An African Adventure (Vince Hamilton Private Investigator Book 4)

by Patrick Slaney

  An African Adventure

  By Patrick Slaney

  Book No: 4 in the Vince Hamilton Series

  Registered with the IP Rights Office

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  Ref:4563607920

  Cover Design by Christophe Guyot

  Chapter 1

  I was back in London, travelling on an Underground train heading west out of London. I had an amusing thought; it was always a more pleasant ride going out of the city as opposed to going in the other direction. The number of passengers, for some reason, was always considerably less on the trains leaving the city as opposed to heading in. The only exception was during the rush-hour. I pictured London gradually filling up with thousands of people as the day progressed until all the streets were full and the city ground to a halt.

  I was on my way home, in a light-hearted mood, having spent the last few hours talking to the wife of a criminal who I had been instrumental in arresting. The wife’s name was Carol Newsome, and she lived in St. John's Wood in North London. The forty minutes or so rattling along on the train gave me a period when I could push other thoughts out of my head and reflect on what had transpired at the meeting.

  I had been amazed to discover, on arriving at her house, that she was a girl that I had known when I was growing up. Her name then was not Newsome, but Knowles, so I hadn’t twigged, prior to meeting her that we had been good friends. We had, in fact, grown up on the same street in Rainham, Kent, and had been pals for the first eighteen years of our lives.

  I had made the appointment to see her to inform her that Clive Newsome, her husband, had been locked up in prison in Melbourne, Australia. I also had to inform her that he would most likely be inside for the next fifteen years or so. My twenty-four years in the military, which been full of all types of high-level training had not equipped me to be able to handle histrionic women, so, before I met her, I was dreading the role Clive had asked me to fulfil.

  It had therefore been a very welcome surprise when I discovered that I knew her from my youth. It had made things considerably easier for me to tell her the bad news. Her husband had asked me to go and see her to give her the intricate details of how and why he had been arrested and locked up by the Australian police. I had been involved in his capture and arrest. At my final discussions with him before I returned to the UK, in the remand centre where he was being held, he had pleaded with me to go and give his wife the details of what had happened. I had now returned to London from that period in Melbourne and had just spent two hours at her home.

  At our meeting, she had been shattered by what I had told her and had broken down as a sobbing wreck. I felt the need to comfort her by putting an arm around her. She had then asked me if I would help her sort out the problems that she now faced as a result of her husband's criminal activities. Unknown to her, he was heavily in debt. There was also no longer money to support her extravagant lifestyle. She would have to sell the luxury car dealership that Clive had owned, take the sons out of their expensive boarding school and sell their house. She had, rather naturally, become very emotional and I had agreed to do what I could to help. I could hardly refuse when I had her clutching me and weeping on my shoulder.

  I had eventually extricated myself and was now on my way home to tell my wife, Daphne, the role that I was about to take on. I didn't anticipate her being too pleased. I was meeting her for lunch in Putney where she worked in a Boutique. We lived in a small house nearby.

  She was already sitting at a table overlooking the river when I arrived. The King George was our favourite pub as it had a magnificent view over the river Thames, and the food was excellent and inexpensive.

  'How did your meeting go,' she asked me as I joined her. I had explained to her earlier who I was going to see.

  'It went in an entirely different direction than I expected it to go. I will give you the details as soon as I have ordered our food. What would like to eat?'

  'I'll have a Greek Salad and an orange juice,' she replied.

  'I’m starving, so I'll have the fish and chips and a pint,' I added.

  I went to the bar and placed my order. I was given a wooden sign with a large 8 on it to display on our table. I returned to wait for them to deliver the food.

  'So why was your meeting a bit strange?' Daphne asked me, obviously intrigued by my previous remark.

  'Mrs Carol Newsome used to be called Carol Knowles, a girl I knew very well as she lived on the same street as me when we were growing up.'

  'Did you recognize her as soon as you saw her?'

  'Yes, she hasn't changed much. She only lived two doors down from me in Rainham,' I replied. 'We used to do a lot of things together as teenagers tend to do, and I got to know her very well.'

  'Have you seen her recently or was the last time you met twenty years ago?'

  'When I left home to go to Sandhurst at the age of nineteen for my Officer training, I was away a lot of the time, and we lost contact. I haven't seen her since.'

  'I think that you mentioned that you were going to see her because, one of the people who were arrested in Australia, asked you to go and meet her.'

  'That's right. She is married to Clive Newsome and has three sons the youngest of which is only seven.'

  'What was her house like?' Daphne continued her interrogation.

  'It's a beautiful property close to the Lords cricket ground. It must be worth close to three million pounds.'

  'So presumably, they must be very well off?'

  'The simple answer to that question is no; they are broke. Clive Newsome's luxury car dealership has been losing money for the last few years, and he had been borrowing money from an Italian gentleman who had Mafia connections. When he couldn't pay back the money, they insisted that he did dodgy jobs for them, all of which, unsurprisingly, were against the law.'

  'I remember that when I was with you in Melbourne you mentioned that you suspected that Clive was involved in the abduction of Stuart Smith and his family from their house in Dandenong,' Daphne commented. She had been on holiday with me in Australia when the Smith family were kidnapped.

