“I’ve heard of it.” The name hadn’t registered. Nwosu didn’t know where Blethin had come from. He looked at Jamie, who seemed relieved and pleased. “Is it true? Did you hear him book me in?”
“It’s true, Jonathon, I heard him arrange it.”
“I still don’t trust you Coetzee. You’d never let me go in case I get in touch with the Voice again or go to the authorities about Leo.”
“Once you’re out of my sight I don’t give a shit what you do, Nwosu. You’re stupid, but not that stupid. Between Leo and me we’ve got a dossier that would put you away for a long time. I know where you live and where Jamie lives, don’t I? But just to be sure you get to the clinic safely, I’m coming along. You obviously need a bodyguard, the number of enemies you create everywhere you go.”
The two cars set off in convoy, Jamie driving the Ford with Nwosu and Coetzee and Karin driving the Land Cruiser with Abby and Leo. They had left the dogs in the quadrangle behind the house with enough food until the next day. The westbound traffic flow was light and they arrived at the clinic on time. Nwosu was escorted in by Jamie and Coetzee and an efficient looking black nurse checked the appointment book then took him straight through to the X-Ray department.
“Okay, Jamie, he’s all yours now. I’ll give you just one piece of advice. Get him to stay away from me and you stay away from him if he comes near me. Understood?” The young man nodded, looking very youthful and vulnerable.
He turned to go. “I almost forgot. Here are his two phones. I even charged them up.” He handed them to Jamie, walked out of the clinic and climbed into the Land Cruiser. “We’re going off to have a serious talk,” he said to the others and pulled away from the clinic towards the N3 going south.
Jamie watched until the car disappeared into the distance then gave a long sigh of relief. He shoved the phones into his trouser pockets and settled down to wait for his boyfriend.
Marbella, Spain
The sun was already hot on the terrace when Emma went out. “Buenos dias,” she greeted Encarni who was setting breakfast. The woman laughed and answered in rapid Spanish which she didn’t understand. She sat out of the sun, opened her iPad and found the Newtown Private Clinic again. Pulling up the bio of Dr Ernest Blethin she read the whole text, studying it more carefully. Jenny came out just in time to see her catch her breath.
“What is it?”
“I’ve been looking at Blethin’s bio. It turns out that he’s actually French and just look at this.” Emma put the cursor over a paragraph at the bottom of the summary. ‘Dr Blethin joined us after several years as a Senior Consultant at Saint Christopher’s Clinic in Nice, France’.
“We didn’t notice it before because we didn’t know where Dr Constance had worked and probably because the name was in French, but it’s the same place. See?” She showed the clinic’s website in English and French. There was no doubt. It was the same establishment.
Jenny laughed out loud. “Well done, Emma. So we’ve finally found a connection between what happened in Rwanda and Leo’s abduction. Constance knew about Mutesi and Leo, they presumably worked together and Blethin was part of the abduction team.
“I should have spotted it. But we still don’t know what the connection is with your trip to Joburg. I don’t understand how they found out about that, especially in time to set up the whole complicated kidnap operation.”
“I know. There has to be another link. Someone or something that connects Leo’s birth, your fortune and our trip to South Africa.”
“We’ll tell Pedro when he calls. He can ask his contact in Paris to check on possible connections of Constance and Blethin and try to tie one of them to the South African trip, but I’m not very optimistic.”
OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa
The flight from Frankfurt had made better time than expected. At just after ten o’ clock Espinoza arrived at the carousel, collected his bag and hurried across to terminal B for his flight to Polokwane. After six hours sleep on the plane and a quick cold water spruce up he was freshened up for the day. He’d received Jenny’s message and called her while he was waiting.
She replied immediately and switched the phone onto speaker. “Emma’s beside me and can hear the conversation. We’ve received a text from Leo. He’s not in Polokwane, so there’s no point in going there. We’ve also received a photo from the so-called ARGS and it’s almost identical to the one we got from Coetzee. It looks as if they have somehow got it from him and sent it to us to pretend they still have Leo.”
