The de Vere Deception (David Thorne Mysteries Book 1) (29 page)

            Darver was impatient. “We’re not going to negotiate this. I repeat, five million, right? How many times do I have to ask you?”

            Thorne turned slowly to Darver. “No,” he said. “It’s not mine to sell.”

            Delain spun around. “What do you mean? You never told me it was not yours!”

            “What’s this?” growled Darver. He turned to Delain. “What’s going on here?”

            Thorne stood and went over to the desk. He folded the flaps back on the packet. “It has to be returned.”

            Delain’s high-pitched voice was intense now. “Returned? Returned to who?”

            “I have to return it to its rightful owner. It wasn’t mine to begin with.”

            Darver arose quickly and stood in the center of the room, dumfounded. “I don’t think I understand . . .”

            There was conversation out in the hallway and footsteps retreating. A knock on the door was followed by a faint voice. “Mr. Riley, this is the manager. May I see you? It should only take a minute.”

            Thorne was relieved. He knew Darver and Delain weren’t going to accept the necklace not being for sale. The manager and the two bellmen had arrived just in time. He went to the door and opened it. The door pushed in, shoving Thorne to one side.

            “Move over to the other side of the room, Thorne.”

            Darver stared at the man standing in the doorway. “You? I suspected you might be involved in this. Maybe you can tell me what’s going on here?”

Chapter 69

Forestal closed the door behind him. In his right hand was a snub-nosed .38 Service Revolver. “Well, this is a surprise, I must say, Mr. Darver.”

            Henri Delain was confused. He asked, “Who is this, Leo?”

            Darver said sarcastically, “This was one of the people who promised me this piece previously, but obviously he couldn’t deliver.” He turned his attention back to Forestal. “So, I suppose you sent this man here today to do—to do—what? I have no idea. Perhaps you can clear things up for us, Mr.—Mr.—I still don’t know your name?”

            Forestal ignored the question, motioned to Darver and Delain with his revolver and barked an order, “Both of you, over by the loveseat. You—Thorne—back to the wall next to them.”

Forestal ran his hands over Darver’s and Delain’s coats and found nothing. He opened Thorne‘s coat, took the Glock from the holster, and tossed it on the bed.

            “All of you, face that wall and put your hands on top of your heads,” he ordered and went to the desk. His eyes widened as he looked at the necklace and the giant pink diamond. He asked, “How much is he asking?”

            Henri Delain’s voice wavered. “Five-million pounds.”

            Forestal laughed. “Five-million pounds? The Hope Diamond is valued at well over one-hundred million at around 45 carats. I should say this necklace would be valued at least twenty to thirty million pounds, and would fetch at least forty million at auction—probably much more.”

            He asked, “What about it, Mr. Darver? That pink is record size, and worth at least twenty million—right?” Darver started to turn away from the wall. Forestal snapped, “Keep your face to the wall.”

            Darver turned back to face the wall and said, “So, if you’re not in this with him—whoever he is—I’ll deal with you. He’s so confused he doesn’t even know who it belongs to. This Boy Scout says he has to return it to its rightful owner.” Forestal sneered at Thorne and glanced at the large black briefcase on the floor next to the loveseat.

            Forestal said to Darver, “I assume you have the money in that.”

            Darver said, “We’re good for another five million pounds if you want to deal. “I can get it, but not until I get back to Berlin tomorrow. Ten million pounds is a lot of money, but I’m sure I can set up other partners. I’m also sure I have a buyer once it’s appraised.”

            He asked, “By the way, where are
your
partners? Are they still in on the deal?”

            Forestal didn’t answer and went back to examining the necklace. He had what he came for and turned to Thorne. “All right, this has been taken care of. Now the documents. Where are the documents? Are they in that suitcase?”

            Thorne gave him a puzzled look. “What documents? What are you talking about?”

            Forestal turned to Darver. “The documents were also part of the sale also, were they not? Delain exchanged looks with Darver and Thorne and said, “We never spoke about documents.” He looked at Thorne. “What is he talking about?”

