The Docklands Mystery

By John Aarons

he Docklands Mystery

is the second in a series of crime novels which features

Martin Taylor, an Australian police detective with the art crime division at the

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen Culture Solutions
• Release date: Feb 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781638126140

John Aarons

These are the memoirs of the Melbourne born author John R. Aarons, who has spent a lifetime fulfilling his dream of travelling the world. His adventures are brought to life from the time as a child aged 3 he sneaked out the front door one Saturday afternoon to go to a cinema matinee to a very mature age author writing novels. He is married and they have two daughters, two son-in-laws and three grandsons.

Book preview

The Docklands Myster

A Martin Taylor Art Crime Adventure

Copyright © 2023 by John R. Aarons

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63812-613-3

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-63812-615-7

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63812-614-0

All rights reserved. No part in this book may be produced and 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.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Published by Pen Culture Solutions 02/13/2023

Pen Culture Solutions

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Other books by this author.

The Funicular

The Maltese Cross Mystery

The Houston Art Chronicles

………………………………

Fulfillment of My Great Australian Dream

(A Lifetime of Travelling the World.)

CHAPTER 1

Martin Taylor was holding his bi-monthly meeting with the representative of the division of the Australian Bureau of Statistics responsible for reporting on crime statistics. The meeting was being held in the conference room on the fourth floor of the Victorian Police Headquarters in the precinct of Melbourne known as Docklands. They had only spent a few minutes going through the latest crime figures when his mobile phone beeped an incoming text message. He excused himself to the ABS representative, Stacey Robertson, whilst he checked the message. It was from his assistant, Carl Dockendorff and read, "Art gallery owner kidnapped. His wife received a telephone call a few minutes ago from the kidnapper."

Martin apologized to Stacey, briefly explaining that a serious situation had arisen which required his urgent attention and said, We’ll have to set a new date to continue our discussions. I’m sorry to have to end our meeting without achieving what you came for but the situation is extremely serious. Having been involved with gathering crime statistics from the local police for some years now, she understood the urgency and graciously left the meeting so he could return to his office to take charge of the investigation. As it was a lovely warm and sunny day, she decided to return to her office on foot as the ABS Melbourne headquarters is also located in Docklands.

Back at his desk, Martin quickly called together the team that usually worked with him on art related crimes. They met in the special operations room and once they were all gathered around, he asked Detective Sergeant Carl Dockendorff, to bring everyone up to speed on the facts as known so far. Carl has been his number two for three years now and both have worked so well together that they each could anticipate the needs of the other. He is a tall stocky man with a balding pate.

He stood up and read from his notes, "The kidnapped person’s name is Aart van den Haag and he owns a prominent gallery in High Street, Armadale. He migrated to Australia from Holland some 30 years ago and soon after started his gallery, which due to its location attracts some of the wealthiest collectors in Melbourne. The gallery is called Aart from the Netherlands which is a clever wordplay on his first name." At this point, one of the officers spoke up and said that he had visited this gallery a number of times and was impressed with the quality of the works displayed for sale. A couple of others on the team nodded their heads acknowledging that they were also acquainted with the gallery.

Carl continued, At 10 o’clock this morning, we received a telephone call from a very distressed Mrs. Helena van den Haag that was put through to me because Martin was in a meeting with Stacey Robertson from the ABS at that time. Mrs. van den Haag was crying on the telephone as she told me that her husband had left home as usual at 9 o’clock to go the gallery to prepare for opening at 10 o’clock as he does every weekday morning. The kidnappers must have been waiting at the rear where Mr. van den Haag parks his car and grabbed him before he had unlocked the back door. This would have been around twenty past nine as they live in Toorak which is only some 15 to 20 minutes away from Armadale in the morning traffic. All this is supposition as Mrs. van den Haag only became aware that anything was amiss when she received a telephone call from a man saying that they had taken her husband to a secret location and she was to await further instructions. Martin asked if any ransom was raised during the call and Carl replied, According to Mrs. van den Haag, there had been no mention of money during the very brief telephone call. Martin nodded to Carl to continue, I asked her if the person sounded familiar in case it was someone they knew through the gallery and she replied that all she could say about the voice was that he spoke with what sounded like a European accent. She said that the man was talking very quietly as if he didn’t want others nearby to hear what he was saying. It is my guess that this was because he was using a public telephone possibly in a busy place such as a shopping centre. As you know, public telephones these days are very exposed providing no privacy at all.

