Chapter 14
Friday, April 23rd. 11:30 am.
After suffering an extremely disturbed night, not knowing what had happened to his wife. Hartley, even though they basically lived as free agents, still wouldn’t have wanted any harm to come to her. So he rang the Police station to enquire of any developments.
‘She’s safe and sound.’ answered the desk sergeant, after he’d kept him on hold for about five minutes, whilst he made the relevant enquiries.
‘Your wife’s at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, but it might be wise to ring them up to see if its convenient for you to go and visit, because at this moment I don’t have any further details.’
‘Thanks.’
He pressed the disconnect button on the cradle to free up the line, and the second the dial tone sounded he rang the hospital.
After explaining who he was and the nature of his call, the receptionist informed him that Nicole had been examined, and that there weren’t any serious injuries. Also that she had appeared to be more in shock, than anything.
‘Oh, just a minute.’ continued the receptionist, as she was reading further details on the computers monitor. ‘It looks like your wife has now been taken to Snow Hill Police Station, so you will have to contact them for any further information.’
‘At least she’s still alive.’ he thought.
He’d had his doubts as to whether or not he’d ever see her again, especially the way they’d all seen Chandler get blown away.
Without wasting any time, Hartley jumped in the car and headed straight to Snow Hill.
As he was driving to the Police station, he couldn’t stop trying to work out, what the hell had actually happened for him to be landed in this situation.
Originally, all he was commissioned to do was accept the delivery of a diamond. Wait for it to be collected by the prospective owner, a Mr Chandler, who would provide him with concrete ID. And, after receiving full payment for this particular job, would receive further monitory gain for other possible gem transfers.
It was clear that Chandler must have known that there was going to be complications; otherwise he wouldn’t have been so careful and secretive.
It was more than apparent that the thieves were, either in contact with some unscrupulous person on the inside of Chandlers operations, or it had to be an inside job.
But who? Thought Hartley.
Nicole? No. She was already onto a good thing. She had everything she could wish for. Nice home. More money than she’d ever had in her life. Freedom to come and go as she pleased. Freedom to get shafted whenever she got the urge, and with whosoever she wanted. Everything he’d thought when Cunningham was questioning him. No, in Hartley’s opinion, Nicole wasn’t even in the frame.
Loraine or Angie?
No way. He thought.
They were good at jewellery sales. But to organise and pull of a heist like this was way beyond their capabilities.
So who?
Hartley arrived at the station, and once he’d explained who he was and the reason for his visit, he was shown into a small informal waiting room.
After about ten minutes the door opened, and in walked Nicole, followed by a plain clothed officer.
‘Darling,’ said Hartley, attempting to sound distraught, ‘it must have been awful for you. Are you alright?’
‘I’m OK.’ she replied unconvincingly.
Hartley knew how inadequate her acting skills were. Even when trying to get her own way, and persuade others how ‘absolutely innocent’ she was, there would always be a feeling of insincerity.
‘Are we allowed to leave?’ Hartley enquired.
‘Yes. Your wife has been very cooperative. She’s managed to give us a vague description of the perpetrators, and even though not very precise, at least it gives us something to go on. Even a little, is better than nothing at all.’
‘So, we can go now?’ He repeated impatiently.
‘Yes, of course.’
The two of them made their way to his car, and the second the doors were closed, Hartley laid into her.
‘What the hell’s going on?’
‘What do you mean?’ she replied still sounding suspiciously dubious. ‘You’ve been robbed. I’ve been kidnapped. At one point I thought I was going to get raped or even killed. And all you can say is, ‘what the hell’s going on’.
‘Come on Nicole. I’m not some green-behind-the-ears cop, who can be swayed by your pure and guiltless act. You seem to forget, that I’ve seen you perform your sweet and innocent, before. So I’ll say it again. What the hell is going on?’
‘I’m afraid this time you are sadly mistaken.’ replied Nicole in a whisper, and with the best sympathetic look she could muster.
‘I’ve done nothing wrong,’ she pleaded, ‘unless you’re saying that getting kidnapped was my fault.’
She was starting to come across a bit more convincingly.
‘I even tried to get out of coming into the shop today, so that I could go for coffee with Eve, if you remember. If I’d any idea what was going on, or was part of it, don’t you think I’d want to be there to witness it?’
Hartley was stumped.
What Nicole was coming out with, was either a very cleverly devised lie, or the truth, and to be honest, he didn’t really know which to believe. But he didn’t have any choice but to give her the benefit of the doubt.
‘Look, I’m sorry,’ he said apologetically, ‘the times I’ve caught you being – well, you know what I’m talking about - by one of my clients. Is it no wonder I question everything you do?’
