Desert Air - 12. DA Ch 12 - Pearls & Diamonds

Once in the study, and the safe was on the floor, Dad locked the door, so we would have no interruptions, and I carefully retrieved the historical items, and placed them on the desk, while Dad dismantled the picture frame, removing the backing, so there was just the frame and the glass.

After carefully opening up the piece of material that has writing on it, I carefully placed it face down on the glass, and Dad put the backing in place, and secured it, before turning it around. We both looked at the frame for a few moments, before placing it inside a cardboard folder and on the top shelf of the safe, and after reading the instructions, we decided on a six digit code, which we set before closing the safe door and locking it.

With the two tins still in my pocket, we exited the study, and we found Mum in the kitchen doing some cooking. “Hello you two, what was that box that you carried into the study?” Mum asked, “A safe to keep our valuables in, we have to go and do one more errand, we will have lunch in town, as we are not sure how long we will be,” Dad replied.

“Sounds mysterious, I hope you will tell me about it later,” Mum said, “We will Mum,” I replied, before Dad picked up the keys to the vehicle and we exited the house. Less than a few minutes later, we arrived at the South Hedland Police station and we walked in, not sure what to expect when we present what we have found.

“Good morning, we have come to hand in items we believe to be stolen from seven years ago,” Dad said tot eh officer at the desk. “One moment please and I will get the duty sergeant to speak to you,” the officer replied, who looked like she had just graduated from the academy as she seemed uncertain what to do for this enquiry.

A large bloke in his fifties approached and he had three strips and a crown on his sleaves, “Good Morning Senior Sergeant. My name is…” “Jexon, if I remember right,” the officer said cutting me off, “Yes that is correct, and this is my father Flint Kendrik from Hillside Station,” I responded.

“We met briefly the other week, when we arrived at your neighbours station, chasing after that escapee,” the officer said, “Yes well we have some more information about that,” my Dad said, “Well you better come in to a meeting room and tell me all about it. Constable let the senior constable know you are with me, and follow us into Conference room 3, with a notepad and pen,” the officer said.

Once the constable has arrived and sat down, all eyes were on us, “Now what is it that you have to tell us,” the senior officer asked, and Dad looked to me. “Well, yesterday Dad and I were told about the escapee being found and returned to custody half dead from exposure.

When we were discussing it with our neighbour Hedley, who told us the news, the question was made, why did a prison escapee travel all the way to the wild reaches of the Pilbara and be spying on activities at the Air Base, and I was thinking that question as I was falling asleep,” I began.

“When he woke up after 2 am shouting, which woke my wife and I up, I went to see what was wrong, and he told me that he had the answer to yesterday’s question, and straight after breakfast, we flew back to the airbase to see if that answer was correct or not,” Dad added.

“Ok, I give in, what was the answer, and did you confirm it?” the senior officer asked, and at that point I pulled out the two tins and place them in the middle of the table. “Now this has got my notice, any more information?” the senior officer asked.

“Only that you think back seven years to an event well publicised and was never solved by the police at the time,” I responded, smiling broadly. “I’m not very good with riddles young man,” the senior officer stated. “Excuse me sir, I think I know what he is talking about. Is it the Pearls and Diamonds robbery in Broome,” the junior officer said.

“Give her a gold star, you are spot on there young lady,” Dad said. “Wait, do you mean to say that these two tins contain those stolen items?” the senior officer asked, sounding shocked, “Yes sir we are,” I said, as I gently opened both tins, and pulled out both cloth wrappings and placed them on the table close to the tins.

“Constable, go and get the camera, and then tell Superintendent Langley, that he is needed here urgently,” the senior officer instructed, and the lady officer dashed out of the office. “We will wait until the District Superintendent is here before you reveal them,” the Senior officer announced.

“What is all of this about, that has dragged me away from my office, a senior officer demanded when he walked in, with the junior officer following, holding a digital camera, and right away she began taking photos of the items.

“Sir, this is Mr Flint Kendrik and his son Jexon, from Hillside Station, they were involved in the initial search of the escapee, and they have just solved a seven year old unsolved case,” the senior sergeant said, and at that point, I unwrapped the two clothes.

“Wow, behold the stolen pearls and diamonds from the Broome robbery seven years ago,” the senior sergeant said to his superior, as the junior officer continued taking photos. “Well, that is quite a find, where exactly did you find them?’ the superintendant asked.

“Well th…” Dad began but I interrupted him, “Sir that is where it gets a little sticky. The land where it was found, was at the time of the robbery Federal Defence land, which more recently has become freehold private property, our property, so you will have to get Defence Force approval first, followed by our permission, before you can enter,” I said, and everyone looked at me in surprise.

