Fujimura disappearance
On the fourth showboat cruise, which left New York on 8 August, the entertainers included Mildred Harris, former wife of Charlie Chaplin. The passengers included a Japanese merchant called Hisashi Fujimura of Norwalk, Connecticut, and his seven-year-old daughter. With them were Fujimura's mistress Mary Reissner, formerly a showgirl with the stage name Mary Dale, who was posing as his daughter's governess.[80][81] Fujimura headed Asahi Corp, which had premises on Madison Avenue, New York, and was one of the biggest U.S. importers of silk.[82]
As Belgenland was returning to New York on the morning of 14 August, Fujimura was reported missing. He was seen at 0100 hrs that morning, when the ship was east of Fire Island,[80][81] and the ship's Master, Captain JH Doughty, later said he saw him at 0245 hrs.[83] United States Coast Guard Cutters searched unsuccessfully for Fujimura's body in waters beyond the Ambrose Lightship.[80][81]
U.S. Attorney George Z. Medalie ordered Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Edward Lumbard to investigate. Lumbard questioned Mary Reissner on at least two occasions,[84] and once questioned Mildred Harris.[85] Another Assistant U.S. Attorney, Edward Aronow, questioned a convicted extortionist serving a sentence in Suffolk County Jail on Long Island, who was a close friend of Fujimura.[86] The extortionist was said to know a chauffeur whom Fujimura had recently dismissed.[87]
Fujimura had several life insurance policies, with a total value of $290,000. One was a $50,000 policy that he had only recently taken out. Another was a $20,000 policy whose beneficiary he had changed from his estate to his wife the day before Belgenland sailed.[88]
For several months, Fujimura had had $335,412 on deposit in the Bank of Manhattan Trust Company. All but $2 of this sum was withdrawn on 8 August, the same day that Fujimura sailed on Belgenland. $100 was deposited in the same account sometime after the sailing. He had also begun a lawsuit before Justice John F. Carew in the New York Supreme Court to recover $40,000 from a company based in Madison Avenue. The case was outstanding when Fujimura disappeared.[89] Between 1 and 8 May, Fujimura had paid out $229,000 to four men, apparently to settle gambling debts.[90]
During the investigation Reissner received two letters demanding $5,000, which led the NYPD to question a man and a woman on suspicion of blackmail. Aronow said he believed that two men, posing as United States Department of Justice officers, had tried to blackmail Fujimura, and had threatened to have him prosecuted under the Mann Act.[91]
On 21 August Belgenland reached New York at the end of her sixth showboat cruise, and resumed her transatlantic service the same day. FBI investigators were aboard throughout the nine hours she was in port.[83]
On 8 September, Medalie announced that the investigation had been completed "for all practical purposes", and had failed to show that Fujimura had been murdered.[92] However, on 5 October an electrician working at an apartment in West 35th Street found an empty black leather wallet with "Hasashi Fujimura" (sic) stamped on it in gold letters, and handed it in to the NYPD.[93]
Fujimura's widow returned to Okayama in Japan, taking their four young children. His estate was not settled until 1935. Debts and expenses totalling $554,937 wiped out his assets of $538,133.[82]
