The African Diamond Trilogy Box Set

by Christopher Lowery

  Emma went out to the terrace and showed Espinoza’s text message to her sister. “They’re on their way!”

  “That’s a great start to the day. We should crack open a bottle of champagne,” Jenny laughed.

  “We will soon. And I’ll be toasting you and Pedro. I can’t begin to think what might have happened if you hadn’t taken charge of the whole horrible business. Thank you for everything you’ve done. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

  “Just try to contain yourself for the moment. Leticia’s coming down with Emilio. I can hear her talking to Encarni. Now,” she continued in a whisper, “we need to get the story right. You simply tell her you’re going along to Nigel’s house in Estepona to pick up your son. In the taxi you explain it all to him and Pedro so they can play the game when they get back. Now that Leo’s safe we’ve got lots of time to talk about it with them later, when Leticia’s not around.”

  Geneva, Switzerland

  “I assume that everything is still on track for tomorrow?” Prince Sam Bensouda was in his suite at the Kempinski Hotel speaking to Claude Jolidon. As the deadline drew nearer he was becoming more and more anxious about his million dollar investment.

  “I’ve just received confirmation from the agent in Marseille. The ship is due in tomorrow evening, on schedule. Everything is proceeding as planned.”

  “And the hand-over arrangements are carefully programmed?” Under no circumstances did he want to be present at such a potentially incriminating event. In his position it would be a risk too far.

  “The merchandise will be available to be picked up in Marseille on Monday morning at eleven. The buyer’s agent is going to meet our agent at the dock and will make the transfer to the escrow account against reception of the merchandise. I will then send it on to your account, minus the remaining expenses and commission.”

  “And the exact amount of the transfer to my account will be?”

  “Exactly twenty-nine million dollars, Monsieur.”

  Bensouda didn’t mention the additional commission they’d extorted from him. It was just an unfortunate extra cost he had to accept. The profit still represented more than twenty times his investment. The best deal I’ve made in a long time, he thought. In fact, the only deal. This will settle quite a few problems.

  “Very well. That seems to be in order. I’ll call you at eleven on Monday just to be sure there are no delays.”

  “Thank you, Monsieur le Prince. Have a pleasant day. ” Bensouda chose another number from his Favourites list. “Good morning, darling. How are you?”

  “Sam. How lovely to hear your voice. I’ve been missing you.” Jenny moved to the end of the terrace away from the others. “Where are you?”

  “I’m in Geneva, just finishing off a transaction I’ve been working on.”

  “When will you be back? I can’t wait to see you.” Jenny had decided to take her sister’s advice. A little out of practice and trying not to sound too eager, she blurted out, “I was thinking we could maybe go off for a weekend somewhere. Emma will be leaving in a couple of days, so I’ll be as free as a bird. I’ve heard great things about the Finca Courtesin. It’s just a half hour along the road. What do you think?”

  “That’s a great idea. I should be back on Monday evening, so I’ll have time to see Emma and meet her son before they leave. Go ahead and book it.”

  “Good, that’s very good.” Jenny felt both relieved and guilty, as if she’d lured an unsuspecting fly into her spider’s web. Never mind, no half measures, she decided. “I’ll call and book right now.”

  Emma looked enquiringly at her as she walked back towards the others. Jenny winked, as if to say, Job done, as instructed. A frisson ran down her spine, a feeling she hadn’t felt for a long time.

  SIXTY-FOUR

  Over France en route for Malaga, Spain

  “I don’t remember anything about the first couple of days. They kept me drugged, in a room on my own. It was like a hospital ward, but without any equipment, just a bed and a table.”

  Espinoza didn’t mention that he knew about the room and had learned a lot from the photograph of it. He had finally got him talking again and he didn’t want him to stop. With a little prodding he learned about the visits from Coetzee, the lies he’d told about his mother and how hard he’d tried to find out about his father. Leo described the moment when Blethin injected him before they left for Zimbabwe, how it had brought back the memory of the abduction, the first injection in the toilets with Lambert holding him. How he’d woken up when they arrived in Polokwane and Coetzee had bought hamburgers for everyone.

