What do you think? Mason asked.
Thats what bothers me, Lowry said. I followed instructions all right and did what she told me but I didnt like doing it.
All right, Mason said, you sent the money to the Los Angeles company?
No. I sent the money to the Corning Affiliated Enterprises in Los Angeles. I sent it to a post office box there.
You sent it in the form of cash?
I just got that check cashed at the bank here in hundred-dollar bills. Id deduct the amount of my salary, then wrap the rest of those hundred-dollar bills in a plain package. Now thats the thing that I didnt like about the whole business. She told me not to register the money, not to have it appear that there was anything of value in the shipment; to just wrap it up and send it parcel post to this Corning Affiliated Enterprises at the post office box.
Id get checks from the Corning Mining, Smelting & Investment Company to cover all operating expenses. Every two weeks Id endorse the check and take it in to the bank here to be cashed.
Didnt the bank know something was wrong? Mason asked.
What do you mean wrong?
Well, I mean, didnt the bank think there was something unusual?
Sure the bank thought there was something unusual, but the bank wasnt blowing the whistle. I told the bank that I was acting under direct orders from headquarters and... Well, the bank knows me.
Youve lived here quite a while?
Thats right.
And, I take it, have a pretty good local reputation for integrity?
I certainly hope so.
How much money did you send altogether to Los Angeles?
Somewhere around a hundred and eighty-one thousand dollars.
You sent in money for social security and...
No, I just sent the cash back to Los Angeles.
I never got so much as the scratch of a pen from the Corning Affiliated Enterprises, but Id receive a telephone call after each shipment telling me that the shipment had been received okay.
Who made the call?
I dont know who it was. Some woman. Shed simply state this was the Corning Affiliated Enterprises office and that she wanted to report the shipment had been received okay and to keep on as before.
Then youve heard two voices over the telephone, Mason said, the voice of the woman who acknowledged the shipments, and the voice of the woman who told you she was Amelia Corning.
Then youve heard two voices over the telephone, Mason said, the voice of the woman who acknowledged the shipments, and the voice of the woman who told you she was Amelia Corning.
Well, I guess so, Lowry said. I dont remember the Corning voice too well.
Could it have been the same voice?
I dont know. I... I... Im beginning to get bothered about all this, Mr. Mason.
How about the voice that reported the receipt of shipments to you over the telephone? Do you think you could recognize that voice if you heard it?
I have an idea I could. At least I could make a stab at it.
Where were those calls received?
At my house at the mine, the managers house.
During office hours?
No. Every one of them would come in in the evening.
And Endicott Campbell told you not to say anything about this to anyone?
He told me not to say anything to you, but the more you come to think of it the more you realize that Im in a peculiar position here. Im not buying Endicott Campbell as a partner.
Thats right, Mason told him. I think youll realize that you did the right thing by telling me what happened.
Well, Lowry said, the thing that got me was what Miss Street said about having Campbell as my partner.
Thats right, Mason told him, you dont want him as your partner... Now then, have you heard anything from Amelia Corning lately?
Not a word.
Did you make any other reports on what you were doing?
No, I was told not to just to cash the check and send the money to Los Angeles.
Didnt that impress you as being a peculiar way of running a business?
Sure it did. But I figured that there was a tax angle in it somewhere and, of course, you hate to have a mine close down. It gives it a black eye. Of course, people around here know the mines closed but as far as the books of the mining company are concerned, it would send out a big payroll every month and every month it would get back a shipment, which I suppose theyd claim came from ore. Since it was in the form of cash it couldnt be traced.
Thats your supposition, Mason said.
Thats right.
And, as you so aptly remarked, since its in the form of cash it couldnt be traced.
Say, what are you getting at? Lowry asked.
Mason opened the car door, said, Just be careful who you pick as a partner, Lowry. Perhaps truth is the best partner you can pick.
Abruptly Lowry reached out and shook hands. Say, he said, Im awfully glad I met you, and this secretary of yours. I think youve given me some pretty darn good advice. Im feeling just a lot better right now than I have been feeling all day.
Della Street gave him a smile and her hand. Its been so nice meeting you, Mr. Lowry, she said. I could see that you were uncomfortable keeping this stuff bottled up inside of you. Youre not the type of individual to get mixed up in any shady transaction.