“But what about the police and the American Customs?” Mrs. Schmidbauer exclaimed. “I may get into trouble if I do this thing.”
“Nonsense,” Mortiz said. “Nothing can happen to you. All you have to do is sew the watch parts into your corset and no one will be the wiser.”
The lure of free passage to the United States was too great a temptation. Mrs. Schmidbauer agreed to the scheme. That night she obtained strips of cloth and sewed most of the watch movements into her corset. The others she placed in her large handbag.
Mrs. Schmidbauer felt that Moritz was telling the truth when he said that she would have no difficulty. If he thought there would be any trouble, then he would not take such a risk himself.
The plan was very simple. When she arrived in New York and was safely through customs, she was to send a cable to her husband saying, “Gut angekommen,” indicating that all was well. Mortiz would keep in touch with her husband. After the receipt of the message, he would cable his friend in New York and instruct him to pick up the suitcases and the watch movements. Once the delivery was made, then she would receive payment for her fare to New York.
Mrs. Schmidbauer left Munich with her aunt, Mrs. Obermaier, and travelled to Southhampton, England, where she boarded the SS Queen Elizabeth for the Atlantic crossing. The big liner reached New York harbor on December 14, 1954, and docked at Pier 90 on the North River at 8:15 A.M.
On the pier everything seemed to go as smoothly as Moritz said it would. The Customs people were courteous. Mrs. Schmidbauer’s luggage was examined by Inspector Abe Pokress. He did not ask to see the contents of her handbag after she told him it contained only personal belongings. And he inquired amiably about her voyage.
“It was a wonderful trip,” Mrs. Schmidbauer said, watching Pokress’ hands move swiftly through her belongings.
She was immensely relieved when Pokress told her she could close her luggage. She quickly strapped the bags shut. The luggage was placed on a handcart by a porter and Mrs. Schmidbauer thanked Inspector Pokress for his courtesy.
But when the handcart was rolled beside an electronic detection device, Pokress saw a warning light begin to blink. The light indicated the luggage contained a quantity of metal—and Mrs. Schmidbauer’s declaration did not list any metal objects, nor had the casual examination revealed any.