Insomvita. Psychological thriller with elements of a crime story

London, UK.

14 December 2011. 18:35

Robert was in his hotel room looking through materials related to a contract. In an hour he was to meet Mr. Zimme, a gemologist, for dinner at a restaurant, and so he wanted to examine the details of the deal one more time.

Morgan Lawyer & Co. was acting as intermediary in the acquisition of a large lot of diamonds and had provided documentation and legal support for the deal. The seller was a billionaire from Russia living at One Hyde Park, a luxury residential complex in London, and the buyer – a sheikh from Saudi Arabia. The Russians wanted to remain in the shadows, so he involved an offshore company from the Virgin Islands for the sale and acted through representatives. All negotiations between buyer and seller, without exception, however, involved Robert.

The firm usually had him support these kinds of deals worth hundreds of millions of euros. So, this wasn’t the first transaction of this sort for Robert.

The day before, there had been a meeting at the office of the firm’s director, where Roland said to Robert: «I understand your concerns about the rush. I know Christmas is just days away, but the buyer wants to spend the money before the year’s end. You know, for tax purposes. Besides, the buyer is a Sunni, and for them our Christmas doesn’t really exist. Everything will be ready by December 16. No later. Brink’s Incorporated, the shipping company, has already delivered the diamonds to the bank, and I was notified today that the buyer’s money has been transferred there too. Here’s the SWIFT transfer confirmation.»

«Roland, the rush is not a problem. Rather, I’m concerned about insurance liability and possible consequences. I told you the diamonds’ sales contract clearly specifies a strict deadline for completion of the deal. If the deal falls through, the default party will have to pay a penalty of five percent of the value of the deal.»

«Well, what’s bothering you there?» asked Roland, surprised. «The bank already blocked this amount on the accounts of the parties to the contract.»

«That’s not what I mean. I am suspicious that the payment of the penalty and insurance indemnity to the seller under the preliminary agreement and at the request of his representative are transferred not to the account, where the funds from the sale of the diamonds are transferred, but to an offshore account. The buyer, meanwhile, makes the payment through a top bank, and the possible penalties and insurance indemnities are also transferred there.» Robert paused and took the contract in his hands. «The fact that the buyer agreed to that is what is most suspect. These kinds of contracts take at least a month to prepare and we have only slightly over a week. By the way, December 16 is the last day. I’m not used to being so pressed for time. What if the deal does not go through on the 16th? We are really short on time,» he said.

«Listen, if the buyer does not object, what can we do? I offered, but the Arabs did not focus on this at all. Also, Robert, why do you think that the agreement will fall through? After all, the insurance indemnity is paid only if nothing happens. I think your suspicions are groundless. Both parties are serious about this and nobody will risk their image for some five percent. No, that’s just silly.»

«Roland, the penalty is nearly fifty million dollars! You think that’s silly?»

«Robert, maybe the seller wants to evade taxes this way.»

«You mean the taxes he would pay on the principal bothers him less than a possible loss from the penalty?»

«Well, that’s why we are sending you, Robert. You have to make this deal happen, so that nobody has to pay any fines.»

In the evening, Robert and Kenan Zimme, who worked at the laboratory of HRD Antwerp, were dining at one of London’s oldest restaurants.

Mr. Zimme was an active, sociable and nice seventy-year old Jew, a native of Odesa. At the beginning of the Second World War and German occupation of the city, his family fled to Palestine. Shortly afterwards, due to the constant conflicts inside the newly created Israel, the Zimme family moved to the United States, where his father opened a jewelry store and a pawnshop.

That’s what he told Robert during dinner. Mr. Zimme joked a lot, and he shared funny stories from his life. During the conversation, he remarked several times that a smile made him feel like a twenty-year old young man and that as luck would have it, he was sick only once in his life – he contracted epidemic parotitis, the mumps, at the age of four.

Zimme was reciting all this with great humor, typical of those who are fully content with their life and fate.

Robert was noticeably concerned about the contract, but Mr. Zimme cheerfully reassured him: «Young man, believe me, from an old perch that’s swum in different waters in this life, you need not worry. Everything that is bound to happen will happen, and everything that is not meant to happen will not happen, regardless of your concerns and your actions. So, is it worth being nervous or anxious then? Today, when you go back to your hotel, don’t worry about anything. Just lie down and sleep tight. Trust the rest to God. He will take care of everything. As for our object, I must tell you that it is wonderful. It’s been some years since I’ve seen something like that. I reviewed everything thoroughly and I am confident there won’t be any trouble.»

