Chapter 8

"That lady who escorted you here – Ruth I think you said her name was; can she sign an affidavit that there was no such intent?"

"I expect so. There were a group of ladies involved in getting me and the girls together. They called themselves Malan mothers."

Mrs Mboya's eyebrows lifted. "Ah. So that is who that lady is; one of the five Malan mothers? Derek – what is your surname, boy?"

"Dearden, ma'am."

"Mr Dearden, you have struck lucky. These ladies recently became famous in the colony, and they are respectable residents now, so their word should be reliable on the subject of you and your intended spouses. What I need from you in the first instance is the names of each of you, and your country of origin."

Derek named his girls with pride, ending by saying, "We are all from England, ma'am."

"Fine. Have you all arrived to remain permanently, or do one or more of you have to return to Earth to settle your affairs before moving here to stay?"

Derek's visage took on a querulous look as he considered the point.

"I don't actually know, ma'am. Apart from Marjory, we are all university students and need to convert our courses to distance learning arrangements. I am not sure if we have to appear in person for that or have it done by phone. Also, some of the girls may want to say goodbye to relatives."

"You can do that easily by phone too, Derek. I think you should discuss these points with your fiancées, and get back to me when you have settled the matter. I cannot finalise your immigration status until you each register to be a permanent resident.

This is not to say that we can't sort out other details in advance. For example, what subjects are each of you studying? That helps fill out our database of residents' talents and abilities. I also need to have a summary of the physical health of everyone applying for residency. There are some medical conditions, for example, which we are not in a position to cater for, so that may prevent a successful application."

Derek mentioned the courses each of them were taking, adding, "As far as I am aware, all three girls are fit and well, except that Marjory is pregnant – but in the early stages. She is only sixteen."

"Really? I hope your other partners are a bit older, Derek?"

"As they are at university, you can tell that they are, Mrs Mboya."

"True. I was a bit off the mark there, was I not? Well now, do any of you have physical assets that need to be removed to Rehome – specialist furnishings, prized possession (a collection of paperweights, for example) or such, that we have to ask The Personalia to transport here? And any financial assets that need to be transferred to the Bank of Rehome? We just have the one banking facility on Rehome, you realise?"

"Gosh, I never thought of such items. I'll need to ask the girls and get back to you about that."

"Oh, I should have said: Any wooden items need to be certified clear of woodworm and other infestations before it can come to Rehome. You will understand that we cannot have any pests imported here.

"I understand, ma'am. I will pass that instruction on where needed. I can appreciate you don't want pests for which this planet may not have protection in its ecology. This must be a follow-on from the questions I got when I stepped off the Landership?"

"It is, Derek. Correctly observed. Some arrivals do not think of these protections, and have to have some of their items impounded and returned to Earth. Pets can be a particular problem in carrying diseases and pests, which is why our publicity material warns that pets cannot come to Rehome."

"You say we each get land. I presume that is land for farming. Do we not get forestry land as an alternative?"

"No. All forests on Rehome are reserved to the Colony, due to products that come from the forest fringes. The Colony does not want the forests disturbed; certainly not those in the vicinity of the Colony and its rural hinterland."

"But you have railways here. Aren't the rail sleepers made of timber?"

"Yes, that is so. We have to import the timber from Earth, although the Colony is looking at other planets for timber supplies. New Eden is tunnelling through mountains to a forested area, and we hope to see timber from New Eden before long."

"So what comes from the forests that is so important that the forests are protected?"

"I can't say, Derek. I know that there are people who are engaged in harvesting truffles near the forests, and truffles are a valuable export, so perhaps truffles are the driver of that policy, but it may be a combination of things. I know that there is a forest animal similar to a deer that is native to Rehome. Possibly the intention is to make sure it is not disturbed in its habitat. I am not an expert on Rehome's ecology, Derek, so don't expect me to answer all your questions."

"Sorry, Ma'am. Being a student, I tend to ask questions a lot."

"To get back to the question about land, if we find that a group of people are trying to get more land than they should, we solve that by making the land grants hundreds of miles apart."

"Oh. I get you. It would be almost impossible to operate them together, being so far apart!"

