Blood Tracks

by Paula Rawsthorne

  “Then why didn’t you raid his warehouse?” Declan asked.

  “I did what I could. I tipped off the docks security and they did a spot check – got the sniffer dogs in, but there was nothing. I even got my boss to persuade the tax office to have a good look at Cotter’s finances, but he must have a top-notch accountant – the guy came out squeaky clean.

  “After that I got my knuckles rapped by my Super. I was told to lay off Cotter, that there wasn’t enough to go on, but I was convinced it was worth keeping an eye on him. The next minute Cotter goes and disappears – off on his travels. I think the sudden interest in him must have rattled his cage. But I didn’t forget about him and when he turned up again six months later I went back to my Super and asked for some manpower, resources for surveillance. He refused, said that he couldn’t justify the budget unless I had something more solid to go on. But then, Declan, you walked into my life. A little gift from above; my very own ‘covert human intelligence source’…cheap at half the price.” Stevie gave a raucous laugh.

  “I’m glad you find it funny. You turned me into a bloody informant. Lying to people – to good people!”

  “It was your own choice.”

  “Come off it, Detective Sergeant,” Declan spat. “You made sure I didn’t have a choice.”

  “Don’t be bitter, you’ve done a great job. You got hold of the code, worked out what it meant, and if you hadn’t seen Egon in the warehouse and got his car reg I’d still be none the wiser.”

  “Why, how does Egon fit into this?”

  “Well, I started doing some digging around about our friend and things became very interesting. He came over here from Belgium about ten years ago, to retire. He wasn’t on anyone’s radar; just a normal, law-abiding citizen. An old bloke in ill health, bothering no one. But guess what his job was back in his home country?”

  “Just tell me, will you?” Declan said, getting increasingly stressed about Gina.

  “He was a diamond cutter in Antwerp; one of the biggest diamond centres in the world.”

  “What! Why the hell are you only telling me this now?”

  “Because the less you knew before the better. I’d stake my life that all the equipment you saw in his cellar was for diamond cutting. He must have come out of retirement to set up his very own underground business. No one would have suspected him. They may have illegal cutting operations going on in Antwerp, but it’s not something we’d be on the lookout for in this country.”

  “So they’re smuggling rough diamonds out of the Ivory Coast in the sacks of cocoa beans, which get unloaded directly to Cotter’s warehouse, where he retrieves them from the sacks and then what…he passes them on to Egon?”

  “It certainly looks like it. Diamonds are perfect to smuggle, easy to conceal, hard to detect – not like drugs that the dogs can sniff out – and just a few of those stones can be worth a small fortune.”

  “So what does Egon do with them?”

  “Well, once he’s cut them he or Sissouma will have buyers lined up; the kind of buyers who aren’t going to ask questions about where the diamonds came from.”

  “But where do they come from? I mean…how do they get hold of them in the first place?”

  Stevie let out a heavy sigh down the phone. “I’ve read the Met’s file on Sissouma and the man he works for. It makes for chilling reading. His boss is a warlord in the Ivory Coast. He runs his own army; he even recruits kids to fight for him. He has control of one of the diamond mines in the north of the country. He has men, women and children working in appalling conditions: bent double in the rivers all day, panning for the stones. And then he uses the rough diamonds to buy weapons, landmines, ammunition, fuel. He’ll use them for bribes, for blackmail, everything and anything he needs to hold onto his wealth and power. They’re blood diamonds, lad, used to finance war and terror; ironic, isn’t it, that they end up being given by romantic idiots as tokens of undying love.”

  “And Tom Cotter is part of all this?” Declan said in disbelief.

  “Yep. We’ve uncovered something very important here, lad. God knows how long they’ve been running the operation. They could have smuggled millions of pounds worth of blood diamonds through his warehouse. Now can you see why I have to make sure I get my evidence.”

  “But you can get a search warrant for Egon’s cellar. You’ve got Cotter telling Gina that those diamonds belong to him. What more do you want?”