            Thorne realized now Forestal had thought he hadn’t only found the necklace, but also the de Vere documents. He said, “I don’t have the documents. They haven’t been found.”

            Forestal stammered, “We—I thought you had— I thought— I need to make a call.”

            He flipped open his cell phone and with the other hand pointed the gun at the three against the wall. He said, “All of you, keep looking at the wall. Don’t turn around.”

            There was a long pause as he tried to remember the number to call about the documents.

            Everyone in the room turned as the door to the adjoining room burst open, and Trudeau and Cravelle entered with guns drawn.

            “Put your weapon on the bed, Forestal. Trudeau ordered. “You—on the other side of the room—keep your hands in plain sight.”

            Forestal was shocked into action by the noise behind him and wheeled, firing his gun in the direction of the order. Three shots rang out from his gun and all missed their target. Trudeau fired twice, hitting Forestal in the shoulder with one shot and the other going wide. Forestal dropped his gun, clutched his shoulder, and let out a cry before crumpling to the floor. Trudeau bent over  Forestal and raised him to the bed.

            Trudeau said, “Call an ambulance. It looks like he may have a broken bone in his shoulder

            Cravelle  picked up Forestal’s and Thorne’s pistol and shoved them into his waist band. He went to Darver and Delain and pushed them toward the door. “You two—into the other room.”

            There was movement and a lot of other voices in the adjoining room. Orders were being given as two other men surprised Thorne when they came into his room.

Chapter 70

Thorne was varying his attention between Trudeau and Forestal and did a double take when Gilbert Bada and Inspector Hammersmith entered the room.

            Bada smiled warmly at Thorne. “Well, David you had me fooled—and more than once. I never thought you would have taken the necklace in the first place, and when I found out—I never thought you’d give it back. I’ve got to tell you, I’m glad it turned out this way.”

In a conference room at the police station, Thorne sat across from Bada and Hammersmith at a large conference table. They watched through a two-way mirror as Darver and Delain were being questioned in another room by Cravelle and four other men.

            Trudeau entered the conference room and took a seat across from Thorne. “You are in luck, Mr. Thorne, Mr. Bada has agreed to drop all charges” He couldn’t hide his disgust. “I disagree. We do not like people bringing stolen goods and weapons into our country.” He gave Bada a look of disdain. “But obviously Mr. Bada has connections with those above me.”

            Trudeau placed a small recorder on the table in front of Thorne and said sarcastically, “Now, just for the record, I would like to know what you have done since you set foot on French soil.”

            Everyone listened as Thorne explained what had taken place in the past few days. Trudeau nodded and turned off the recorder. Without speaking, he arose and picked it up from the table. As he went out the door, he said over his shoulder, “We are releasing you to Inspector Hammersmith.” With added sarcasm he said, “So, you are free to go, Mr. Thorne. I would suggest you catch the earliest flight back to the states—or England—but out of France.”

            After Trudeau left the room, Bada turned to Thorne. “You led us on a merry chase, David. I would like to know two things. Why did you plan to take the necklace and consider selling it? And— what made you decide to return it?”

            “I guess I was just bitter at the way everything was turning out. The death of my friend Freddie—the deception of Forestal with Helena and Gweneth—being fired for what I considered inadequate reasons—and without complete compensation.”

            Thorne looked back to Bada. “Why did I decide not to go through with the sale and to give it back?” he asked wistfully. There was a distant look in his eyes. “I know it sounds strange, but I guess I wanted to be a child again—if just for a moment.”

            Bada and Hammersmith exchanged puzzled looks. Hammersmith broke the emotional tension. “I don’t believe you know how much danger you were in by coming to Paris. Trudeau and I were ready to arrest you immediately, but because INTERPOL and Europol needed to capture Darver—and at Mr. Bada’s insistence—we held off. You should know Mr. Bada has also dropped all charges against you in Stratford.