Espinoza was confused. After a moment he said, “Where is Leo supposed to be now? I can go straight there and save time.”
“It was sent from Phalaborwa, in the Kruger, but I don’t think he’s there now.” When he started to interrupt with more questions, she went on, “Pedro, you have to trust what I tell you now. There is no rational explanation for it, but I have some information that we need to consider. First of all, I think your instincts were right. I suspect that Esther Rousseau is involved in the abduction.”
This time he didn’t respond and she went on, “Then there is something about air travel in the story. I don’t know what, but there is some connection somewhere.
“And lastly, I think Coetzee is a good man, but Leo is not where we think he is. I don’t know where he is but it’s none of the places we’ve been looking at.” Jenny said nothing about Leticia’s face appearing in the dream. She took a deep breath, looking at her sister’s amazed expression and squeezing her hand.
“I see. And where did this new information come from?”
“The same place that I learned about Vogel’s embezzlement, you remember?”
“I remember very well and I have confidence in that source of information. Vague, but helpful in planning our next steps.”
“And Emma has some important information for you too.” Her sister quickly related Blethin’s connection with Constance’s last employer.
“So he’s also French. That’s interesting. It opens up a whole new area of investigation for me. I have to find the connecting point. It’s there somewhere but we just can’t see it yet.” The line went quiet for a moment.
“Pedro, are you there?”
“Sorry, Emma. I was thinking about the various contradictory reports we’re receiving. Was the number of the phone that sent the text the same 027 number from South Africa?”
She checked the text message with the previous one. “Yes it is. So Leo’s still using the phone he got in Polokwane. Why? What’s wrong?”
“I’m concerned that we have two versions of where Leo is and who he’s with, but no verifiable confirmation.”
“But what about this text from him? He says he’s in Phalaborwa with Coetzee.”
“You’re probably right that the messages came from him, but I’m paid to be suspicious and at the moment I’m not sure who is telling the truth. A text message could be sent by anyone, that’s the problem. We assumed he took the phone from someone in Polokwane but we actually don’t know. And if it was someone else’s phone, would he have been able to keep it all this time? Wouldn’t they have noticed it was missing?
“And you say a similar photo was used for both messages. I find that strange, as if there is an attempt to mislead us. It’s possible that Coetzee is still part of the original conspiracy and they are playing with our minds. Or he plans to take Leo away but hasn’t yet, until he’s sure that a payment has been made. We’re not certain of anything at the moment. Nothing at all.”
Emma suddenly realised that Leo hadn’t replied to her text of that morning “I understand,” she said. “So what do you suggest?”
“Firstly, I think you should send another email to the ARGS, acknowledging the photo and asking for some time to raise the funds. If they really do have Leo we have to keep in touch with them and buy as much time as we can.”
“We’ll do that right away,” Jenny answered. “What else?”
“I think it’s time I used the police resources available to me her
e in Johannesburg. I’m going to see CS Hendricks. I have some important information for him concerning his murder enquiries. I’ll call you later when I have more news.”
Espinoza rang off and walked out of the departure lounge. He found a café in the arrivals hall and sat pondering these latest developments. His years of working in the force had taught him that events surrounding a crime were seldom unconnected. In his last experience with Sra Bishop and the killer, d’Almeida, he had failed to find the common thread to the murders and it had almost cost her and her family’s lives. He ran through the history of the abduction in his mind and, tearing a sheet from his notepad, he drew a kind of jigsaw puzzle, listing the possible connecting points that could lead him to the common denominator that must exist to link them together.
Several ideas came to him and he looked at his watch, it was now a quarter to eleven. He made some telephone calls then went to find a taxi into Johannesburg.
FIFTY-SIX
London, England
“You mean to say they have left Delmas and gone together to the same place?” Lord Dudley was speaking to Simon Pickford.
