“Okay. But, Harry. Low key.”
“Of course. Just enough to lift the lid.”
“Crap! Here we go again,” Dave thought.
True to his word though, there was just a little flash and the smallest of pops. The three of them waited a few minutes to see if anyone had noticed their little firework show. When they were happy, they got out of their hole and approached the box.
The lock and pieces of an unfortunate lizard which had chosen that precise moment in time to investigate was spread around the container. The three of them looked at each other, anticipation written all over their faces.
Bob knelt down, and without touching anything, looked through the gap, under the lid. He fumbled around in his pocket and took his torch out. He scanned the inside. Standing up, he handed the torch to Harry, who knelt down and did the same. “Clear, Bob,” Harry breathed.
Bob lifted the lid slowly whilst Harry and Dave watched, he stopped when the lid was at right angles. Inside, a little dusty from the pop, were four pouches, each the size of a baseball, and tied with a lace.
Bob picked one up, “Leather,” he said, rolling it around in his hands. “Feels like it’s full of marbles. Weighs, probably… half a kilo.” He pulled the tie and opened it. His smile couldn’t have stretched any further. “Yes!” he shouted. “Bloody jackpot!” He turned the bag over into his hand. Diamonds, varying in size from a garden pea to giant gobstopper rolled out onto the floor.
They quickly counted them.
“About two hundred and fifty,” Harry said.
Dave took the other three pouches and got the same result.
Crouching in the sand, the three of them stared at each other, and then at the bags. Even just having the tops open they sparkled in the moonlight. They were mesmerised.
After a few minutes of staring like a bunch of goons, Bob took a bag out of his pocket and put the four pouches into it, along with two small keys, which were also in the box, and they headed back to base.
“I’m quitting tomorrow,” Harry said, smiling.
“Let’s wait until we’ve checked them out,” Bob said. “We can’t do that here, so I’ll send them back home and we can do it when we’ve finished our tour.”
****
At the briefing the next morning, a few questions were asked about why Steve hadn’t turned up for his shift. Dickie, one of the blokes on the oncoming team, suggested, “He’s probably gone off with that bird he’s been shagging! The one with the big tits who worked in the fast food shop on the industrial estate.”
The boss looked at him and let out a chuckle. “Well, get him to report to me when he gets back. Okay, Dickie?”
Bob, Dave and Harry winced, thinking about how he’d disappeared. Dave looked at Bob and Harry, they were just looking straight ahead.
When the shift finished, the three of them met in Bob’s room. They talked about what had happened and worked out how to get the diamonds back to the U.K.
"They go in four separate parcels," Bob explained. “More chance of getting through if they go separately. Lucy will look after them until we’ve finished out here.”
Five months later, and the three of them were back in the U.K. En route to Bob’s place, they had one thing on their minds, the diamonds.
12
Taking a taxi from the airport was frustratingly long. The three of them looking at their watches as the distance markers notched past slowly.
“The thought of all those diamonds, just sitting there on Bob’s desk,” Dave said, quietly. “It’s enough to do your head in!”
“And on top of that,” Harry whispered, “this bloody taxi stinks of incense.”
The three of them talked about what could happen to the diamonds, sitting there out in the open.
“Burgled,” Dave said.
“Fire,” Harry added. “Jeez! They could get eaten by the dog, or the cleaner could chuck them out!” he squeaked.
“My sister’s a bit of a neat freak,” Bob chuckled. “She cleans from top to bottom, every other day! And as for a fire, diamonds don’t melt…or burn, not in a house fire, anyways. And we don't have a dog!” he finished off with.
The three of them turned their attention back to the distance markers and went quiet, and tried to relax as the scenery passed by. Every now and then, the driver would tut or huff at the traffic and make a comment, saying, “Bloody idiots on these roads.” And, “They should bring back compulsory driving tests for the over sixties.”
