Page 144 of The Scene of the Crime
‘Were you wearing gloves?’
Bishop nodded. ‘There was a pair of Wheeler’s on the coffee table.’
‘Where’s the rope and the tape now?’ Wood asked.
‘I threw it all in a bin on my estate, along with the clothes I was wearing, ’cause the rubbish collection was Wednesday mornings.’
Chapman realised the chances of recovering the items now were virtually nil. ‘Well, you left a bit of tape on the back of Wheeler’s neck, and forensics found your partial print on it. That’s why we were after you.’
He sighed. ‘I thought I must have fucked up somewhere.’
‘You’d probably have got away with it if Wheeler hadn’t died, as there’s no way he’d have reported what happened to the police.’
‘Maybe not, but he’d have come after me and Cole with a vengeance.’
‘Did you find any diamonds?’ Chapman asked, wondering if there were more than the ones recovered from Wheeler’s stomach.
‘No. Cole was livid, and that’s when he started burning Wheeler with a cigar. It was horrible. I could smell his burning flesh and hear his screams from behind the tape. Cole said if he didn’t tell him the name of his mate who robbed De Klerk’s house and where the diamonds were, he’d keep going. Wheeler nodded, like he would, and I took the tape off his mouth.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He was in a terrible state. It was hard to make out what he was saying, he was groaning and gurgling that much, but I’m pretty sure he was saying he did the job on his own. Cole asked ifhis ribs were all messed up because of De Klerk, and he nodded. He asked Wheeler again if there was cash in the safe. He nodded, and I think he was about to say where it was when, suddenly, his eyes bulged, and he couldn’t breathe, then his head slumped forward. I checked for a pulse, but he was dead.’
‘What was Cole’s reaction?’
‘He was dumbstruck, then he started cursing at Wheeler. He wanted to search the flat again and started rooting around. After a few minutes, I said it was pointless, and he agreed we’d better get out.’
‘For what it’s worth, the money was hidden inside a travel pillow, and he’d swallowed the diamonds. It looks like he intended to sell them in Dubai.’
‘Did he have a heart attack?’ Bishop asked.
‘It’s possible. De Klerk caught him in his house and gave him a good beating, which ruptured his spleen and that could have led to his death.’
‘So, we didn’t kill him,’ Bishop said, looking relieved.
‘De Klerk had reasonable grounds to assault Wheeler. You and Cole didn’t, so legally, you could be culpable of murder.’
Bishop looked shocked. ‘I swear to you I never hurt him. It was all down to Cole. I was scared he was going to fucking shoot me.’
‘Did Cole say anything on the way back to his place?’ Wood asked.
‘He told me to keep my mouth shut and get rid of the tape and my clothes. He said he’d give me five grand.’
‘What’s Cole’s relationship with De Klerk?’ Wood asked.
‘Like I said before, I think they scam people.’
‘Can you explain it in a bit more detail?’
‘I don’t know much about it, but Cole makes lab-grown diamonds in a machine. He told me it’s all legal, and De Klerk got a cut of the profits.’
‘What’s the scam if it’s all legal?’ Chapman said.
‘I think Cole shows punters real uncut diamonds and then makes whatever jewellery they want with lab-grown diamonds that are worth about a quarter of what they’re paying.’
‘Where do the real diamonds come from?’
‘I found a screwed-up Kimberley certificate for some mined South African diamonds in Cole’s warehouse bin a few weeks back. De Klerk probably smuggles them in through his wine shipments from South Africa.’