‘Apology accepted.’ she replied, knowing that she’d already won the day, but still needing to carry on the pretence. With not knowing how the diamond exchange and the divvy up were going to pan out, it was necessary that she kept her options open.
Silence seemed to be the order of the day after that, and when Hartley pulled up in their drive Nicole said.
‘I think I’m going to get a shower, and then make myself a drink.’
‘That’s fine.’ Hartley replied, ‘I think I need a bloody drink too.’
‘What about the shop?’ questioned Nicole, attempting to appear interested.
‘It’s fine,’ he replied, ‘Victoria and Becky are taking care of business. And because I didn’t know how long I’d be at the hospital, their going to lock up, if I don’t get back in time.
Hartley made his way into the lounge, as Nicole headed up to the bedroom.
He thought about switching on the radio, or putting a CD on. But under the circumstances he decided that peace and quiet would be the best option.
He poured himself a large whisky and a large vodka for Nicole, ready for when she came back downstairs.
After about forty-five minutes she walked into the lounge, wearing nothing but a flimsy dressing gown.
Hartley didn’t even give her a second look.
‘There’s a drink over there for you.’
Nicole ambled over. Picked up the vodka which Hartley had prepared earlier. Swigged it down in one, and went to get another.
‘That’s better.’ she muttered.
‘What’s next?’ remarked Hartley. ‘Do you think the Police will have any luck in finding the thieves, or is the Appleford gone forever?’
‘How am I supposed to know,’ replied Nicole, ‘I’m still shaking from my ordeal.’
Neither of them really knew what else to say, or how to continue with any constructive conversation, so silence returned.
Hartley was busy wondering whether or not he would ever see the Appleford Rock again.
Nicole on the other hand was mulling over her next move. How long should she wait before giving Alf a call? Was now too soon? Or should she just bite the bullet and take a chance.
After about half an hour Hartley’s eyes started to get heavy, and then started to droop. And it didn’t take long before he was snoring away.
‘Go for it.’ thought Nicole, and made her way into the kitchen to avoid being overheard.
It seemed to take forever for Alf to answer.
‘Yes.’
Even though he would have known who the caller was, for whatever reason, he didn’t give his name.
‘Alf, its me,’ she said, ‘what’s wrong, you sound a bit quiet. I thought you’d have been dancing around by now, having that diamond in your grasp.’
‘It’s that CCTV bloke.’ he replied nervously.
‘Oh no, you didn’t harm his lad did you?’
‘No,’ his voice appeared a tad shaky, ‘but I had to give him my mobile number, so that we could keep in touch. That was the only way I could make sure he would do as he was told.’
‘So.’ Nicole thought that a situation like this was a no-brainer, and replied. ‘Just get another phone.’
‘It’s not that simple.’
‘Why?’
‘We let the lad go, and everything seemed to go without a hitch. But about an hour later I got a call from that Benny bloke, who said that he’d rigged the video system, and he said that we needed to meet up. That he had something that I needed to see.’
Nicole frowned.
‘What could he have that’s causing you to be so worried? You let his lad go unharmed. He should feel relieved that you didn’t blow his fuckin’ brains out, as well as his sons.’
‘He said that he’d fixed it so that it wouldn’t record on the system, but it would on a pen drive that he’d plugged into the back of the system.’
‘Shit.’ replied Nicole. ‘So what’s on this pen drive?’ she paused. ‘Don’t tell me. He’s got footage of everything that went on.’
‘That’s what he’s claiming.’
The line went quiet for a few seconds.
‘Nicole, are you still there?’
‘Just thinking.’ came her reply.
‘That’s easily remedied. Make arrangements to meet, and simply buy the pen drive off him. He can’t be exactly loaded, working as a CCTV engineer. Give him ten grand; he’ll think his bloody ships come in.’
‘That ran through my mind. Then he said that he wanted at least half a million, or the pen drive goes straight to the Police.’
‘And have you got that sort of money?’
‘Don’t be daft. Who the fuckin’ hell do you think I am, Rothschild. We’ll be alright when we’ve sold the gem, and the buyer coughs up the cash.’
‘Let me think, I might be able to come up with something. I’ll get…’ she suddenly went quiet. ‘Got to go.’
‘Nicole.’ shouted Hartley as he walked into the kitchen, having had a doze. He’d woken up with a start, and wondered where she’d disappeared to.
‘I’ll ring you later Eve. See you soon.’
By being referred to as Eve, Alf realised that Hartley must have interrupted their call, and all he could do was wait. However, the last thing he wanted now was Benny to get in touch, before Nicole had told him of her idea.