S32 E2: When Ron Met Ron | Sea of Lies

Summary

Sea of Lies from Uncover
Episode S32 E2: When Ron Met Ron
Release Date: January 27, 2025
Host: Sam Mullins (CBC)

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Introduction: A Mysterious Discovery

In this gripping episode of Sea of Lies from CBC's Uncover, award-winning podcaster Sam Mullins delves into the perplexing case of Ronald Platt—a con man whose web of lies spans continents and decades. The story begins with an unexpected discovery that shakes the foundations of a small Essex village and propels a high-stakes investigation to its limits.

The Discovery of Two Ronald Platts

The mystery starts when a body is retrieved from the ocean in Devon, raising suspicions about its nature—originally presumed to be a boating accident or suicide. However, the plot thickens when detectives uncover that the man previously interviewed as David Davis, a close friend of Ronald Platt, might now be living under Platt's identity.

Sam Mullins sets the scene:

[00:31] Sam Mullins: "There was a knock, there was a discovery, and then suddenly there were two Ronald Platts. One dead in the coroner's freezer in Devon and the other walking around paying bills."

Investigators Scramble for Answers

Detectives Bill McDonald and Ian Clenahan find themselves re-examining previous evidence under this new lens. The revelation demands a deeper investigation, leading them to explore Platt's past relationships.

McDonald reflects on the complexity introduced by the discovery:

[01:35] Sam Mullins: "For investigators. The door knock revelation had so thoroughly flipped everything on its head that the detectives, like Bill McDonald, were forced to look backwards at the work they'd already done."

Introducing Elaine Boyes: The Key to the Mystery

The investigation takes a pivotal turn when the detectives learn about Elaine Boyes, an ex-girlfriend of Ronald Platt, now residing in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Elaine becomes the focal point of the investigation as her connections to both Platt and Davis are explored.

Elaine Boyes shares her guarded sentiments:

[03:32] Elaine Boyes: "Oh gosh. This is the difficult bit to talk about, to be honest. I better be careful what I say on here."

Elaine and Ron: A Picture-Perfect Relationship

Sam Mullins paints a vivid picture of Elaine's life with Ronald Platt. Despite their seemingly strong bond, Ron's obsession with Canada hints at underlying issues that neither of them fully comprehend.

Elaine Boyes opens up about her past:

[04:36] Elaine Boyes: "Because I'd had quite a difficult childhood... I was a compliant female that's very friendly and outgoing on the surface, but underneath it she's not going to ask too many questions."

Their relationship appears harmonious on the surface, but cracks begin to show as Ron's fixation on relocating to Canada takes center stage.

The Entrance of David Davis: A Charismatic Stranger

In 1991, Elaine meets David Davis at her workplace—a fine art auction house. Davis's charm and persuasive nature quickly captivate Elaine, leading to a series of professional and personal entanglements that draw her and Ron deeper into his enigmatic plans.

Elaine Boyes recounts their first meeting:

[05:11] Elaine Boyes: "It was a blind date. I was introduced by two friends... He reminded me of Cliff Richard."

A Business Proposition with Hidden Agendas

Davis presents Elaine with an enticing business opportunity: a photography project in Geneva, promising substantial financial returns to expedite their move to Canada. However, Elaine senses something amiss but decides to proceed, influenced by Ron's unwavering support.

Elaine Boyes describes the proposal:

[17:51] Elaine Boyes: "He said, that is absolutely brilliant. We could do that. He said... we could do one of these coffee table books with all the fountains of Geneva."

Rising Suspicion and Red Flags

As Elaine and Ron become more involved with Davis, subtle warning signs emerge. Large sums of money, vague business objectives, and Davis's evasive behavior start to raise doubts about his true intentions.

Chris Idle, Elaine's friend, voices his concerns:

[28:47] Chris Idle: "It didn't seem to be much of a job... I thought he was either on the run, involved in some sort of witness protection program, or with the CIA or something."

The Sudden Push to Canada: A Christmas Revelation

During a Christmas gathering, Davis shocks Elaine and Ron with an unexpected ultimatum: they must move to Canada by the end of February, backed by an offer to cover flight expenses. This sudden demand strains their plans and heightens the tension surrounding Davis's true motives.

Elaine Boyes shares her apprehension:

[44:49] Elaine Boyes: "How on earth are we going to wind down a business, sell an apartment? And it's all so quick."

A Gut Feeling Ignored: The Path to Deception

Despite allowing themselves to be swept up by Davis's promises, Elaine grapples with an uneasy feeling that something is deeply wrong. Her instincts point to potential danger, but loyalty and hope for a better future keep her tethered to Davis's schemes.

Elaine Boyes reflects on her intuition:

[47:10] Sam Mullins: "Sometimes you've got to trust your gut instinct. And my gut instinct said he was involved. In what shape or form?"

Conclusion: The Calm Before the Storm

As Elaine and Ron prepare to embark on their hastily arranged move to Canada, the episode leaves listeners on the edge of their seats. The interplay between trust, deception, and the relentless pursuit of a dream sets the stage for the unraveling of Ronald Platt's intricate web of lies.

Sam Mullins leaves the audience anticipating the next developments:

[25:04] Sam Mullins: "So the three of them raised a glass and they had a deal. And almost immediately to Elaine and Ron, the door to a more exciting life seemed to swing open."

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Key Takeaways and Insights

• The Complexity of Deception: Ronald Platt's ability to fabricate identities and manipulate those around him highlights the intricate nature of deceit in criminal activities.

