arriving there I was seated on my flight to London, having just remembered to buy the bottle of brandy for Inspector Baird in the duty free as part of my deal with Laurie Scott.

  I hoped that I wouldn’t have to come back to South Africa for a long time. My memories were not good ones, and I didn’t feel safe.

  The one sadness that I had was I hadn’t been able to go and visit Dale Fo
rtuin in the prison again to cheer him up. By exposing those responsible at the European end, I hoped to be able to prove his innocence. I would have to rely on Inspector Baird, to sort that one out. Caas Teifel and Harold Fortiscue had been present when Phillip had been shot, and both these gentlemen were based in Europe and would be caught when the net tightened.

  Chapter 34

  I arrived home and managed to survive my wife’s grilling on my damaged skull. Exhausted from the flight I went to bed and managed to sleep until 1:30 p.m. I had a quick lunch and then phoned Sir Montgomery Fortiscue.

  With no answer from his mobile, I tried his private office number.

  ‘Sir Montgomery Fortiscue,’ he said in his clipped tone, particularly businesslike and with absolute clarity.

  ‘Sir Montgomery, it is Vince Hamilton here.’

  ‘Ah Major, I was expecting you to call today, and I have kept this evening available if you want to come and see me at the usual place.’ He was still calling me Major even though I had told him many times that I didn’t use the title anymore.

  ‘I suppose that it would be best to meet as I have a lot to tell you. What time would suit you as I have nothing else on?’

  ‘Make it 5:30 that gives me time to clear up here before I leave.’

  ‘That’s fine. I look forward to seeing you later.’

  I then phoned Willem in Holland as I had promised him before I left South Africa.

  He answered in Dutch, but I over-rode him in English.

  ‘Hi Willem it is me, Vince.’

  ‘Ah, Hi Vince. I presume that you have returned to London?’

  ‘Yes I arrived this morning after two relaxing flights that originated in Port Elizabeth.’

  ‘When are you coming to see me?’

  ‘How about Thursday of this week? I can take the plane at the usual time from the City Airport to Rotterdam and then we can talk over lunch.’