The Body in the River (22 page)

Middlemiss asked,
‘
Jean, if you were him, where would you head for?
’

‘
Somewhere where he will feel welcome; not in a banana republic, they are too unstable. If he knows the Caribbean, he will probably go to one of the British Islands where he will not stick out as a foreigner. But be patient, my friend, now we know the ship he is on, we will be able to trace its movement along the islands.
’

Brookes had said nothing during this exchange. Now he said,
‘
Do you have good relations with the police forces on the other islands, Jean?
’

He shrugged his shoulders and pulled a face as only the French could.
‘
Yes, most of them. When we tell them what ship we want to find, most will inform us if it docks in their country.
’

‘
You say
most
;
does that mean there are some that don
’
t co-operate?
’

‘
Just a few, Monsieur. But it is these places that white men are not welcome; your man would be a fool to get off the ship on one of those islands.
’

Brookes nodded grimly, wondering what his next step should be.

Reading his thoughts, Petit said,
‘
Without knowing where he has gone, there is nowhere for you to go. I will take you back to your
‘
otel, where you can relax until there is news.
’

Brookes nodded, not happy without a definite plan of action. But the man was right, there was little he could do except phone London and tell them to alert other Interpol members of the ship
’
s name.

The journey back to Port-de-France was a quiet one, with Brookes deep in thought.

Back in his hotel room, Brookes picked up the phone and asked for a London number. Commander Aitcheson
’
s staff officer answered. He told Brookes that the commander was in a meeting, due to end about midday. Brookes looked at his watch and deducted four hours, making it 11am in London.

He said,
‘
This is urgent, please get this message to him as soon as you can.
’
He went on to tell the staff officer what he
’
d learned about Fleming
’
s whereabouts. He concluded,
‘
Ask him if there is any way of tracking the ship and get him to ring me at this number as soon as he can.
’

Putting the phone down, he suddenly felt weary and lay down on the bed. Within moments, he was in a deep sleep.

*

‘
They that go down to the sea in ships: and occupy

Their business in great waters;

These men see the works of the Lord: and his wonders in the deep.
’

Psalms 107, v.18

The meeting that Aitcheson was attending was a high-powered one chaired by the Home Secretary. Present were junior ministers from Health and Foreign Affairs, as well as senior police and the military. The subject they were discussing was the war on drugs.

Aitcheson got Brookes
’
message as he was leaving the meeting and immediately turned round to seek out the Foreign Office minister, Desmond Harvey. He found him in conversation with a grey man who Aitcheson had observed sitting in the background and taking no active part in the proceedings.

Harvey looked up as Aitcheson approached. Without speaking, Aitcheson handed him the message.

After reading it, Harvey handed it to his companion, whom he did not introduce.

‘
Your area, I believe.
’

The grey man in turn read the message and looked at Aitcheson.
‘
Yes, Commander, I think we may be able to do something about this. Leave it with me; I
’
ll get back to you this afternoon.
’

Aitcheson smiled,
‘
What name should I call you?
’

‘
Barrington-Smith.
’

‘
OK, I
’
ll wait for your call, Mr Smith.
’

‘
No, it
’
s Barrington-Smith with a hyphen.
’

Aitcheson nodded and excused himself.

Returning to his office south of Waterloo Bridge, Barrington-Smith called a member of his team, instructing her to contact Lloyds of London at their offices at No.1 Lime Street in the City. He wanted all the information they had on a ship named Julianne, registered in The Dominican Republic. Within an hour, he had the information.

The SS Julianne was a 1750 ton diesel powered vessel registered to a Marcel Chapel, who was also the ship
’
s captain. Her home port was Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and she plied for trade throughout the Caribbean. She had a cruising speed of 10-12 knots and was a cargo vessel with no licence to carry passengers. Although she was diesel-powered she was described as a
‘
tramp steamer
’
, an old-fashioned term meaning that she did not have a strict schedule or published ports of call but traded on the spot market, picking up cargo when and where she could. Accompanying the report was a plan of the vessel and a photograph.

Barrington-Smith next contacted the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). First he identified himself and his mission. Then he requested their help in tracing the current position of the Julianne. Faxing the description he
’
d obtained from Lloyds, he added the date and time the ship departed from La Trinite on Martinique and the believed direction of travel. The man he spoke to promised to call him as soon as he had news. His orders from above were that any request from this source was to be treated as a priority: the Americans owed the British more than a few favours and were co-operating fully on the project.

The information was fed into the computer of one of the hundreds of spy satellites operated by the NRO circling high above the Earth. The operator knew the task was not a difficult one; the telescopes on these satellites were capable of reading the registration plate of a saloon car and would have no trouble spotting and identifying a 1,750 ton ship even in a sea the size of the Caribbean, once they had its approximate location.