• Trust and Intuition: Elaine's journey underscores the importance of trusting one's instincts, even when faced with seemingly legitimate opportunities.

• The Role of Relationships in Criminal Schemes: The intertwining of personal relationships and criminal intentions plays a crucial role in the success of Platt's cons.

Notable Quotes

• Sam Mullins on the Dual Identity Crisis:

  [00:31] "There was a knock, there was a discovery, and then suddenly there were two Ronald Platts."

• Elaine Boyes on Her Past Influence:

  [04:36] "I was a compliant female that's very friendly and outgoing on the surface, but underneath it she's not going to ask too many questions."

• Chris Idle's Suspicion:

  [28:47] "He may, on the other hand, have just been some harmless eccentric who didn't know what to do with his money."

• Elaine's Gut Feeling:

  [47:10] "Sometimes you've got to trust your gut instinct. And my gut instinct said he was involved."

Conclusion

Sea of Lies masterfully unravels the layers of Ronald Platt's deceit, painting a vivid picture of manipulation, trust, and the quest for identity. Sam Mullins combines meticulous investigation with compelling storytelling, ensuring listeners are both informed and enthralled. As the series progresses, the true extent of Platt's machinations promises to reveal even deeper secrets and shocking truths.

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For more detailed episodes and true crime stories, visit CBC Podcasts.

Transcript

[Thomas LeBlanc]

Hi, it's Thomas LeBlanc, host of Celine Understood, a deep dive into the cultural, political and economic alchemy that created Celine Dion. And there are more seasons of Understood. Follow our feed to learn more about other big stories in the news, like the rise and fall of crypto king Sam Bankman Fried. Or the controversy behind another notable Quebec institution, pornhub. And if you're already a follower, thanks. Please tell your friends about us.

[Sam Mullins]

This is a CBC podcast. There was a knock, there was a discovery, and then suddenly there were two Ronald Platts. One dead in the coroner's freezer in Devon and the other walking around paying bills. And charming neighbors in a small village in Essex. The police had accidentally figured out that the man they had interviewed nearly two months ago, who they knew as David Davis and who told them he was a close friend of Ronald Platt's, was now possibly living as Ronald Platt. So now a death, which up until this point had been understood to most likely either be a boating accident or a suicide, was a big question mark followed by an exclamation mark.

[Ian Clenahan]

I guess it's at that point that you, I guess, a bit more switched on to. Right. Okay, we need to step this up a level.

[Sam Mullins]

For investigators. The door knock revelation had so thoroughly flipped everything on its head that the detectives, like Bill McDonald, were forced to look backwards at the work they'd already done to see if there was anything that jumped out under this new light. A new lead, a new person.

[Ian Clenahan]

And you then recall that there's been a conversation in the past about the deceased having some ex partner.

[Sam Mullins]

MacDonald and his colleague Ian Clenahan had learned in the interview with Ron's big brother Brian, that Ron Platt had an.

[Ian Clenahan]

Old girlfriend, a woman called Elaine. Elaine Boys.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine Boies.

[Ian Clenahan]

In suggesting Elaine Boys, I think he was hoping that she might be able to answer more of the questions that would help us. And then it's right, okay, we need to find Elaine Boyes.

[Sam Mullins]

They learned that Elaine was living in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, the same town in which the dead man's Rolex had last been serviced. So a plan was struck for Clenahan to set up a meeting face to face.

[Bill McDonald]

The aim was to get as much information as we can about David Davis from Elaine.

[Sam Mullins]

David Davis had told police that he'd known Ron for several years. So they thought it likely that this Elaine and David Davis would know each other. And therefore, the police had to be.

[Bill McDonald]

Careful because, you know, we didn't know what the relationship really was between Elaine and David Davis.

[Ian Clenahan]

You don't Know what you're walking into.

[Bill McDonald]

Were they still in contact? Were they whatever? He was firmly under our suspicions, but we just wanted to see what Elaine would tell us.

[Sam Mullins]

So Clenahan sat down with Elaine in a cafe up in Harrogate and very quickly he would come to learn that Elaine was more important to this story than he could have possibly imagined.

[Ian Clenahan]

We track Elaine down and she tells us a fascinating and very interesting story.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine was the key to everything.

[Elaine Boyes]

Oh gosh. This is the difficult bit to talk about, to be honest. I better be careful what I say on here. Better be careful.

[Sam Mullins]

I'm Sam Mullins and this is Sea of lies from CBC's uncover. Episode 2 When Ron Met Ron.

[Elaine Boyes]

When.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine was young, she entered the workforce with a clear dream in her mind. One day she hoped to become the executive assistant to someone important. Capital S, capital I, a line of work she was a natural for, supremely organized, competent and useful in the arena of business where big egos run amok. She was hardwired to please, hardwired to de escalate and do whatever is asked of her.

[Elaine Boyes]

Because I'd had quite a difficult childhood. My mum, my dad used to argue a lot and my dad used could be quite violent. You do everything to appease and you avoid conflict. And that's what I was like. This compliant female that's very friendly and outgoing on the surface, but underneath it she's not going to ask too many questions.

[Sam Mullins]

While lots of peers were pairing off and getting married in their early 20s, Elaine didn't have the time or interest for a relationship. A stance which, as we know from the first act of any romance, will not be sustainable.

[Elaine Boyes]

Well, meeting Rome was interesting because it was a blind date. I was introduced by two friends. They kept pestering me actually for about a week. They kept saying, we've got this chap we'd like you to meet this chapter.

