Diamond in the Blue: D.I. Simpers Investigates (26 page)

There was only one thing for it. Simpers would have to jump in and drag the man out.

As he braced himself on the running board he couldn't take his eyes of the water as it rose and fell before him. A familiar hot sensation spread upwards from his neck. He began to panic. His fear of water and the movement of the tender had combined to freeze Simpers to the spot.

As he stood rigid, he moved his gaze to Jenson, who was now almost unconscious.

Why should he save the man's life, he thought.

Why should he allow him to live? After all, Jenson had all but ruined Simpers' life.

'Save him,' said a voice from behind.

It was enough to snap Simpers out of his self-pity. Simpers looked around to see Amelia standing just inside the threshold of the craft. She stared unseeing, but kept repeating the words. The detective could just make out Jonathan stirring from his seated position to join Amelia.

Her monologue was enough to distract Simpers' subconscious long enough for him to jump from the vessel.

Jenson offered no resistance as the detective dragged him back to the side of the tender. Both men were exhausted. Simpers shouted at his two friends to help lift the villain from the water. After several attempts, and more than one slap across the face from Simpers, Jenson roused himself just enough to cooperate with their efforts to save his life.

Once back on board, Simpers secured his prisoner, who continued to focus his attention on the bridge, which was now less than 500 yards in front of them. Suddenly, a cacophony of sound surrounded their craft. Seconds later, four semi-rigid craft screamed past their position, blue lights flashing. An assertive voice exploded into the night air ordering a boat ahead of them to hold its position. Jenson strained his head to make out what was going on.

In the distance, Simpers could see that the object of the police hailing had ignored the assertive man's order, and was speeding off into the distance.

A second order screamed over a loudhailer:

'Stop or we open fire.'

Simpers watch with morbid fascination.

Seconds later the rat-a-tat of sub-machine gun fire rang out. Almost immediately, the night sky lit up as the sound of a huge explosion shattered the relative quiet as the boat splintered into a thousand pieces.

Simpers looked at Jenson. The man sneered no more.

The forlorn figure noticed Simpers fumbling for his pocket.

'Bollocks, don't tell me you still keep that stupid pebble they found stuck in your fist when they fished you out, do you?'

Simpers was filled with panic for the split second it took him to pat his trouser pocket, then he relaxed. He smiled contently.

'Oh, you heard about that, did you?' he replied with some pleasure. 'As a matter of fact, no, I don't. Funnily enough, it seems I don't need the thing after all.'

Jenson looked confused as he watched the detective retrieve a small object from his trouser pocked and hold it up to the light.

'You didn't think I would leave this in my cabin safe for one of your friends to find, did you?'

Jenson fumed with hatred, and frustration. Simpers was holding the most valuable of the diamonds the man had been sent to steal.

'If you hadn't sent me the paste copy and your little note, I wouldn't have thought twice about leaving the real thing where it was. So, you see, you did me a favour, really.'

Simpers could not hide his sense of satisfaction.

'I wanted to invite you all here, to thank you for your contribution to a successful outcome of yesterday's extraordinary events.'

As the Commodore spoke, seven relaxed figures stood in a semi-circle in front of the officer, sipping champagne from elegant lead crystal flutes. All except one. Simpers, instead, cradled a pint of his favourite Saddleback beer.

'It seems fitting that we should gather on the quarterdeck, surveying the ship, its passengers and crew. It was these that you have all played such an important part in saving us from harm,' he added.

The
Sir Francis Drake
had travelled five hundred nautical miles West in the twenty-four hours since leaving Istanbul. Now in the relative warmth of the Mediterranean, the figures took in the last of a lazy sun as it gifted each of them a parting shard of healing warmth, before dipping below the horizon.

Although a celebration, it was not one of triumphalism. For certain, each of the Commodore's guests had a personal reason for being pleased with themselves. In the case of Simpers, he had done his duty – and overcome his fear of water. For the first time in a long time, he felt comfortable in his own skin. The Deputy Captain had a different take on events. He'd been vindicated from suspicion, leaving his ambition to secure a captaincy intact.

As for the rest; Amelia, Jonathan, Malin, Joki and Pippa. In the end, they were just glad to be alive.

'The thing is, Mr Simpers, neither Jonathan nor I can remember a damn thing about yesterday – in fact, after dinner the night before last, well, it's all a blank,' said Amelia.

'I'm afraid that would be the Rohypnol, Amelia,' replied Simpers. 'From what the doctor told me after examining you both, you were drugged – more than once.'

'But how the hell did we get into that stupid tender?' asked Jonathan.

The detective, joined by Cross and the Commodore, broke into a collective, knowing smile.

'One of the more interesting side-effects of the drug you were both given is that, depending on the dose administered, it can take fifteen to thirty minutes to put the recipient out. In the intervening time, however, they'll feel uninhibited and, to an onlooker, will appear blind drunk!' said Simpers.

'But that doesn't explain how…' interrupted Amelia.

'You did as you were told – simple as that,' added the detective as a confused Amelia and Jonathan hung on his every word. 'We eventually found the CCTV coverage of that part of the deck. The ship's nurse…'

'The who?' squealed Pippa.

'Bizarre as it sounds – yes, the nurse. Chappy had been blackmailing her. He'd found out about a little sideline she had on 'prescribing' medication, off the record, so to speak. Anyway, when she'd drugged these two, she simply told them to follow her. Once on deck, the nurse pulled down an access ladder for a gantry next to the tender – then told Amelia and Jonathan to climb in – and they did! We've got it on tape!' said Simpers, aiming a wide smile at his two friends.

'And I don't suppose for a minute, Amelia, you remember throwing your voice. It worked a treat in distracting the photographer,' added Simpers.

