Chapter 22

      

Andy turned the corner and stopped dead and watched the backs of four people go through the gates to the cemetery. Waiting until they were out of sight he went past the tall brick gate posts, past the lodge and into the yew trees behind. The dense foliage providing perfect cover. He could see the four of them spreading out and checking all the gravestones. It was quite a large area and he thought that this would take a time.

They were quiet, concentrating. The old lady with a stick and long dark dress with a bunch of flowers paid them no attention. She stood by a grave and wiped her face then headed towards the gate. There was no one else there and the only sound was the scrape of feet on gravel when the paths were crossed and the occasional scuffing through the longer grass. Andy was lost in thought, almost mesmerised by all the activity. It was obvious they were onto something. They looked at every stone, every monument rubbing off some lichen here and there. He heard Mike say, “It won’t be the really old ones so we don’t need to bother with them. There’s a lot here that date back to the 19th century and they’re all well worn.”

Thirty minutes later and they were still looking. Jane said, “I’m not sure if it’s here but it cannot have been far from my Grandmother's house where he’s buried, can it? My grandfather’s hiding place was most likely within walking distance as well. Transport could be difficult then. It has to be close to the town. I’m not sure where they lived but I do know it was in town somewhere. If it’s in a graveyard it has to be this one surely.”

Amy had stopped and was quite near to Andy so he moved back deeper into the trees. Suddenly Eddie, who was over the far side by a grave that was overgrown with grass, shouted, “Here. What about this one? Look it says, ‘David Duncan 5th May 1940,’ and a bit about him. This has got to be it.”

Andy moves towards the edge of the Yew trees. He’s watching them closely congregating around the stone. Mike says, “At the end behind the stone. It must be there. We need something to dig.”

Eddie said, “In the boot of the car there’s some tools. There must be something there we can use. I’ll go and see.”

Ten minutes later he was back with a big screwdriver and long handled wrench and set to work with the screwdriver to loosen the earth and the wide flat handle of the wrench for a scoop.

Mike said, “We’ll have to stop if anyone comes.”

“Graveyards are normally quiet places,” said Amy then she smiled at the apparent joke, “I meant not many people come to them.”

Eddie said, “I’m going as quick as I can, fortunately the earth is not too hard.” as he spoke about a foot down there was a clunk and then another as he widened the hole. Removing hand fulls of earth after a couple of minutes he stood up with an old black very rusted safe box that was not locked. He gave it to Jane and said, “This is yours I think.” Then kicked the earth back into the hole and stamped it down.

With the help of the screwdriver the lid was opened. Inside there were three small rotting leather pouches that were closed with a drawstring. Jane undid the strings of one and carefully opened it up. Inside were at least forty clear cut diamonds each about a carat. Maybe more. The other two pouches had a similar amount.

“There’s at least one hundred and twenty diamonds here. Like pirate treasure,” said Mike.

“In a way it is I suppose,” said Jane, “They were thieves after all.”

At the bottom of the tin was a small faded canvas bag. Inside was a note with the writing blurred and the paper turning brown and brittle. Carefully opening it Mike read, “This is the property of Dave Somerton and Frank Anderson of the US army or our heirs if we fall in battle.” 

Jane said, “Well that’s it I suppose. It’s all official. ‘Or our heirs,’ it says, so half of this is yours Amy.

Then they heard a voice say, “Some of that is also mine. I lay claim to the amount of an up-front payment made for a shipment of fuel that was not delivered.”

Andy had come out from the trees and was slowly walking towards them then stopped about thirty feet away. He had the gun in his hand waving it about. Eddie started to move towards him but Andy continued, “I don’t want any trouble. I’ve come here in good faith.” And to prove the point he took the bullets from the gun and put it in his pocket. Eddie started towards him again so Andy said, “Please. I don’t want trouble. What I have to say you’ll all find interesting. If you come any further I’ll leave and I can tell you there’s no doubt I can run faster than either of you and further.”

Jane said, “Let him speak. I’m interested to hear what he has to say. Especially if it involves our past.”

Eddie backed away to rejoin the others and Mike said, “go on then tell us what’s so interesting.”

