In twenty minutes, I was on the road following the diamonds to Rotterdam just hoping that Willem would survive. There was nothing more that I could do for him by staying in La Rochelle. Whether he survived or not wouldn’t depend on me but on the emergency services; however, I still felt terribly guilty and sad leaving my good friend. I didn’t even have his wife’s telephone number to let her know what had happened. Thinking about it made me feel even worse.
Chapter 44
I was now heading for Rotterdam in a van with Hertz plastered over the outside of it. It had taken Willem ten hours when he came in the opposite direction in his Mercedes, so I reckoned it would take me roughly the same amount of time. I looked at my watch and saw that it was now 4:30 a.m. I would have a few hours with very little traffic to deal with and by the time that I got to Paris the rush hour should be nearly over.
I stuck strictly to the speed limit until I was through La Rochelle and on the main road to Paris when I started to speed up. The last thing that I needed was to be pulled over for a traffic offence. My friend Caas had a head start on me. After the incident at the marina, I had to go and get the van, and that had delayed me. It was likely that Caas would stick to the speed limits as he wouldn’t want to be stopped by the police. He probably would not be too far ahead of me.
As I drove I considered my situation. My first thought was - Why on earth had Willem driven into the marina so recklessly when he knew that the boat had arrived, and Caas and his crew would be armed? The only possible answer I could come up with was that he might have thought that I was in trouble, and he had to get to me quickly.
My next thought was - ‘How long before the police found out where he was staying - that I was with him - and I was driving a Hertz van’? It might be wise to call Inspector Baird as soon as possible and get his advice. I was beginning to think that it might not be a good idea to travel the whole way to Rotterdam in the van. The police easily could spot a Mercedes van with a large Hertz sign on the side of it.
Four hours later I pulled into a motorway service area to get some breakfast and to phone the Inspector. The UK was one hour behind, so it was only 7:30 a.m in London, but I reckoned that he was probably an early riser and wouldn’t mind me calling him.
‘Baird. Is that you Vince, I have been expecting you.’
‘Yes Inspector, I am phoning you from a service area on my way to Paris.’
‘So the diamonds have arrived, and they are on the move.’
‘Yes, the yacht arrived this morning, but Willem, my friend from Holland was shot, and I had to leave the scene very sharpish in case I got delayed by the police. Caas Teifel left immediately the car was loaded with the contraband, so I am following him to Rotterdam. The rest of the crew went off somewhere in a mini bus.’
‘When you say contraband Vince, do you mean the diamonds?’ the Inspector asked me.
‘There were diamonds, plus a large number of packages that looked like drugs. They loaded everything into the car that Caas Teifel took off in.’
‘This gets more serious by the minute Vince. If there are drugs as part of the shipment, I will have to take immediate action and get the drugs squad involved. They have contacts in the Dutch police in Rotterdam who will track this guy Caas Teifel once he crosses the Dutch border.’
‘They won’t arrest him will they Inspector?’ I asked him, seeing all my plans going up in smoke.
‘Not unless you want them to Vince?’
‘No, I certainly don’t want him picked up. We need to track where they go in the UK.’ I was horrified at the thought that the Dutch police would step in and arrest Caas and take the diamonds and drugs.
‘With the drugs squad involved I will have more resources available to me. Keeping an eye on the Casino Royale, plus the various individuals who are involved, is going to require a lot of men.’
‘What do you think that I should do now? Is there any point in me following the car to Rotterdam when I don’t know for certain what route they have taken and how far ahead they are?’
‘Vince, I think that you should dump the Hertz van as soon as possible and travel by train to Calais or Le Havre and take a ferry back to the UK. You are going to be their prime suspect for the shooting of Willem, and there will soon be an extensive manhunt looking for you.’
‘I am looking at my map, and I see that I am quite close to Orly airport. There is bound to be a Hertz office at the airport where I can dump the van. There will also be plenty of trains or buses from there into Paris.’
‘Don’t worry about what goes on in Rotterdam. We know where the boat Casino Royale is moored on a marina there. It will be easy to see them putting the diamonds and drugs on board. We can then track them back to the Thames.’
‘That sounds like a good plan Inspector. I will phone you as soon as I get to the UK to work out the next step.’
‘You stay safe Vince, and stay away from the French police until this thing dies down and you know that Willem has been able to sort everything out with them.’
‘Thanks Inspector. I will be in touch.’
I terminated the call and put my phone away. I would take his advice and get rid of the van as soon as possible. I would leave the van in the Hertz car park at Orly with the keys in it and take a train to Paris.
My plan worked better than I expected, and I was at the Calais ferry port by the middle of the afternoon. There was a ferry leaving at 4:15 p.m, which I boarded as a foot passenger, and it was with considerable relief that I saw the gap between the coast of France and my beer increasing. Arriving ninety minutes later I took the shuttle bus to Dover Priory station and caught a train for London. The fact that there was a time difference of one hour between France and England meant that it was only 5:15 p.m, so I had gained an hour.
