The African Diamond Trilogy Box Set

by Christopher Lowery

  “I’ll call Coetzee right away. I was looking at the map and it would be quicker for him to take Leo straight to the airport. The R59 goes directly there from Vereeniging and avoids central Joburg. You could go and wait for him and be sure of being in time.” Emma’s voice sounded strong and decisive. Her sister had wisely let her take over the proceedings, it would do her good to feel in charge of her family again.

  “Jenny’s reserved the seats and you just have to check in. Pedro, thank you for everything. You’ve been amazing and I can’t wait to see you and Leo in Malaga tomorrow.”

  Vereeniging, Gauteng, South Africa

  They were eating hamburgers at the deck restaurant when Abby’s phone rang. “Hi. Is that Abby? This is Leo’s Mum, Emma. I’m looking forward to meeting you. Can I speak to Mr Coetzee please?”

  Coetzee reluctantly took the phone, a pained look on his face. “Hello, Emma. Look, I’m sorry about what happened, I…..”

  “Mr Coetzee, please save your breath. You did a very bad thing and now you seem to be putting it right. I just want to get Leo back and forget about this whole business and that’s what Leo wants too, so listen very carefully.” She quickly explained their plan.

  He responded just as rapidly. “It’s six forty-five and we can leave in ten minutes. I can be at the airport by eight thirty latest. Is that good enough?”

  Emma described Espinoza, an easy task because of his shortness and red hair. “He’s an ex-Chief Inspector of Police and a very clever detective, so be nice to him and don’t cause any more trouble.”

  “I don’t intend to and what’s more important Karen isn’t going to let me. Thank you, Emma, I hope you’ll come back to South Africa one day and we can meet under better circumstances.”

  “One thing at a time, Mr Coetzee. Get my son to the airport, pronto. Then I’ll believe you’ve turned over a new leaf.”

  Johannesburg, South Africa

  Since he wasn’t going to stay the night, Espinoza went down to reception to negotiate a reduced rate for his room When he mentioned he was a friend of Ms Stewart and had managed to locate her son, they cancelled the room charge, refunded his credit card and offered him dinner. Every little helps, he reflected as he went back up to repack his bag. He could have something to eat and still get to the airport in good time and make his calls while he waited for them to arrive. He was looking forward to his business class seat and getting to know Leo over a glass of champagne. Leaving his bag at reception he took a table in the almost empty restaurant and ordered dinner, with a glass of Merlot.

  Marbella, Spain

  Leticia and Emilio returned at seven thirty without Patrice, explaining that he was tired and had gone home to get an early night. After she had put her son to bed she came down and sat with Emma and Jenny on the terrace. She looked tired and unhappy.

  “Is there anything you want to tell me?” Jenny knew she could talk to her like that, she sometimes had to behave like a mother to the younger woman.

  Leticia looked at Emma. “No, it’s nothing, I’m just a bit tired.”

  Emma said, “I’ve got some writing to do. I’d better get on with it.” She went into the house and upstairs to her room.

  “Now talk to me, Leticia. I feel there’s something wrong. You know you can trust me and perhaps I can help. Why don’t you get it off your chest?” She went over to sit beside her.

  “Oh, Jenny. I’m so unhappy. I don’t know what’s going on with Patrice and it’s causing such problems. I sometimes think he doesn’t want to have the wedding in October. I don’t know anything anymore.” Tears ran down her cheeks.

  “Let’s take one thing at a time and we’ll talk about them. Do you want to start with the papers you mentioned to me? The financial papers?”

  “All right. He told me not to ask you about them, but it’s such a lot of money and I don’t know how it happened. It’s my account at the Banco de Iberia. Wait. I’ll get the file.”

  She went along to her apartment, leaving Jenny wondering what was going on. Patrice was a manager at the bank and looked after Leticia’s account. Jenny had asked for a different manager to handle her own affairs, not wanting to mix business and personal matters. She sighed, something else to worry about.