“Is that correct son?” Dad asked me, “It is, I looked it up online, and I have made a few phone calls, and I am correct with that information. Sir I will be happy to pass on the contact details of the person you need to speak to in Canberra,” I replied.

“What young Mr Kendrik is saying, is that where they found it, is the old World War Two secret airbase at Corunna, and he is correct that it is Federal land, as it was excised from the pastoral property, but I was unaware that it had been sold to the Kendrik’s,” the senior sergeant said.

“Who else knows about this find?” the superintendent asked, “Our neighbour Mr Hedley Parkinson was with us when we found it, and we only opened it to confirm our suspicions, before sealing the tins again, and it was reopened just now, in this room,” Dad replied.

“Constable, not a word of this to anyone, now go and find the nearest jeweller, and ask them to come here right away, to make an assessment, but don’t tell them what it is,” the superintendant instructed, and the constable once again left the room.

“Any idea what they are worth?” the superintendent asked, “I am looking that up now sir,” I replied as I tapped away on my phone. “It depends on how many carets they are, so hard to tell and I have no clue on the pearls,” I added.

“Very well, we will sit and wait for the jeweller to come, to see what we have is the real deal,” the superintendent said. A good twenty minutes later the constable returned with a middle aged man, with big glasses, and he was puffing from walking fast.

“Thankyou for coming so quickly sir, I would like you to assess these items and tell me if they are real and what they are worth,” the superintendent said to the man who just entered, and the Constable exited and shut the door behind her.

The jeweller took a good look at the diamonds and pearls, “Two valuable items together, that is most unusual,” he said as he retrieved an eye piece from his pocket and took a look at one of the bigger pieces of diamond. “Gentlemen, if all of these are the same as this one, you are looking at a fortune just in diamonds alone,” the jeweller said.

Suddenly a look of shook came to his face, “Tell me, are these by any chance items that were stolen from my jewellery store in Broome over seven years ago and never found?” the Jeweller asked.

“That is what we are thinking they are from, just over a week ago a prison escapee was roaming around in Station country south east of here, and it wasn’t until last night that this very bright young man, put the pieces together, and with the help of his father and their neighbour they searched and found the items.

I will go and see if I can find the original report of the theft for seven years ago, but it might be in storage down in Perth,” the senior sergeant said before exiting the room, where we saw the constable standing there as a guard.

“When I asked the constable to find the nearest jeweller, I had no idea that we would find the owner of the lost items,” the superintendant stated, “If you don’t mind sir, I need to get some electronic scales to assist me with my appraisal,” the jeweller asked, “Go ahead but not a word to anyone, especially staff and family, until we have crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s,” the superintendent replied.

Ten minutes later the jeweller returned, and he sat down and started to study each diamond carefully, and he wrote down some notes on the note pad and a book that he had brought with him. When he finished, he opened the book and flicked through the pages till he found the page he wanted, and he scanned the page, and compared the page to the notes he had just taken.

“Superintendent, I can confirm that these are indeed mine, as they match the appraisals that I has done on them just hours before they were stolen,” the jeweller stated. “What is their value?” the senior officer asked.

“As listed seven years ago, the 84 uncut diamonds, all at around 1.99 carats were valued at $1,260,000 seven years ago an now they are valued today at $3.2 million, and the Tahitian Pearls, which is because they are that darker colour, where valued at $1,800 each, which are now worth, about $3,400 for the each of the 46 pearls, a total of $156,400 and I am happy to report that they are all there,” the jeweller stated.

I stumbled back a little until I hit the wall, then I slid down it till I was seated on the ground. “Are you alright son?” Dad asked me as he rushed towards me. I nodded my head yes, too shocked to speak, “I think my son is a little shocked to know he was carrying 3.35 million dollars of diamonds and peals in his pocket for most of the morning,” Dad said and all I could do was nod my head in agreement.

“Superintendent, I would like to make a special request, that it be known that the diamonds and pearls were anonymously handed into the Police, and that there be no mention of our names or the name of the station we are from, or where they were found, in any reports of any kind,” Dad said to the senior officer.

“Granted, we can do that, but it would be nice to know where exactly you found them,” the superintendent replied, “I am sorry sir, but since they were found on a Defence secret base, that is need to know only, and we will not budge on that what so ever, if you like we can do an unofficial statuary declaration that the items that we found we discovered by three people present, and that they remained intact from the time the tins were close at the site, until they were opened in this room today,” Dad replied.

“I think we can cope with not knowing the exact location, don’t you think senior sergeant,” the superintendant said, “Yes sir, that is fine with me, and they were instrumental in alerting of the presence of the escapee in the area,” the senior sergeant stated.

“Mr Archer, once we have had these items valued by another jeweller, you may have you items back, pending a return of money payed to you by the insurance company,” the superintendent said.