Bob and Harry just grunted. Dave smiled and started thinking about Jane, “She used to say the same thing. Funny,” he smiled to himself, “I didn’t think I’d miss her.”
“Are you okay, Dave,” Bob asked.
“Just thinking about Jane.”
“I thought her name was Poppy?” Harry said.
“Jane was the girl I was going to marry, before Poppy.”
“Well, from what I’ve heard about Poppy, it sounds like you screwed up with two stunners there, mate.”
Dave frowned and went back into his dream world.
Bob started talking to the driver, giving him directions for a short cut – prompting him to take the next left. The driver nodded, then turned onto a little country lane.
A kilometre further on, the driver started his grumbling again. They all looked forward, looking to see who his victim of abuse was this time. There was a white Sprinter van parked up on the left, it was tight up against the hedge, but it was still stuck halfway out in the road, causing our driver to have to slow down - his tyres going up onto the grass verge opposite. This started them all off on a rant. They took it in turns to slag the white van man off as our driver crept past. While he was squeezing through, a man and a woman were stood at the front of the van, arguing. Dave thought, “They don’t look like a couple, they’re too different, but then again, who am I to give out advice with two relationships up the spout behind me?”
When they spotted the taxi, they turned quickly away and got back into the van. “Wankers!” was Harry’s response.
The driver nodded and smiled, “Exactly.”
13
Bob lived in what people would describe as, a quaint little cottage, on the edge of a small village called Docking. It was located twenty kilometres east of Hunstanton, Norfolk.
Dave and Harry looked at Bob and frowned.
“The fruits of life!” Bob smiled.
“Yeah right,” Harry laughed.
“Whatever floats your boat, mate!” Dave smiled.
It was one of those little biscuit-tin cottages – local stone, thatched roof, a path up to the front door with a trellis arch, and covered in flowers and hanging baskets. Dave and Harry half expected an old gentleman gardener to walk around the corner, a pipe hanging from his mouth and big green wellies on his feet.
The entrance to Bob’s Palace was via a small wooden picket gate with an old cow bell hanging from it. Bob saw the other two staring, “Country burglar alarm,” he said, flicking it with his fingers.
Dave and Harry laughed when no sound came from the bell.
“It might need a new clapper,” he said, frowning and flicking it again.
Lavender and rosemary grew either side of the gate, lining the garden path up to the house. The lawn was immaculately mown, with colourful flower borders peppering the edges.
Bob showed them round to the back garden, explaining that he wanted to enter the house via the back door as the front was mainly for show. When they got around the back, they saw that the garden was full of rows of vegetables. Again, Dave and Harry gave him a frowned look.
Partially hidden, a shed nudged its head over the top of a small privet hedge down the far end, next to a small wood bordering the property, it looked as if it had been built up against an old brick outhouse that had become a dumping ground for old pallets.
Dave and Harry stared at the neatness of the ground in front of them but frowned at the knackered old shed.
“I potter around in there at night, planting new seed and sharpen
ing my tools,” Bob explained. “Nothing like a home grown carrot or leek, all washed down with a glass of home-brewed pea wine.”
Dave and Harry just looked at him, “Okay” they said together, in a sort of, is he losing it, way!
When the tour of the grounds of Castle Le Bob was complete, they went inside and were promptly instructed to take off their shoes, they were then shown into the kitchen.
The inside wouldn’t have been out of place in an upmarket country cottage magazine. In the centre of the kitchen was a large wooden table, it was covered with a red and white checked tablecloth and was surrounded by four high-backed wooden seats which, Bob later explained as being, Windsor chairs... Up against the far wall stood an old kitchen display cabinet, full of florally decorated plates and posh little paper-thin cups and saucers, and mixed in-between was a collection of porcelain cats and miniature cake stands. The country cottage theme spread throughout the house, except for the living room… Up on the wall was a 52” widescreen TV, and a huge sofa up against the opposite wall with a small bar to the right of the TV.