  “You don’t understand. It’s not enough. Egon could just say that he was keeping the equipment for old times’ sake – it’s not illegal to own it – and I’m not arresting Cotter before I know what I’ve got will stand up in court. I want these men sent down! I’m not going to trial to have one of their flashy barristers tear our case apart, convince the jury it’s all circumstantial and hearsay and get them off on some technicality. I’ve seen it happen too many times. The bigger the criminal the better the defence he can afford – that’s our justice system for you!”

  “But you can’t use Gina as bait to get your evidence!”

  “She’s using herself as bait! She wants to get the truth out of him, doesn’t she?”

  “But you can’t let her.”

  Stevie grunted in frustration. “I know what I’m doing. You’ve no need to worry. I’ve got her back.”

  “What! Just like you had my back when Egon caught me trying to break into his house?” Declan scoffed. “No way, I don’t trust you. You don’t care about Gina, you just want your evidence. You’ll let it go too far. It would be better for your case if Cotter hurt her, wouldn’t it?”

  “Now you listen to me,” Stevie rumbled. “I’ve put my reputation on the line over this investigation. I’ve had no support. My boss thinks I’ve been wasting my time. Are you seriously suggesting that I blow my one chance to prove him wrong? Don’t you want to see scum like Cotter behind bars? Haven’t you understood what’s behind the smuggling – war, weapons, murder?”

  “But we can’t stop all that,” Declan said, exasperated.

  “No, but we can smash this smuggling operation. It will starve Sissouma’s boss of serious funds.”

  “I understand what you’re saying, but I’m sorry, I can’t chance Gina getting hurt. I’ve got to keep Cotter away from her.”

  “Come on now.” Stevie suddenly sounded unnervingly nice. “We’ve been a good team. We’re so close to nailing these bastards. We’ve just got to hold our nerve.”

  “It’s too risky.”

  “Listen,” Stevie growled. “If you jeopardize my investigation by going anywhere near Gina Wilson, then our deal is off. I’ll pull every string possible to make sure that you go down. If you stop this from playing out, I’ll make sure that you end up in the worst young offenders’ institute in the country. They’ll send you to one out in the wilds, where no one can afford to come and visit you. So you keep away from her. You let me do this my way.”

  “No! The deal’s off, Stevie. I’ll take what’s coming to me but I’m not standing back and letting Cotter hurt her.”

  “What? You think you can do this to me?” Stevie roared. “I’m going to have you arrested for obstructing a police officer. You aren’t going anywhere, you little piece of sh—”

  Declan cut him off.

  Tom opened the green door to the spindly man.

  “Mr. Egon, please come in,” he said, showing him into the living room. “I really appreciate you rushing over here like this. As I said on the phone, I need you to verify some stones, but there have been exciting developments; it appears we are dealing with the real thing and exquisite specimens too. I think once you see them for yourself you’ll realize that your journey has been worthwhile.”

  The frail man eased himself down onto the sofa, surveying the smashed fish tank and the glass-strewn floor without comment.

  He looked over his half-moon glasses at Tom. “You were rather vague about where you procured these stones and why Mr. Sissouma isn’t involved.”

  “They’re nothing
to do with Sissouma. He doesn’t need to know. This is just between you and me.”

  Egon gave a wheezy intake of breath. “It would be very foolish to try to bypass him. He’s not a very understanding man and this is his business, after all.”

  “Listen, Mr. Egon. If you keep it between ourselves then I guarantee you’ll get a great deal. I’m keen to offload as soon as possible.”

  “Sissouma has contacts everywhere. He’ll trace them back to me, then to you. We’ve been doing business with him for years. I don’t want to jeopardize our working relationship, to say nothing of my life.”

  “I’ll make it worth your while. Wait till you see them. Not only are they blue diamonds, they also glow blood-red after exposure to UV light. You know how rare that makes them.”

  Mr. Egon’s eyes widened. “Well, if that’s true then they are indeed extremely precious. Maybe they’ll match the quality of the Hope Diamond in Washington.” He licked his dry lips hungrily.