  “Let’s sit at the kitchen table, so we can look at the papers properly,” she said when Leticia returned with a thick green file, Banco de Iberia. Statements 2008 - written on the front.

  “You know after Charlie died, we divided the money in Spain between us?”

  Jenny remembered very well. Charlie had foreseen the upcoming crash in early 2008 and had sold off his investments. The balance on his account was eight million Euros. Patrice had set up accounts for each of them and they had transferred the funds equally to the new accounts. “It was almost exactly four million Euros each. I remember you said you didn’t know there was so much money in the world.”

  Leticia smiled wryly. “It turned out I was right. Patrice told me it was a waste to have so much money sitting in cash. It would lose value because of deflation.”

  “You mean inflation, but I understand his point of view, after all he’s a banker. So you invested it?”

  “Not straight away. And that was lucky, because when the big crash happened I didn’t lose anything, I still had all that cash. But afterwards, at the beginning of last year, he told me that the markets were very low and it was a good time to buy shares.”

  “Again I can’t disagree with him. It was a very good time to invest, depending on the investments you bought.”

  “That’s what I don’t understand. Look.” She opened the file and showed her the last statement, dated June 30th 2010.

  Jenny gasped. The total on the bottom of the statement was two million nine hundred and sixty thousand Euros. Over a million Euros had gone from the account in less than eighteen months. “That’s twenty-five per cent of your money gone. Are you sure you haven’t been spending it on silly extravagances?”

  “No, Jenny. I know you think I spend a lot, but it’s really only on clothes and trips and on Emilio, after all, it’s really his money. But I budget myself every month and I know that over the last two years I haven’t spent that amount. It would be impossible to spend it unless I bought a yacht or something. We have three cars here, the house has no mortgage and I pay my mother and Juan five thousand Euros a month between them. I couldn’t have spent such a huge amount.”

  “Have you looked carefully at these statements?”

  “Yes. But there’s so many transactions and currencies and debit and credit notes that I get completely lost. Patrice has a Poder on the account and he’s managed it since I started investing last January.”

  “A power of attorney, you mean. So he just buys and sells shares when he feels like it, without discussing it with you?”

  “No. He always tells me what he’s doing, but when he says I should buy shares in a company I’ve never heard of doing stem cell research or oil and gas exploration or something else I don’t understand, how can I give an opinion? I just agree with what he says.”

  “And have you asked him about this loss? He must have talked to you about it, explained why it has happened. You can’t lose twenty-five per cent of someone’s money, especially your fiancée’s, without explaining what happened.”

  “Every time I ask him he says it’s only a temporary problem and that my account is in very good shape. He says it will be back to the normal value by September and I just have to be patient.”

  “But at the moment you’ve lost a million Euros, after your own expenses. He’s not much of an investor, is he?”

  “But he is. According to everyone at the bank he’s a marvellous investor. Last year he won the award for Best Investment Forecaster of 2009. And everyone knows that all the markets went up, so why has my account gone down like this?” She burst into tears.

  “You’re right, even I made some investments last year. It was almost impossible to lose money between January and December and it’s more
or less the same this year. So what you don’t want to tell me is that you suspect something? That there might be another reason for this missing money?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that there’s something wrong. He’s become so nervous lately and he’s been travelling such a lot I hardly ever see him, and when I do… Well, that’s something else.”

  “Do you want to share it with me? If you don’t I’ll understand.”

  “No, it’s OK. It’s just, when we first got together he was very, you know, he couldn’t get enough of me.”

  “You mean he’s lost his sex drive? He doesn’t make love to you as much as before?”

  “Hardly at all. When he gets back from travelling he’s too tired. When he’s here, he has an early morning meeting or is about to travel again. It’s over two weeks since we had sex, It’s not normal, we’re not even married yet!”

  Jenny supressed a smile. Now she no longer sounds tearful, she thought. She’s indignant; her fiancé doesn’t want to make love to her. She’s more upset about that than about the money. She said, “Can I keep the file tonight and look through it? I might spot something. It’s probably not what you think, but if you want me to I’ll go through everything with a fine toothcomb.”