Amelia gave the detective a look of astonishment.

'Well, I told you the first night we met that my lovely husband, got rest his soul, taught me well,' responded Amelia, suitably pleased with herself.

'And that just leaves you, Jonathan,' said Simpers as he turned to the young man, who was enjoying his second glass of champagne rather too well.

'Do you remember clouting chappy?'

Jonathon hesitated as his glass floated mid-way between his chest and lips.

'If it hadn't been for you and your tics – I'd be dead – simple as that.'

Jonathan's eyes lit up in amazement. He tried to speak but the words just didn't come out.

'It's true. The photographer got to you so much that you let fly – knocked him clean off the boat, just as he was about to do me in with a lump of wood. Well, what do you think of that!'

Jonathan could hardly believe what he was hearing. He blushed as the others broke out into a spontaneous round of applause and lifted their glasses to the young man.

'Hear, hear,' boomed the Commodore. 'Well, done, Jonathan,' he added.

The young man's eyes lit up at the adulation. He really did help in solving the case after all, he thought.

As the others continued to celebrate, the Deputy Captain shuffled over to Simpers and asked to have a private word. The two men walked the few paces it took to reach a waist high steel wall that lined three sides of the quarterdeck.

'I just wanted to show you something,' said the officer.

Simpers looked puzzled as he watched the man retrieve a small box from his immaculate dress uniform jacket. As Cross lifted the sprung lid, an exquisite diamond ring glistened in the refracted light from the deck illuminations.

'This was why you saw me talking to the jeweller in Gibraltar. Next month I will have been married to a wonderful woman for twenty-five years. I had this made especially for the occasion.'

Simpers looked at the stone for some seconds, before turning his attention back to the Deputy Captain.

'You know, Mr Cross. Even after all these years in the Force, two and two can still sometimes look as though it adds up to five. I know I gave you a hard time, and I'd just like to apo–'

'No need, Detective Inspector, no need,' interrupted Cross, the relief palpable on both men's faces for very different reasons.

As they healed their differences through the medium of idle conversation, for which Simpers had found a sudden liking, the Commodore was deep in conversation with Pippa.

'And what about Colonel Agapov?' asked the woman.

'Nothing to say, really, Pippa,' said the Commodore. 'I had a quick chat with him by 'satellite phone' this morning. It turns out he followed a hunch and managed to alert the Turkish authorities. After putting up a chopper and spotting a speedboat waiting near the Bosporus Bridge, they called in the cavalry, and, well, you know the rest. Agapov is already back in London – and I'm sure you'll catch up with him soon, won't you?'

Pippa returned the Commodore's inquisitive look, and smiled.

'And, of course,' he added, 'Agapov insists on the Russian connection being kept under the radar.'

'Don't worry, Commodore,' replied Pippa, 'there will be no diplomatic incident. There will be another time.'

Pippa continued to smile at the Commodore. This time there was a little warmth in the gesture.

'Come here and talk to me, Mr Simpers,' instructed Amelia in a tone of mock chastisement, 'You've been neglecting me.'

Simpers excused himself from a smiling Deputy Captain and walked back across the quarterdeck to rejoin his two friends.

'Tell me, how did you know it was the photographer?'

'The truth is, I didn't until, how should I put it, the Deputy Captain and I had a discussion. Then it all made sense. The one non-officer who had access to every part of the ship – almost at will, was the photographer. Think about it, he could do what he wanted, where he wanted, and all he would have to do was point his stupid camera – like at the gem exhibition case and security arrangements, for instance. Why would anyone have cause to question what he was doing? They wouldn't, would they?'

Amelia and Jonathan nodded in agreement.

'Do you remember him at our dining table? He was just taking pictures, wasn't he? But if you think back, on a couple of occasions we were discussing the gems theft – what better way for him to find out what I was up to. Add to that the fact that he was blackmailing the ship's nurse to do his bidding – and had his assistant wrapped around his little finger on the promise of an engagement ring, at some vanishing point in the future. I shouldn't say it, but it was a fearsome set up. But then again, once I knew who he really was – it was par for the course. One dangerous chappy, I can assure you.

Amelia and Jonathan hung onto every syllable of the detective's analysis like a pair of children bewitched by a father's bedtime story. Then Amelia's facial expression changed from one of fascination, to panic.

'Excuse me, Mr Simpers, I just need to go…' said Amelia, as she rushed from the quarterdeck, followed by Jonathan less than five paces behind. The gathering looked on in amazement as the two friends clutched their bottoms and raced for the door.

'Another effect of the Rohypnol, I'm afraid!' beamed Simpers

www.philkingsman.co.uk

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to Maureen Vincent-Northam for copy editing and proofreading this book.

Thanks also to my wife, who continues to put up with me after forty years. What a sense of humour that woman has!

Cover image: Samkar

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The Crabby Old Git on Cruising

The Crabby Old Git on Exercise

The Crabby Old Git on Weddings

The Crabby Old Git on Parenting

Fifty Shavings of Grey

...And Before I Go

Thanks a bunch for reading Diamond in the Blue. If you liked it, here's a few things you might like to think about...

a) Tell anyone you know to buy a copy. The royalties will help keep my grandchildren in the style to which they wish to become accustomed.

b) Write an Amazon review. It's really nice reading what readers think, plus, you never know, your words may encourage other folks to purchase it.

c) Drop in at www.philkingsman.co.uk and sign up so I can tell you when the next story in the
Inspector Simpers Investigates
series is out.

d) Feel good about stuff and treat yourself to a coffee and chocolate digestive.

e) Accept my sincere thanks for buying my book. It really means a lot to me.

...So, until we meet again over a cosy read, bye for now.

Phil