  All of these memories Espinoza could believe. They were vividly described and related without hesitation, a pure memory play. Then he noted a more hesitant note in Leo’s voice as he talked about the argument in the car and the death of Constance, as they now knew him to be. He sounded almost as if he was reciting a well-rehearsed script.

  The Spaniard ignored this hiatus in the story and asked about their trip to Phalaborwa. Now the narrative became alive again, his descriptions vivid and detailed in their clarity, as if he’d enjoyed the visit to the Kruger and Coetzee had suddenly become his close friend. He talked at length about the beauty of the surroundings, the animals, birds and the river life. It was as if he didn’t want to leave that memory and move onto the next one.

  “And then you drove down to the hotel in … where was it again?”

  “Vereeniging, the Vaal Riviera Hotel. It’s got a bar and restaurant on a barge that floats across the river. It’s really cool.”

  Once again the story didn’t ring true to the Spaniard. It didn’t seem reasonable that they would drive all the way to the south of Johannesburg from the Kruger “It must be at least eight hours drive. Why do you think Coetzee decided to go all the way down there?”

  Leo offered up a very unconvincing tale about Coetzee wanting to take him home to meet his wife and daughter but they happened to be staying at the hotel, so they drove down there to join them.

  “Where do they actually live?” He asked.

  Here, the boy’s story became even more vague and disjointed. He explained that Marius and Karen were divorced, he lived in Johannesburg but she and their daughter lived in Delmas, in a big farmhouse with dogs. The daughter, Abby was adopted, (as Espinoza had of course surmised), and now they were going to live together again and get his security business back on its feet.

  A dozen questions jumped into Espinoza’s mind. How did he know they had a farmhouse and dogs in Delmas? Why were Karen and Abby in Vereeniging? How did he know about Coetzee’s business? How did he know they were going to live together again? What had caused that reconciliation?

  He asked, “Was that the reason for his involvement in your abduction? Problems with his business?”

  “That’s right. He said it was only for the money. He didn’t even know who had organised it all. When we got to Vereeniging he told us that Nwosu was the original contact in South Africa and he hired Marius but it was only because he had the security contract for the stadium so they could grab me. There was this man called the ‘Voice’ who gave all the instructions but they had no idea who he was or what the reason for the abduction was. Everything was done by phone and email and they just had to follow his orders if they wanted to get paid.”

  Espinoza’s ears pricked up at this snippet. “He told you they called the organiser the ‘Voice’? Why did they call him that?”

  “He said he talked like William Shakespeare. Very good English but old fashioned words and phrases. He sounded like a school teacher or a lecturer, but he never told them what the plan was. Just that they had to abduct me and look after me. That’s why Marius kept asking me questions about my family, so he could work out the reason for the plan. But I don’t have a clue what they wanted so I couldn’t tell him anything.”

  Filing this away in his memory, the detective asked, “Why do you think they took you away from Johannesburg?”

  “I have no idea. They inje
cted me again and the next thing I knew we were in the car on the way to Zimbabwe. But at the first chance Marius took me away from the others and looked after me.”

  “And he told you that he tried to get money from your mother to return you?”

  “He said he’d asked for a reward and I told him we were skint. My Mum spent all her money on the trip down here, so I know she’s broke right now.”

  “And did he tell you why he thought he could get a reward?”

  “He said my father must have money, but I don’t know where he got that from. I’ve never even seen my father and I told him I didn’t think he’d be keen to throw money around for a kid he doesn’t even know.”

  “But then he let you go without asking for a ransom. Why do you think that was?”

  “It’s obvious. It was because of Karen and Abby, when he phoned her before we drove down. Once he started thinking about getting his family back, he just dropped the whole idea of the ransom and took me down to meet them. I could have walked out in Phalaborwa if I’d wanted to, but I knew Mom would be worried if I was on my own so I waited until we got nearer to Joburg and then called her straight away. In the end he’s brought me to safety and he’s asked for no money, so I think we’re quits. Don’t you?”