*

Two hours after his call to London, Brookes
’
telephone woke him.

It was Aitcheson.
‘
We
’
ve found your ship, John; it
’
s doing about ten knots heading north-east towards The Dominican Republic. The distance is about six hundred kilometres, so it should take it about thirty-two hours total. That means it should arrive about two am local time. But I
’
m reliably informed that your man is most unlikely to disembark there; the natives aren
’
t friendly to Europeans. How does that match with your information?
’

‘
I agree, sir. This man prepared months ago for his run for cover. The only clue I
’
ve got to where he might go is something I noticed on the bank statement we found in his flat. Some months ago he made a visit to a place in Mexico called Matamoros; it
’
s up close to the US border.
’

‘
Good; I
’
ll get onto our American friends and get that covered. A lot depends on how much cash he
’
s carrying. If he runs short he may have to pay a visit to his bank on Grand Cayman.
’

‘
Couldn
’
t he do that by phone?
’

Aitcheson laughed into the phone.
‘
No, Richard Mann came up with a scheme that means Fleming will have to go to the bank to prove his identity. You know the kind of priority this has.
’

‘
You
’
re telling me; when I last spoke to Mann he said that wasn
’
t possible.
’

‘
You
’
d be surprised what is possible, John, when the right people are behind something. When the economy is struggling and some criminal is sitting on over fifty million got from the proceeds of crime and hasn
’
t paid tax on it, the PM is not happy and wants him brought to book.
’
He paused, then added,
‘
You
’
d better stay where you are for the time being; there
’
s no point you flying about all over the Caribbean. I
’
m told that someone in Santo Domingo, the port he appears to be heading for, will be watching for our man. I
’
ll keep you informed.
’

Anxious as he was to get after Fleming, Brookes saw the futility in fretting over the order to stay put. He decided to try to relax and enjoy the delights of Port de France. After a quick shower he put on casual clothing and went down to find the bar.

Taking a seat at the long bar counter he ordered a gin and tonic and sat studying his map of the Caribbean. A chain of islands stretched from the Venezuelan coast in the east, in a rough crescent northwest, towards the Yucatan Peninsula in the west. Martinique was some 500 kilometres from Venezuela, The Dominican Republic some 600 kilometres further along the chain. Looking further afield, he saw that The Cayman Islands were a further 1,500 kilometres west. Above the Dominican Republic were the Bahamas and Florida.

A voice over his shoulder said,
‘
My colleague Pierre says that Fleming paid ten thousand US dollars for the trip. For that money, provided that the crew don
’
t murder him on the way, they will take him directly to his destination, wherever that is.
’

Turning around, Brookes said,
‘
Thanks, Jean. What would you like to drink?
’

‘
Rum of course, Monsieur; with a coke.
’

The hovering waiter nodded and, after serving the drink, moved to the other end of the bar.

Brookes smiled.
‘
What delights do you have in store for us tonight?
’

Jean returned his smile.
‘
There are all sorts of delicacies that I like and if you are paying the bill, Monsieur, I shall sample them all.
’

Middlemiss arrived in time to hear this. He said
‘
Good, with your face full of food, you might stop moaning for a while.
’

Petit laughed.
‘
And you, my friend, can stick your
‘
ead up your Aris?
’

*

Back in cold, wet London, the murder team continued to work the case. Fleming
’
s flat was searched with a fine-toothed comb. A computer disk with Alison MacPherson
’
s files on it was found. The details of her personal life and her diary identified it as hers.

Fraud squad detectives searched the disc for information on the money laundering. As it seemed that it was this evidence that had got Alison killed, there was a good chance of finding something incriminating on the disc.

*

‘
And fast through the midnight dark and drear

Through the whistling sleet and snow,

Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept,

Tow
’
rds the reef of Normans Woe.
’

Longfellow. The wreck of the Hesperus.

In Fort de France that evening, the team
’
s spirits were high. A Royal Navy frigate, HMS Flint, which had been on exercises in the area, had joined the chase. Whilst it could not be used to stop the Julianna, its powerful radar could track the ship from a distance. The Flint would alert the pursuers when the tramp steamer made landfall or rendezvoused with another vessel.

Overhead, the satellite cameras also tracked the tramp steamer. Added to that, the British-led team had eyes in every port en route. There was no escape for Fleming wherever he chose to run.

Middlemiss and Petit continued to cement their friendship in their own unique way. They matched each other drink for drink and insult for insult. Even the more reserved Rose was drawn into the witty exchanges as the wine continued to flow. Petit had taken them to a restaurant that specialised in local cuisine. The menu offered an array of dishes cooked in the French style but with the added spices for which Caribbean cooking was famous. The food was delicious and Brookes ate his share, although he was sparing with the wine. Whilst he was content that everything that could be done had been, he would not be happy until they had Fleming in custody.