[Sam Mullins]

So they set up a double date.

[Elaine Boyes]

It was January 1980 or 81. It was absolutely freezing and we met up in a pub.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine walked into the dim warmth of the pub with her friends, took off her coat and there he was.

[Elaine Boyes]

Oh gosh. I would say he looked like a good looking Cliff Richard. Cliff Richard is good looking, but he reminded me of Cliff Richard.

[Sam Mullins]

Hold up. This reference is a little before my time. Cliff Richard images Search. Oh, Elaine.

[Elaine Boyes]

His eyes again. It's his eyes. Yeah, yeah. He's got brooding eyes, he's got depth.

[Sam Mullins]

Ron was older than her, in his late 30s, trim, well put together and as Elaine picked up on quickly shy, painfully shy but luckily, Elaine is the perfect antidote to shyness.

[Elaine Boyes]

I managed to get him to talk about photography and things that he's interested in, and we hit it off quite well. Yeah.

[Sam Mullins]

A chatty few pints later, the four of them stumbled out of the pub, back into the cold, when Ron, perhaps with a little liquid courage in him, took Elaine aside to shoot a shot.

[Elaine Boyes]

When we left the pub, he said to me, he said, how do you fancy meeting and going to York tomorrow for the day? And I thought, oh, that'd be nice. So we did.

[Sam Mullins]

On the day in York, as they strolled through the quaint medieval city's cathedral and cheese shops, Elaine felt a profound comfort with Ron. The man was a good egg.

[Elaine Boyes]

I felt safe in his company. Ron was very placid, very quiet. He seemed fairly caring. And I felt safe with him. I felt safe around him.

[Sam Mullins]

When they got back to Harrogate, Ron invited her to his flat. They'd spoken so much about photography, he wanted to show her some of his stuff. There was a portrait he'd taken of a friend's cat he was especially proud of. But there was something he was even more excited to show her.

[Elaine Boyes]

He had this rack system. One of his main passions was hi Fi equipment. It was a pioneer rack system with these huge speakers. I've never seen anything so big. And he was so proud to put it on and show me his hi Fi equipment. It looked like jewelry. And he touched the. What do you call them? The knobs. Like they were jewelry. And the first track he put on was Paul Simon, I Am a Rock.

[Sam Mullins]

I love this detail so much. And after learning everything I have about Ronald Platt, I'm convinced that this track selection was no accident. This was Ron revealing himself. It's all there in the lyrics. This was him saying, I'm a rock, I'm an island. Elaine, this fortress is steep and mighty I'm a heavy cat can you dig it? And she could.

[Elaine Boyes]

It was heaven. It was. It came out, those speakers, the sound, and it was like, wow.

[Sam Mullins]

And that was it. They became Ron and Elaine. And to those who knew Elaine well, this came out of nowhere.

[Chris Idle]

She didn't have a boyfriend. And then suddenly she was really excited because she'd met this guy.

[Sam Mullins]

This is Chris Idle, one of Elaine's best friends.

[Chris Idle]

And then when I actually met him, I think I was sort of a bit shocked because he was so attractive. Not that Elaine wasn't, but certainly from a physical perspective, he was a good catch. She looked like she'd done a good job.

[Sam Mullins]

High five. To Elaine.

[Chris Idle]

They complemented each other in a way because she was sort of really quite an extrovert and he was completely the opposite. They just really seemed to be meant for each other at that time.

[Sam Mullins]

Somehow they built a life together. But even from the very beginning, it was clear that there was something missing for Ron. He loved Elaine very much, but his heart was always somewhere else. Canada. With Ron, it was always about Canada. And who better to describe Ron's lifelong connection to Canada than his one surviving family member, Jeff Platt.

[Jeff Platt]

He was my big brother. My parents emigrated to Canada in 1955, where my dad was a teacher in various small towns.

[Sam Mullins]

Ron and Jeff's folks had been struggling to make ends meet in post war England for years and were desperate for.

[Jeff Platt]

Change because they were living in a converted bus in Birmingham.

[Sam Mullins]

So when the opportunity to teach in Canada came up, they leapt at it. But the Platts were cursed from the beginning. A few days before their first Canadian Christmas, their house burnt down nearly with Ron in it, and they lost everything. But instead of taking it as a sign that they'd made a horrible mistake by coming here, this incident would be recorded in the pliable young brain of Ron Platt as a foundational, positive memory. Because of what happened next, the neighboring farmers rallied to help this new family of strangers. They took the Platts in, gave them their coats, and helped them salvage their first Christmas and survive their first real winter.

[Jeff Platt]

Even though we were pretty isolated in small Canadian towns, that's where his. His romantic love for Canada came.

[Sam Mullins]

This was the Canada that Ron Platt was never able to shake. The Canada in his heart and tattooed on his hand, the one that he would describe to Elaine. But the Platts remained a family, constantly on the brink of financial ruin and existed in a permanent state of limbo.

[Jeff Platt]

If you asked me, where do you go to school? I'd say name a year. Every year was a different school in a different town.

[Sam Mullins]

Some years it was even a different country.

[Jeff Platt]

My mom didn't like Canada when she was there and didn't like England when she was here, and we went several times.

[Sam Mullins]

Ron grew up bouncing between England and Canada with his folks. And then when he became an adult, he kept doing the same thing on his own. He tried joining the Canadian army, but they wouldn't take him. So he went all the way back to England to join the British Army. He worked in the Signal Corps for many years as a radio technician, where he learned he had a gift for understanding electronics.