  “Exactly! So how valuable could they be?” Tom asked, salivating.

  “The quicker you show them to me, the sooner we’ll both know.”

  There was a split-second hesitation before Tom replied confidently, “I’m just waiting for their delivery. They’ll be here very soon. In the meantime you may wish to sift through this.” He presented Egon with his bound jacket and untied the knot to reveal the blue stones that had lined the fish tank. “It may be that one or two of the diamonds are still amongst these.”

  “I hope you’re not wasting my time,” Egon said sharply.

  “No, Mr. Egon. Please check them. We need to be sure.”

  The phone in the hallway rang out. Tom went and hovered over it, waiting for the answering machine to kick in. He noticed Clare’s switched-off mobile also sitting on the hallway table. She must have walked out without it this morning.

  Gina’s voice came over the speaker. “Hello, Danny? Are you home? Pick up if you’re there, it’s me. I’m on my way. Tom’s got a key to the house so, if you get back before me, put the bolt on the door; don’t let him in, okay? That’s important – don’t let him in! I’ll see you soon.”

  Tom smiled at the phone, relieved. “Yes, I look forward to seeing you soon, Gina.”

  Declan paced his bedroom, retrying her number.

  Gina answered, slightly breathless as she marched towards her house. “Declan. Have you made your call? Who did you ring? What did they say?”

  He avoided her questions and asked one instead. “Where are you?”

  “I’m nearly home. There’s no one in the house – I’ve just phoned. I’ll get back before Danny.”

  “Listen, Gina. Keep away from Tom. I don’t want him anywhere near you.”

  “Don’t you understand? I want to meet him. He’s going to tell me the truth.”

  “Let the police deal with him.”

  “No, not yet. You know what a great liar he is. He’ll just deny everything, they’ll never get the truth out of him, but I can. If he wants these diamonds he’ll have to play ball.”

  “You don’t know what you’re dealing with, Gina. It’s dangerous.”

  “I can handle him,” she said defiantly.

  “But it’s not just him you’ve got to worry about. It’s Sissouma, he works for a warlord in the Ivory Coast. Tom’s involved with them too – it’s not just the diamonds in the fish tank. That’s what they’ve been smuggling in the sacks of cocoa beans. That’s what he must have got out of the sack that night we saw him in the warehouse. They’re blood diamonds.”

  “Blood diamonds? What are blood diamonds?”

  “It’s complicated; it’ll take too long to explain.”

  “Then talk fast!” she ordered.

  Mr. Egon gave a sigh of annoyance. He pushed his glasses up onto his comb-over and rubbed his eyes. “There’s nothing here of any value.” He started to pack away his equipment.

  “Please, Mr. Egon, forgive me. I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. But I can guarantee you that the delivery is the real thing. Be patient, she’s on her way.”

  Tom started at the sound of the doorbell.

  “Is this her?” Egon asked.

  “No, she’s got a key,” Tom said, heading to the front window, recoiling on seeing the caller. The colour drained from Tom’s face. “Why the hell is he here?”

  “I invited him. I phoned him as soon as I heard from you. I value my life, Mr. Cotter, even if you don’t,” Egon said, his bones cracking as he got up to open the front door.

  Henri Sissouma swaggered into the room, flashing a crocodile smile at Tom.

  “Mr. Sissouma, I don’t know what Egon has told you but I can explain,” Tom garbled.

  Sissouma held his hands up to silence him. “No, there’s really no need. It’s perfectly obvious what is going on. You were going to cheat me out of my diamonds. Mr. Egon, very wisely, phoned me and told me all about it. We have years of dealings with each other. Mr. Egon understands the consequences of not being honest with me. You, on the other hand, seem not to have learned your lesson.” He stared at the finger stumps on Tom’s left hand.

  “No! You know that I’d never cheat you!” Tom protested.

  “Are you calling Mr. Egon a liar?”

  Egon pursed his thin lips.

