by Lee Weeks
Sandra took her time in answering; her eyes bore into Della. Marco was taking it all in, a big grin on his face.
‘What’s on the menu for dinner tonight, Sandra?’ asked Della. ‘Not some cocktail you’ve prepared for me, I hope. It’s a favour I’d like to return one day.’
‘Huh. You’ll have to get up early to catch me out.’
‘Mum, you joining us for dinner?’ Tony asked.
‘Got better things to do.’ Sandra turned and walked out.
Sheena announced that dinner was served. It was Tony’s favourite: steak and chips. Tony pulled out Della’s chair for her to sit and he backed away, bowing, and went to sit at his place at the head of the long table.
On his right side was Della and on his left was Marco. Marco attacked his steak with all the finesse of a starving hyena. Della cut slithers of meat and moved the food around her plate. Tony poured her some champagne, which he was careful to open in front of her.
‘Well, I think, in retrospect, I should have been just as happy to enjoy just your company, my dear,’ Tony said as he watched Marco eat and turned away disgusted. Marco looked up and saw them staring and shrugged, continued eating.
Tony turned back to Della and raised his glass. ‘So lovely to see you, princess. I hear from Marco that you have a proposition to put to me. I am all ears, darling. Please, do go on.’
‘I know where to find a large stash of uncut diamonds and cash. Eddie hid them. They are the missing diamonds from the Great Diamond Heist.’
There was a rare silence from Tony as his face betrayed the workings of his brain and he chewed over the information. He was visibly shaken.
‘You know quite a bit about it, then? You know Eddie lied to me?’
‘I was Eddie’s wife. We didn’t have too many secrets. I don’t have the exact location, but I have a few ideas on how to find it.’
‘Did Eddie tell you?’
‘He left me clues. And, I knew Eddie better than anyone. I understood the way his mind worked. He left me papers in the villa. I’ve burned them now. I’ve spread the information out so that only I can access it: private email accounts, codes. Kill me, you kill any chance of ever finding it.’
‘How much is there?’
‘More than three hundred million’s worth, some of the rarest gems of all time. Eddie was waiting to bring them onto the market one by one.’
Marco stopped eating and watched as Debbie came into the room. Della could guess what had happened: Sandra had told her to get some make-up on and get in there. She was greeted by Tony.
‘Debbie, baby, come on in and sit down. I didn’t think you were getting up again today. Call Sheena and tell her to bring you dinner.’
Tony looked slightly tense now that Debbie had entered the room. Debbie wasn’t going anywhere. She knew her place was to make sure she heard everything.
‘What’s Della doing here?’ Debbie addressed Tony.
‘Della has come with a proposition for us, baby. She has some fascinating news. Come and sit down and you can hear all about it.’
‘Oh, yes? What is it?’
‘It’s about the diamonds. The precious gemstones that Eddie always said he knew nothing about. The jewels that he was hiding all these years. Our jewels.’
‘You always said he was lying.’
‘I did, didn’t I, my dear? And I was fucking well right. But, this wasn’t Della’s fault and now, clever little thing that she is’ – he gave her a sickly smile – ‘she knows where it is. Such a lot of it, too.’
‘How much?’ asked Debbie as Sheena brought her a cup of coffee and cleared their plates. Tony grabbed her wrist as she took his.
‘A lot. Sheena, bring us a bottle of good champagne, the best.’
‘How do you know where they are?’ asked Debbie, addressing Della directly.
‘Eddie has left me instructions, but they are only for me to follow. One step leads to another, and has to be done by me. The jewels are not all in one place.’
‘Ha! Bullshit!’ said Debbie. ‘She’s bluffing, Tony.’
Marco was watching everyone with interest.
‘We could only ever bring them out and sell them a few at a time,’ said Della. ‘You know that’s true. Every diamond has to be traceable, that is until it goes through a few hands, and then no one seems to remember where it came from. Uncut diamonds are easier. There are a lot of those.’