[Jeff Platt]

He was one of those people who wanted to know how things worked.

[Sam Mullins]

While electronics made perfect sense. To him, there were many things in his life that didn't. He struggled socially, he couldn't seem to hold down a job or ever find a baseline of happiness. In the moments that he'd examine his life like it was an electronic on his workbench, he always seemed to arrive at the same diagnosis. This isn't running properly. There could be a missing part, or more likely it must be in the wrong place.

[Jeff Platt]

I think he was a man who very much was trying to find a place in the world and could never really find it.

[Sam Mullins]

So it was into this lifelong will they or won't they between Ron and my home nation that Elaine first entered Ron's life. During the first decade that they were together, he'd make plans for them to lay roots in Canada. He'd fly there by himself and try and get established so that Elaine could join him. But it would never work out. He'd have visa issues or couldn't land a job and have to return. But he couldn't let the Canadian dream go.

[Elaine Boyes]

As time went on, he got depressed and I came to realize that he probably would never be happy until he went back to Canada because he would be constantly talking about it.

[Sam Mullins]

So if Elaine wanted a future with Ron, she knew that eventually she was going to have to join Ron's Canadian dream. So they made a long term plan to finally get to Canada properly. They were going to take their time, work hard to save up as much money as they could, and when the moment was right, they'd go together. And nothing made Ron happier to think about. So this is Ron and Elaine in the year 1991, still very much in love with a Canadian plan. But unbeknownst to them, everything was about to change. That year Elaine was 31 years old and working as a receptionist at a fine art auctioneers in Harrogate. One day she was on the phone behind the desk in the showroom when in walked a man she'd never seen before. A well dressed man, a man with whom she'd be linked for the rest of her life and beyond.

[Elaine Boyes]

In walked this gentleman and he inquired about. Well, it was a painting that was in a display cabinet outside on the pavement there.

[Sam Mullins]

The piece that caught his eye was a pastoral Scottish scene by the artist Alfred Dobransky.

[Elaine Boyes]

And we had a chat about auctions and about fine art and that was really how I met him.

[Sam Mullins]

The man grinned, extended his hand and said, I'm David Davis.

[Elaine Boyes]

He seemed like a gentleman, well spoken, polite, he had a presence about him and he seemed very warm. He Came across as American. He said he was living in London. He didn't like London. He didn't like the smog, he didn't like the dirt.

[Sam Mullins]

That's actually what brought him up to Harrogate. He said he was looking at real estate and trying to get a feel for the area. But even for someone house shopping in an affluent spa town, he seemed like he had all the time in the world. An hour of conversation passed in a blink when finally he said, I'm thinking.

[Elaine Boyes]

Of setting up a business locally and I think you'd be a great person to work for me.

[Sam Mullins]

Sorry, you want me, art auction secretary, to work for you just based on us chatting right now?

[Elaine Boyes]

That was a bit. Bit of a shock, really. He said, I like you. He said, I like your attitude, I like your friendliness. He said, I really could do with somebody like you working for.

[Sam Mullins]

So Elaine was like, what kind of business are we even talking about here?

[Elaine Boyes]

First of all, he said, we could set up an antique business selling antiques. And I said, well, to be perfectly honest, I don't know anything about antiques. So he said, well, what about a secretarial agency? Do you fancy running a secretarial agency? I said, no way. That's the last thing I'd want to do.

[Sam Mullins]

So after a few more volleys from Elaine, he's like, well, if not those, then what, Elaine?

[Elaine Boyes]

I said, if I was really honest and I wanted to set up a business, I would set up doing photography, because that's something I had considered.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine had honed her photography skills with Ron over the past decade and even went back to college for a couple years to study.

[Elaine Boyes]

So he said, that is absolutely brilliant. We could do that. He said, and what I could do is send you to Geneva and you could photograph the fountains of Geneva. He said, because. Because they've got the most amazing fountains. He said, we could do one of these coffee table books with all the fountains of Geneva. He said, that would be absolutely brilliant.

[Sam Mullins]

And it's here at Geneva Fountain Coffee Table Book, that Elaine says what anyone in their right mind would have said.

[Elaine Boyes]

And I actually said, you don't know me from Adam. I said, you don't know anything about me.

[Sam Mullins]

I could be the worst photographer in the UK for all you know. And besides, Elaine knew that this whole exercise was moot anyway.

[Elaine Boyes]

The other thing is saving up to go to live in Canada with my boyfriend because he's crazy about Canada and he wants to move to Canada. So if I took a job for you, I wouldn't be working for you. For very long.

[Sam Mullins]

But instead of David Davis letting it go, the Canada thing only seemed to make him more excited.

[Elaine Boyes]

It would be great, he said, because you could save up. I could pay you more than you're earning a year, and you can then save up to go to Canada. You get there quicker. It was just like he wanted me. He wanted to do a business that I would be happy doing. You know, if I'd have said, let's do a sweet shop, I bet you would have done that.

[Sam Mullins]

As bizarre and thrilling as this conversation had been, Elaine had to get back to work. But it was clear that Davis wasn't going to take no for an answer.

[Elaine Boyes]

Like he wouldn't leave unless I'd agreed to work for him. It felt like that. So I said, look, I said, tell you what, I'll give you my business card and let me have a think about it. You go back to London, you give yourself some time to think about it, and the next time you're up in Arrogate looking for properties, give me a call and. And we'll go from there.

[Sam Mullins]

So David Davis finally took his cue. And then Elaine's business card, which he wielded like a golden ticket as he backed away.