"Exactly. Any land swaps have to be approved by this department, so in such cases we turn down any proposed swaps. The word soon gets around, and such underhand dealing ceases to be a viable option. In your case, if the resident ladies sign affidavits that your intentions were honourable, all of you would get contiguous land grants, so you could operate as a very large farm."

"Wow!" said Derek. "So I should become a farmer?"

"Not necessarily, Derek. If you prefer to put your energies into other aspects of Rehome, you might employ a farmer, or group of farmers, to operate your farm land. Another possibility is to rent the land to a nearby farmer, so that he can add your holdings to his farm, for the benefits of scale from a larger farm."

"So what is the reason for the land grants: just a free gift?"

"You could look at it like that, young man, but it is much more than that. In part it is an incentive towards development of the Colony. More farms lead to a series of local communities, which would become the kernel for future villages. Farms involve produce, which creates a greater economy for the Colony. The expansion means a need for transportation, and the most effective style of transport, and the most efficient, is the railway. Building the rail network in itself stimulates the economy. The incipient villages need schools to educate the children, and the city requires additional facilities: hospital, community centres, sports facilities, swimming pool, and so on.

You can see how the Colony is developing, but it also has a strong grounding in basic laws, a single religious structure, and a civil service geared to improving the lot of the residents. There is an ethos of community blending all that together. I think you should enjoy taking part in the new society we are creating."

Derek gulped, astonished at how he was now seeing the Colony of Rehome. It was no longer just an offshoot of Earth. It was a new entity in the same way that the early United States was a completely different beast from the countries that had first settled the territory.

Brian Brown was not a happy man. He had just been arrested at the rail company warehouse by the policeman his superiors had brought along.

He wondered to himself, "should I say nothing, and let them work to find out more, or do I blab, and hope this helps me in sentencing?"

He went along with keeping quiet for the moment. The policeman did not seem fussed, as he was simply apprehending the criminal, to take back to the office. The ladies were another matter.

Alice asked her superior, "Justine, what is our next step?"

Justine Jupp was clear on one point. "Alice, we need to establish where our missing goods have gone. Our storeman should be able to tell us.

Mr Brown, where did our goods go, when you stole them from our warehouse?"

Brown simply looked at her, and said nothing.

She responded, "Damn! He wants to play the dumb criminal, does he? Who was the woman who alerted us to him? She may have some inkling of the destination of our materials."

"Uh, Justine. Perhaps we shouldn't name names in front of the culprit?"

Justine looked back at her, and nodded. "Quite right, dear. Once the nice policeman has taken him off to be questioned and imprisoned, we can discuss this further."

They watched as the policeman handcuffed Brown and led him off, then they relaxed a bit.

"Now, who was it who informed us about this matter?"

"It was a woman named Ruth. I don't remember her surname, or even if she mentioned it. She said she worked on security for Rehome Deliveries."

"Right. I'll ring them and ask for her."

Justine got her phone out of her handbag, and looked up the number for the firm. Getting through, she asked, "Can I speak to your Security person? She is called Ruth something or other."

She was asked to hold, while the person answering the phone made enquiries.

"Ma'am, the person you want is Ruth P ... sorry, I am not supposed to say her full name. She is not in the building at present. Shall I ask if you may be given her phone number, if you can tell me who is asking?"

"I am Justine Jupp, from the rail company. Ruth gave us some help earlier today, and I wish to consult her for some information."

"Very well, madam. Please hold for a moment."

Thirty seconds later, she was back on the line.

"Madam, she has been asked to phone you, as the company does not wish her phone number to be generally known. If you will transfer your number to me, I shall pass it on to her. Thank you."

The number transfer between phones was swiftly achieved, and a few minutes later, Ruth phoned Justine Jupp.

"Miss Jupp, I understand you wish to ask me something?"

"It is Mrs Jupp, but yes, I have had Brian Brown arrested, and wondered if you knew where our goods have disappeared to, as Mr Brown is not talking to us on the subject."

"Ah, yes. I expect you do have that concern. Can I ask you to leave that to me at present, as he appears to have been removing items from three separate storage facilities? I would like to deal with it as one enquiry. I promise I will keep you informed, Mrs Jupp."

"Well, if you say so, Ruth. I am sorry, I didn't catch your surname?"

"Not to worry, Mrs Jupp. You don't really need it."