‘We need proof,’ said Debbie.
‘Debbie is right, Della. If you can show me a couple of these gems, then I will believe you. You take them to Harold to verify; he handled enough of the original jewels to know their worth.’
‘How are we going to sell them?’ asked Debbie. ‘It’ll take for fucking ever.’
‘Maybe we won’t have to,’ said Tony. ‘We can swap them for a shipment, eh, Marco?’
He nodded, sucking on a wooden toothpick.
‘Diamonds are always welcome.’
Tony addressed Della: ‘The cartels will be watching you.’
‘I’ll have to be clever, then.’
He laughed. ‘You know what, Della? I think you will be.’
‘I can’t do it all on my own and I know you will send Marco to watch me anyway, so he may as well come with me from the start.’ She turned to look at Marco. ‘So long as you don’t get in the way. If I ask for help then I expect it, but if I don’t ask I don’t want to be followed or questioned. You’re there to keep me alive. Is that clear?’
‘Absolutely. I would do that,’ Marco replied.
‘What is the deal?’ asked Tony. ‘What do you want from it?’
‘You had Eddie’s will altered. I want the original reinstated.’
‘That might be tricky.’
‘I want my house signed back to me. I don’t care about Paradise Villas – Laurence can run it – but I want a share of the profits and I want my house back straight away, or there’s no deal.’
Tony held up his hand. ‘I did it with your best interests at heart.’
Della shook her head. ‘If I am to trust you in this new venture I need to know what happened to my husband. I need the truth. No truth, no diamonds.’
Tony sighed. Marco was watching him intently, as was Debbie.
‘Nothing I could do to save him; nothing I could have prevented. You must believe me in that. Yes, I will admit that Eddie met his death because of a deal with the cartels that went wrong. They were owed money when a shipment went missing. They should never have picked on Eddie, but they did. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am truly sorry, princess.’
Tony bowed his head for several minutes.
Della nodded, satisfied that at last she had something like the truth.
Tony lifted his head again.
‘I agree to your terms, Della. You show me the diamonds and I’ll give you back everything that was Eddie’s.’
‘No, you’ll have the house signed back over to me, my villa, my land, straight away; you’ll have the papers drawn up immediately.’
‘What about Sandra?’ said Debbie.
‘What about her?’ answered Tony.
‘Well, she’s going to be madder than a cornered cat when she finds out she’s not going to be living in Della’s villa by the spring.’
‘Debbie, please, don’t spoil this wonderful moment that we’re having here. Della and I have finally come to an understanding. Champagne, ah, very good. Open it, Marco. Let’s make a toast.’ Marco popped the cork and Debbie accepted a glass of champagne. She even managed a smile.
‘To the biggest diamond haul in history,’ said Tony.
‘To the diamonds and to Eddie,’ said Debbie.
‘To Eddie.’ Della raised her glass.
Half an hour later, Tony and Debbie stood on the mosaic sundial in the hallway watching the tail lights of the G wagon disappear down their driveway.
‘Did that sound too good to be true to you?’ Debbie asked. She shivered. It wasn’t a cold night but she was tired.
&nb
sp; ‘Perhaps, but it sounds a lot of fun,’ Tony sniggered. ‘It’s a small risk, worth taking, baby.’
‘Why don’t you just give her back what’s hers, Tony, and let her live her life. I feel sorry for her. She doesn’t want any of this. She wants to be left alone. She’s doing this because she thinks you will kill her otherwise.’
Tony didn’t answer for a few more seconds as the security guard’s gun flashed in the light of the closing gates. The fountains were on their night sequence. The stray dogs were barking somewhere on the road.
‘How do you know any of this is real? I know she’s scared. She could be just trying to save her skin.’
‘You know what this is, Debbie? This an opportunity made in heaven. Eddie messed up. I gave him every opportunity to hand it over, but would he? Would he shit! Now his little wife is going to hand it over to me on a plate. Then we’ll have everything. And, you know, you’re right. I would have killed her, and I probably still will.’
