in spite of the fear enveloping her. “How long did myson . . . do this
research?”
Why, for several months. Smae his return from Europe to be exact”
“I sm IM anyone mist him? He was so inexperienced, I mean:’
kfiewn Cartwright returned ElIzabeWs look. He was not an utta fool. “Thwe
was no nocessity. CatalogiW premature securities isn7t difficult. ICs a
simple process of listin’ names, figures, and dates. And your son is …
was a
–yeL … He was.- Elizabeth knew the banker was bemrinnin to read her
dmmghtL It diddl matter. Nothing mattered now but the ftuth.
The vauftL
“Mr. C*rtwrjgbt, FU be ready in ten minute& rU call for my car and well
both return to Your offim”
adAs YOU wish.”
The ride downtown was made in silence. The banker and the matriarch sat
next to each other in the back seat, but neither spoke. Each was
preoccupied with his own thoughts.
ElizabeWs–the truth.
cartwrighics-survival. For N what he had begun to wspea was correct, bed be
rumed. Waterman Trust wit be ruine& And he was the appointed adviser to
ter Stewart ScarletL
The chauffair, opened the door as the Southerner depped out onto the curb
and held his hand for Elizaboth. He noted that she grasped his hand
tightly. too tightly, as she cliniba-with difficulty-out of the automobile.
She stared down at nothm&
The banker led the old woman rapidly through the bank. Past the cages, past
the tellers, past the office doors to the rear of the building. They took
the elevator down to the huge waterman cellars. out of the elevator they
turned to the left and approached the east wing.
The walls were gray, the surfaces smooth , and the thick cement encased
both sides of the gleaming steel bars. Above, the portal was a simple
inscription.
US
EASr WING
SCARLAM
Elizabeth thought-once agaia-that the affect was tomblike. Beyond the bars
was a narrow hallway lit from the ceiling with bright bulbs encased in wire
mesh. Except for the doorways, two on either side, the corridor looked like
a passageway to some pharaolfs final rer’Ing place in the center of an
awesome Pyramid. The door at the and led to the vault of the Scarlattl
Industries itselL
Everything.
Giovanni.
ibe two doors on either side led to cubicles for the wife and the three
children. Chancellor’s and Ulstees were on the left. Elizabeth’s and
Roland’s on the right. Elizabeth was next to GiOvannL
Elizabeth had Dever had Man& consolidated. She knew that ultimately the
courts would take care of that. It was her one gesture of sentiment to her
lost son. It was proper. Roland, too, was part of the empire~
The uniformed guard nodded-funereally-and opened the sted-barred door.
EMzabeth stood in front of the entrance to the first cubicle on the 1efL
The nameplate on the center of the tnetal door read, ulster Stewart
Scarlatti.
The guard opened this door and Elizabeth entered the nun room. “You will
relock the door and watt Outside6:”
“Naturally.”
She was alone in the cell-like enclosure. She reflected that only once
before had she been in Ulstees cubicle. It had been with GiovamiL Yaws,
histories ago. . . . He had coaxed her downtown to the bank without telling
her of his arrangements for the east wing vaults. He had been so proud. He
had taken her through the five rooms as a guide might usher tourists,
&rough a museunL He had elaborated on the intricacies of the various WistL
She remembered how be slapped the cabinets as if they were prize-winning
cattle that would someday provide enormous herds.
He had been right.
Tble room hadnt changed. it might have been yeSW6 day.
On one side, built into the wall, were the deposit boxes
116
holding the industrials-the stocks, the certificates of ownership in
hundreds of corporations. The wherewithal for day-to-day living. Ulster’s
first trust fund. On two other walls stood file cabinets, seven on each
side. Each file drawer was marked with a year date-changed each year by the
Waterman executors. Each drawer contained hundreds of open-faced securities
and each cabinet had six drawers.
Securities to be drawn on for the next eighty-four years.
The second trust. Earmarked for Scarlatti expansion.
Elizabeth studied the cards on the cabinets.
1926. 1927. 1928. 1929. 1930. 1931.
