The Wreck Of The Mary Deare

Hal leaned across to me. ‘Looks as though Lionel is mounting an attack on the Company,’ he whispered, and I nodded, thinking that perhaps Patch was saving his announcement of Dellimare’s offer until he was questioned by Sir Lionel. It seemed reasonable. And that question by his lawyer, Fenton — it had been clumsily done, but he had made his point.

Perfume wafted over me as Mrs Petrie resumed her seat, and I heard Gundersen’s voice, cold and angry, say, ‘Why didn’t you tell him? I gave you those figures weeks back.’ And she answered him in a whisper: ‘How can I think of figures now?’

And then Holland called ‘Hans Gundersen’.

He described himself as a financier and company director and he made a strong impression on the court. He was a business man and he had all his facts and figures at his finger-tips. Without any prompting from Holland he explained to the Court exactly why he had joined the Company, why they had acquired the Mary Deare and the Torre Annunziata, how the purchases had been financed and what the expected profits were.

He explained his interest in the Dellimare Company in the cold, hard language of business. He had many interests in Singapore and other ports in the Far East. It suited his interests at that time to take a hand in the affairs of this small company. He had the chance to acquire two old ships at a very low figure. He had taken the view that freight rates were on the mend and that in a year’s time it would be possible to sell the ships at a handsome profit. He had chosen the Dellimare Company as the medium through which to make the purchase because he knew Mr Dellimare and discovered that he was willing to have the Company wound up at the end of the transaction. ‘In my experience,’ he added, ‘that is much the most remunerative way of engaging in these operations.’ In the case of the Torre Annttnziata his object had been achieved. They had sold the ship to the Chinese at a figure much higher than the purchase price. The Mary Deare, however, had not proved such a good proposition. Her condition had been worse than he had been led to believe. The result was that he had decided that she should make one voyage and then be sold for scrap in England. Break-up price less purchase price and overhaul would have given the Dellimare Company a small margin of profit plus the profits of the voyage. He handed Holland a slip of paper. ‘Those are the figures, actual and estimated,’ he said.

Holland passed them up to Bowen-Lodge and then sat down. The Chairman checked through the figures, nodded and glanced towards Sir Lionel, who rose and said, ‘I should like to know from the witness who financed the acquisition of these ships and how exactly he stood to gain from the deal.’

Bowen-Lodge put the question and Gundersen replied, ‘Of course. I financed the operation myself. In return I was allotted all the shares of the increased capital of the Company.’

‘In other words,’ Sir Lionel said, ‘your motive for becoming a director of this company was profit?’

‘Naturally. I am a business man, sir.’

‘I appreciate that.’ Sir Lionel smiled drily. ‘Now, about the Mary Deare. You have admitted that she was not in the condition you had hoped. How was it that such a valuable cargo was entrusted to her? Did Mr Dellimare arrange that?’

‘No. I arranged it through my contacts in Singapore. You must understand that I am very well known in business circles there.’

‘One further question. For what reason were these two ships — the Mary Deare and the Torre Annunziata — routed in such a way that they were in the Rangoon River together from January 7th to 11th?’

‘I don’t understand the reason for your question, sir,’ Gundersen replied. ‘Mr Dellimare looked after all the details of the Company management. If a ship is sailing from England to China and another from Japan to Antwerp, then they will cross somewhere.’

Sir Lionel asked him a number of further questions, but Gundersen refused to admit any responsibility for the details of ships’ schedules. ‘You must understand that I have many calls on my time. This was a very small business. I do not concern myself with the day-to-day management of affairs of companies I am interested in.’

‘But you flew all the way from Singapore as soon as you heard what had happened to the Mary Deare and have remained in this country ever since.’

‘Of course. I am a director of the Company and this is a serious business. When something goes wrong, then it is necessary to be on the spot. Particularly as Mr Dellimare is dead.’

‘One final question; why was it necessary for Mr Dellimare to travel on the Mary Deare as supercargo. Surely in these days it is very unusual?’

Gundersen shrugged his shoulders. ‘Mr Dellimare was in Yokohama to arrange all the details. I don’t think he was a rich man, and it is cheaper to travel a long distance like that in your own ship.’