[Elaine Boyes]

And he said, you know, this is a really, truly serendipitous meeting, he said, and he was so full of joy.

[Sam Mullins]

He bid her ado, and Elaine watched him stride away in disbelief. Elaine wouldn't fully understand why David Davis seemed so thrilled to have found her that day until five years into her future, he appeared in her life as an express lane that would deliver her and Ron to their Canadian dreams ahead of schedule. The answer to her problems. But in reality, she was the answer to his.

[Elaine Boyes]

When I look back, for him, that was a serendipitous meeting. He saw gold when he walked in the office.

[Sam Mullins]

Foreign I'm Sarah Trelevin, and for over a year I've been working on one of the most complex stories I've ever covered. There was somebody out there who was faking pregnancies.

[Elaine Boyes]

I started, like, warning everybody, every doula that I know it was fake. No pregnancy.

[Sam Mullins]

And the deeper I dig, the more questions I unearth.

[Elaine Boyes]

How long has she been doing this? What does she have to gain from this?

[Sam Mullins]

From CBC and the BBC World Service.

[Elaine Boyes]

The Caitlyn's baby. It's a long story. Settle in. Available now.

[Sam Mullins]

After work, Elaine had to relay to Ron what had happened at the shop.

[Elaine Boyes]

I didn't know what to think, to be honest, and I really thought it was just a bit of a fantasy or A joke. I thought, this isn't really happening, this isn't really true.

[Sam Mullins]

When she got home to Ron, she launched into it.

[Elaine Boyes]

I said, you would not believe it. This man's walked in and has offered me a job doing virtually anything I want.

[Sam Mullins]

As the words left her mouth she could hear how it sounded. An American stranger who thinks I'm special wants to start a business with me.

[Elaine Boyes]

That's what it came across as. And Ron said, oh, you want to be careful. You don't know anything about him. You want to be really careful.

[Sam Mullins]

As they talked it through a bit more that night, Elaine safely drifted all the way back to earth. Of course she thought this was probably just an eccentric having a laugh. Yeah, it was nothing.

[Elaine Boyes]

He's gone back to London and that'll probably be it.

[Sam Mullins]

A week went by, then two and.

[Elaine Boyes]

Then to be honest I went back to work and I completely forgot about it.

[Sam Mullins]

But then.

[Elaine Boyes]

A phone call out of the blue and it was David Davies. Oh hi. He says, it's David Davies from London. He said I'm coming up to Harrogate on a week on Thursday. How about we meet up and go for a coffee? So I said yeah, that'll be fine.

[Sam Mullins]

So on the Thursday, Elaine meets up with Davis in a cafe, not really knowing what to expect.

[Elaine Boyes]

He asked me about the job, had I considered the job, did I fancy working for him, what did Ron think about it? So we had conversations around that and he could tell that I was a bit hesitant, wasn't sure David Davis was.

[Sam Mullins]

Self aware enough that he could totally appreciate how his offer must look through the eyes of her significant other. It made perfect sense for Ron to be skeptical, how it must sound. So Davis proposed a solution.

[Elaine Boyes]

He said, well I think really it would be a good idea if I met Ron and then he could see and meet me and then he might feel more comfortable.

[Sam Mullins]

So the three of them went out to dinner and when he walked in, Davis seemed genuinely thrilled to meet Ron.

[Elaine Boyes]

It was amazing actually. They just, just clicked really. They, they hit it off together and it was the, it was the North American accent and of course Ron, actually I could see he was coming out speaking with a soft North American accent and he was in his element. They were sat there chatting like, like buddies.

[Sam Mullins]

If you were to glance at their table that night you might assume that the two were brothers. They were the same height, same build, same hair color, age. Even their dialects seemed to be winking to each other over the mid Atlantic somewhere. Once they'd made fast friends, Davis turned the conversation to the business at hand.

[Elaine Boyes]

Hey, just to turned to me and said, how do you fancy working for me then? So I looked at Ron and said, what do you think Ron? And Ron just shrugged his shoulders and didn't really say anything.

[Sam Mullins]

Classic Ron.

[Elaine Boyes]

So I said, well why not? What have I got to lose? Why not? Okay. So I said, great. It's great to have you on board.

[Sam Mullins]

So the three of them raised a glass and they had a deal. And almost immediately to Elaine and Ron, the door to a more exciting life seemed to swing open.

[Elaine Boyes]

Just before he went to get the train back to London, he said, how do you guys fancy in a few weeks time coming down to London and we'll put you up in a hotel for the weekend? And he said, you can meet my daughter Noel and we'll go out for dinner. And we said, oh wow, that'd be great. We went to a restaurant called the Thai Elephant in London and it was amazing. The decor was like you were in Thailand.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine and Ron met up with David and his teenage daughter Noelle. The story was that Davis had been a high powered finance guy in New York and then later all over Europe. But now he was all but retired and was in the midst of what sounded like a very messy divorce. He had other children too, but Noelle chose to live with her dad instead of with her mom and siblings back in the us. To Ron and Elaine, it was pretty easy to see why a kid would choose him. He seemed like a good dad and she a sweet kid. She had his features.

[Elaine Boyes]

She was a very polite young lady, very attractive young lady. Didn't say a lot, really didn't say a lot. She was sort of a bit in awe of her dad. Her dad did all the talking.

[Sam Mullins]

To be honest, she was deferential to her dad, but so were Ron and Elaine. There is no mistaking the dynamic. He was the man in charge.