  'Yes, and that is what he is being charged with. The police reckon that he will be sent down for at least fifteen years for that crime. The sentence would be longer if he hadn't agreed to help the police in exchange for a shorter sentence.'

  'He sounds like a bloody fool and deserves all he gets,' Daphne said with surprising emotion.

  'The problem is that Carol didn't know that her husband had run out of funds. She was continuing to feed her expensive tastes such as her Philippino maid and the boarding school for the two older boys. Her husband was borrowing money to pay the bills.'

  'Surely she must have had an inkling as to what was going on?'

  'No, she had no idea. She was in her own little world. Clive wanted her and his sons to have the best of everything. The whole family were living well above their means.'

  'What's going to happen to them now?' Daphne asked.

  'The boys are coming home for their half-term break on Thursday night. I have agreed to go and meet them on Friday morning to see what can be sorted out. They have no idea that their father is a criminal and has been arrested in Australia. It will be a shock when they realise that they won't see him back in the UK for another fifteen years. The eldest will be thirty-two by that time.'

  'I don't think that it is a good idea for you to get involved Vince. After all, you haven't seen her for twenty years.' Daphne apparently didn't want me to get involved, and this conversation was going in a direction that wasn’t healthy. />
  'I can't just abandon her now, especially after I have agreed to help make a plan to enable her to survive this catastrophe. Anyway, I feel partly responsible as I was involved in exposing her husband's activities and having him imprisoned.'

  'That's absolute rubbish, Vince. If we hadn't been on holiday in Melbourne, staying with your brother Tony, when all this happened, you wouldn't have been involved.'

  ‘There can be no harm in going along to meet her sons on Friday as I have promised, and we will see how it progresses from there.'

  'Make sure that you don't commit yourself to helping Carol and her family on a long term basis. You're too soft Vince, and you can't say "No".'

  'I'm sorry, but I felt that I just had to help. She seemed so lost, and she didn't know what to say to the two sons that are away at boarding school. They will be devastated when they realise that they are going to have to give up being boarders and go to a local day school.'

  'Just be very careful dear,' Daphne emphasised with a sympathetic tone in her voice. 'Don't get too involved with your old pal Carol; it could be an extensive and dangerous minefield that you are stepping into, and, from your army training, you know the damage that can be caused by a minefield!' She smiled.

  Daphne stood up, put her coat on, gave me a peck on the cheek, leaving me to return to her job at the Boutique.

  I sat there for a few more minutes finishing my pint, reflecting on our conversation. As usual, Daphne was right, I shouldn't get involved with Carol; however, I didn't know how to get out of it now. I would have to attend the meeting with Carol and her sons on Friday morning and hopefully, then take a step backwards. My wife, unfortunately, was correct; I had great difficulty in saying "No".

  I went home to have a rest before I walked to my daughter Victoria's school to collect her. Her face lit up when she saw me waiting amongst the other parents outside the main gates.

  'Can we go to the sweet shop on the way home Dad,' was her first request as she took my hand.

  'Of course, as long as you allow me to buy something for Michael,' I replied.

  'I suppose so, are you going to pick him up from his school?'

  'No, I won't have time. Anyway, he is probably already on the tube heading for home.'

  We walked in silence after that; both lost in our own thoughts. About one hour after we arrived home, Michael appeared. He went straight to the kitchen to grab something to eat and then retired to his room. I had left a small bar of Aero chocolate on the desk where he did his homework.

  'Thanks, Dad,' I heard him call out before he shut the door to his room. He had apparently located the chocolate.

  A while later I went to talk to him. I knocked on his door before entering and then sat on his bed. He turned around to face me.

  'How are things going at school Michael? I hope that the bullying you were subjected to is not happening again.'

  'It has started again this week. My form master, Mr Morris, is sick. The bullies have been tormenting me again. Today, they knocked my books out of my hands and kicked them along the floor and under the lockers.'

  'That’s most unfair Michael; I will go in with you tomorrow. This time, I will try to talk to the Headmaster. If they can’t stop the bullying, I will take you out of that school. What do you think?'

  'I like the school, and I have made quite a few new friends over the last few weeks. Everything was perfect until Mr Morris got sick.'

  'OK, Michael, I will see what I can do. As a start, I will go with you to school in the morning. This bullying has to be sorted out once and for all. It’s not fair on you.'

  Daphne came home about an hour later, and I told her what Michael had revealed to me. I told her that I would be going to meet his housemaster with him in the morning to sort it out.

  Thank goodness that I was at home and not off working in some foreign location on some case. It was this type of situation that had caused my wife to want me to give up my Private Investigator role. As well as taking me away from the family, she said that I was putting my life in unnecessary danger. She also reckoned that Michael, who was now thirteen, needed his father at home to support him. On the other hand, I had spent most of my life living apart from my family fulfilling my role as a Major in the SAS. Having been invalided out, two years ago, as a result of being too close to an IED in Iraq, my wife expected me to be at home, at the beck and call of the family. I had resisted being put out to grass like a worn-out horse, and had become a successful Private Investigator, Yes, it had its dangers, and I had been wounded twice while conducting cases in various parts of the world, but I was learning how to stay out of trouble and enjoying what I was doing. I had also developed quite an extensive network of contacts.

