Country homes -- Fiction; Middle-aged women -- Fiction; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction; Mystery fiction
On the afternoon before, Monday, while the Traders’ Bank was in the
rush of closing hour, between two and three, Mr. Jacob Trautman,
President of the Pearl Brewing Company, came into the bank to lift a
loan. As security for the loan he had deposited some three hundred
International Steamship Company 5’s, in total value three hundred
thousand dollars. Mr. Trautman went to the loan clerk and, after
certain formalities had been gone through, the loan clerk went to the
vault. Mr. Trautman, who was a large and genial German, waited for a
time, whistling under his breath. The loan clerk did not come back.
After an interval, Mr. Trautman saw the loan clerk emerge from the
vault and go to the assistant cashier: the two went hurriedly to the
vault. A lapse of another ten minutes, and the assistant cashier came
out and approached Mr. Trautman. He was noticeably white and trembling.
Mr. Trautman was told that through an oversight the bonds had been
misplaced, and was asked to return the following morning, when
everything would be made all right.
Mr. Trautman, however, was a shrewd business man, and he did not like
the appearance of things. He left the bank apparently satisfied, and
within thirty minutes he had called up three different members of the
Traders’ Board of Directors. At three-thirty there was a hastily
convened board meeting, with some stormy scenes, and late in the
afternoon a national bank examiner was in possession of the books. The
bank had not opened for business on Tuesday.
At twelve-thirty o’clock the Saturday before, as soon as the business
of the day was closed, Mr. John Bailey, the cashier of the defunct
bank, had taken his hat and departed. During the afternoon he had
called up Mr. Aronson, a member of the board, and said he was ill, and
might not be at the bank for a day or two. As Bailey was highly thought
of, Mr. Aronson merely expressed a regret. From that time until Monday
night, when Mr. Bailey had surrendered to the police, little was known
of his movements. Some time after one on Saturday he had entered the
Western Union office at Cherry and White Streets and had sent two
telegrams. He was at the Greenwood Country Club on Saturday night, and
appeared unlike himself. It was reported that he would be released
under enormous bond, some time that day, Tuesday.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account