            “Darver had been number one on INTERPOL’S and Europol’s list for a long time. He’s heavily involved in the worldwide trafficking of stolen diamonds—and more specifically, blood diamonds. This was a major coup for them.

            “In regard to Neville Forestal, he was prepared to kill you, or anyone else who got in his way. There was no other way out for him after his indirect involvement in the death of Freddie.”

            Bada said, “My sources tell me he was having financial difficulties. Even with his problems, I was impressed with Neville’s achievements and qualifications. While I never suspected he was tied up in anything criminal, I suspected his purported affection for Gweneth was shallow and financially motivated. I started to tell her of my concern, but decided against it. I didn’t want to appear to be a meddler. She’s had enough problems. But there again, none of us would have ever dreamed he’d resort to being involved in a murder plot.”

            Hammersmith said, “I can tell you it was also a complete shock to everyone at the station back in Stratford. Looking back over his record, I now realize Forestal was always setting his sights higher. I think coming from such a modest existence as a child, he always harbored a well-hidden resentment for the success and affluence of the Bada family. I personally believe Forestal’s plan to marry Gweneth was just a precursor to his eventually doing away with Mr. Bada and inheriting the Bada fortune.”

            Thorne turned to Bada and said, “Money can make people do things out of character with their basic instincts. I know it did in my case. This time—and there have been other times in my life—I felt put upon, and as a result felt justified doing things I later regretted.

            “But in the end, you have to realize you can’t always seek vengeance. Vengeance will eventually destroy you, not the person who you think may have injured you. I’m deeply sorry for what I did, Gil.”

            Bada smiled and said softly, “Try not to think about it, David, it’s over now. I appreciate your final decision. That’s what counts.”

            He took an envelope from his coat pocket, removed the contents and placed them on the table in front of him. “David, we were wrong in letting you go. I’d like to renew our contract, have you return, and continue the search for de Vere’s papers. I firmly believe they are still in the castle.”

            Thorne looked at the papers spread out in front of Bada. He shook his head. “Gil, I do appreciate you not holding a grudge against me for what I’ve done. I’ve also enjoyed working with you and Freddie, but . . .”

            Bada said, “I understand, and I also want to apologize for letting myself be convinced by Simon, Chester, and Lionel to terminate our agreement. It was wrong. You need to know, I have broken off any contractual obligations I had with them. They’ve been paid their expenses in full by Bada, Limited and are out of the picture. I’ll also see that Freddie’s widow, Helena, will be well taken care of. From here on out all activities relating to the search in the castle for the de Vere documents will be conducted by Bada, Limited.

            Thorne glanced at Hammersmith who looked up from examining the files in front of him..

            Bada continued, “The search has become public knowledge and will no longer be conducted in secret. I do have a strong suspicion Roger Linsdame was aware of it all the time. I don’t know how, I just sense it.

Chapter 71

Bada sat back and steepled his hands. “Now that the demolition phase is almost complete, and construction on the addition will begin shortly, I’ve hired at least ten additional men to assist you in the search for the documents, and to provide security.”

            Hammersmith looked up and said, “Mr. Bada, I don’t wish to meddle in your personal affairs—or the affairs of Bada Limited— and even though they are on private property, I would like to have your security people register with me.”

            Bada said, “Of course, Inspector. I had originally thought my staff at the company and I would supervise these men, but as you know, we don’t have the time—or experience. I had toyed with the idea of contracting our architect, Rainier, to head up the search operation. However, he’s so busy with other business—and personal—matters, I didn’t think he could devote the time required to assist us with the search.”

            He paused and turned to Thorne. “I’m asking you again, would you consider coming back and helping us? I would want you supervising the search and documenting the search areas. You’ll have free reign and will be working strictly for me.” He pushed the papers across to Thorne. “Here’s a new contract for you to continue as before. Take your time. I want you to be satisfied with the new arrangement.”

            Thorne opened the envelope. It was the same contract as before, but now, only Bada, Limited’s name was listed as the client.