Chapter Nine
“Well, clearly this guy hasn’t been able to get back on his feet,” Dana mumbled under her breath as David knocked on the front door of Toby Johnson’s house.
The small house was in obvious need of paint. The door opened a fraction, and a tired-looking older woman looked suspiciously around the door.
“I don’t want to buy anything,” she said crossly and started to close the door.
“We’re here to see Mr. Johnson.” David gave her one of his winning smiles.
The door stopped. Irritated, Dana rolled her eyes. It would appear, no matter what her age, no woman was immune to that killer smile.
“I phoned him earlier this morning, and he said he’d be home.” David smiled again, and this time the woman opened the door widely.
She nodded and showed them in. “Yes, sorry. He mentioned it. He’s in the sitting room, over there.” She pointed to a door across the entrance.
The house was dark and musty-smelling.
Uncomfortable, Dana glanced around. Here was no display of worldly goods as in the Jordan household. It looked as if they were struggling to make ends meet, but the dining-room table looked new.
A man was sitting close to the window in the small room, staring outside, coughing every now and then.
“These people have come to talk to you, Toby,” his wife said.
He turned his head toward them, still coughing. “Yes, you’re the journalist who talked to me two years ago, the one who phoned earlier this morning?” He shook David’s hand.
“Yes, thank you for seeing us,” David said. “This is Dana Roux.”
Dana stepped forward, and the man inhaled audibly. “Gareth Roux’s daughter?” he asked, clearly shaken.
“Yes, I am.” Dana sat down on a chair near him. She didn’t know what was wrong with him, but he sounded ill.
Still coughing, he smiled tiredly. “Have asthma, jail didn’t help, the medicine’s expensive.” He wheezed.
“We don’t want to take up too much of your time, Mr. Johnson, but I’m trying to find out to what degree my dad was involved in the Hastings’s scheme.” Dana said directly. This was no time for beating around the bush.
Another fit of coughing racked his body but he kept shaking his head. His wife handed him a glass of water, and he finally settled down.
“But your dad wasn’t involved. I never understood why he was taken into custody.
We spoke two years ago, just before the story hit the newspapers.
He heard about Hastings’s scheme from one of his clients and contacted me to find out whether I knew anything about it.
He didn’t trust the high interest rates clients of the scheme spoke about and didn’t think it could be sustainable.
Of course, I confirmed the high interest rate.
What I didn’t know was that things were already going downhill—the article in the newspaper was the last straw.
Investors stopped, there wasn’t any new money coming in, and the well dried up overnight.
“I was happy enough to earn the big commission and didn’t ask too many questions while it went well, stupid idiot that I was.
Typical of these types of schemes, the initial payouts were enormous and investors were happy.
But when no new clients brought in more money, we all realized what was going on.
Hastings never invested the money in new buildings as the clients were promised, instead he used it to support his own lavish lifestyle.
That is of course exactly the kind of thing that brings down a Ponzi scheme. ”
Frowning, Dana stared at the man. So many thoughts were racing through her head, it was difficult to grasp everything Toby was saying. “So what was my dad’s reaction?”
“Well, he was going to contact the financial services board about Hastings’s scheme. He was worried for his clients. I told Sam Jordan about your father’s concerns—don’t know whether you know him?”
Dana nodded, and Toby continued between fits of coughing.
“Sam thought your dad was overreacting. But next thing I knew, the story was in the newspaper, your dad was taken into custody, and was found dead. I got hauled in and eventually had to go to jail.”
Dumbfounded, Dana sat back in her chair trying to make sense of what she’d just heard.
“So you’re saying Dana’s dad would not have been involved in the scheme, because he didn’t trust what was going on?” David asked.
Toby nodded. “But his name was mentioned in the initial newspaper report. He was taken in for questioning. Why he ended up in the police cells, I don’t know. As far as I know, there wasn’t anything that could have linked him to the whole mess. But he was dead before he even called his lawyer.”
“I know, and I thought that was so strange. He and his lawyer were also friends. I never understood why my dad didn’t call him,” Dana said.
Toby’s frail body doubled over in a coughing fit. Eventually, he regained his breath. “Maybe he was silenced; I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” Dana’s heart hammered anxiously.