[Elaine Boyes]

He took over, he got the menu and he chose. He said, what we'll do is we'll have the set menu for four.

[Sam Mullins]

Ron hadn't had anyone treat him to a fancy dinner like this because he was a TV repairman. But it's important to remember he was a TV repair man with a Rolex there ticking on his wrist, powered by the unprivileged movements of his life was his Rolex, a real one that he bought with his own money, his most prized possession. He'd wear it in the shower even when he'd pose for pictures. Like a model who believes they have one good side. The Rolex side was the one he wanted People and the camera to see. In Ron's life, he wouldn't have many moments where he got to experience the finer things, the luxuries. But then, in walked David Davis, refined, classy, a man who, from where Ron was sitting, must have appeared to be the Rolex of people. And it was easy to tell that Davis liked Ron, too. And more than that, Davis was starting to see potential in Ron. Back in Harrogate, after the whirlwind weekend in London, Ron went back to his job and Elaine had to return to hers at the art auctioneer. She'd given her notice, but was on the hook for a few more weeks. The days dragged for Elaine as the movie of her future jet setting and photography played on a loop in her mind. She and Davis still needed to iron out some of the details of the work itself. And he encouraged her to name her own salary, which wasn't something Elaine was comfortable with. So she called her old friend Chris for some guidance, said, oh, just double.

[Chris Idle]

What you're earning now. Because she was thinking it was somebody really wealthy. And she was really excited at the thought of this.

[Sam Mullins]

But something about the job Elaine was describing wasn't adding up.

[Chris Idle]

It didn't seem to be much of a job. It was sort of, well, what are you actually doing? And it made me really suspicious of him. I thought he was either on the run, involved in some sort of witness protection program, or with the CIA or something. He may, on the other hand, have just been some harmless eccentric who didn't know what to do with his money. Bear in mind, I read a lot of crime novels, but I will definitely have said, elaine, what is it? And she was just sort of in awe of him, really.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine named her salary, Davis accepted, she worked her final shift at the auctioneer, and finally it was time to start her work with David Davis. And in our interview with Elaine, when we got to this part and asked her about her work with Davis, over 30 years later, you can hear it's still too hot to touch.

[Elaine Boyes]

Oh, gosh. Oh. Oh. It is really. It's a difficult one, this one, because I've got to talk about how what he did, really how he approached it. Let me put myself back there.

[Sam Mullins]

So here's what happened. For the first trip for David Davis, the plan was go to Geneva and then on the way back, swing by France to meet with a real estate agent who is going to show her some properties that David Davis was interested.

[Elaine Boyes]

In buying photographs of the fountains of Geneva and photograph the properties. That was the initial job. And then what Happened was at the first time going, he said he would meet me at King's Cross.

[Sam Mullins]

Davis said, meet you there. We'll go for lunch, and then I'll take you out to the hotel by the airport so that you can fly for Switzerland in the morning.

[Elaine Boyes]

So when we get to the airport hotel, he signs in, he pays for the room, and then. This is the difficult bit to talk about, to be honest. He then says, I thought it would be a good idea if we had dinner at the hotel. So we have a nice dinner at the hotel, at the airport hotel, and then he goes to reception, he pays for the bill. And I'm thinking, any moment now he's going to say goodbye and he's going to go away. And he. He's struggling to part. And then he says, he says, is it okay to have a look at your room? And I sort of thought, what? To myself, and he says, yeah. He said, I just. I'm curious to have a look at your room. And I'm thinking, well, I can't. I can't say no, can I?

[Sam Mullins]

As they walk toward the elevator and get in, Elaine feels the feeling that has been quietly present with her from the moment she first met Davis, a small, niggling part of her that she'd been brushing to the side.

[Elaine Boyes]

I don't know how to say this.

[Sam Mullins]

But there was a sense of fear on the surface. Everything had been so warm and pleasant and exciting. There was nothing, he said, that made Alayn afraid of him. There was nothing that he did to make her fear him. But there was something she couldn't explain, the subtlest of feelings, like an ancient whisper from the animal part of her that said, you're not safe. Before she showed up this day in London, she almost acted on this feeling.

[Elaine Boyes]

I did consider contacting the local police in Harrogate and asking if there was any way they could do, like, a background check on him. And then I thought to myself, they won't be able to do that. People don't do that. And also I did think to myself that if I asked the police to do a background check on him to suss out who he was, who was David Davies, that he might find that out. And if he found out that I was suspicious of him in any shape or form, I just had a feeling that that wasn't a good thing. That wouldn't have been a good thing, would it? It wouldn't. Certainly wouldn't have been a good thing that.

[Sam Mullins]

They walked down the hallway toward Elaine's door, her mind cataloguing Every possible meaning of the phrase, can I look at your room?

[Elaine Boyes]

He can't really be looking at rooms. He said he travels here and travels there, so why on earth would he want to look at a room?

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine opens the door and Davis slides past her in the doorway. He does a half hearted lap of the unremarkable room and then saunters over to the bed.

[Elaine Boyes]

And he sits on the edge of the bed nearest the window and I'm.

[Sam Mullins]

Near the door and there he is, the man who's offered Elaine so many things, leaning on the bed of the hotel room he just bought for her.

[Elaine Boyes]

And then he sits on the bed and says, well, I really hope you have a good time in Geneva and I hope you look at this as a bit of a holiday for you as well.

[Sam Mullins]

Yeah, sure, totally.