  Leticia handed over the file with a palpable sense of relief. Prior to Charlie’s death she had been a housekeeper on a frugal salary. She had never had money and was still not used to handling large sums. “I trust you so much, Jenny. I’m sorry to be so ignorant on these things.”

  “Let’s look on the bright side. Our money in Switzerland hasn’t been affected. Since we settled the business with Klein Fellay it’s with Philippe Jaquelot at the Banque de Commerce and he’s doing very nicely, nothing earth shattering, but safe and steady.” Jenny thanked the lucky stars that Leticia had agreed to appoint Philippe as her manager. But, she wondered, what exactly is there to worry about?

  SIXTY-ONE

  OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa

  Espinoza looked nervously at his watch for the umpteenth time. It was after nine o’clock and he was waiting near the check-in counter for Coetzee to arrive with Leo. Since he had Leo’s passport the woman had let him check them both in to save time. The boy had only a carry-on bag, so they could go straight through security. He was annoyed that he’d forgotten to ask Emma for a contact number for Coetzee, he had no information and no way of knowing what was happening. The travelling and lack of sleep were catching up on him and he was having difficulty keeping his eyes open. He tried to concentrate on his notepad and was adding a new piece to his jigsaw puzzle when he heard, “Dr Espinoza, I presume.”

  The speaker was a burly, square-built man in a safari shirt and cotton trousers. He needed a shave and he carried a wheelie bag as if it weighed nothing.

  “Mr Coetzee?” He stood up, registering the several inches difference in their height and standing as erect as he could. “You’re a little late. I thought you’d run off with Leo.” He gave the South African a disapproving look, but said nothing further. He didn’t want to get into a difficult discussion when they were already tight on time for their flight departure.

  “No chance,” said the boy beside him. He almost towered over the Spaniard, who tried to stand even taller.

  Holding out his hand, he said, “How do you do, Sr Espinoza. I’m Leo Stewart and this is Karen and Abby. The whole family’s here.” Leo was understandably nervous, worried that Espinoza might not be as forgiving as his mother.

  The Spaniard shook hands with them all. “Unfortunately, we have very little time to get to know each other, since our flight will be called shortly. My main concern is to get Leo on the plane home to his mother.”

  Coetzee said, “Can I see Leo’s passport and the boarding cards? In the hurry we didn’t arrange any identification password or whatever. I’d just like to be sure that he’s finally in safe hands.”

  “Of course.” Espinoza showed him the documents. “I appreciate the professional attention to protocol.”

  He picked up his travel bag and Karen said, “We’d love Leo to come back and visit us some time. When things have settled down.” She wanted everything to finish on a positive note.

  “You can bet I’ll be back. Marius owes me a proper safari in the Kruger, I didn’t see a single dangerous animal so I can’t wait to do it properly.”

  “It’s a deal, Leo. Karen is going to sort out my company so that I can actually make some money for a change. Come back next year and we’ll do you proud.”

  “It’s time we were going, Leo.” Espinoza shook hands with them all again and went towards the fast track security gate, leaving the others to bid their farewells. He was still irritated that Coetzee had arrived with no time to spare. No time to ask him any awkward questions, he thought. Very well calculated from his point of view.

  “Please come back to see us again, Leo and keep in touch by email or on Facebook. I was really pleased to get to know you.” Abby put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek then turned away, a tear in her eye.

  Karen kissed him then Coetzee shook his hand firmly. “Travel safely, Leo. We’ll miss you and all the excitement and mayhem you seem to create around you.”

  He laughed, “What a team we make. I start it and you finish it off. See you soon, Marius.”

  Going through security into the Business Class departure lounge Leo was wide eyed. It was the first time he’d experienced the comfort of anything beyond economy class. They settled down in a corner near a TV monitor and he fetched a coffee and a soft drink. “This is really cool,” he said, sitting back in the armchair.