Della went home to pack. She wasn’t packing for a holiday: she was packing for a fight. A massive task ahead. She put in a mix of outfits and she went to get down a box of things she’d had hidden away for years. They weren’t hidden from Eddie and they were only memories but she was looking for one specific thing. She found it. It was a knife given to her by a Hong Kong detective. She’d been at the beginning of her training when he’d come over for a case concerning people trafficking. She’d been assigned to drive him around. His name was Johnny Mann. He was half Chinese and half British. He had taken her into Chinatown and pointed out the triads and opened her eyes to their secret signs. He had shown her what to look for: the gang whistles, the mysterious hand signals, the meanings of their names and ranks. He had taught her a little of his speciality: shuriken throwing, the ancient art of street weaponry. He’d also taught her how to use chopsticks and how to demand mind-blowing sex. They hadn’t stayed in touch but she thought of him often.
Della took the box out of its cloth bag and opened it. It was a throwing knife, he said. He had one he called Delilah. He called hers Lola. His was custom-made for him. It had the right weight for him to be able to throw it straight, direct it. It was tied to the wrist and concealed in the cuff of a jacket. Della had practised with her knife when she first was given it and then it had been hidden in the memory box for the last fifteen years. She took it out of the box, and Sellotaped it to the inside of her hair straighteners so that it would not show up on the scanner.
Chapter 34
11 December
In the morning Willis caught a bus and changed trains twice on the Tube to arrive at Archway Underground Station in plenty of time. She got a lift to the airport from Roger, a dog-handler colleague from Archway Police Station who was going back towards his Stansted home after a night shift. The cost of housing was pushing people to live far out.
Ross got a taxi to the airport from his home in Hampstead. It was a studio flat he’d bought after the divorce. It was near to the girls, who were still young enough for them all to camp in the one room when they came to stay. On his days off he went to the art galleries and to the interiors shops to browse. If he was off on a Sunday he went to sit in one of the many cafés and order breakfast and read the newspapers before buying himself an expensive bottle of wine and a takeaway of some beautifully packaged cake treats for later. He took them home to his empty flat. In his bin were the remnants of many fancy boxes of uneaten cake and many empty bottles.
Willis got there in plenty of time. She got herself a coffee and wandered around looking at the destinations on the check-ins. She’d already found out where their flight was going from.
She clutched her passport in her hand as she waited for Ross.
‘Where’s your bag?’ Ross surprised her by coming up behind her.
Willis was standing at the check-in gate for the flight to Málaga.
‘Is that all you’re taking?’ he asked. She was offered the chance of bringing a suitcase. Ross was paying for one to go in the hold, but she had declined. She had brought her backpack to fit in the overhead lockers instead.
‘Yes, thought I’d buy whatever else I need when we get there.’
‘This isn’t a shopping trip, you know,’ he teased.
‘I was just meaning shampoo, that kind of thing.’
‘I know. I’m only messing.’
Willis had packed almost her entire work wardrobe, which consisted of two pairs of black trousers and three blue shirts. She had her black, plain, leather work shoes on her feet and she was wearing her usual black puffa jacket. She had packed the hat she’d worn on surveillance at the funeral. To travel she had on jeans and a T-shirt.
They checked in and went through to the departure lounge. Ross walked around the duty free and tried out the gadgets. Willis got out her iPad and began checking the itinerary. They were due to arrive at eleven twenty that morning; it was just short of a three-hour flight from Stansted. Then it was straight to the hire car and head for Marbella and the men they wanted to talk to.
The plane took off on time and Willis got the window seat. She went very quiet as she stared at the dawn, just beginning to lighten the sky. It was only the second time Willis had been abroad.
‘You okay?’ Ross asked. She nodded and fiddled with her seat belt.
