Harrison waited until it had died away, then said quietly, ‘All present will be silent during the questioning of witnesses.’ He leaned forward. ‘Thank you, Mr Reed; I’ll take it from here. Mr Ballard, at the time of the avalanche were you managing director of the company?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Can you give me a reason why you are no longer in that position?’
Ballard’s voice was colourless. ‘I was suspended from my duties a fortnight after the disaster.’
‘I see.’ Harrison’s eyes flicked sideways as he saw a hand raised. ‘Yes, Mr Gunn?’
‘Can the witness tell us who owns the Hukahoronui Mining Company?’
Harrison nodded to Ballard, who said, ‘It’s a wholly-owned subsidiary of New Zealand Mineral Holdings, Limited.’
‘And that company is just a shell instituted for legal and financial reasons, is it not? Who owns it?’
‘It is owned substantially by the International Mining Investment Corporation.’
‘And who has the controlling interest in the International Mining Investment Corporation?’
‘Mr Chairman!’ Rickman said sharply. ‘Is there provision in your procedure for objections?’
‘Of course, Mr Rickman. What is your objection?’
‘I cannot see what this line of questioning has to do with an avalanche on a hillside.’
‘Neither can I,’ said Harrison. ‘But no doubt Mr Gunn can make it clear.’
‘I think the answer to my last question will make it quite clear,’ said Gunn. ‘I asked who owns the controlling interest in the International Mining Investment Corporation.’
Ballard raised his head and said clearly, ‘Ballard Holdings, Limited, registered in the City of London.’
Gunn smiled. ‘Thank you.’
‘Well, well!’ said Edwards, scribbling rapidly. ‘So he’s one of those Ballards.’
Dalwood chuckled. ‘And Gunn is gunning for Rickman. Up the workers and down with international capital. He smells money.’
Harrison tapped lightly with his gavel and the hall became quiet again. ‘Mr Ballard, do you own shares – or any interest whatever – in Ballard Holdings? Or in any of the companies mentioned?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Does any of your family own any such interest?’
‘Yes; my three uncles and some of my cousins.’
‘Not your father?’
‘He is dead.’
‘How did you come to be appointed managing director of the Hukahoronui Mining Company?’
Ballard shrugged. ‘The company is an old family concern and I suppose that …’
‘Can the witness describe his qualifications for the position?’
Harrison jerked his head around to identify the source of the interruption. ‘You will oblige me by not calling out in this hall, Mr Lyall. Further, you must not interrupt a witness.’ In a milder voice he said, ‘However, the question is relevant and the witness will answer.’
‘I have a degree in mining engineering from Birmingham University. I have done post-graduate studies in South Africa and the United States.’
Lyall had his arm firmly in the air by this time. ‘But no practical experience as a mining engineer?’
Pink spots glowed in Ballard’s cheeks but he appeared to be in control as he said to Harrison, ‘May I finish answering Mr Lyall’s first question?’
‘Of course.’ Harrison looked at Lyall. ‘Mr Lyall: you will not interrupt the witness, and you will address your questions through me unless I indicate otherwise. Go on, Mr Ballard.’
‘I was about to say that, apart from the engineering studies, I attended the Harvard Business School for two years. As for practical experience as a mining engineer, that would be called for if I professed to be a mining engineer, but as managing director my field was rather that of business administrator.’
‘A valid point,’ said Harrison. ‘A managing director need not have the technical expertise of the men he directs. If it were so a large number of our managing directors would be immediately unemployed – and possibly unemployable.’
He waited until the laughter died away, then said, ‘I do not see the point in further questioning along those lines, Mr Lyall.’ As Lyall’s hand remained obstinately raised, he said, ‘Do you have a further – and different – question?’
‘Yes, Mr Chairman. I am reliably informed that when Mr Ballard appeared in Hukahoronui he was unable to walk except with the aid of a stick. Is this correct?’
‘Is this relevant, Mr Lyall?’
‘I believe so, sir.’
‘Witness will answer the question.’
‘It is correct.’
Lyall, his hand up, remained punctiliously silent until Harrison nodded at him curtly. ‘Can you tell us why?’
‘I broke my leg in a skiing accident in Switzerland.’
‘Thank you, Mr Ballard.’
‘I can’t say that I see the relevance,’ observed Harrison. ‘But no doubt it will appear in time.’
‘It was in an avalanche,’ said Ballard.
There was dead silence in the hall.
Harrison looked across at Lyall. ‘The significance still escapes me,’ he said. ‘And since Mr Lyall does not see fit to pursue the subject I think we should carry on. Mr Ballard, when did you arrive in Hukahoronui?’
‘On the sixth of June – six weeks before the avalanche.’
‘So you had not been there very long. Was Hukahoronui what you expected?’
Ballard frowned in thought. ‘The thing that struck me most was how much it had changed.’
Harrison’s eyebrows rose. ‘Changed! Then you had been here before?’
‘I lived there for fifteen years – from infancy until just after my sixteenth birthday.’
Harrison made a note. ‘Go on, Mr Ballard. How had Hukahoronui changed?’
‘It