[Elaine Boyes]

And he said, but while you're there, could you do me a favor? And I said, what do you mean? He says, well, and he reaches into his jacket pocket and he pulls out an envelope with some Swiss francs in it.

[Sam Mullins]

Swiss francs?

[Elaine Boyes]

Well, he pulls it out and it says, I've got Swiss francs. He said, would you change this money for me into sterling?

[Sam Mullins]

It appeared to be a formidable stack, a serious amount of cash.

[Elaine Boyes]

And I looked puzzled and a bit shocked and I said, oh, I don't know, David, I don't think this is legal.

[Sam Mullins]

He smiled his warm smile.

[Elaine Boyes]

He says, in Geneva there's bureau de changes everywhere. People are doing this all the time in Geneva, changing money. That's what goes on, that's what Geneva is about. He said, this is my money and all I'm asking you to do is change my money from Swiss francs into sterling. So I reluctantly said, okay. I had to get rid of him basically out the room. But I was very, very perturbed about it.

[Sam Mullins]

Once the door clicked behind him, Elaine went straight for the phone.

[Elaine Boyes]

As soon as he'd gone, I phoned Ron. I said, phone me straight back, won't you? Because it was going to cost, obviously, hotel telephone bills. So I said, phone me straight back. And I explained what had happened.

[Sam Mullins]

But Ron was already the head of the David Davis Appreciation Society and he.

[Elaine Boyes]

Put me at ease. He said, look, he knows what he's doing. He's a businessman. He's obviously done this before. And you know, and just. I said, oh, okay then. So that's, that's how it all, that's how that started, really.

[Sam Mullins]

It had started. Elaine didn't know it, but the photography, looking at the real estate, even the changing of currency were not what David Davis was really after with Elaine and Ron.

[Elaine Boyes]

But of course, I never realized that he had a secret agenda. He really did have an agenda, didn't he? Yeah.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine had a bad feeling. She didn't know if she trusted David Davis. She didn't know if this job was real. But whatever she felt didn't matter because she'd made a series of decisions that led her here to this plane seat with tens of thousands of Swiss francs in a bag beside her in her work and relationship with David Davis, the rubber was about to meet the Switzerland. This would be the first of many trips Elaine would take where she didn't comprehend what she was really doing.

[Elaine Boyes]

It was all very strange, to be perfectly honest.

[Sam Mullins]

There were other trips with other currencies and different deposits into different bank accounts. Picture Elaine with her camera in one hand and Davis's thousands in the other, breezing through airports. The work felt vague. The dollar amounts she was exchanging felt gargantuan. Elaine found herself wondering if this was all an audition of some sort.

[Elaine Boyes]

One time he put extra money in the envelope for me to change. So I thought, what's going on here? So he was testing me. He was testing my honesty.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine felt that he was testing her in darker ways, too.

[Elaine Boyes]

For example, he once told me that he'd been in New York. I don't know what it was, but he said he'd witnessed somebody being crushed to death. And I thought, what a bizarre thing to tell me. And it was just something he was discussing over lunch. And I thought, is this something he's read in a book or is this something he's actually telling me? And to me, I think it was instilling a sense of unconscious fear. That's what it felt like. Because it's like I would normally you would say, well, what do you mean, David? What do you mean you saw somebody crushed to death? But something said, don't, don't go there. Don't ask. So I just didn't ask.

[Sam Mullins]

While his antics felt odd, sometimes, for Elaine, all that mattered was that her paychecks were clearing and that her and Ron's dream of having enough money to get to Canada felt closer than ever. One day, Davis told Elaine to meet up with him for lunch in Harrogate. He said he had something important to ask her.

[Elaine Boyes]

It was then that he told us that he'd bought a business off the shelf.

[Sam Mullins]

Sometimes instead of incorporating your own business, you can just purchase a good as new existing corporation, Davis explained. He said he was the happy new owner of an entity called the Cavendish Corporation.

[Elaine Boyes]

And it was then that he told me that he wanted Ron and I to be directors.

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine was taken aback. Directors of a corporation, her and Ron.

[Elaine Boyes]

I thought, well, why isn't he being a director? He said, I want you and Ron to be directors because I don't want my name on any of the paperwork because my wife is after me.

[Sam Mullins]

As he laid it all out, Davis seemed genuinely distressed by the situation with his wife.

[Elaine Boyes]

He said, I'm concerned because I think she's hired a private detective because she's after me for alimony.

[Sam Mullins]

She was going to take him for everything. And thus he needed Elayne and Ron's help.

[Elaine Boyes]

If he sensed that I was maybe perturbed, he was able to deflect that and put the positive aspect on it.

[Sam Mullins]

You would be there in title only. It wouldn't be more work. You wouldn't be exposed to any liabilities. You would just be doing me a favor for which I would be very appreciative.

[Elaine Boyes]

It was so convincing. It was so plausible. When he explained stuff, it sort of, oh, yeah, that makes sense. Even though nagging in the back of your mind might be thinking, oh, he was just so clever at being able.

[Sam Mullins]

To put you at ease after this surprising ask. Ron and Elaine talked it through and thought we could do that. And they were named directors of the Cavendish Corporation. A corporation that did what exactly?

[Elaine Boyes]

He didn't really say. It never really. It never really got discussed and was developed.

[Sam Mullins]

And from the moment that Elaine and Ron agreed to be directors, a current slowly started to pull them deeper. Davis took Elaine to open a corporate bank account. And with the account, Cavendish was now a real thing. As far as Elaine could tell, the corporation existed so that it could have a bank account. And the bank account existed so that he could acquire assets, assets that would happen to further entangle David Davis with Ron and Elaine. It started with the apartment.