“Yes According to the trace, both phones are stationary in a place called Diepkloof. It’s a suburb to the south of Johannesburg. They must have just arrived there. We had a technical glitch in the network, so we were late in checking.” He gave Dudley the map coordinates. “It seems to be an apartment building, but I can’t give you a more exact address.” The EzeTracker boss had been instructed by DI Dewar to find out more about his search for the phone users. He agreed that the business looked very suspicious, but for the moment nothing illegal had occurred. While he studied Dudley’s file, Pickford should pry discreetly into the matter.
“Perhaps if you tell me what it is you’re looking for I can get more resources onto it,” he suggested.
Dudley had already realised it must be Nwosu’s apartment. He even remembered the address from the background check they’d made before their very first contact with the policeman. “It won’t be necessary, dear boy. I’m confident that we can identify the location by other means. If you can just keep up the monitoring I’ll be quite happy. It’s a rather sensitive investigation, a marital problem. Nothing of any concern to anyone but the couples involved. Thank you for the offer and I won’t take up any more of your time.”
Pickford rang off, wondering if he had involved Dewar unnecessarily. He considered calling the policeman back but decided to let him check out Dudley first. Now that the matter was in Dewar’s hands he felt relieved. He could forget about it and get back to making money.
Dudley immediately called Harare again. This time he changed his approach. He told the intermediary he thought he might know how to locate the two missing operatives and asked him how much it would cost to send a ‘colleague’ to an address in the Johannesburg area.
“Hold on, let me check.” The man came back on the line again. “We could get someone there fairly shortly.” He quoted a fee, higher than usual, but Dudley knew he had no choice. If the two phones were there, the chances were that Leo Stewart was also there.
He agreed to the offer and gave him instructions about Leo, with the address and coordinates he’d just received from Pickford. “If it’s in the name of Nwosu, you have the right place. And there will be at least two mobile phones in the apartment, please ensure they are retrieved. Call me as soon you have any further information.” He rang off. Things are starting to look up. Now we might see some results, he reflected more confidently.
He went into the bathroom to clean his teeth again and sprinkle some after shave onto his neck. Esther would be waiting for him at the Park Lane Hotel and he was looking forward to his good morning kiss.
Geneva, Switzerland
“Veuillez attendre ici Monsieur. M Jolidon arrive tout de suite. Please wait here, sir. Mr Jolidon will be with you immediately.” Gilles Simenon nodded politely and backed out of the room.
Prince ‘Sam’ Bensouda sat in an armchair in the small salon adjacent to the reception hall at Ramseyer, Haldemann and placed his briefcase on the floor beside him. He had flown in from Malaga the previous evening with Swiss International, who still offered an acceptable Business Class, and was staying at the Hotel Kempinski on the Quai du Mont-Blanc. Much to his self-satisfaction he had abstained from his usual visit to the casino in Divonne. Although he knew that Jolidon would be there, since that was where they had met, by chance, for the second time, he had decided to meet him on this occasion away from the temptation of the tables.
“Votre altesse. Soyez le bienvenu à Genève. Welcome to Geneva.” Jolidon shook hands with him almost reverently and led him into his office, sitting across the desk from him, the bulky file between them. “Was your flight comfortable?”
After completing the formalities and accepting a coffee, Bensouda asked, “What is the problem you mentioned on the telephone?”
“It has to do with the valuable merchandise we acquired on your behalf, Monsieur. We have had some trouble holding onto it.”
“I don’t understand that phrase, ‘holding onto it?”
“It seems there is someone else who has understood the value involved and is attempting to usurp the transaction.”
“But the merchandise was safely in our hands just a few days ago. What happened to change that?”
“There has been a change of allegiance. One of the principal players has decided to strike out on his own. At the moment we are not sure what the situation is.” Jolidon flinched as he said this. The Moroccan’s temper was legendary and he had no desire to bear the brunt of it.