Martin then instructed two officers, Robbie Bates and Andrew McDonald to call Mrs. van den Haag and tell her that they would drive to her home right away in order to be there when the next call came though from the kidnapper. You are to arrange with the telephone company to monitor all incoming calls to that address and to work with the police as much as they could without compromising the government’s latest privacy regulations. I’ll speak to the Police Commissioner to request immediate permission from the attorney general’s department to monitor the telephone calls.

Carl handed the two men a sheet of paper with the address and telephone number of the van den Haag home in Toorak.

Martin then selected two other officers, Ken Smith and Herb McMillan, and gave them instructions to proceed immediately to the rear of the gallery on High Street in Armadale. You are to search the area for anything that may have been dropped by the kidnapper or any other clues such as tyre prints if possible. He then pointed out, It has been raining this morning so there might be impressions of some sort on the ground. Mr. van den Haag’s car should still be in the car park so they should also check the doors for fingerprints in the unlikely event that the kidnapper had grabbed a doorhandle to get hold of the victim. At this point, Carl checked his notes and said, The car is a dark blue Mercedes Benz 250E and the registration number is AART01. Martin went on with his instructions, You are then to start knocking on the doors of the neighbouring buildings and ask if anyone had noticed anything unusual behind the gallery this morning such as another car parked there and if so, can they describe the vehicle or the person who was driving that vehicle.

After the four officers had departed, Martin went to his office and asked Carl to join him there in 10 minutes. He called the Chief Commissioner, Sir Charles MacPherson, to advise him of the kidnapping and what steps he had taken in the case so far. He also requested urgent approval for Mrs. van den Haag’s phone to be monitored. Sir Charles expressed shock saying kidnappings were extremely rare in Australia and Martin is to concentrate on tracking down the perpetrators as quickly as possible.

He then suggested to Martin, Should you require additional resources, officers from other divisions can be seconded at short notice. The State Government had recently greatly expanded the Victorian police force with 400 new recruits and most of these were now completing their training at the Glen Waverley Police Academy. Many were being trained for anti-terrorist duties which Martin thought could also be handy in future kidnapping situations, but that doesn’t help him right now. He thanked the Chief Commissioner and promised to keep him regularly informed of progress in the case. After he hung up the phone, he waived to Carl through the plate glass wall that separated his office from the general work area. Carl came in and sat down opposite Martin and told him, The officers that were instructed to go to the van den Haag home in Toorak have just sent a text to say they had arrived and been made welcome by Mrs. van den Haag. They have alerted the telephone company to monitor all incoming calls and they have installed a recording device which they took with them from here. The other officers heading for the gallery are to report in after they had made their initial enquiries.

Martin then filled him in on what had transpired with the Chief Commissioner. Carl expressed his view regarding the offer of additional resources, I don’t believe we need more that the six of us at this stage as we have so little to work on. Increasing the size of our team right now would have us tripping over each other. I have asked Detective Sergeant Julie Stevens to take any calls that come in for me that are not connected with the kidnapping. I intend to give this investigation my full attention until it has been solved and Mr. van den Haag has been returned safely to his family.

Martin agreed and asked Carl to start straight away researching the gallery and Mr. van den Haag to find out as much as he could on the financial health of both the business and the individual. "It is important to know if they owe a lot of money to third parties and particularly if there have been any reports of suspected involvement in the past dealing with known underground ‘personalities’ of which Melbourne has a considerable number." Carl agreed to commence investigating this angle as soon as he returned to his desk.

Martin concluded by saying, Meanwhile, I am going to arrange an urgent meeting with the director of the National Gallery of Victoria, Elizabeth Hall, with whom I have an excellent working relationship. It is likely that she will be able to give me some helpful information on Mr. van den Haag and his gallery as she has been involved in the Melbourne art world for many years. It is likely she would have met him at major events such as exhibition openings and art circle gatherings.

