Saturday evening in the centre of Manchester is always good for a night out. Chrissie Fersen had come prepared, this time dazzling anyone she met with a Hollywood smile and a figure-hugging suit in vibrant yellow. But she wasn’t in the mood for clubbing. Having quizzed her brother Ed on his progress to full health, then Robin on Billie’s movements since he dumped her at a downtown bar, she was keyed up for plenty more questions as she and Robin entered Billie's fifth-floor hotel room.
‘If you hadn’t answered the door right then, we were going to a party next door. How are you holding up, feller?’
For answer, Billie gave her a hug. He felt her respond to the embrace, a reminder of a time they’d shared once before. ‘I’m okay—now. Thanks, guys.’ He stepped back. ‘This is what I think might be described in the States as one hot potato. Looks like we’re about to find out just how hot.’
‘Is that it?’ said Chrissie, as Robin dropped Billie’s bag on the floor.
‘What?’ Billie followed the look, realising Emma’s single page letter was lying on top, looking a little creased where he must have leaned on it. ‘No! No, look. You’d better sit over there, or on the bed. Whatever. It’s here.’ Pulling out the Ziploc file from its hiding place, he hesitated. ‘There’s quite a few pages. I’ve read it all twice and I’ve got my own thoughts, but let’s discuss each one after you’ve both had a chance to read.’
No one broke the silence that lasted several minutes. Robin found himself looking at a typed letter addressed to Lord Pirrie from an organisation he assumed to be a trade union. Chrissie picked another at random, a two-page summary in Mickey Palmer’s elegant handwriting. The heading at the top of the page was neatly etched in block letters:
MEETING BETWEEN LORD PIRRIE, MR J B ISMAY AND MR B PENN, JANUARY 15th 1912:
Following an introduction by Mr Ismay, Mr Penn gave a presentation (see separate sheet) on the basic details of plans for a rendezvous in mid-Atlantic between Titanic and ?? (a yet to be identified vessel) which would be towed into position by a German ship. Following the presentation, Mr Penn asked if there were any questions…
‘Any questions, gentlemen?’
The New York accent sounded harsh among the home-grown voices in the Harland & Wolff boardroom.
Lord Pirrie’s response was a good deal softer in dialect. ‘Yes, indeed. Mr Penn, would you please be good enough to tell me what makes you so confident that this “exercise” will be successful in promoting future business for the White Star Line as opposed to Cunard?’
‘I can answer that in one word, Your Lordship: association.’ The American’s eyes sparkled above a brown handlebar moustache. ‘Folks will associate the name of Titanic with more than luxury. They will remember that, on its very first outing, it stopped to rescue a stricken boat, showing beneficial generosity to its fellow man.’
Pirrie’s face reflected distaste, prompting Ismay to intercede.
‘Er… perhaps I can add a little more to Mr Penn’s summary. There is every reason to expect a good deal of publicity at the introduction of a second vessel. Titanic is bigger and better in every way than Olympic. But by the very fact of being second, we do risk the possibility that the event will not be seen as being “newsworthy” to the extent we would wish. I believe that is the right terminology, is it not, Mr Penn?’ The American beamed his approval. ‘Mr Morgan is determined that Titanic’s maiden voyage will make an impact. So, this exercise, as you put it, is a relatively simple way of drawing attention in a manner that will receive universal endorsement.’
‘Simple, you say?’ Pirrie raised a cautionary eyebrow. ‘Speaking of endorsements…’
‘Ah, yes!’ said Ismay. ‘I understand our German friends are happy for one of their ships to tow a smaller one into position, and to accommodate a scratch crew of four to man her from there, until the rendezvous.’
Pirrie nodded slowly. ‘I’m sure that will meet Mr Morgan’s expectations, although in my opinion, seeking the cooperation of any country outside Britain or America in these circumstances has its risks. And yet… you make it all sound very straightforward.’
‘It will be. There’ll be back up, of course, in case the weather conditions affect. I am presently looking to appoint a suitable commander to be on hand for assistance, should anything go amiss. Are you familiar with Stanley Lord? No? Good chap. Very discreet.’
‘Hmmm. The better part of valour, eh? Mr Penn also mentioned abstaining from the use of Marconi transmissions?’
Penn leaned forward. ‘That’s essential. We need this to be seen as a chance encounter. At the appointed time a rocket will be launched from the derelict ship. The lookouts won’t be able to miss it, so long as they’re close enough. There will be a light on the masthead to aid navigation, but we need Titanic to be the nearest ship to provide assistance. If anything is broadcast by Marconi before they sight it, we risk someone else butting in.’
‘Butting in?’ queried Pirrie.
