Chapter 30

I was like a wound up spring and needed to talk to someone to relieve the tension. The only person who would understand how I was feeling was Willem.

He answered, gabbling in Dutch to me.

‘Willem, it is Vince,’ I said loudly trying to over-ride the Dutch.

‘Ah Vince, I was expecting a call from one of my friends in Rotterdam and didn’t look to see who the caller was. Anyway, you never phone me in the evening.’

‘That’s OK Willem. I apologise for phoning you so late,’ I said.

‘What’s up Vince? You sound in a bit of a state?’

‘I was involved in a car chase tonight, and the adrenaline is still pumping. My heart is running much faster than usual, and I felt that I had to talk to someone.’

‘Who was doing the chasing Vince, you or the baddies?’

I told Willem the story of what had happened, reliving in my mind the thought processes that had gone through my head during the event. The chase must have lasted between thirty and forty minutes, but was now condensed into a memory that spanned a few seconds.

‘You were extremely lucky Vince that you had borrowed the gun. It sounds as if you wouldn’t have got away from them if you hadn’t shot out their tyres,’ Willem said comfortingly. ‘What are you going to do now?’

‘I am still very shaken after the experience tonight, and even more so when I add it to what took place in the marina last night. I will have to think hard before I decide on my next step.’

‘What happened last night Vince?’ Willem asked. With the latest drama so fresh in my mind, I had forgotten that I hadn’t told him about the events in the marina. He was unaware that I had spent a night in the sail locker.

I filled Willem in on the details of my previous night’s activities.

‘I wish that I was over there in Cape Town to help you Vince. It sounds as if you have bitten off more than you can chew this time. For goodness sake be careful.’

‘I plan on trying to get on board one of the other yachts in the marina tomorrow. Any other option appears to be too dangerous. I may have to break in, but I will try and find an owner as my first option.’

‘That sounds more sensible Vince, but as I have said before, be exceedingly careful, you are up against dangerous men.’

‘I promise you Willem, I will be careful. I have had enough scares in the last day to last me a lifetime.’

‘Do you think they might advance the departure of the yacht? On the other hand, perhaps the damage you did to the crew tonight will prevent that.’

‘I hadn’t thought about that, but your right. It makes sense that they might leave earlier than originally planned as a result of my presence. I’ll check tomorrow if the yacht is still on the pontoon or is out of the water and being worked on.’

‘You seem more relaxed now Vince than when you came on the phone,’ I could sense him smiling on the other end of the line.

‘It’s been a massive help to talk to you, and I feel that I could sleep now. Thanks and I will be in touch.’

‘Bye Vince.’ I heard the line go dead as he terminated the call.

Who could I contact that might have a boat in the marina, or, who might know someone that had a boat. The only person that I knew in Cape Town was Laurie Scott. I would phone him in the morning before he took his dog for his daily walk.

I also would listen to what I recorded in the morning, hoping that the information I had gathered, was worth all the hassle.

I suddenly felt terribly tired. Last night I had slept amongst the sail bags and had spent a lot of the night awake, trying to decipher strange noises. Tonight I had expended a lot of nervous and physical energy, and it had all caught up on me. I went to bed and surprisingly slept remarkably well.

I woke up to the sound of driving rain on the window and the sound of a strong wind buffeting the guest house. Clearly there wouldn’t be too much work done on the yacht today if indeed they had even taken it out of the water. On the other hand, they would not be expecting me to be sniffing around the marina on such a miserable day. I probably could do a little surveillance without getting caught. After breakfast, I would ring Laurie Scott about trying to get keys to a boat. It was unlikely that Laurie would be walking his dog in this weather.

Suitably breakfasted I phoned him.

‘Laurie Scott. Can I help you,’ a broad Scottish accent answered.

‘Hi Laurie, its Vince Hamilton here.’

‘Good morning Vince. Surely you haven’t used all that ammo already have you?’

‘No Laurie. I have used the gun, but only needed to fire a few rounds. I have another strange request for you.’

‘I’m not too good on strange requests, but fire ahead.’

‘Do you happen to know anybody who owns a boat moored in the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina?’ I decided to ask him directly rather than skirt around the problem.

‘Let’s see.’ There was a pause while he thought ... ‘The only person I can think of is an English bloke who has a boat that he races during the summer months. I haven’t seen him for a few months, so I have no idea if his boat is still in the water. If he can’t help, he is bound to know another boat owner who can.’

‘Would you be able to ask him for me? I want to be able to use the boat to hide on while I keep watch on another yacht that is moored in the marina.’

‘Vince, give me about two hours and then call me back. I’ll give him a call and see if he can help. He won’t be going anywhere in this weather so I should be able to get hold of him.’

‘Thanks Laurie. I really appreciate your help.’

We ended the call, and I prepared to go out in the rain and walk to the marina to check on the yacht. It was no point taking an umbrella as the wind would turn it inside out in a matter of seconds. I would have to get wet and dry out later.

As I went down the streets through the city, I was able to avoid the worst of the storm by keeping close to the buildings, however, once I got closer to the harbour, I had to leave the shelter and step out into the open. The rain was coming almost parallel with the ground, so my anorak wasn’t much use in keeping me dry. The big advantage of this rain was that only ducks would be out in it.

I entered the harbour area, and, keeping well under the high perimeter wall, I went towards the Yacht Club. The visibility was so poor that the yachts on the pontoons were just a blur. As a first option, I decided to check the area where the boats were held when they were being worked on. To my immense relief I spotted what I was after. Belle Diamant was high and dry on props on the hard, well actually not too dry in a storm like this, but not in the water.

With the day that was in it, there was no work in progress on the yacht, and, by what I could see through the driving rain, it didn’t look as if any work had been carried out yet. Soaked to the skin I returned to the guest house content that the boat was going nowhere today.

I had two jobs to do while the rain was on: The first was to call Willem and ask him if he had found out anything about where Caas Teifel had been during the time that we had placed him on the Belle Diamant. The second job was to listen to the tape from the listening device.

I showered and changed into some dry clothes and then called Willem.

‘Hello Vince. How are you this morning?’ He didn’t speak in Dutch this time so he must have looked at his screen.

‘I am good now, but I got extremely wet this morning when I went to look for the yacht in the harbour. It is teeming down here!’

‘Are there any further developments there?’

‘Well Belle Diamant is up on the hard, but it doesn’t look as if they have done any work on her yet. There is no way that they can work on her day as the rain and wind are the worst I have seen in Cape Town.’

‘Is there any particular reason for your call today Vince? Is something else troubling you?’

‘I keep forgetting to ask you if you found out where Caas Teifel was hiding when the yacht was coming down the Atlantic to Cape Town.’

‘I haven’t been able to find out a lot, but I can confirm that he went to La Rochelle when the Belle Diamant was there. He also went to London for a few days and visited a casino amongst other things. I have checked whether he came back to Rotterdam, but I am pretty certain that he didn’t come back here.’

‘He must have gone straight out to South Africa from London then, which would make sense,’ I suggested.

‘I think you are right Vince. After the yacht left for Cape Town, he must have spent a few days in London and then gone to South Africa to meet up with Jacques Fortuin. That was when you saw him.’

‘Thanks for checking up on him for me Willem, even though it doesn’t reveal much. If there are any further developments, I will let you know.’

‘Bye Vince.’

I ended the call and went to see if I could get a cup of coffee from the landlady.