Facets of Death by Michael Stanley

Author:Michael Stanley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2019-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 52

When the CID meeting eventually adjourned an hour or so later, everyone had a long list of tasks to take care of. It was obvious to Kubu that despite a plethora of facts, they actually had little or no idea of who was responsible for the theft of the diamonds, or if in fact they had actually been stolen on the way to Gaborone.

As the detectives walked out of the conference room, Kubu asked Mabaku if he had time for a short meeting.

Mabaku frowned but told Kubu to come to his office in fifteen minutes.

Kubu decided there was time to catch up on the suitcase mystery with Neo. He stuck his head into Neo’s office and asked if he could chat for a few minutes. Neo waved him in.

“I’ve only got a few minutes before I have to see the assistant superintendent. Have you found out anything about the suitcases?”

Neo opened a file and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Both airlines said this was the first time they’d had an incident like this. A few suitcases here and there, yes, but nothing like this. I also asked about your second question. By the way, what were you doing up at three in the morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep. My mind was going hell for leather.”

“I didn’t understand what you wanted at first. It made no sense to be asking about suitcases that didn’t get on the planes, but I asked anyway. The two airlines said that the tag scans in Joburg indicated that a total of fifteen suitcases had missed their flights. But they didn’t do anything at the time because they were confident that the bags would show up sometime, either in Joburg or at their destinations. And that’s what happened. Nobody reported them missing.”

“We’ve solved the puzzle, Mathew. All we need is one more piece of evidence.”

Neo scratched his head, trying to understand what Kubu was alluding to. “I still don’t understand. Explain it to me.”

“I will as soon as we’re certain. We need some more help from the two airlines though. They know you by now, so could you do that?”

“I suppose so.”

“Please ask them to contact the passengers whose bags the airlines thought had missed the flights in Joburg. Ask each passenger to check their baggage tags. If the tags are still on their suitcases, have them give the airline the baggage tag numbers.”

Neo frowned. “I understand what you’re asking me to do, but I’ve no idea why.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell you later. Right now I have to go to my meeting with the assistant superintendent.”

* * *

Kubu knocked on Mabaku’s door and went in when he shouted for him to enter.

“Sir …”

“What is it, Bengu? I hope it’s important.”

“Sir, I had two thoughts during the meeting, but I didn’t feel comfortable saying them in front of everyone.”

“Why not?”

“Sir, I’d like to tell you, but please don’t shout at me.”

“Sit down!”

“Sir, you raised the possibility that one of the other vans had the diamonds and that the security team in the van somehow managed to switch them.

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