But Robert was still concerned. He could not understand the reason behind his doubts and anxiety. To distract himself a bit, he decided to call Chloe.

It was just after 9 pm. Chloe did not answer. Robert dialed several more times, but got the same result. A waiter approached him and asked Robert to take a call from the restaurant’s phone. Robert immediately thought about Chloe, but how could she know the phone number of the restaurant?

«Right,» remembered Robert. «I left the details at the hotel’s reception.»

«I suspect, young man, that a certain young woman is tired of waiting for you in your room while you entertain an old man here.» Zimme smiled. «Go, because as a talented fellow countryman of mine once wisely wrote:

Love, love, because time does not wait for you.

It takes away your days and nights.

Love for as long as your body is young and thirsty.

Because when you are old, you will only love with the eyes.

«No, my girlfriend is very far away now, but it could be her calling.» Robert smiled at Zimme’s wit and headed to the bar.

When Robert picked up the phone, he could only hear short beeps. Robert replaced the receiver and waited for a couple of minutes, but nobody called back.

As he was returning to his table, Robert noticed from afar an unknown man of Middle Eastern appearance stop near the gemologist. As soon as Robert approached, the man excused himself and went to another room of the restaurant.

Zimme was still in a good mood and joked: «Well, Mr. Blanche, it seems like we keep getting interrupted.»

«Was that someone you know?» Robert asked, disregarding Mr. Zimme’s comment.

«You mean that guy? God forbid, Robert, he had me mistaken for somebody else,» Zimme said indifferently and continued to thinly slice the large piece of meat on his plate. «I’ve been mistaken for others many times. Once, I was even mistaken for Sir Anthony Hopkins and asked for an autograph. What do you think I did? I gave the autograph! And this one time in Israel…»

He continued to tell funny stories, and from time to time the old man would laugh so hard tears came to his eyes. Robert thought he had never met a more cheerful person in his life.

In the morning, Robert was awoken by a call from Mehmet, the sheikh’s aide. In a troubled voice he informed Robert that Mr. Zimme had had a heart attack and been taken to the ER, and so they had to quickly find a new gemologist. He also said that all the documents where Mr. Zimme was mentioned as an expert needed to be revised.

At that moment, Robert felt a suspicion that someone wanted to disrupt the deal. He immediately called his boss and reported the incident.

To keep the deal on track, the Arab side tried to get a gemologist from Israel. However, he was too busy and had to decline. The same happened with a gemologist from Belgium. Unexpectedly, the Israeli Diamond Exchange offered a professional gemologist from Guinea, who was in the UK at the moment.

The sheikh’s security quickly screened the gemologist’s documents and confirmed that Mr. Kone, a citizen of Guinea, was indeed an excellent expert, who had been in the business for thirty years, providing his services in West Africa, Angola and South Africa. Mr. Kone was immediately summoned to London and introduced to the sheikh.

It turned out that Mr. Kone was short, sturdy, black, and sixty years old. He was very polite and spoke French and English fluently.

That same morning, a white Maybach Landaulet drove up to the bank with the sheikh and his aide. The sheikh’s security detail and partners were already standing at the entrance and politely greeted him.

After all the formalities were observed, the representatives of both parties entered the conference room.

The sheikh was the first to enter, followed by his two strong bodyguards and three Arabs, the sheikh’s partners. Everybody, except the bodyguards, were dressed in long white robes of thin cotton and a keffiyeh affixed with a black head ring. The bodyguards, dressed in black suits, white shirts and colored ties, stood with stony faces in the corners of the room. It was clear from their appearance that they were American. Their conduct, hair and square chins gave away that they were former US special forces, likely Navy Seals.

Then the representatives of the seller, both from Eastern Europe, Czechs or Slovaks, entered the room. Everybody, except the bodyguards, sat down at the big round table, greeted each other and waited. One of the sheikh’s aides, upon his order, opened a grey MacBook and launched the bank’s app to access the account.

Several minutes later, Robert, gemologist Kone and two bank representatives with a metal box entered the room.

Robert placed two packages of documents before the buyer and the seller. All these documents had been examined by the parties a long time ago, but official procedure required it. The diamonds had also been already examined by the bank’s experts. Mr. Zimme personally had checked the quality of each diamond in the presence of bank employees. However, before transferring the money to the buyer and the diamonds to the seller, the procedure required another formal examination.

The metal box was opened, revealing neatly folded plastic bags with big, the size of a hazelnut, diamonds. A gemological certificate was attached to each stone.

Everything was removed from the metal box and placed on a separate table for inspection.

