Part 51

After the collapse of this deal, Durant and Captain Nash left Chicago by automobile for a vacation in the Southwest and Mexico. But even as they were leaving Chicago, Federal agents were on their trail.

The theft of the gems had been discovered by the Countess Margarethe in Germany. She had gone to the basement to check on the safety of the jewels. She had found the hole in the basement floor. The conspirators had not even refilled the hole or re-covered it with concrete. The theft was reported to Army authorities and the matter was turned over to the Army’s criminal investigation division.

The Army’s agents began questioning everyone who had been employed in any capacity at Kronberg Castle. Finally they came to the old janitor who told them of digging up the boxes in the basement coal room. He didn’t know what was in the boxes. He only knew they had been taken to Captain Nash’s quarters. He had never heard any mention of them again.

Customs agents were called in to help with the case. They traced Captain Nash’s movements from the time of her arrival in New York until she left Chicago accompanied by Colonel Durant. They learned of Durant’s visit with Dr. Mark to the jeweler, Horwitz, and the collapse of the diamond deal--because the customs duties had not been paid on the gems. But no one knew the destination of the couple when they left Chicago.

Through calls to friends and relatives, Dr. Mark located Durant in Texas--and advised him he was wanted by the Customs people for questioning. On April 19, 1946, Durant appeared at the office of the Supervising Customs Agent in Chicago with the air of an innocent man who was shocked that anyone should question his integrity.

“You did bring diamonds into the country without declaring them and without paying duty on them, didn’t you, Colonel?” an agent asked.

“Yes,” Durant said, “but I was doing only what everybody else in the armed services was doing. I didn’t know a declaration was required.”

“Where did you get the diamonds?”

“I bought them from a German civilian. I gave him my Elgin wrist watch and 3,000 German marks.”

The agent said, “How did you get them into the country?”

“I put them in a cigar box and mailed the box to myself in care of my brother in Falls Church,” Durant replied.

“Where are the diamonds now?”

Durant reached into his pocket and pulled out the sack of diamonds. “There they are,” he said, tossing the sack onto the desk. “That’s all of them.”

“We’re going to have to hold these diamonds until our investigation is completed, Colonel,” an agent said. “But of course you have the right under law to petition for a return of the diamonds and for remission or mitigation of any penalties.”

“I certainly do want to petition for their return,” Durant said angrily.

He was handed a blank petition. And he wrote: “I am the sole owner of said diamonds.... At the time I mailed these diamonds into the United States I assumed that it was not necessary for me to declare them to any governmental agency.... At no time did I intend to import into the United States and thereafter make any disposition of said diamonds in violation of any statute of the United States.... Therefore, I petition for (their return)....”

Immediately after this meeting with Customs agents, Durant and Captain Nash drove from Chicago to Washington, D. C. Durant hurried to the home of his brother in Falls Church. After nightfall, the brothers drove to a spot on a country road halfway between Lee Highway and Route 50.

They parked the car and walked into a woods to a large oak tree. At the base of the tree, Durant buried an ink bottle which contained fifty small diamonds and two large emerald-cut diamonds--together with a roll of gold wire which weighed 8 ounces.

“For God’s sake, don’t forget where we buried this stuff,” Durant said to his brother. And then the two returned to the car and headed back to Falls Church. A few days later, Colonel Durant began his terminal leave prior to being mustered out of the armed services.

Less than a month later, on May 18, Colonel Durant drove into Washington accompanied by Kathleen Nash. They went to a hotel and that night Durant again visited his brother James in Falls Church. Again the brothers drove to the woods on Lee Highway, where they walked to the big oak tree. Durant took a large jar from a leather handbag and buried it at the base of the tree. The jar contained loose amethysts and white envelopes which Durant told his brother contained loose diamonds.

As they drove from the woods, Durant said, “Don’t forget where we buried the jars. There’s enough in them to set us up for life. If anything happens, I want you to have what’s there.” The next day, Durant and Captain Nash left Washington and headed for Chicago.

Now the net was tightening and Durant sensed it. He had heard the disturbing news in Washington that his terminal leave might be cancelled--and this could mean only one thing: the Army didn’t want to lose its hold on him. Then he and Kathleen learned that she, too, might have difficulty in getting out of the Army.

Two weeks after burying the large jar in the woods, Durant telephoned his brother from Chicago.

“Listen, Jim,” he said. “Go to the big tree and get the large glass jar. Bring it to me in Chicago. It’s urgent.”

James Durant went to the woods and searched for the tree. But this night they all looked alike. He called his brother. “I can’t find it,” he said. “I can’t even find the tree.”

Jack Durant cursed softly. “I’ve got to have that jar,” he said. “I’ll have to get it myself.”

Durant caught a late plane from Chicago, arriving at the Washington International Airport at 4 A.M. He took a taxi to his brother’s home, awakened him, and they drove to the woods, where the colonel walked unerringly to the tree and unearthed the jar. Then he returned to the airport and bought a ticket for the 8 A.M. flight to Chicago. But before he left, he gave his brother two small packages containing $28,000 in cash--with instructions to place the money in a sealed jar and bury it at a place he wouldn’t forget. The brother buried the money that same afternoon.

During this frantic activity, the War Department cancelled the unexpired part of the colonel’s terminal leave and ordered him back on active duty. Similar orders went forth for Kathleen Nash.