  Although they were still a lot of unanswered questions in Espinoza’s mind, he was reaching some conclusions. It seems Coetzee didn’t know about Leo’s birth or Jenny’s wealth. He wasn’t a key person in the conspiracy, he just happened to have the security of the stadium under his control and had financial problems. When he saw the danger Leo was in, he pulled the plug on the operation and thanks to him, the boy is safe. “I think I agree with you,” he said. “No more questions for now, I promise.”

  “Can I ask one? Do you have any idea who came up with the abduction plan and why they picked on me?”

  “I have some preliminary thoughts, but there’s still a lot of detective work to be done, so there’s no point in speculating for the moment. The main thing is that you’re safely back. That was my promise to your mother. If I can follow the trail up to the real culprits all the better, but it won’t affect you or her anymore and that’s always been my main objective.”

  “I never said thank you, sorry. Thank you for all you’ve done for me and my mom. She must be so relieved that this is over, I know I am.” Leo settled back in his seat, his mind at ease, although he suspected that Espinoza was not a man to leave any stone unturned. But as long as he stuck to his story he should be OK. He couldn’t afford to tell the truth about Constance’s death, nor about the gorillas from Zimbabwe. Anyway, he thought, that’s all behind me in South Africa and I’m going to leave it there.

  Espinoza was now thinking about the mysterious ‘Voice’. Was he the key to the conspiracy? He went back over Leo’s words, ‘He sounded like a school teacher or a lecturer.’ Or, he thought to himself, perhaps Lord Arthur Dudley who was tracing their phones all over South Africa? He took out his jigsaw puzzle and added a new box. The picture was starting to become clearer.

  Marbella, Spain

  “I’ve just checked and the flight’s on time. It’s landing in forty minutes.” Jenny and Emma were still out on the terrace. Leticia and Emilio were up at the lake at the top of the garden.

  “I’d better get moving. Does Juan know we’re going to the airport?”

  “He knows, but don’t worry. I managed to find enough Spanish to tell him to say nothing to the others. He’ll go straight home when he’s brought you back. He usually doesn’t work on a Saturday and by Monday everyone will have forgotten about it.”

  “Listen, Jenny. I have to tell Leo about his birth, about Rwanda and about Mutesi. I was summoning up the courage to do it one day, but after what’s happened I have to do it now. It’s going to be a big shock to him but if I explain it properly I’m sure he’ll understand. The main thing is that he’s always been loved and cherished and he knows that. But I can’t tell him about Galaganza. He can’t be told that his biological father was one of the organisers of the greatest human catastrophe since the second world war. It’s too much for anyone to cope with. So it has to be kept secret and never disclosed to anyone. After Tony and Dr Constance’s deaths, no one except you and Pedro and I know this and you must promise never to divulge it. Never.”

  After promising that the subject would never be discussed again by her with anyone and that Pedro would abide by the same promise, Jenny saw her sister off then went up to find Leticia at the lake. Emilio was throwing handfuls of fish food and the carp were threshing about, thrusting up their open jaws to grab the food from the surface. There must have been fifty of the enormous creatures, of every hue imaginable, creating what looked like an underwater rainbow as their scales flashed in the sunlight. It was an impressive sight, reminding her of what may lie just beneath an apparently calm surface.

  They walked back down the steps to the house, listening to the little boy’s chatter about les poissons, the fish. He had evidently decided to speak French that day, so his mother obligingly helped him with his vocabulary. Jenny was increasingly impressed by Leticia’s ability to pick up languages. As well as Portuguese, her mother tongue, she was fluent in Spanish and English and now she was mastering French. That’s thanks to Patrice. Lovers and languages, it’s a good formula for fluency.

  “Emma’s gone off to get Leo, so she’ll be a little while,” she said to Leticia. “Come and sit with me and I’ll explain about your accounts. I checked them over last night and I think I know what’s happened.”