  “Of course not.” Tom’s body tensed, poised to take flight, but he knew he had to hold his nerve. “There’s just been a misunderstanding. I wanted him to come and check out the stones and then, if they turned out to be the real deal, I was going to inform you straight away. I know what a busy man you are. I didn’t want to waste your time, dragging you here for nothing.”

  Sissouma laughed mockingly. “Oh, I see. How very considerate of you.” He held out his hand. “Let me see the stones.”

  “I’ll have them in a minute.”

  “I thought you had them now! Where are they?”

  “Gina Wilson, Mrs. Wilson’s daughter, has got them. She’s on her way here. As soon as she comes through that door, they’ll be yours.”

  “Why has the girl got them?” Sissouma asked.

  “I believe that they’re the missing diamonds: the package that was swapped last year.”

  “The package of useless stones you passed on to poor Mr. Egon?”

  “Yes. We thought they had been swapped in transit but it now appears that Martin Wilson, Gina’s father, must have stolen the diamonds from the sack. He was my foreman at the warehouse – he had access to all the stock. He hid the diamonds before he killed himself. He jumped in front of a train.”

  “Why would he kill himself?”

  Tom shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he developed a guilty conscience.”

  “Well, it’s fortunate for him that he took his own life because, if I had caught him, his death would have been long and painful. That is what happens to people who try and steal from me. As you know, Mr. Cotter, my employer was extremely upset about the loss of that particular consignment. He was anticipating a large return from them.”

  “I know, I’m sorry, but it really wasn’t my fault.”

  Mr. Sissouma tutted. “Au contraire, Mr. Cotter, this was your fault. I hold you personally responsible for employing thieves, and now you add insult to injury by trying to cheat us out of our property once again. But here’s what I’ll do. If you return my diamonds to me you will be punished but you will survive. However, if I don’t get them back, or if you try to disappear with them, then I will find you and I will kill you. You do believe me, don’t you?”

  Tom strained to answer. Sissouma’s words were like a hand squeezing his neck.

  “Answer me!” Sissouma bawled, speckles of spit showering Tom’s face.

  “Yes, I believe you,” Tom croaked.

  Sissouma stepped back from him, his lips curled in a smile. “Now, let’s all calm down and wait for the girl. Perhaps we should all have a cup of tea, Mr. Cotter. Anger always makes me thirsty.”

  Declan walked out of his bedroom. He was going to Gina’s house. He fi
gured that at least if he was with her, he could stop her doing anything stupid.

  The doorbell rang. He heard Mrs. Mac answer it. Her voice suddenly went twittery.

  “Declan,” she shouted nervously up the stairs. “You’d better come down here. There’s two policemen wanting to talk to you.”

  He stopped dead on the landing.

  “Are you not going to invite them in, Deirdre?” he heard Bridie say. “I hope young Declan isn’t in trouble, officers. He’s such a lovely boy. Whatever it is, it’s bound to be a mistake; a miscarriage of justice. You hear about that kind of thing all the time.”

  “I’m afraid this is a serious matter and we must insist Mr. Doyle comes down.” The officer sounded irritated.

  Shit! Stevie wasn’t bluffing, he’s having me arrested. Declan turned on his tiptoes and started creeping towards the bathroom, the landing floorboards creaking with every step.

  The officers rushed up the stairs, shouting, “Stay where you are!”

  Declan ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

  The men thumped on the door. “Open the door, son. We don’t want to have to knock it down.”

  “I haven’t done anything,” Declan said, clearing all Mrs. Mac’s lavender soaps and bubble baths from the window ledge and hoicking up the sash window.

  “Declan Doyle, we’re arresting you for obstructing a police officer,” a voice boomed through the door.

  Declan stuck his head out of the window and looked down onto the roof of the outhouse.

  “This is your last warning,” the officer said, as Declan swung his legs out of the window.

  “We’re coming in!”

  The flimsy lock was no match for their hard shoulders and within seconds the door flew open to reveal the empty room.

  The policeman hurried to the window just in time to see Declan jumping from the outhouse roof into the yard and running out of the back gate.