McGill turned to the desk clerk. ‘Have you a Christchurch telephone book?’
Ballard picked up the telephone as McGill flipped through the pages. ‘Ballard here.’
A testy voice said, ‘I have half a dozen message slips here asking me to ring you. I’ve just got in so it had better be important.’
‘It is,’ said Ballard grimly. ‘We’re in a bad situation here. We have reason to suppose that the mine – and the town – is in danger of destruction by avalanche.’
There was a blank silence broken only by a surge of music from the dance floor. Crowell said, ‘What!’
‘An avalanche,’ said Ballard. ‘We’re going to be in dead trouble.’
‘Are you serious?’
Ballard put his finger to his other ear to block out the noise of the music. ‘Of course I’m serious. I don’t joke about things like this. I want you to get on to the Ministry of Civil Defence to let them know about it. We may need help fast.’
‘But I don’t understand,’ said Crowell faintly.
‘You don’t have to understand,’ snapped Ballard. ‘Just tell them that the township of Hukahoronui is in danger of being blotted out.’
McGill’s finger marked a line in the telephone book. He looked up as someone ran past and saw Charlie Peterson heading for Ballard at a dead run. He dropped the book and jumped after him.
Charlie grabbed Ballard by the shoulder, and Ballard shouted, ‘What the hell …?’
‘I’m going to break you in half,’ said Charlie.
Lost in the uproar was a soft rumble of distant thunder. Ballard punched at Charlie, hampered by the telephone he held. From the wildly waving earpiece came the quacking sound of Crowell in Auckland. McGill laid hands on Charlie and hauled him away bodily.
Ballard, breathing heavily, put the telephone to his ear. Crowell said, ‘… going on there? Are you there, Ballard? What’s …?’
The line went dead.
McGill spun Charlie around and laid him cold with a right cross to the jaw just as all the lights went out.
‘After the lights went out things got pretty confused,’ said Cameron. He half turned in his chair and spoke to the nurse in a low voice. The nurse got up and poured him a glass of water, and when Cameron took it, his hand was shaking.
Harrison watched him carefully. ‘You’ve been giving evidence for quite a long time, Mr Cameron, and I think you should stand down for the moment. Since we are taking evidence chronologically the next witness should naturally be Mr Crowell. Thank you, Mr Cameron.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ Cameron got to his feet painfully, assisted by the male nurse, and hobbled slowly across the hall.
Reed said, ‘Will Mr Crowell come forward?’
A short, stout man got to his feet and walked up to the rostrum with some reluctance. As he sat down he turned his head sideways to look at Rickman, who nodded reassuringly. Reed said, ‘What is your full name?’
Crowell licked his lips nervously, and coughed, ‘Henry James Crowell.’
‘And your occupation, Mr Crowell?’
‘I’m the chairman of several companies, including the Hukahoronui Mining Company.’
Harrison said, ‘Do you own shares in that company?’
‘I have a minority holding, yes.’
‘Mr Ballard was the managing director of that company, was he not?’
‘Yes.’
‘What were his responsibilities?’
Crowell frowned. ‘I don’t understand the question.’
‘Come, Mr Crowell. Surely Mr Ballard had duties which were defined.’
‘Of course, sir. He had the normal duties of a managing director – to see to the total interests of the company under the guidance of the board of directors.’
‘Which was headed by yourself.’
‘That is correct.’
‘You have been listening to evidence relating to a telephone call which you made to Mr Ballard. Did you, in fact, make that call?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘I had been away from home and arrived back late on the Saturday night. My secretary had left a list of messages from Mr Ballard to the effect that I should contact him. From the number and tenor of these messages I judged the matter to be urgent, so I telephoned him immediately.’
‘And what did he say?’
‘He said something about an avalanche. I didn’t quite understand – he was very indistinct.’
‘Didn’t you ask him to explain further?’
‘Yes.’ Crowell’s hands twitched. ‘There was a lot of noise going on at his end – music and so forth. He wasn’t very coherent.’
Harrison regarded him thoughtfully, and then moved his eyes sideways. ‘Yes, Mr Smithers?’
‘Can the witness state whether or not Mr Ballard asked him to contact the Ministry of Civil Defence to warn them of impending danger at Hukahoronui?’
Harrison’s eyes returned to Crowell who wriggled in his seat. ‘He did say something along those lines, but there was a lot of noise on the line. A lot of shouting and screaming.’ He paused. ‘Then I was cut off.’
‘What did you do then?’ asked Harrison.
‘I talked it over with my wife.’
A ripple of amusement passed over the hall. Harrison knocked sharply with his gavel. ‘Did you contact the Ministry of Civil Defence?’
Crowell hesitated. ‘No, sir.’
‘Why not?’
‘I thought it was some sort of practical joke. With that music and uproar on the line … well, I thought …’ His voice tailed away.
‘You thought Mr Ballard was joking?’ queried Harrison.
Both Lyall and Rickman had their hands up. Harrison picked Rickman and nodded. ‘Did you think Mr Ballard was drunk?’ asked Rickman. Lyall grinned and hauled down his hand.
‘I did.’
‘When