Ruth decided she needed to have another discussion with Diane Kempe. She got her on the phone.

"Diane? Ruth Proctor here. What is happening regards that shop that is selling the stolen goods?"

"We are preparing a team to have a blitz on it, and identify as many items as possible as stolen property. Why?"

"I have been approached by the woman in charge of the rail company's supplies. She wants to try to recover their stolen property, but I have put her off for the moment."

"Why did you do that, Ruth?"

"Because I think that the shop will not be the end of the line."

There was a slight pause, then Diane enquired, "Why do you think that?"

"From my experience, the shop manager will be another link in the chain. There will be someone behind him; probably the money man. He will be the one behind the whole set-up. You don't want to miss him, Diane."

"I see. I am beginning to realise that experience counts for a lot in this business. Would you like to resume running the operation, Ruth? I think you might be better than me in this case."

"No, I don't think I should be in charge, just running in parallel with it. I would like The Personalia to audit the shop's accounts, to discover where the income goes. That should lead us to the money man, and I can work out the best way to apprehend him. You could get your detectives to question the shop manager about where the sales income goes from there. I would be interested in what he has to say."

"I get you. Certainly, I can go along with your ideas on this. I will have sergeant Roger Crouch act as your go-between, to keep you updated. He will be running our activity at the shop. He is extremely reliable and methodical at his work. I am passing you his phone number as I speak.

I will make a request to The Personalia about the accounts."

Diane temporarily set aside what she was working on, and got on to The Personalia. Apologetically, she asked them to have a look at the phone records of Metro Discounts, and any accounting or banking records that they could find for the firm. "What our prime concern is, who is benefitting from this firm?"

"We understand your needs, Diane Kempe. We shall report to you on our findings."

"May I amend that? Do your report, please, to Ruth Proctor. She is one of the Malan mothers. She is going to take it further once we have data to work from."

"Noted. Goodbye, Diane."

It took The Personalia only an hour to do their research, and they rang Ruth Proctor.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Ruth Proctor, this is The Personalia. We were asked by Diane Kemp to report to you on Metro Discounts."

"Great. Do you have anything for me?"

"A limited amount. The shop appears to keep their internal accounts on a computer that is not online, so that was not available to us. The shop income is deposited in an account at the Bank of Rehome, and THAT is available to us. The sums vary from time to time, with deposits and withdrawals. There are two signatories. One is James Mushet, who seems to deposit the takings. The other is Desmond Duchesney, who seems to do the withdrawals.

We have noted that the withdrawals are in the form of transfers to another account. That account is in the name of Desmond Duchesney, and currently holds the sum of 56,234 dollars.

As we thought you might be interested, we have ascertained that the same person holds two other accounts at the bank. The one account holds 13,347 dollars. The other holds 481,232 dollars.

Did you want to know more about this gentleman?"

Ruth was amazed at what had been found. This was a better result than she was expecting. She had hoped for clues at best. This could make her work much easier.

"Does he own any other businesses?"

"Yes. One is called Metro Imports. It appears from the records to be a business importing goods like office equipment and household white goods. The other is Top Repairs, a business repairing the same range of goods. We have noted no special points about these firms, except that quite a lot of business seems to come their way from Metro Discounts."

Ruth felt a lightbulb go on over her head. She now had a good idea what would be found on the raid on Metro Discounts. She immediately phoned the sergeant that Diane had told her about.

"Sergeant Crouch? This is Ruth Proctor. I think you will not be able to identify stolen items at Metro Discounts. They have been disguised."

"Disguised? How do you mean, Miss Proctor?"

"What I think happens, sergeant, is the stolen items go first to Top Repairs, where they officially get a new identity as an item having been imported by Metro Imports at some indeterminate time as defective equipment. They are nominally repaired, and THEN go to Metro Discounts with a label identifying them as an item imported from Earth by Metro Imports. Both firms are owned by Desmond Duchesney. I suspect he even has a contact on Earth who will confirm that defective goods were sold to Mr Duchesney.

The goods are then apparently legal items being sold by Metro Discounts. The only way you will be able to identify them is if the previous owners had a record of the equipment, such as a product identifier as an individual item, rather than merely a model number."

"What are the odds of that, Miss? Not high, I expect. This is a Colony, not a bureaucratic hierarchy."