“The bank made a very extensive investigation through certain channels which are open to a bank, which would not be open to the general public, and concerning which I do not want to make any statements.”
“All right, what was the result of the investigations?”
“Ore was being shipped from the Skyhook mine and sent in flat cars to the George T. Bishop Smelting Corporation.”
“Then what happened?”
“Then comes the incredible part of the whole thing,” Billings said. “The ore was being smashed up into fine particles and used to grade roads, for earth fills, and used as ballast.”
“Ore was shipped down out of the mountains, smashed up, and then transported by freight to wind up as mere crushed rock?”
“Exactly.”
I said, “There must be a mistake somewhere.”
“There is no mistake. We have found that the same procedure was followed in virtually every one of the mines where any development work was done. Ore was shipped down to the smelting and refining company, and by the smelting and refining company was converted into road ballast.”
“In other words, Bishop was a swindler.”
“I’m not making that as a flat accusation. Certainly there is something going on that is definitely far from the normal development of a business venture.”
“What would the smelting company pay for this ore which it converted into road ballast?”
“Various amounts,” Billings said, “until the mining corporation had received enough to repay the loan which it had made; then the mining company became inactive, there were no further shipments of ore, the loan was paid, and the company was virtually dissolved, with nearly all of the stockholders exercising the option which had been given them by the commissioner of corporations to withdraw the amount of money which had been put in for their stock and had been held in escrow for a period of a year.”
“You went to the commissioner of corporations, of course?”
“No, sir. I did not.”
“Why?”
“Because the bank was involved in the transaction to a certain extent. Perhaps we should have exercised a closer scrutiny over the affairs of these corporations, but because Mr. Bishop customarily kept a very large balance in our bank, and because his various accounts were quite active, we took him at face value.”
“But when you found out — then what?”
“We asked for an explanation from Mr. Bishop.”
“Did you let him know what you had found out?”
“We found out a lot of this after — well, too late. But Bishop knew we were making the investigation.”
“You had found out
“Yes. By last Tuesday we knew enough to put us very much on guard, to make us rather suspicious.”
“And you had asked Bishop to meet with you and explain matters?”
“Yes.”
“You had asked him to meet with you when?”
Billings coughed.
“When?”
“On Tuesday night.”
“Where?”
“At my house.”
“All right. Now let’s go back to the boat. Your son found Bishop’s body on the boat. What did he do?”
“He realized that fortuitously no one knew he was aboard the yacht.”
“What time was all this?”
“It was well after dark.”
“So what did he do?”
“He undressed. You see, we each of us have a stateroom on the yacht and each stateroom has a closet containing a lot of clothes. Therefore my son was able to divest himself of his entire wearing-apparel without creating any attention.”
“Then what?”
“Then he put on a pair of bathing trunks, put the key to the automobile in the pocket of his bathing trunks, locked up the yacht, slipped over the side, and swam out into the channel. Then, swimming quietly, he rounded the premises of the yacht club and managed to gain one of the bathing beaches, where he came ashore, apparently a man who had merely been out for an evening swim. He walked boldly past the few people who were, for the most part, sitting in parked automobiles looking out over the water, and went to the place where he had left his car. He used the key to turn on the ignition. He came home, took a shower, dried out his wet bathing-suit, and put on his clothes.”
“Then what?”
“I had been out at a business conference and unfortunately he had to wait for me to come home.”
“Go on.”
“It was almost eleven o’clock when I arrived.”
“So what did you do?”
“My son told me what had happened. I warned him that he had made a very poor decision, that he should have notified the police immediately.”
“I presume then that you called the police?”
“Not the police. I decided to let the caretaker at the yacht club discover the body.”
“So what did you do?”
“I called the caretaker and asked him to go aboard my yacht and get a briefcase which was in the main cabin and send it to me by taxicab.”
“What happened?”
“I presumed, of course, that when he went to the main cabin he would find the body and report to the police.”
“He didn’t do so?”
“The body wasn’t there.”
“How do you know?”
“The night watchman sent me the briefcase by taxicab, just as I had instructed him. That caused me grave concern. I questioned my son very carefully to see if there was any chance he had been aboard another yacht, or if he had imagined any of the things he had found. Then the next morning I personally went down and boarded the yacht and made an inspection.”
“What did you find?”
“There was no indication that there had ever been a body in the cabin of the yacht. No one was there. Things were just as I had left them.”
“How did the night watchman get aboard the yacht?”
“He has a key. It is not mandatory that owners leave extra keys in the safe at the yacht club, but the management prefers to have them do so. Then, in case of fire, or in case of any urgent necessity, the caretakers can get aboard the yachts and move them.”
“Then what happened?”
“My son was worried because we didn’t know just what
“
“Oh, yes. I was in conference with a business associate. One of the directors of the bank.”
“Give me his name and address.”
“Surely, Mr. Lam, you don’t doubt my—”
“I’m not doubting. I’m investigating. What’s his name and address?”
“Waldo W. Jefferson. He’s one of the directors of the bank. He has offices in the bank building.”
“How about guests that go aboard yachts?” I asked. “Are they registered?”