Mr. Kone, in white gloves, approached the table and selected several bags. He took out one stone and looked at it through a special loupe set on a tripod. He compared his examination result with the gemological certificate. Satisfied, he handed the stone to the sheikh, who examined it carefully with his own handheld loupe. Also satisfied, the sheikh nodded.

Kone repeated the procedure with several more diamonds. The Arabs again nodded in approval; they were getting exactly what they expected.

The diamonds were, indeed, wonderful; it was hard to find something of such quality at the price offered by the Russians, and in such quantity.

Finally, the gemologist, having examined yet another stone, looked at the sheikh, but he just made a barely noticeable hand gesture for Kone to continue working. The gemologist nodded, carefully packed the diamond into the bag and placed it back in the box together with the certificate. He then took another diamond from the table and continued to examine it closer through the special loupe.

Robert carefully watched the gemologist.

Thirty minutes passed, but Kone had yet to examine half the stones. He was very thoroughly checking their conformity with the certificates and even more thoroughly packing them into the bags and back in the metal box.

Despite the official nature of the meeting, there was no tension in the room. The Czechs were talking quietly with the sheikh about something through an Arab interpreter.

Robert approached the gemologist and asked quietly in French, «Mr. Kone, do you live in Conakry?»

«No, Mr. Blanche,» Kone answered without pausing his work. «When my great friend Mr. Lansana Conte passed, I had to leave. I moved to South Africa in early 2009. That’s where I live now. That’s where my family lives.»

Kone spoke calmly, peering intently at another piece of treated carbon.

The next moment, a bank officer entered the room and addressed Robert.

«Mr. Blanche. There is a phone call for you.»

Robert picked up the phone and heard the agitated voice of Jovan, his friend and head of the firm’s security.

«Robbie, we’ve got a problem. I just received news from the hospital. Zimme did not suffer a heart attack. They discovered some powerful toxin in his blood.» Jovan fell silent, then whispered, «Poison.»

Robert said nothing. He was stunned.

Jovan quietly continued: «I don’t know where to start digging, but we need to figure out what the deal here is and who benefits. I believe somebody wanted to sideline the gemologist.»

«Did you tell the boss?»

«Roland? Of course, I did. He’s already dropped everything and is coming to the office. But I wanted to tell you personally.»

Robert realized he had to do something and do it now. Before the main contract was signed and the transactions begun. He smelled fraud. The reputation of the firm was at stake.

When Robert returned to the conference room, all appeared normal.

Who would benefit if the deal falls through, he thought, looking around at each man in turn. The Arabs? No. They transferred the money to the bank, the account has been checked, so everything is good there. They rejected the idea of cash right away. Everything is clean there. The Russians? The diamonds are here. Everything was thoroughly checked in advance, and double-checked for compliance of the stones with the certificates. Mr. Zimme praised the quality of the diamonds yesterday at the restaurant. He said that every stone was worth at least fifty percent more than what the Russians were asking. This gemologist, Kone, is also a reliable expert. It was the Arabs who found and vetted him. Seems like everything is clean here too.

Robert, however, knew that if Mr. Zimme had been poisoned, then his illness and replacement with another gemologist were links in a single chain. It all looked very suspicious. The 5% penalty clause for breaking the deadline was a demand of the Russians, the seller.

Robert looked around the room again. Everybody was talking quietly and waiting for the gemologist to finish. He looked intently at the gemologist and was suddenly struck by a strange idea. He had to test it, but not raise suspicion.

He approached Kone and asked in Bambara19: «E be moun fo, a kani?20” Robert decided to ask a question in the language Trevor from his dreams was fluent in. He had never used this language, but if Kone was who he said he was, then he must understand him. Almost everybody in Conakry speaks Bambara, as well as French.

However, Kone did not reply. He held a big round diamond in his hands and acted as if he hadn’t heard Robert.

«A be dioli soro sissan?21” Robert asked and drew closer to Kone.

The gemologist remained silent, looking intently at the diamond through his loupe, as if nothing had happened.

The Arabs noticed the gemologist’s unresponsiveness and fell silent. The Czechs, it seemed, grew nervous and one of them picked up his phone and quickly exited the room.

A bank officer entered and asked Robert what had happened.

Robert stared at Kone, still waiting for answers to his questions, but Kone remained silent. He was still examining the same diamond. Rather, he was not so much examining is as simply staring at it. And he seemed to have stopped breathing.

One of the Czech men broke the silence. With a common Czech accent he said hesitantly: «Everything is fine. Some just can’t take it they see those diamonds. Big money, big anxiety.»

Mehmet approached Robert and asked what happened.

