The Maltese Cross Mystery: A Martin Taylor Crime Adventure

By John R Aarons

Australian detective Martin Taylor is called to assist the New York Police Department in tracking down Maltese Cathedral treasures that had been on display in a prestige art gallery. So begins an investigation that takes him on an amazing adventure through a number of fascinating countries.

This is the third in the series of art related crime adventures involving detective Martin Taylor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Aug 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781984506580

John R Aarons

The writer spent many years living and working as an engineer in Australia, Britain, The Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand and the USA and now resides in Melbourne with his wife. They spend happy hours with their married children and grandchildren who live nearby. They travel extensively every year.

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Copyright © 2020 by John R. Aarons.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/03/2020

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 A New Era Dawns

Chapter 2 Back to Work

Chapter 3 New York, New York

Chapter 4 The Assignment Details

Chapter 5 Question Time

Chapter 6 Little Italy

Chapter 7 Scene of The Crime

Chapter 8 Another Day in The Big Apple

Chapter 9 Little Italy Revisited

Chapter 10 Dead End

Chapter 11 Critical Decision Time

Chapter 12 Farewell New York

Chapter 13 Neapolitan Welcome

Chapter 14 See Naples and Survive!

Chapter 15 Battle Lines Drawn

Chapter 16 Time to Take Stock

Chapter 17 A Warm Maltese Welcome

Chapter 18 Reunion in Saint Julian’s

About the Author

CREDITS

A special thanks to Cristina Marcantoni for being one of my greatest fans of the Martin Taylor art crime series and for spending precious time to review all things Italian including language, names, and historical references.

Other books by John R. Aarons:-

The cover page is the interior of St Paul’s Metropolitan Cathedral found in Mdina Malta.

1

A NEW ERA DAWNS

MARTIN TAYLOR WAS sitting by the pool reading the Brisbane Courier Mail newspaper when his phone buzzed to tell him an incoming email had arrived. He folded the paper and placed it on the table alongside the tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice he had been enjoying and picked up his phone. Opening up the mail screen, he saw it was from Charlie Watson, one of the Los Angeles police officers he had met in Madrid a little over a year and a half ago when they were attending an art fraud conference in that delightful city. They had stayed in contact since the conference, sometimes offering advice to each other with investigations they were working on.

Martin had recently sent out emails to all his overseas contacts advising them that he had resigned his position as a detective senior sergeant with the Victoria Police and had started a private investigation firm specialising in art crime. He had registered his company’s name as ‘Taylored Investigations’ and had opened an office in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Brighton. Since word had spread that he had left the police force, he had received a lot of enquiries and had already completed a number of assignments for private art dealers in the South Pacific region. He was about to commence working on a small fraud case for a collector in Spain and planned to establish a branch soon in the Spanish city of Bilbao, where he intends to spend a few months each year. During the recent corona-virus pandemic, international travel had been severely restricted, but the world was now reopening for business as usual. At the moment, he was having a short holiday in the popular resort town of Noosa on the Queensland Sunshine Coast. Isabella Segueras, the beautiful Spanish woman he had met when he visited Bilbao after the conference in Madrid, had been in Melbourne for a symposium three months earlier, and, afterwards, Martin had taken her to some of the popular tourist destinations around the state. The highlights for Isabella were the penguin parade at Phillip Island and the magnificent Tarrawarra Art Gallery and vineyard located in the Yarra Valley.

They had also driven the spectacular Great Ocean Road down to Lorne, stopping at Bells Beach to give surfing a try along the way. It was during their last day together back in Melbourne that Martin had proposed to Isabella, and she had happily accepted. She had selected an outstanding Australian opal ring from one of the city’s best jewellers and was thrilled with the way the blues and greens shone in the bright sunshine. He decided not to tell his family or employees just yet of his sudden engagement until after Isabella had told her family back in Spain. As it happened, once she had departed, he was so busy at his office that he held off telling anyone, and then he arranged for the holiday in Noosa, and the news was put on the back-burner again. When Isabella heard that Martin had resigned from the Victoria Police, she flew back to Australia to spend another five days with him on the Queensland Coast so they could discuss his plan to open a branch in Bilbao, where she lives. Although this is the location of the famous Guggenheim Museum and is considered one of Europe’s foremost art destinations, in reality, Madrid has a considerably larger art presence. Martin chose Bilbao because that is where Isabella lives and that means they can spend time together whenever he is working there, and in between, she will keep an eye on things. As soon as she returns home she will search for a suitable office to rent and make enquiries with a human resources company she had used previously in Bilbao to find staff for her law practice office. She had enjoyed the cosily warm climate in Noosa at this time of the year, as it was late winter in Europe when she headed out to Australia. They stayed in the Sofitel Noosa Pacific Resort, which fronts onto the busy Hastings Street lined with upmarket shops and great restaurants. The rear of the hotel looks out over the Weyba Creek with multi-million-dollar homes lining the waterways, each with an expensive boat tied up at a private dock at the bottom of the garden. He drove her to all the nearby places so she could really appreciate the Queensland coastal countryside, and every day was a delight for both of them. Their nights were filled with further developing their love for each other, both in a physical sense as well as in bringing them closer together as mature adults. By the end of the week, anyone observing them might have had the impression of a couple who had been together for quite some time as they displayed an air of natural harmony.