I tried phoning Willem’s mobile but there was no answer, I then phoned the Inspector again to bring him up to date.
‘Hello Vince. Are you back?’
‘Yes Inspector, I am on the train to London and everything went remarkably smoothly. I am very relieved I can tell you after the trauma of last night.’
‘Well I have good news for you as well Vince. The Dutch police have just contacted me and confirmed that they have tracked the car driven by Caas Teifel and the goods have been put on board the Casino Royale, but the boat has not left yet. They are keeping it under observation until the boat departs’
‘Do you think that they will make the voyage this evening Inspector?’
‘I think that if they were coming this evening that they would have left by now. The locks on the Thames are only manned until 7:00 p.m, so they would have to moor up somewhere on the Thames until the morning, which I think is unlikely. My guess is that, weather permitting; they will leave Rotterdam early tomorrow morning.’
‘Do you know what the weather forecast is like for tomorrow?’
‘Yes, I checked with the Met Office and the outlook is extremely good.’
‘OK Inspector, I won’t delay you any longer, and I’ll speak to you tomorrow.’
‘If there is any change in the situation Vince I will phone you.’
‘Thanks Inspector.’
Perhaps everything would still work out alright. I was starting to relax again having been like a coiled spring since the events of last night. It was hard to believe that the incident in the marina happened only 12 hours ago.
Chapter 45
I arrived at Victoria station, went through the ticket barrier, and headed towards the booking office for London hotels and guest houses. I needed to book a room for the night. Totally relaxed, I was starting to feel more secure in familiar surroundings where I felt more at home.
My relaxed state was shattered just after I passed through the ticket barrier. A gun barrel was poked into my side, and my left arm was grabbed.
‘Just come with us Major. I
have a gun with a silencer, and it is pointed at your side. One false move from you and your dead.’ I was left with no alternative but to accompany him.
Another man grabbed my bag and my other arm. They marched me across the station concourse to a car that was waiting outside the station. I couldn’t believe it as this was all happening in broad daylight with a policeman standing about ten meters away.
They shoved me into the back of the car, where one of my abductors joined me. He shoved his gun barrel into my stomach. At the same time, he pushed me down onto the floor of the car. I heard my bag being thrown into the boot. The other man climbed into the passenger seat. We moved off.
‘I don’t want to have to use this gun in the car, so just stay down and be quiet,’ he barked at me.
Who on earth were these people and how had they tracked me down. The man, who had grabbed me at the station, appeared to have been on the same train as me. They must have been waiting for me in Dover and followed me from there. Whoever was on the train with me, would have phoned through to their accomplices in London. They in turn, had organized for the car to be at the station.
Cramped up on the floor of the car, I had no way of knowing where we were going, I listened for familiar noises, but all I heard was traffic. I decided to ask; although I wasn’t too hopeful of getting a reply.
‘Where are you taking me?’ I asked in as brave a voice as I could muster.
‘Never you mind where we are taking you, you will find out soon enough. There is someone who wants to have a little chat with you for the aggravation you have caused him. He will then decide what your fate is,’ the man in the front seat replied.
‘I think that you have the wrong person as I don’t know what you are talking about,’ I thought that I might be able to sow a seed of doubt in their minds.
‘It was your limp that gave you away Major; otherwise we might have missed you.’ He had a triumphant note in his voice.
Obviously I couldn’t talk my way out of it as they were confident that they had their man. Keeping quiet was probably a wiser option.
The sound of city traffic was gradually replaced by Motorway sounds, and our speed seemed to increase. I assumed that we were close to our destination when they pulled my head up and wrapped tape around my eyes.
‘Don’t want you to be able to look at the house where we are taking you do we,’ the guy beside me said.
Shortly after that we stopped and I heard a motorised gate open. We drove another few meters onto gravel, the car stopped again, and the doors were opened. I was roughly pulled from the car, and two men grabbed an arm each and marched me inside what I assumed was the house. I heard a door being opened, and I was led into a room where they tied my wrists together behind my back. They finally knocked my legs out from under me, and I plunged to the floor.
‘You will have to wait here until the boss returns,’ one of them said. They then left the room, slamming and locking the door behind them.
I was bruised and uncomfortable, but at least I was still alive. They could have done a Brian Fortiscue or a John Power on me and shot me in some country lane or disused warehouse and dumped my body.
My mind had gone around in a many a circle before I heard footsteps approaching the door and the lock being turned. I had no way of knowing whether these were the same men as before. They came into the room and pulled me to my feet.
‘Time for you to meet the boss Major.’ It was the same voice as before.
They brought me out of the room and along a passageway. I was half walking and half dragged as they seemed to be in a hurry. A door was opened, and we went into another room.