Ross smiled to himself. It had been many years since getting on an early flight excited him. It was the last time he and his wife and kids had gone skiing. They were always very early flights. They were lovely holidays. At least, he consoled himself, the holidays were good, even if the rest of the marriage wasn’t the best. Even if the day-to-day was a struggle, the holidays were full of laughter. That was one thing he missed: the sound of his wife being happy. He had a lot to regret. Now, all he could do was try to be the best dad and wish his ex-wife well in her new life. That thought still carved a chunk out of his heart. The way Lisa had played him also made him wince. She’d never meant to have more than a fling with him. He’d thrown his marriage away for a fling.
‘What is it?’ asked Willis, watching Ross shake his head.
‘Nothing.’
At ten that morning, Carter was looking at CCTV footage with Robbo. Manson’s white van was difficult to find. He’d driven down lanes. He’d avoided getting back on the M25.
‘We dropped in some samples late last night. Have they gone off?’ asked Carter.
‘Yes, they’ll get the results back to us asap,’ answered Robbo. ‘What were they from?’
‘Willis took them from the floor of the warehouse at Paradise Villas.’
‘She’ll be on the plane with Ross now,’ Robbo said, pausing the screen as he looked for a reaction from Carter.
‘She’ll be loving it.’ Carter smiled.
‘What, she doesn’t get away much?’
‘Yeah, only time was with Tina from the canteen. Doubt she’ll remember anything about that.’
‘Was Ross the right man to go with her, do you think?’
‘I don’t think we had a choice. We were almost invited because we had Ross. He has such tight links with the national police out there. He probably knows them better than he knows us. You know he offered Harold a deal?’
‘Yes, Willis told me. What was interesting was that, the way she explained it, it might still be on the cards. He didn’t say no.’
‘Harold’s tired. He’s scared, maybe for the first time in his life. And he’s not comfortable with what’s being asked of him. At heart he’s an old-style robber, not a drug baron.’
‘But Harold will never set anyone up. He’ll never be a snitch, not in a million years,’ said Robbo.
‘No, but he may just step out of the way at a strategic time. He may not quite follow Tony’s orders to the letter, who knows? I think we should approach him again.’
‘Who’s keeping in touch with him? How was it left?’
‘He has Ross’s number. I kept my face out of view.’
‘Just in case? I thought you told Willis they’d never remember y
ou.’
‘Yeah. But then I thought about it. I used to serve Harold his morning coffee most days. I think if he’s good with faces, he might just remember.’
On his way back to his office, Carter got a call.
‘It’s me. Can we meet?’
‘Della? Sorry I didn’t get back to you last night. It’s a busy time for me.’
‘I understand, Dan. I’ve just arrived in London. I have some information for you. I have something I think you should hear. What do you think? Can you meet me?’
‘Where?’
‘London Bridge? The pub we used to go to? What was it called, the one on the river?’
‘Old Thames Inn?’
‘That’s it.’
‘When?’
‘Can you meet me in an hour?’
‘No problem.’
Carter didn’t wait around. He picked up his coat from his office and left Fletcher House before he had to answer anyone’s questions. A taxi was waiting for him at the end of the road, at the back of Archway Police Station.
Della was waiting for him at a table just inside the door.
The wind and rain were gusting around the tables and chairs outside. The Thames was a washout in grey. Carter was blown inside.
She was drinking coffee. He took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack just inside the door.
‘You could have brought a bit of that Marbella sunshine with you,’ he joked. She smiled but looked anxious. She fiddled with her cup. ‘Can I get you another?’
‘Please.’
‘Coffee? Latte?’ She nodded.
When he got back he sat down beside her.
‘How are you bearing up?’
She took a few seconds to begin speaking.
‘I’m doing my best.’
‘Of course you are. It can’t be easy. Must be like being inside a nightmare.’ He wanted to hug her but he wasn’t going to.
‘It’s too hard out there. Tony is completely off his rocker. He’s had Eddie’s will altered. I think Tony has murdered Eddie’s lawyer, who drew up the will with him. I think he got him to alter the will before he killed him.’
‘Have you evidence?’