[Elaine Boyes]

He encouraged Ron and I to purchase an apartment in Harrogate.

[Sam Mullins]

Davis was like, what are you guys renting for? That's dead money. You should buy and then in a year or two sell it for a.

[Elaine Boyes]

Profit and that will help you get to Canada. So we ended up buying an apartment. Oh, dear. It's complicated. It really is complicated. So what happened was I couldn't get a mortgage because I didn't earn enough money to pay for the mortgage on the apartment. He said, don't worry about that. He said, cavendish will pay the other half and you can pay me with your wages. So he was actually getting his own money back.

[Sam Mullins]

So Elaine and Ron moved into Their new place that they co owned with a corporation that they still couldn't confidently describe the purpose of. When Davis had another bright idea.

[Elaine Boyes]

Can't believe I'm saying all this to be honest.

[Sam Mullins]

One day Davis calls Elaine excitedly and says, Elaine, come downstairs, I'm outside in a taxi.

[Elaine Boyes]

He said, I've got something to show you. And we drive to an area in Harrogate, pull up outside on this street and there's this business that's empty. And he says what do you think? And I said what do you mean, what do you think? He says, well, wouldn't it be suitable for Ron to set up a TV repair business?

[Sam Mullins]

Elaine and Ron were dragged deeper still.

[Elaine Boyes]

Oh, I don't know, I don't think he'll, I don't think he'd want to do that. He wants to go to Canada. He said yeah, but if you, if you set up a business you'd make some money to go to Canada. And I said yeah, but it takes time to build up a business. Then he explained it to Ron and Ron wasn't keen at all. But he managed to persuade him to do it.

[Sam Mullins]

And this is how Ron and Elaine came to be directors of Davis's corporation. Co owners of an apartment with Davis and proprietors of a TV repair business.

[Elaine Boyes]

I think it all happened within a year.

[Sam Mullins]

So as they reached December of 1992, they were completely committed to the Davis relationship. And with the business and flat Canada seemed to be nudged into the future further than they'd originally planned. It was obvious that Davis wanted to keep them around, which is why what happened next was so shocking. At the end of a world whirlwind year, Elaine and Ron became close enough with Davis and his daughter Noel that the four of them got together for Christmas. They gave Noel a hug and as the house steeped in the smells of turkey in the oven, the four of them sat down in the lounge.

[Elaine Boyes]

We'd exchange a Christmas present to each other and then he gives us a card. He gives me the card and I open the card and in it is this Christmas card that says to Ronan, Elaine, I will purchase pay for two flights to Canada if you go by the end of February.

[Sam Mullins]

If you go to Canada by the end of February.

[Elaine Boyes]

When I read it I'm actually quite shocked because I think, wait a minute, this is 25th of December and he's talking about us going to Canada by the end of February.

[Sam Mullins]

For Elaine, this wasn't a thrilling development. The whole idea was that they were going to save up enough of a nest Egg to make the international move as smooth as possible. And after a year of Davis pulling them closer and closer in embrace, this felt like a sudden shove out the door.

[Elaine Boyes]

How on earth are we going to wind down a business, sell an apartment? And it's all so quick. It's weeks, isn't it?

[Sam Mullins]

What is with the haste?

[Elaine Boyes]

So I was initially just shocked and Ron just beamed from ear to ear. Finally, I'm going to Canada. He was happy as Larry, but I underneath it, I was camouflaging that because I didn't want to spoil Christmas Day.

[Sam Mullins]

As Elaine sat trying not to be a Christmas bummer, she kept thinking the end of February felt so quick and oddly specific. Why was the date imposed by him? Merry Christmas. You need to leave all you've ever known in the next 60 days. Why? Why? I find myself thinking of this scene, though often, about the four of them sitting around that table for Christmas dinner. These four souls whose lives would be completely blown up in the next few years. There's Ron feeling elated, Davis pleased. Elaine pushing her food around her plate, trying to mask her panic. And Noel. Noel is the one I wonder about the most. How did she feel as she sat there knowing why they needed Ron and Elaine gone? They were bound for Canada. They were bound for ruin. Coming up on Sea of Lies.

[Elaine Boyes]

Ron said to me on the phone, he said, I'm coming back to England. And he said, Mr. Davis is has offered to meet me at the airport. And I had a horrible, dark feeling.

[Bill McDonald]

When people commit a crime, they will always make a mistake. Nobody commits the perfect crime and I firmly believe that because everyone will make a mistake.

[Elaine Boyes]

Sometimes you've got to trust your gut instinct. And my gut instinct said he was involved. In what shape or form? I didn't know. Obviously I wouldn't know. But he was involved and he was covering it up. And I have to say, I don't like people getting away with things.

[Sam Mullins]

Sea of Lies is produced by what's the Story? Sounds for cbc. It's hosted and written by me, Sam Mullins and produced and reported by Alex Gatenby. Mixing and sound design is by Ivan Eastleigh. From what's the Story Sounds, our executive producers are David Waters and Darrell Brown. At CBC Podcasts, the senior producers are Andrew Friesen and Damon Fairless. Eunice Kim is our story editor. Emily Connell is our digital coordinating producer. Executive producers are Cecil Fernandez and Chris Oak. Senior manager is Tanya Springer, and the director of CBC Podcasts is Arif Noorani. For more CBC Podcasts, go to CBC CA Podcasts.