‘Ah Major Hamilton, how lovely to see you at last. I am sorry that I had to arrange our meeting like this,’ the voice was unusually strong, and obviously used to giving orders and taking control. ‘Take his blindfold off boys. It doesn’t matter if he sees me and the house as he won’t be around to tell anybody.’
One of the men grabbed hold of the end of the tape and yanked it off; I gasped in agony as half my eyebrows came off.
As my eyes recovered and I got used to the light, I was able to see the man who had been talking to me. Standing close to a large fireplace with a wooden mantle was an elegantly dressed man, about six feet in height, wearing a blazer and a mustard coloured cravat, light grey trousers, with a sharp crease, and casual black shoes. He looked every inch an English gentleman with the figure of a sportsman. I would have put him in his early fifties, and he obviously worked on his appearance.
‘In case you don’t know who I am, my name is Ronald Pendleton, and I am the person whose business you have been interfering with. You have got far too close to the truth for my comfort, so I have had to take action Major. You really should have been more careful as my men picked you up remarkably easily in Dover when you got off the ferry. After your adventures in France, we had been expecting you.’
So this was Ronald Pendleton, and I must have been brought to his house at Henley-on-Thames.
‘You’ve done surprisingly well Major. Much better than I would have expected after what Harold Fortiscue’s told us about you. He recommended you because he was convinced you hadn’t a clue what you were doing and would screw everything up,’ Ronald Pendleton smiled as he talked to me.
‘Why are you involved in all this Mr Pendleton?’ I asked. He was in a talkative mood, so he might give me useful information, even though it was unlikely that I was going to be able to use it.
‘Oh, a man has to earn a living Major, and this whole thing has been an easy way of making money with only minimal costs. It is surprising what people will do when they owe you a lot of money. I can destroy their whole lives if they don’t do what I want.’
“Sounds remarkably easy when you describe it in those terms, and you are obviously satisfied with the way that it has gone.’
‘Everything was perfect until you stuck your nose in. Now I will have to dispose of you in the Thames to avoid any further embarrassment and inconvenience,’ he said signalling to the two guys. ‘Take him back to the room and get rid of him in the river when it gets dark.’
They gripped an arm each and marched me back to my prison. This time they tied my legs together before they shut and locked the door.
I struggled with the rope binding my wrists to try and loosen it, but they knew what they were doing and I couldn’t get free. The same applied to the bonds around my ankles. I was stuck and starting to panic.
A while later the two men returned to my prison, and this time they put tape across my mouth, making it impossible for me to talk or call out. They then carried me through a door at the rear of the house and down towards the river. I struggled violently, but they were far too strong for me. The tape on my mouth made it impossible to call out, and, even if I was able to, I doubt if there was anybody around to hear my plaintive cries. Bound around the ankles and with my arms tied behind my back, I wouldn’t survive long in the river.
In desperation, I thrashed around, making it extremely difficult for them to keep hold of me; however, they finally had me on the riverbank and they launched me into the river. Even though it was summer, the cold river water took my breath away.
This time I didn’t have a life vest under my anorak, so I had nothing to prevent my head from sinking in the water. The current started to turn me over and over in the water, moving me downstream. As my clothes got heavier, so I sank lower and lower in the water until I was practically submerged. Breathing became more and more difficult, and I couldn’t prevent water entering my mouth. This was it. Visions of my family started to fill my head. I would never see them again, and I would never be able to tell them again how much I loved them. Peace descended on me in a strange and mesmeric way, and I started to drift into a quiet world.
Suddenly strong arms grabbed me. I was pulled towards the bank with my head being held above t
he water. In a state of semi-consciousness, I started to fight against the hands that were holding me. I received a blow to my chin, which stunned me. The next thing that I knew I was on the bank looking up into a scuba mask.
‘You OK now or are you still going to fight us,’ a friendly voice asked me.
I wasn’t able to speak as I was still gasping for breath.
I felt the ropes around my legs and my wrists being loosened and removed. I was turned over onto my front, and they forced me to expel any water that was still in my mouth and lungs.
After a few minutes, I started to recover.
‘Who are you and where did you come from,’ I asked, looking at the two black and shiny men hovering over me.
‘We are members of a police sub-aqua team. We have been keeping an eye on the premises that you were thrown in the river from. You are an exceptionally lucky man that we were here; otherwise you would be history by now.’
‘I don’t know how to thank you enough. I was sure that I was going to die. In fact, I had already said goodbye to my family in my head.’ Tears came to my eyes in front of those two police officers; I was too upset and shocked to be able to control myself.
‘Let’s get you out of here and back to our base. We will also have to phone Inspector Baird. He gave us strict instructions that we must call him immediately anything happened,’ one of the divers said.
They took me back in a dingy to where their van was parked and where there were some other members of the team. I was never so glad to see anybody as I was to see that group of divers. Without them, I was a dead man even though I had a sore jaw where I had been punched.
One of the divers handed me his phone.
‘It’s the Inspector, and he wants to talk to you.’
The Diamond Chain Page 25