Isabella couldn’t stay any longer, as she needed to get back to Bilbao to prepare for a court case that was starting early the following week. Yesterday, Martin had driven her to the Sunshine Coast Airport in Marcoola and sat with her in the Qantas Club lounge until her flight to Brisbane was called. She would then fly with Emirates Airlines to Dubai and change for the flight to Frankfurt. The final leg of her long journey will be with Lufthansa to Bilbao. He waited until the plane took off and then returned to Noosa for the remaining two nights that he had booked at the resort. As it was going to be some twenty-seven hours before she would arrive in Bilbao, including three changes of flights, she promised to call him after she had arrived home. He told her that no matter what time it would be in Australia, he wanted to hear that she was back safe and, well - even if it woke him up.

Charlie’s text message had asked Martin to call him at his office in the Los Angeles police headquarters at 4:30 pm California time, which with the eighteen-hour time difference between there and east coast Australia, meant 10:30 am. As it was already after ten o’clock, Martin grabbed his belongings and headed to his room to make the telephone call. Charlie’s message had given him a direct phone number, and he answered on the second ring.

After a few pleasantries about where and when they were at the moment and their well-being, Charlie quickly got around to the reason for his message. Martin, a cousin of mine is the captain of police at the One Police Plaza headquarters in New York City, and we keep each other up to date with what is happening crime-wise on opposite sides of the United States. Knowing that I head up the Art Fraud Investigation Department here in L.A., he contacted me yesterday asking if I knew someone with experience in investigating stolen art or precious antiques, as they have a very delicate situation on hand right now that requires investigation by someone from outside the United States. I told him that I know of someone who may fill the bill, but I wished to discuss it with that person before I pass on your details

Martin was somewhat taken aback at this conversation and felt he needed to know more about the event before he could consider an assignment like this. What kind of a crime would prevent the New York Police employing the services of their own detectives or those of the FBI?

All I know, replied Charlie, is that an immensely valuable collection of items of historic significance has disappeared from a reputable New York private gallery, and although they have worked out how they were stolen, no-one has any ideas where they are now. The items belong to a cathedral in Malta, and the city of New York authorities had taken responsibility for their security whilst the collection was on display there.

Do you know what kind of items are in the collection? asked Martin.

No, the situation is extremely embarrassing for the authorities. As far as they are concerned, the fewer people who know about it, the better. The theft hasn’t been reported to the news outlets yet, and I suspect the cathedral in Malta is also unaware of their disappearance at this time. My cousin’s name is Maurice, and as he is the son of my father’s brother, we share the same Watson surname. They call him Mo down at Police headquarters in Manhattan, and he doesn’t mind the nickname. He is highly respected as captain of police and previously served as a lieutenant. He’s had more than twenty-five years’ service with the force. Maurice is highly decorated, and when he attends formal police functions, he is weighed down by all the medals pinned to his uniform. He paused to let Martin absorb what he had just told him.

If you at least agree to listen to his proposal, I will provide him with your cell phone number so he can call you - and of special importance, I’ll set him straight about the time difference between New York and east coast Australia so he doesn’t telephone you at three o’clock in the morning!

Martin hesitated for a moment before answering, OK Charlie, I will listen to what he has to say and then decide whether I want to get involved. On the face of what you have told me, I have the distinct impression it might be quite dangerous, on top of which you might be surprised to learn that I have recently become engaged. This means I have new responsibilities to consider before taking on risky assignments. My fiancée is the gorgeous woman I was introduced to in Bilbao soon after you and I met at the conference in Madrid eighteen months ago. Although I spent many years in the service of the Victoria Police and was often faced with dangerous situations, Australian gun laws are far more onerous than yours in the United States, so the chances of being shot are considerably less."