  “Is it something bad?” Leticia looked fearful. She couldn’t face a rift with her fiancé.

  “It’s not as bad as we may have imagined, but let’s look at the statements and you can see for yourself.”

  Jenny opened up the file and pointed out the transactions involving the Asian Atlantic Investment Funds. Then she went online to the newspaper articles and explained to Leticia what a Ponzi scheme was and where her million Euros had gone.

  “Meu Deus! My God. I can’t believe people can do such things. These people just took the money and disappeared. So there was nothing Patrice could have done.”

  “That’s right. In fact, apart from that crooked scheme, Patrice hasn’t done a bad job. Ignoring the lost million, after your living costs he’s actually produced a profit of almost ten per cent so it’s not such a terrible result.”

  “But I’ll never get back the money from this Ponzi scheme?”

  “No. I’m sure it’s gone forever, unless there are other assets that the SEC discovers. But I wouldn’t hold out any hope for that, they sound like a really callous bunch of criminals. The money will be hidden away in offshore accounts all over the world.” She had a fleeting vision of d’Almeida in the kitchen just behind them, two years ago, boasting about transferring twelve million dollars on a Sunday night. She shivered and said, “Did you notice that there were a lot of pension funds that had invested? Stealing people’s pensions, it makes you want to throttle the lot of them.”

  “Patrice said it was just temporary, that he would make the money back by September.”

  “If he said so, he must have something up his sleeve, I suppose.” Jenny tried to sound confident, hoping against hope that her suspicions were unfounded. Despite having Leo back, they still hadn’t uncovered the identity of the conspirators and she was afraid of what might be found. She was especially afraid of what Leticia might learn.

  London, England

  Lord Arthur Dudley was working on his laptop. Although he liked to give the appearance of total incompetence in all things computer and Internet related, he was quite skilled at most tasks. After a number of false starts, partly because his written French wasn’t equal to his conversational ability, he found the correct website and printed out the details he was looking for.

  Then with the help of the online translation programme, he prepared a short email and practised reading it out loud until he was confident of the result. Ready, he called a number in Montreuil, Seine-S
aint Denis, a Commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris. He used the French mobile phone with the Bouygues SIM. The number rang out and he switched on the voice distortion system, just enough to disguise the distinctive tone of his voice but not enough to sound like a robot. After several rings, a recorded message advised him that the office was closed on Saturday and gave him another number for emergency calls. He went through the same procedure again and this time a bored-sounding woman answered the number. He assumed that like most civil servants, especially in France, she objected to working on the weekend, but she deigned to listen to his well-rehearsed reading of the message.

  As he had expected, she then asked for his name, address and other particulars, all of which he answered with convincing, but incorrect details. Finally, she told him she’d forward the information to the appropriate office but he had to confirm the details in writing. Dudley noted down the email address, thanked the woman and rang off. He went back to his laptop and completed the message with the email address and the name of the person she’d given him. After rereading it one last time he sent it to IPsend in the Philippines from where it was automatically forwarded to Montreuil. Dudley waited to ensure that the message had been sent then went back online. He was in a cleaning up mood and there was more to do.

  Heathrow Airport, England

  The Internet banking system asked for the amount of the transaction. Esther took a deep breath and entered two, five, zero, zero, zero, full-stop, zero, zero, then pressed Submit. A moment later the confirmation came onto the screen. She gave a gasp of relief then looked around the departure lounge self-consciously. No one had witnessed the transfer of twenty-five thousand dollars from Arthur Dudley’s Joburg account with the Private Bank of Panama to her own account at the Credit Bank of Guadeloupe. That was the daily limit of the authorisation given to her by him to operate the account in the event of an urgent payment if he was indisposed. She knew he would cancel the authorisation when he thought about it, but he hadn’t yet done so. There was more than two hundred thousand dollars in the account, but she couldn’t get more today. She could try again tomorrow, but it would probably be too late.