These were listed on the first cabineL
She saw that there was a monk’s stool pushed several feet away from the
cabinet to the right. Whoever had used it last had been seated between the
first and second file. She looked at the index cards on the adjacent
cabinet.
1932.1933.1934.1935.1936.1937.
She ffeached down and pulled the stool in front of the first cabinet and
sat down. She looked at the bottom file drawer.
1926.
She opened it.
The year was divided by the twelve months, each month separated by a small
index tab. Before each tab was a thin metal carton with two miniature
cleats joined by a single wire submerged in wax. On the face of the
wax-branded-were the initials W.T. in old English lettering.
The year 1926 was intacL None of the thin metal cartons had been opened.
VVhich meant that Ulster had not complied with the banles request for
investment instructions. At,the end of December the executors would take
the responsibility themselves and, no doubt, consult EhZabeth as they had
always done in the past with Ulstees fund.
She pulled out the yew 1927.
This, too, was untouched. None of the wax crests had been broken.
Elizabeth was about to close the file on 1927 when she stopped. Her eyes
caught sight of a blur in the wax. A tiny, slight blemish that would have
gone unnoticed had not a persoWs attention been on the crests.
117
The T. of -the W.T. was ragged and slanted downward on the month of August.
The same was true for September, October, November, and December.
She pulled out the August carton and shook it. Then she ripped the wire
apart and the wax crest cracked and fell away.
The carton was empty.
She replaced it and drew out the remaining months of 1927.
All empty.
She replaced the cartons and opened the file for 1928. Every thin carton
had the T. of the wax crest ragged and slanting downward.
All empty.
For how many months had Ulster carried out his extraordinary charade? Going
from one harried banker to the next and always, always-at the last—conung
down to the vaults. Document by document. Security by security.
Three hours ago she wouldn’t have believed it. It was only because a maid
sweeping her front steps had triggered the memory of another maid sweeping
steps. A maid who remembered a short command given by her son to a
cabdriver.
Ulster Scarlett had taken a subway.
One nudmormag he could not take the chance of a tax! ride in traffic. He
had been late for his session at the bank.
What better time than midmorning? The initial placing of orders, the chaos
of early trading in the market.
Even Ulster Scarlett would be overlooked at midmorning.
She hadn’t understood the subway.
Now she did.
As if performing a painful ritual she checked the remaining months and
years of the first cabinet. Through December, 1931.
Empty.
She closed the drawer on 1931 and began at the bottom of the second
cabinet. 1932.
Empty.
She had reached the middle of the cabinet-1934when she heard the sound of
the metal door opening. She quickly closed the file and turned around in
anger.
Jefferson Cartwright entered and shut the door.
113
“I thought I told you to remain outside!”
“My word, Madame Scarlatti, you look like you’ve seen a dozen ghosts.”
“Get outl”
Cartwright walked rapidly to the first cabinet and arbitrarily pulled out
one of the middle drawers. He saw the broken seals on the metal cartons,
lifted one out,. and opened it. “Seems as if somethin’s missin’.”
“I’ll have you dismissed!”
“Maybe. . . . Maybe you will.” The Southerner pulled out another drawer and
satisfied himself that several other cartons whose seals had been broken
were empty also.
Elizabeth stood silently, contemptuously, next to the banker. When she
spoke, it was with the intensity bom of disgust. “You have just terminated
your employment at Waterman Trust!”
“Maybe I have. Excuse me, please.” The Virginian gently moved Elizabeth
away from the second cabinet and continued his search. He reached the year
1936 and turned to the old woman. “Not much left, is there? I wonder how
far it goes, don’t you? Of course, I’ll make a complete breakdown for you
as soon as possible. For you and my superiors.” He closed the drawer on
1936 and smiled.
“This is confidential family business. VoifIl. do nothingl You can do
nothingl”
“Oh, come nowl These cabinets contained open-faced securities. Bearer bonds
negotiable subject to signature. … Possession is ownership. They’re the
same as money. … Your disappearin’ son took a whale of a hunk of the New
York Exchangel And we haven’t even finished lookin’ around. Shall we open