“Some of my toys,” Bob smiled.
“It’s good to have a hobby!” Harry said, smirking.
“Lucy’s little hobby,” Bob mumbled, seeing the two of them staring. “Bloody ugly if you ask me!”
Dave was about to say something when a young lady walked in.
“Lads, I’d like you to meet my sister, Lucy. Lucy this is Harry and Dave.”
“Hi,” she said. “Bobby’s told me quite a lot about you already in his letters.”
Lucy was the younger of the two, and unlike her brother, she looked after herself. She was tall, blonde and dressed really well. She’d never married but had had plenty of offers.
Dave and Harry both looked at Bob. “You write as well?” Harry scoffed.
“You were adopted, right?” was all Dave said.
They both sniggered, as Bob mouthed a few choice words, but was instantly reprimanded by, Lucy!
“Everything all right with the mail I sent, sis?”
“No problems. It’s upstairs on the table as you instructed, oh big and mighty brother…” she smiled. “It’s next to some other mail you received.”
Bob looked at her, frowning, noticing she was looking at Harry and running her fingers through her hair. Harry was smiling.
“Ahem,” Bob frowned, looking at Harry.
“All right, Bob?” Then, looking back at Lucy, he said “Nice little place you have here. Fancy showing me around?”
“Bloody hell, Harry, you haven’t been here five minutes and you’re already hitting on my sister.”
“Stop it, Bobby! Harry’s just being nice.”
With this, Bob shook his head and gestured for everyone to go up and look at the mail.
Upstairs, Lucy picked up the four parcels and handed them to Bob, along with a shed-load of junk mail. He passed the pouches to Dave and Harry and scanned the other bits. “Kindling is all this lot’s good for,” as he chucked the leaflets and circulars in the open fire grate.
“I’ll make some tea and bring it up,” Lucy suggested.
“And some of your homemade scones, with some jam and cream, Sis?”
Lucy smiled and nodded.
“Would you like a hand, Lucy?”
“Leave it out, Harry,” Bob said, shaking his head.
Dave passed him a parcel and they sat and looked at each other, smiling. Bob opened his one and the diamonds rolled out over the table. Dave and Harry followed suit as Bob spread his arms out and stopped them rolling off. They all scooped them into the centre and marvelled at the reflections bouncing off the whole room.
A few minutes later, the bedroom door swung open and Lucy walked back in. She had a tray loaded with goodies: scones, jam, cream and tea. She placed it down at the end of the table and said, “I’ll be, mum!” But then stopped in her tracks and gasped.
14
Lucy went and sat next to Harry and stared at the jewels.
“Are they real?” she asked, still holding the tray.
Harry nodded. She placed the tray down and picked up one of the diamonds and held it to the light, mesmerised by the colours bouncing across the ceiling. She stood and went over to the window and drew a large circle in the pain with the piece, she then tapped it with her knuckle and gasped as it flicked out and land on the grass below.
“Oh my god!” Lucy croaked, sitting down again.
“I know!” Bob said.
They all sat staring at the hoard laid in front of them. After a few minutes, Lucy disappeared out of the room, returning with a set of digital scales and a plastic container.
“I think we might need these.”
“Good thinking, Lucy,” Bob smiled. He put the diamonds in the container and weighed them. There were approximately eight hundred grammes between the four bags.
“We can’t carry these around with us,” Bob said. “We’ll put them in the safe, keep these four out to show to the buyers.”
Dave and Harry looked around the room.
“What safe?” Harry asked.
Bob got up and walked over to the fireplace. He pulled the picture that was hanging above it, away from the wall - as if opening a cupboard. “This safe,” he said, smiling. “I’d tell you the combination, but then I’d…” They all joined in on the next part, “Have to kill you!”
The two keys were put in the safe as well. After they’d finished their tea, Bob said, “Okay. We now need to look up the price of diamonds so we know what we’re into.” He booted up the computer. “Anyone got any ideas what to look for?”