‘I mean interfering with the rescue. The crew will have instructions to scuttle it before they transfer to Titanic. We don’t want that to happen too early, or for them to be picked up by another ship, do we?’
‘No, we don’t.’ Pirrie frowned. ‘That would never do.’
Penn was unable to contain his enthusiasm for the project. ‘Once they’re picked up, they can broadcast. That’s the big story then. Everyone loves to hear about a rescue at sea. Imagine the papers! We’ll have the story ready for release on Smith’s signal, don’t you fret.’
Ismay caught Pirrie’s eye, and gave him a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t worry, old chap. Anything and everything has been thought of. Just leave it to me.’
*
‘Can you believe this?’ Chrissie exchanged a look with Billie. ‘They must have been in deep shit to have tried to pull something like that. A publicity stunt, for Christ’s sake!’
Billie nodded. ‘Incredible, isn’t it? But a damned sight more likely, and more feasible than swapping Titanic for Olympic as some would have us believe.’
‘Sorry? They swapped ships?’
Billie shook his head. ‘It was a conspiracy theory someone came up with after the wreck was found. They reckoned there were structural differences which indicated that Titanic’s sister ship had been sunk instead. A case was made suggesting Olympic was seriously damaged from a couple of collisions, so White Star secretly swapped the two ships to deliberately stage a sinking and claim on the insurance.’
‘That’s crazy! But it’s been disproved, right?’
‘As far as I know, yes. But there are still some out there who believe it. It’s a fanciful idea in my view, but when you look at what we have here, who’s to say what seems more likely?’
Chrissie thought for a moment, weighing up one story against another. ‘They scuttled another boat but sank themselves because they lost an argument with an iceberg?’
‘Exactly.’ Billie held out his hand for the copy of Mickey’s notes. ‘If it did happen, then there were another four deaths from the smaller boat that were never included in the total. Did you catch the other revelation about Stanley Lord?’
‘No. Who’s he?’
‘Captain of the Californian. The scapegoat. Some reckon his ship was close enough to have come to Titanic’s rescue, but he stayed put instead, asleep in his bunk. The British inquiry agreed with that, yet he always protested his innocence. Maybe he had some involvement after all?’
Robin spoke up for the first time. ‘Listen, laddie, I hate to rain on your parade but not much of this is making sense to me. You obviously know all there is about the Titanic. All I know is it was a bloody big ship that hit a lump of ice in the middle of the Atlantic and sank with almost everyone on board. What is there in these notes and letters that says anything different? Or am I missing the point?’
‘What have you got there?’ Billie reached for the letter in Robin’s hand and gave it a quick glance. ‘The stuff about Ismay. Okay, do you know who he was? Right, let me give you a brief bio, because it looks like he had a lot to answer for. Joseph Bruce Ismay was chairman of the White Star Line that owned Titanic and her sister ship Olympic. Lord Pirrie was chairman of Harland & Wolff, the company that built both ships for White Star. But White Star had been bought by J. P. Morgan in 1902, using a subsidiary company called International Mercantile Marine, and Morgan appointed Ismay as president of IMM, so the two were very close.’
‘In other words, Ismay was on Morgan’s payroll, and he was the one paying Pirrie to build the ships?’
‘Yes. J. P. Morgan was hugely wealthy from investing in steel and railways in America, but once he got into shipping, he lost a lot of money. He felt humiliated that his ships were struggling to turn a profit while the Cunard Line in Britain were breaking records and getting government assistance. Then Olympic was seriously damaged by a British Navy ship, and White Star were sued by the British Government. That made him determined to turn his business around by making Titanic headline news. I reckon these documents show how he intended to do that.’
‘By sinking the Titanic?’
‘No! By deliberately setting up a situation that would gain him front-page headlines and boost his business skywards.’
Robin frowned. ‘He got the front-page headlines all right. But not the right ones.’
‘Exactly,’ Billie continued. ‘Ismay also lost his street cred and never recovered, but it looks like he tried to drag others down at the same time, and that’s where some people in government got a bit twitchy. The unions too. Is that the letter you were reading?’
‘Yes. I think I’d better read it again. One other question. I think I know the answer to this but I’d like your view. Marconi was the radio system, right? And no one knew much about it before the disaster, but because of the publicity over the distress signals it got the kind of attention Morgan wanted for his fake rescue plot?’
‘That’s about it, yes. The company was newly trading on the stock exchange, and the share price rocketed immediately after the news broke. Seems it got out, possibly through Ismay, that the Attorney General and a few others were tipped the wink and bought stock in Marconi the day after the sinking.’
Chrissie looked from one man to the other in the silence that followed. ‘Sounds like a perfect set-up for insider dealing. Boy, this Mickey Palmer kept some pretty hot stuff, didn’t he? Let me read that letter.’