Robert looked at the sheikh, then at Mehmet, and answered in Arabic: «No, not alright, gentlemen. This man is not who he says he is. He is not Guinean. And most likely his name is not Kone. I was just informed that our gemologist, Mr. Zimme, was poisoned.»

The sheikh nodded and one of his bodyguards approached the Czech and the other – the gemologist. The bank officer called the bank’s security.

Dumbfounded and sweating profusely, Kone looked around and with trembling hands lowered the stone into the metal box, as though defeated.

The scam was simple, but daring and craftily elegant.

Mr. Zimme, whom the Arabs trusted fully, had performed the first examination of the diamonds. Then he was sidelined. Poison was the simplest way to go and, seeing as Zimme was polite and friendly, did not require additional preparation. While he was distracted by conversation, someone slipped a small dose of poison into the gemologist’s food.

If the Arabs were to go back on the deal in the absence of the gemologist, they would have been forced to pay the fifty-million-dollar penalty. Nobody wants to lose this kind of money on an almost closed deal. Naturally, the buyer would approach top gemologists in Antwerp or Israel in search of an experienced professional. On their side, upon getting the information about the gemologist chosen by the buyer, the scammers took steps to ensure that he was unavailable by offering him a better job which he could not refuse.

Then using an employee of the Israel exchange, who suspected nothing, the scammers offered Mr. Kone, who was known and respected there. To replace Kone with their own person, a gemologist, was just a technicality. Nobody really cared where the real Mr. Kone was at the moment, as a beneficial contract worth over a billion dollars or a huge penalty for disruption of the deal was at stake.

When the switch was made, the new «Kone» was presented to the parties as a person of the buyer, i.e. the Arabs. The only thing he needed to do was to confirm that all the stones complied with the gemological certificates and that Mr. Zimme did all the work regarding their examination.

After «Mr. Kone» confirmed to the buyer that everything was good, the box with fake stones would be passed to the buyer and the buyer would transfer all the money to the seller’s offshore account. To make it more convincing, several of the stones were authentic and «Kone» showed them to the sheikh, as the latter could easily tell a fake just by looking at it. The rest of the stones were excellent fakes from wonderfully cut cubic zirconia.

Nobody would have thought to examine the diamonds immediately thereafter. So, the scammer had a huge time advantage to tie up any loose ends.

Because the seller did not act directly, but through representatives, he might not have had any idea about the scam. His own people might even be using him, taking advantage of the trust. After the scam was complete, the scammers would have had the real diamonds, which they could leave in a safe deposit box in the same bank.

The scam was win-win. The scammers would benefit in any case – the fifty million dollar penalty if the deal fell through at the least or a lot with high quality diamonds worth over one billion dollars at the most.

The police arrested the gemologist and one of the Czechs. The one who had left the conference room disappeared.

After Robert spoke to an officer of Interpol, Mehmet, the sheikh’s aide, approached him.

«Mr. Blanche,» he said politely. «His Highness would like to discuss with you some of the details of what happened here and invites you to his suite at the Savoy.»

Robert was in a rush to get to his hotel. He looked at his watch; it was close to five. All his thoughts were with Chloe now; she hadn’t answered his calls for three days. He also needed to pack his things. His flight to Prague was the next morning. Still, Robert agreed to the meeting.

«Please tell His Highness that I will be there at nine.»

«No, no, Mr. Blanche. His Highness kindly offers his limo and security men. He is already waiting for you at the hotel. If you don’t mind, we can leave now.»

«Ok, let me collect my things here and I’ll be ready in ten minutes.»

«Very well, Mr. Blanche. I’ll be waiting at the hotel for you. John and Jake are at your disposal.» Mehmet pointed at the two bodyguards in black suits, who gave short, almost imperceptible, nods to Robert. «They will accompany you.»

Mehmet politely said goodbye and left the bank. The two strong bodyguards with unmoving faces, equal in height and build, looked like twins. They never let Robert out of their sight.

On the way to the hotel, Robert tried reaching Chloe a couple of more times, but was unsuccessful.

Mehmet was waiting for him at the hotel’s reception desk. He nodded at Robert and said to follow him.

The sheikh’s suite was huge with several spacious rooms in the elegant Edwardian style with a view of the Thames. In the distance, on the south bank, Robert could see the flickering lights of the 135-meter London Eye, one of the London’s main attractions.

The sheikh came up to Robert, greeted him and asked him to sit at a small table.

«People, Mr. Blanche, always desire to see more than they can,» he began in Arabic, pointing at the Ferris wheel. «But what they want most is to enjoy what they see. Isn’t that so? What do you think?»