Was it possible this had begun only a few weeks ago? It had begun that day in Hong Kong when he met the Chinese stranger aboard the _Fernhill_ and, like a fool, he had listened to the man’s talk about making easy money. That was when he should have walked away. But he hadn’t walked away. And that’s why he was now in this strange room in Boston with these men who asked so many questions.... Q--Mr. Halvorsen, on the 15th of March, 1955, where was your ship, the _Fernhill_? A--It was in Hong Kong. Q--And did you have any conversation with a visitor to the ship? A--Yes, I was talking to him. Q--Will you explain what conversation you had and with whom it was? A--The man was a tailor and he said to me that he wanted to talk about some business down in my cabin. Q--Had you ever met him before? A--No. Halvorsen recalled that he had talked to the Chinese tailor about the price of a suit. Several tailors had boarded the _Fernhill_ to solicit orders as soon as the ship dropped anchor. Most of the ship’s crew had placed orders for suits, but Halvorsen had decided the price was more than he could afford. It was after this that the tailor--a well-dressed man of medium height with a wart on the lobe of his left ear--whispered to Halvorsen that he would like to talk to him alone in his cabin. Q--What did he say when he talked about this other business of smuggling? A--He asked me if I wanted to make some money. Q--What did you say? A--Yes, I said. Q--Then what did he say? A--He said, “I can give you opium[A] if you will take the opium to San Francisco.” He said that if I would do this for him he would pay me $1,200 American. Q--What did you say then? A--I was not sure if I wanted to do it or not, but I did not say no. [A] In the transcript of Halvorsen’s story, the young seaman referred to the narcotics sometimes as opium and at other times as cocaine and heroin. The narcotics in each case was heroin, a derivative of opium highly favored by drug addicts in the United States. The tailor then wrote an address on a slip of paper--No. 54 Cameron Road--and pressed it into Halvorsen’s hand. “If you decide you want the money, come to this address at seven o’clock tonight.” By six o’clock that evening, Halvorsen had reached a decision. The sum of $1,200 sounded like a small fortune to the boy who had never in his life had more than a few dollars at one time. It was more money than he could save in many months at sea--enough to buy an interest in a fishing boat back in Norway.