  I was woken up on Thursday morning by my son shaking me.

  'Dad, are you still coming with me to school?'

  'Yes, Michael; that is if I survive your wake-up call! I'll join you in the kitchen in fifteen minutes just leave me in peace to get up.'

  I checked my bedside clock and saw that it was only 6.55am, so I had plenty of time.

  We left the house half-an-hour later and walked to East Putney tube station. The train was packed with early morning commuters, and there was no chance of getting a seat. We had to stand as far as Earls Court, where we transferred to a District Line train heading west. This train was practically empty, so we had no problem getting a seat.

  'Dad, if Mr Morris is still sick who are you going to talk to?' Michael asked me as soon as we were seated and able to communicate.

  'I suppose I will ask to see Mr Ferguson, the headmaster.'

  'But he won't know me as I haven't had any contact with him.'

  'When I talked to Mr Morris the last time about you being bullied, he told me that he had discussed the situation with the Headmaster. The Head then spoke to the boys who were bullying you,' I explained. 'In fact, the Head was the one who told the boys that if they did it again, he would expel them.'

  'I don't want them to be expelled because of me.' Michael looked decidedly agitated.

  'It's not because of you Michael, it is due to their nasty behaviour.'

  'The worst of them is Glen McGovern and the others just follow what he does to keep in with him,’ Michael added. ‘I actually quite like Walter Morris, who is in most of my classes.'

  'OK, I will explain all that to whoever I get to talk to.'

  When we reached the entrance to the school building, Michael went off to organize himself for assembly, and I went to talk to the receptionist.

  I was in luck; Mr Morris had recovered from his sickbed and was available. The lady in the reception area put a call out for him to contact her. Once she had explained to him what it was about, she turned to me saying that he would see me in about twenty minutes, after assembly. She supplied me with a cup of tea while I waited.

  It was about twenty-five minutes later when Mr Morris appeared. He asked me to join him in a meeting room close to the reception area.

  'Good morning Major Hamilton, I gather that your son is being bullied again,' he said.

  'Unfortunately, yes. As soon as you weren't around because you were off sick, they started picking on him again.'

  'I really am sorry about that. It is years since I last missed a few days because of sickness,' he said apologetically. 'My wife and I got a bad attack of flu which knocked us flat for a few days.'

  'I am not blaming you for being sick that obviously couldn't be helped, but I am very annoyed that Glen McGovern recommenced his bullying as soon as you weren't around to keep an eye on him.'

  'So, it was the same boys doing the bullying?' he inquired.

  'Yes, Michael told me that Glen is the ringleader, and the other two only join in because they are afraid of him.'

  'I can't tell you how sorry I am that Michael's life is being made so miserable. I told the three boys involved that if they did it again, they would be expelled, and I intend recommending to the headmaster that the offenders are suspended with immediate effect
while an investigation is conducted. If they are found guilty, as I suspect they will be, then they will be expelled.'

  'I would like you to please take a more lenient attitude towards two of the boys,' I interjected. 'I am pretty confident that if Glen McGovern wasn't around the other two would be better behaved. I also suspect that they will get such a fright from being suspended that they will give up supporting a bully. On the other hand, I don't think that young Mr McGovern will ever change.'

  'I, unfortunately, have to agree with you, Major. I will take your views into account when I make my final recommendations as to what should happen to them.'

  'Thank you, Mr Morris. I greatly appreciate you seeing me and taking the bullying of Michael so seriously,' I added. I was very grateful that the problem would be immediately resolved. 'I won't take up any more of your time.' I shook hands with him and left the school to return home on the tube.

  When Michael returned home later that afternoon, he had a broad smile on his face.

  'Thanks, Dad you have done your “Superdad” trick again.' He gave me a big hug. 'During our second class of the day, Glen and his two pals were called to see the headmaster. They didn't appear for the rest of the day. Rumour has it that they were suspended, and a full investigation will take place tomorrow.'

  'That's great news Michael. Mr Morris told me that they would be suspended with immediate effect, so I am delighted to hear that is what happened.'

  'Did you say to him that Glen is the ringleader and that Walt is not a bad guy?'

  'Yes I told him what you said to me, and he said that he would take that into consideration during the investigation. I suspect that he will definitely expel Glen McGovern and give the other two a big fright.'

  'I can look forward to going to school again tomorrow. No more nastiness from Glen.'

  'Let's hope so. Now off you go and do your homework.'

  Michael left me in the kitchen where I was working out what I was going to say tomorrow when I met Carol Newsome plus her sons. It wouldn't be an easy meeting, and I had no idea what I was going to say. I hadn't ever met the two boys so didn't know the size of the challenge that awaited me. I had to assume it couldn't be too difficult talking to a sixteen and a fourteen-year-old; after all, they were only slightly older than Michael.