  “How do you feel, Leo? Do you have any ill effects from the last few days’ events?”

  “I actually feel great, thanks. No ill effects whatsoever. It’s been a few days since the drugs wore off and Cooetzee’s made sure I’ve eaten properly and had plenty of sleep. I’m really fine now.”

  Espinoza couldn’t argue with this reply. Leo looked fit and well, showing no signs at all of illness, stress or worry. He sipped his coffee and looked at the TV screen, thinking of the questions he needed to ask.

  The evening news was on, the headline story and ticker tapes full of the successful unravelling of the triple murders in Johannesburg, Polokwane and Diepkloof. Espinoza’s attention was captured when he heard Hendricks’ name. The two minute press conference with the Chief Superintendent was almost certain to win him a promotion or a salary raise, or perhaps both.

  He supressed a smile when the policeman stated; “Working with information received from a reliable source, my officers went to an apartment in Diepkloof where they found the owner dead. He had been shot. His name will be released when our investigation is completed. We have identified the deceased as the murderer of Mr Barry Lambert, the British hotel manager who was found dead earlier this week at the Packard Hotel in Mayfair.

  “Intensive detective work has also resulted in the identification of the body found on Thursday in Polokwane. The victim is Dr Antoine Constance, a French doctor, who was travelling under the name of Ernest Blethin. Dr Constance was also killed by the deceased murderer. We believe that the killer was then murdered by a male friend of his who has subsequently fled across the border out of South Africa.

  “Information from the same source suggests that all of these persons were involved with a drug syndicate based in Europe. Thanks to the impressive work of our officers here in Johannesburg, we have been able to assist the authorities there in identifying these criminals and potentially dismantling the syndicate.”

  Leo was listening, a shocked expression on his face. “Is that Nwosu he’s talking about?”

  “That’s right, Leo. Although he fully deserved it from everything I’ve learned, I don’t approve of murder under any pretext. On the other hand it has closed the case here, which is better for everyone concerned, so I suppose justice has been served in an oblique fashion.”

  “Poetic justice, you mean. And that man Blethin who kidnapped me with Lambe
rt, he’s really a French doctor called Constance. Shit! Why would they set up an international gang to kidnap me?”

  “Didn’t Coetzee explain it all to you.” Espinoza was feeling his way, trying to find out how deeply the South African was involved.

  “I don’t think he knew what it was all about either. Does he know how it’s all finished up?”

  “Probably not. This is the first official announcement I’ve heard, so I suppose he’ll learn about it from the TV like everyone else. I doubt he’ll be very upset in the circumstances.”

  Leo was trying to hide his reaction to the bulletin. This is fabulous news! If Nwosu’s a goner there’s nobody left who knows what really happened in Polokwane except me and Coetzee. He thought about the rest of the story. Who was the male friend who fled across the border? It couldn’t have been Jamie, he’s not capable of murder.

  He decided to say nothing about Nwosu’s boyfriend, it would open up the trail to the Zimbabwean thugs’ attack and murder. If Espinoza didn’t know, that episode was a closed book. Aloud, he said, “So the whole lot of them are dead and the case is closed. Why is that policeman talking about a drug syndicate?”

  “It was the only way I could tie the three of them together and get the case closed over here. The South African police have got enough problems of their own, so Hendricks was happy to leave it to the UK police to handle the matter from now on.”

  For the first time, Leo looked worried. “Why are the UK police involved if it’s only a fictional plot?”

  “Don’t worry, they’re not and they won’t be. I was talking about Hendrick closing off the case. As far as you’re concerned the whole business is behind you.”

  “Oh, I see. That’s cool, thank you. My mum told me that you only arrived here this morning. How did you get all this done so fast?”

  “It was pure good fortune. I happened to arrive at the right time and I had some knowledge of the circumstances which led me, fortunately, to the correct conclusion. I was just lucky.”