“And what about our prepayment of one million dollars? Where is that?”
“The operation has so far cost us eight hundred thousand, more or less. After we settle with the ship’s captain and the local agent there will be nothing left to, how can I put this, sweeten the pill.”
Bensouda said nothing for a few moments but his heart was pounding. He didn’t believe a word of Jolidon’s story, but he had to play along. His very life depended upon doing this deal. These people are corrupt and only money will get things back on track. It’s always money, he thought. He quickly assessed the value of the remaining treasures in the family safety deposit box downstairs. Another bribe won’t make any difference in the grand scheme of things. If it’s successful. Finally, he said, “Perhaps we should discuss the commission arrangements.”
“What did you have in mind, Monsieur?”
“I was thinking that we could make an effort and pay an additional commission of, let’s say fifty thousand dollars, to ensure that there are no more complications or delays. Would that sort the matter out?”
Jolidon shrugged his shoulders. “You are probably on the right track, but I think the problem is a little more complicated than that.”
A few minutes of discussion resulted in an agreement of an additional commission of one hundred thousand dollars. Jolidon tried to supress his reaction. Another hundred thousand. How much of it could I divert my way? “That’s a very fair offer. I’m sure it could resolve the matter. I’ll get in touch immediately and call you as soon as I know something. Are you at the Kempinski as usual?”
Bensouda nodded. “Let me know as quickly as possible so I can arrange the funds. The merchandise must be on the last leg of the journey and I don’t want anything else to go wrong. Now I would like to retrieve something from my safety deposit box.”
Jolidon called Gilles over and he accompanied the Moroccan down to the circular vault.
Ten minutes later Bensouda came back to the entrance hall, clutching his briefcase at his side. Jolidon was waiting for him by the door.
“I will call you the moment I have confirmation of the new arrangement. Goodbye, Monsieur le Prince.”
The two men shook hands and Bensouda went out to his waiting limousine. Some habits he found hard to change.
Marbella, Spain
Emilio came running out to the terrace to greet Emma. “Bonjour, Emilio. Comment ca va? H
ow are you?”
The little boy laughed infectiously. “Vous parlez Francais? You speak French?”
“That’s all I can say, so now we have to speak English.”
Leticia followed him out, glamorously dressed in an expensive looking pink casual dress. “His English is not bad, Emma, but maybe you can help him improve it while you’re here. I wish mine was good enough to read your books, Jenny told me you’re a famous author.”
“That’s what sisters are for. To brag on your behalf. The truth is I’ve written a few mediocre books and made very little money and no one knows who I am. That’s what being a famous author means.”
Emma looked nervously at her sister but she just winked and immediately started fussing Emilio. They had just composed a reply to the ARGS and sent it off after checking it with Espinoza and she was still a little on edge. However, breakfast was so relaxed and pleasant that she felt a pang of guilt to be enjoying herself while her son was still not out of danger.
“When is Patrice arriving?” Jenny was still wondering about his apparent propensity for travelling in circles instead of straight lines.
“He called me a little while ago. His flight arrives at two o’clock and he’s coming straight here. Is that alright?”
When Jenny nodded agreeably, she went on, “He’s been on so many aeroplanes recently I keep forgetting where he is. But it’s definitely London and he’ll be here in time for lunch.”
Jenny had turned her mind to Leticia’s appearance in her dream. She didn’t know what it meant but maybe it was time to find out. She got up from the table. “Shall we look at those papers now?”
“Oh.” Leticia gave a nervous laugh. “You don’t need to bother about it. I’m sorry if I worried you, I was just a bit tired last night. I’ll work it out with Patrice. Now I’m going to take Emilio for a walk and leave you with Emma. Vienes, Emilio.” She walked off towards the swimming pool with the little boy.
Jenny went into the kitchen to collect her thoughts. What’s going on with Leticia? This is becoming very confusing.
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