“This might be a bit of a long shot, but when I was going out with Jane,” Dave said. “I looked on-line at buying a ring for her, a site called Washington Diamond came up. If I remember right, they had a chart for diamond prices!”
“Sounds good,” Bob said, tapping the keypad.
One of the first things they searched, was how to size a diamond by weight.
“One carat equals two hundred milligrammes,” Bob read off the screen, as the others played marbles with them.
He whistled and sat back, listen to this, “A high-quality diamond, weighing as little as two or three grammes, could be worth as much as one hundred kilos of gold.” They all sat in silence, as the scale of the scavenger hunt started hitting home.
“We’ve got to work out how to sell them,” Bob said. “It’s not as if we can walk into Cash Converters.”
“They’d only give us twenty quid each for them anyway,” joked Harry.
“I’ve got a friend who knows a jeweller,” Lucy said. “She lives in Hunstanton. She might be able to put us in touch with him!”
“Good start, sis. You do that. Don’t tell her where they’re from though, we don’t know if anyone’s looking for them, so be careful who you mention it to. In the meantime, we’ll see if we can find out anything about those keys.”
“Any more tea going, Lucy?”
“Sure, Harry,” she said, smiling. “Anyone else?”
While Lucy was downstairs, Harry asked Bob, “Don’t take this the wrong way, mate, but… Lucy. Is she... okay. I mean, can we trust her?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at them.
“Fine by me,” Dave said.
Harry nodded.
When Lucy came back up, Harry asked, “When can you talk to your friend?”
“I can do it now. I’ll ring her.”
“Okay, but set it up for tomorrow, will you?” Bob asked. He added, “I don’t know about you lot, but I need a good night’s sleep!”
“Got any beers in, Lucy?” Dave asked.
“I think we can do better than that, Dave,” she smiled.
They all got up and followed her downstairs into the front room.
She went and opened up an old charm cabinet. Inside was anything but charm, it was more like a small off-licence. Bob, Dave and Harry all smiled and rubbed their hands together.
As they sat back, Bob said, “Call me paranoid, but this
all feels too easy. I mean, getting the diamonds back here, and our contracts being finished without too much noise. I’ve known blokes who were literally threatened with jail if they didn’t stay on. It feels too easy.”
Dave and Harry sat and looked at him.
15
The logo on the side of the van showed it was just an ordinary delivery vehicle. The only reason you might have any concerns was the fact it hadn’t moved for the last three months!
Inside, at the front of the rear cargo space, were the only two normal household devices to be seen - a microwave oven and a coffee machine. The rest of the compartment was crammed tight with an array of high-tech gizmos, all quietly beeping and buzzing.
Down the middle of the cramped space, watching and recording everything they observed and heard, sat a man and a woman.
The woman was in her late twenties, she had a toned, athletic body, hair hanging just off the shoulders, dyed a gingery brown. She dressed in tight fitting clothes, which her partner for the mission hated. He was in his early forties, and had the opposite build to the woman, being short and slightly overweight. He wore black trousers, a white shirt, with a red cardigan.
They were busy listening to, and watching, what was going on at the cottage. They had planted all the audio and video devices a few months prior, posing as burglar alarm specialists, working in conjunction with the local police force. The little cameras they’d installed were inside the movement sensors they put in each room. They had also managed to get a bug inside the computer in the upstairs office. Just in case Lucy thought it was a scam, they had contacted every house in the village, making sure they also telephoned all her known friends in the area.
Bob had done some checking up when he got back, ringing neighbours and friends, asking them if they had had the same visit or phone call. Once he started to get the same answer from them, he assumed it was all good, but it still niggled at the back of his mind.
Today, the couple in the van were very busy with their equipment. The two of them watched their monitors with interest. The diamonds were out and spread across the table, and in the middle was the set of keys.
Scavenger Hunt Page 5