That makes sense, Martin. I’ll call Maurice and tell him you are willing to consider the assignment depending on the circumstances and other important details. I’ll give him your email address as well as your cell phone number so he can contact you direct. Please let me know when you’ve made your decision, and keep in touch. If there is any assistance I can provide should you accept the assignment, please don’t hesitate to ask. Anything I do will be strictly unofficial, as, obviously, I can’t get involved directly.

Thanks, Charlie. I really appreciate your recommendation. We’ll speak again soon. After hanging up the phone, Martin opened his laptop and started searching cathedrals in Malta. He quickly found that this tiny island was filled with churches and numerous cathedrals. The largest and most famous was called the Saint John’s Co-Cathedral and is located in the capital city, Valletta. He switched to the Wikipedia site for this cathedral and looked at a series of photos, which clearly showed that this was one incredibly impressive cathedral. Its walls and ceilings are completely adorned with frescos and gold reliefs. There’s not one square centimetre anywhere in the entire building that isn’t covered by some kind of decoration. Martin studied every photograph intently, and although he is not religious, he found that looking at these pictures of the cathedral had an extremely moving effect on him, and he suddenly wanted to tell Isabella about it.

Realising that she would still be thirty thousand feet in the air heading towards Spain, he would have to wait some time before he could discuss the implications of this potential assignment with her. Resuming his study of the cathedral, he came to the conclusion that there was more gold here than in Fort Knox - not in ingots but formed into items such as candelabras, ritual plates, incense urns, vases, as well as orbs, crosses, and staffs such as priests might carry during holy services.

He assumed that none of these items would be gold plated but fashioned from solid gold and were obviously priceless. He read something of the history of the cathedral and learnt that it had been consecrated in 1577 and was dedicated to the Knights of Saint John. It underwent renovations and additions throughout the following two hundred years.

By the time Martin had absorbed all this knowledge, it was well into the afternoon, so he showered and dressed in shorts and T-shirt before leaving the hotel to stroll along busy Hastings Street. He was looking for a café with outdoor seating where he could have lunch sitting in the sun and watch the passing parade of holidaymakers. Noosa, like many other popular tourist destinations throughout Australia, was still recovering from the lockdown during the pandemic crisis.

He found a pleasant-looking place with a terrace overlooking the ocean and was led to a table with a great view of the crowded beach. The café wasn’t very busy at this time, which meant that he could sit down, relax, and enjoy some peace and quiet whilst he considered this potential American assignment that had suddenly been thrust upon him. He let his mind wander over all the possibilities of what type of objects they might be that have been stolen. Working on the basis of what he had seen in the photographs on-line earlier, he wondered if they could have included a magnificent candelabra or a shepherd’s crook such as Jesus might have carried? The more he tried to guess what they might be, the more he told himself this was silly, as he had no idea what he would be looking for until he had spoken to Maurice Watson in New York. All this supposition was getting him worked up when he was supposed to be here to relax. A young waitress came over and took his order of grilled barramundi and fries with a side salad. He asked her if they had any Melbourne beers, and she replied in a soft Irish accent that they had Fosters Lager in cans.

Perfect, I haven’t had one of those for years.

When she returned with his beer, he enquired if she was a student enrolled at a Queensland university, and she answered, Actually, I recently completed a science degree at Dublin University and have taken a year off to travel around the world before starting work with a large pharmaceutical company back home. I have been back-packing around Australia for six weeks now and have had no trouble getting jobs in restaurants wherever I stop to hang out for a while.

Martin told her, I am an ex-policeman from Melbourne, and hitch-hiking is not recommended, especially for young women travelling alone.

She chuckled and said, Thanks for your concern, but I am not travelling alone, I’m with my boyfriend, who is six feet four and has a black belt in karate. He is also a champion rugby player in Dublin and definitely not someone to mess with.

Martin smiled apologetically and replied, I’m glad to hear that, and I wish you all the best in your travels and your future in your chosen career. She went off to the kitchen and came back a short time later with his lunch.

As he ate, he realised that although Isabella had departed for Spain only yesterday, he was already missing her, and this is probably why he was chatting so much to the waitress. He had seen so much of Isabella in recent times, and now, suddenly, he had no idea when they would have the next chance to get together. Being engaged to someone who lived halfway around the world was going to take a lot of getting used to. After lunch, he would stroll along Hastings Street and look for a nice gift to send to her in Bilbao.

Sandwiched between two of Noosa’s best restaurants, he came across an upmarket gallery selling Indigenous paintings and basket-ware made by some of the local Aboriginal artists. Martin introduced himself to the gallery owner and explained that he is a detective involved in art-related cases, but, right now, he was on holiday and looking for a gift for his fiancée.

"Welcome to my gallery, Martin, My name is Gordon Hunter. How can