Toby leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes. “I don’t trust any of these bastards. But I’ve already said too much.” He opened one eye. “You may find that not everyone likes you poking into old affairs,” he said and closed his eye again.
“One more thing, why did you go to jail and not Sam Jordan?” asked David.
He shrugged. “Apparently there was no paper trail linking him to any transaction.”
“But how is that possible? He must have earned commissions for his dealings?” Dana asked.
“There was talk of money laundering…” Toby got out before he coughed again.
“Money laundering?” Surprised, Dana frowned. She couldn’t remember anyone mentioning this before.
Toby nodded and leaned back against the chair.
“Abalone poachers,” he wheezed. “It’s a huge money-making business in Gansbaai, the little village on the other side of Hermanus.
According to rumors, Hastings and these scumbags were in cahoots.
It was a win-win situation; at least that’s what they thought.
Hastings made money; they laundered their dirty money. ”
David nodded his head slowly. “I’ve heard the rumors but never got around to following up on that. So what you’re saying is that Jordan’s commissions never went through any bank, so he couldn’t be linked to any transaction?”
But another fit of coughing overtook the frail body, and his wife motioned for them to leave.
*
Outside, Dana breathed in the fresh air. David took her hand in his.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” Dana looked back over her shoulder. “He’s been in jail and has obviously lost whatever money he made during the scheme. From all accounts, Sam Jordan was involved but there is no money trail. So he never went to jail and lives in a mansion overlooking the sea?”
David’s mind was racing and adrenaline was pumping through his system. “There is a story here; I can smell it.” He helped her into the car.
“What are you thinking?” Dana asked as they drove away.
David was silent for a few minutes. “I don’t know, but something doesn’t feel right.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the man sounds quite ill, but is it real or was he putting on an act?”
Surprised, Dana looked at him. “You really think so? But he gave us so much information about the money laundering scheme and…”
“Yeah, a lot of information, something I also find strange.” He tried to figure out why he wasn’t convinced by the man’s story.
“So, what do we do now? What do you think?” Dana asked.
He turned to look at her. She was clearly worried—a frown marred her forehead; her hands were clutched together tightly.
He touched her hands and smiled. “I think I have a beautiful woman with me and that it’s time for lunch.” He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. He looked at her before he turned onto the highway. “And I know just the place.”
“You know what I mean. What do you think about what Toby said? About the money laundering, about my dad being silenced? Do you think he made it up? Is it all linked?”
David took her hand. “I don’t know what to think. But I still have my contacts and will ask around. We can see what else is available from old online newspaper articles, but that we can do tonight. Let’s have lunch. I think much better on a full stomach.”
“You don’t have to buy me lunch,” she said crossly.
“I know,” he agreed. “But I want to. There is this excellent restaurant in the Hemel and Aarde Valley. The food is divine—even my mother likes it. I also like their wine.”
He held his breath. He wanted her to forget about all the bad stuff for at least a few hours, but would she be able to relax?
She sighed and stared out the window. “Heaven and earth—such a beautiful name for the valley despite its sad history. Did you know they kept lepers in this valley two centuries ago?”
“I read about that when I was doing a story on the original landowner who, incidentally, also had leprosy.”
“I didn’t know that,” she said with interest and he began telling her everything he knew on the topic. It wasn’t a very happy topic but would get her mind off all the bad things she was worrying about, even if only for a few hours.
By the time they took the turnoff into the valley, he could feel her relaxing for the first time since that morning. It pleased him enormously to know, despite everything that was going on in her life, she could unwind around him.
As they drove on, she pointed toward the various wine farms along the way, and they discussed wine. He was happy, he realized after a while. And although he was mostly happy with life, this feeling was something more. But what? Contentment? No, not quite. Completion?
Wow—that was an unexpected word. But then, what he was feeling around this woman was unexpected.
They reached the turnoff for the restaurant and turned onto the road. He glanced in Dana’s direction. She was looking at him.
He stopped the car, leaned over, and kissed her.
“Wh—” she began when he lifted his head.
“Just because.” He smiled, put the car back in gear, and drove up to the parking bay.
*