After Carl had left his office to start his research, Martin called the NGV and asked to speak to the director. He was put through immediately to Elizabeth and briefly explained the reason for the call. He asked her not to talk about it with other NGV employees at this time because the news of the kidnapping had not yet been made public.

She readily agreed and asked if Martin would like her to come to police headquarters but he replied, "Thanks for the offer, but I think it would be better if we met somewhere else than either the NGV or my office so as to not arouse suspicions from the press, many of whom keep an eye on all of us in the public arena hoping to get ‘an exclusive.’ Let’s meet at Brunetti’s Coffee Lounge in Flinders Lane say around twelve thirty if that time is convenient with you. It’s a short tram ride for both of us to get there and shouldn’t take long." She agreed with the time and place and hung up.

Carl knocked on Martin’s door and was asked to come in. Just had a call from Ken Smith, he said that they had spoken to the people in the shops either side of the gallery but they had entered their premises from the street front so hadn’t seen anything unusual this morning. The owner of a Persian Rug business two shops west of the gallery, had parked his car in the lane behind the shops and noticed a large white SUV alongside the dark blue Mercedes that Mr. van den Haag parks there every morning. He assumed it belonged to someone invited to a private showing at the gallery and didn’t feel there was anything suspicious about that so went into his store to prepare for opening at nine thirty.

Martin was pleased with this news and felt that it was a positive step in the right direction. Carl continued, I have taken down the details of the rug store owner for us to follow up when we need to. Naturally, he wasn’t able to see the registration number on the SUV as he was sideways to it a couple of buildings away and in any case he had no reason to even think it necessary. He was able to tell our men that it was a Hyundai SUV because a friend has one very similar although he doesn’t know which model. I have asked our guys to return to the rug store and show the owner the range of Hyundai SUV’s to see if he can recognise the model. They can easily bring these up on an iPad.

Thanks Carl, meanwhile call our colleagues in the stolen vehicles division and have them check if any white Hyundai SUV’s have been listed in the past week as it is highly unlikely the kidnappers would be using their own vehicle to transport Mr. van den Haag. Have you had any further news from the boys at the house with Mrs. Van den Haag? No chief, it seems that it’s all quiet there at the moment. My best guess is that the kidnappers want her to sweat over her missing husband for a while before making their demands. OK Carl, I have to leave now for my meeting with Elizabeth Hall from the NGV so please continue with your research while I am out and call me on my mobile if there is anything urgent.

Martin strolled the block from the office to the corner of Spencer and Flinders Streets to catch the free ‘City Circle’ tourist tram and jumped aboard. Five minutes later he arrived at the coffee lounge. He was a few minutes early so chose a table in a corner at the rear where they should be able to talk quietly. Although it was lunch time for city workers, the café was not particularly busy which was a bonus and would give them some privacy.

While he waited for Elizabeth to arrive, Martin reflected on his recent amazing adventure that started with an art fraud symposium in Madrid, followed by a visit to the northern city of Bilbao where he witnessed a murder on a funicular train. He then found himself assisting the Bilbao police with the investigation which took him on an exciting journey through Russia, Brazil, Chile and ultimately back to Australia. It was one of those ‘being in the wrong place at the wrong time’ situations. Along the way he met a beautiful Spanish woman who was soon to attend a law conference in Melbourne and he was looking forward to showing her around while she was in town.

As he was contemplating this, another attractive woman appeared at his table, the director of the NGV, Elizabeth Hall. She is an elegant sixty year old always beautifully coiffed and dressed in fashionable suits. Martin has only ever met her husband briefly at art events but understands he is a successful businessman and well respected in the community. He stood up as she approached and pulled a chair out for her to sit down.

Following the usual greetings and enquiries into health etc., Martin detailed what had transpired that morning and explained how important it was that they uncover as much information as possible about the gallery owner and his business. A waitress appeared and they ordered coffee and sandwiches. Elizabeth started by saying she had met Mr. van den Haag on many occasions over the years. "We are on first name terms and I have always found him to be a delightful gentleman and I never observed him showing any ill manners. His charming wife Helena usually accompanied him at art functions and she is very well respected in the area of fine arts. Whilst Aart mostly shows his best skills when it