“You know who I am and what I do. As I told Amy, my family are all villains and have been for generations. My grandfather’s name was Wally Cronin he was better known to all of his associates as Mack after the character Mack the Knife from the Three Penny Opera. I expect you can guess why. He was the leader of the villains frequenting London south of the river during the war years and operated in the black market. It was his lot that bought the fuel stolen by your grandfathers and it was his lot that they, how shall I phrase this, that they defaulted on for the last shipment for which they were paid twenty five percent up-front. All their payments were made in diamonds. The story is that my grandfather robbed a rich fella who changed all his wealth for diamonds at the beginning of the war and stashed them under the floorboards. Anyway after they defaulted they both unfortunately died before my grandfather could catch up with them.”

“Hang on a minute, this is all very well. You’re telling us a good story but how do we know it’s true? Have you proof of who you are?”

“Just hear me out please. I’ll get to that in a moment. My grandfather knew the down payment diamonds were not part of your grandfather's stash. Amy’s grandfather, Frank, gave half to each of you grandmothers. He knew this because they began to surface a while later.”

“If he knew why did he not get them back from the two women,” Eddie said.

“Because of the family code not to hurt women. That’s why.” they all looked at Amy, “he told me in the car when we were waiting for you and he was trying to convince me that he would not hurt me. But how did you know who I was?”

“I expect all you know has been passed down from your parents. It’s the same for me but that was a very long time ago when I was just a nipper. My dad died when I was very young. I had forgotten about all this years ago so had really lost track of all the names and all the stories. Like I said I was young and it didn’t interest me so why bother? You can forget things quickly when you’re young. Since I’ve been here though the name Somerton has been bothering me. This morning when we were leaving I looked at my watch. I haven’t worn it for years. I usually just have a cheap throw away but that had gone dead so I bought this with me….It’s a 1930’s Rolex and I suddenly remembered the engraving on the back. It's very faint, just a scratch mark really, ‘Dave Somerton.’ Then I remembered some of the stories my dad told me and started to piece together all those memories. In the car when I asked you who you were Amy you said your grandmothers were friends during the war. That was it. There could not be any coincidence you had to be Frank’s granddaughter. It all fitted…. Am I safe to come over there?”

“Yes,” said Jane looking at Mike and Eddie.

“Here,” Andy said, “look at this.” And he gave her the watch. “This was your grandfather’s. My grandfather picked it up from the place they met. Down on the front somewhere. The strap had broken. My dad left it to me. He was a proper villain and got himself shot to death a long time ago in a row about nothing more than pride. One of those stupid principle things.”

Jane said, “I know it’s his, apart from the inscription I’ve a photo of my grandfather wearing it. You’ve seen it Amy. What do you think?”

“It’s the same one alright. There’s no doubt about it.”

Jane went to hand it back but Andy held his hands up and said, “No, that belongs to you. I don’t want it back.”

“But it must be worth thousands. Your grandfather found it.”

Andy said, “I don’t care about that. It’s a piece of your history so it’s yours.”

Mike said, “But how do we know you did not just find the watch?”

“What and know all the stories.? The ladies will tell you. Everything I’ve said is true. You don’t know that much information about something that happened two generations ago and not be genuine, do you?”

“You could be right,” said Mike.

“I’ve a proposition. I don’t know the value of the up-front payment but I feel I’m due something. It’s only right. To put it bluntly my grandfather was shafted. What I propose is this. Give me a third of the diamonds….I know that’s probably too much but I can make up the difference by giving you back the package,” and he took it from his inside pocket and showed it to Mike. “It’s all there. That’s not worth that much to me, especially after I’ve paid George. It must be worth an awful lot more to you Mike and besides I’d like to see that Mr Bennet get his. He's too greedy and slimy by half. Well that’s it. You can turn it down, that's up to you. If you do I’d appreciate no trouble like I said I’m here in good faith and I’d like to keep the package. I’ve got to cover my costs for all this mucking about somehow. Remember I’m trying to be honest and fair.” 

Mike looked at Jane and said, “If you’re sure this is your decision. It’s really nothing to do with us.”

Jane took Amy by the arm and walked away a few paces and they spoke in hushed whispers for only a few moments. Then Jane turned to Andy and said, “We agree. It’s the right thing to do and besides there are enough diamonds to go round. It draws a nice neat line under everything.” She gave him one of the bags, “We assume they’re about equal. Are you happy to take a chance? We are.”

Andy replied, “Happy.” Then he handed the package to Mike, “Take good care of that and make sure it does its work. It’s given us all a lot of grief.”

Mike said, “I never thought I’d say this to you but thanks and the best of luck. Say hi to your hired help George if you see him again.”