He gave it to me. I wrote my number on my receipt.
“If you hear from her,” I said, sliding it to him, “please ask her to get in touch with me.”
“I wouldn’t count on it. You could always give her a call yourself, you’re so concerned. Only, you know.”
He took his pencil, flapped the crossword to stiffen it. “Try not to get her hopes up.”
Two
Chapter 17
Howdy Clay,
Great meeting you!
As per your request, please find the attached proposal, for 185 Beachcomber Boulevard. This is the last remaining waterfront parcel zoned and permitted for residential use. It’s a real gem! The property includes 4.7 flat, cleared acres. During the 1910s and 1920s, the grounds were used as dormitories for loggers. Although those structures no longer exist, some of the original foundation work is visible (photos below).
Best of all, there are an additional 3.2 acres of virgin pine forest, including a campsite once inhabited by the native Mattole Indians!
You won’t find anything like it — on Swann’s Flat or anywhere else.
This beautiful and historically significant piece of land has never been offered for sale. Currently it is held in trust, with any sale or development subject to approval by the Swann’s Flat Board of Supervisors.
The price and full terms will be made available to you upon receipt of the following:
1. Certified copies of your federal and state income tax returns for the three most recent tax years.
2. Certified copies of bank statements showing a minimum of $5 million in cash reserves.
3. Official copies of credit reports from two of the three major credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion).
4. A copy of your professional resume showing current employment and complete employment history.
5. Two letters of reference from industry colleagues.
6. A letter, signed by your CPA and attorney, disclosing any judgments or bankruptcies, past or pending.
7. A portfolio of all real properties currently held.
I’ve also taken the liberty of attaching some value growth projections. These figures are based on the ten-year total volume and sale history for similar-sized properties on the peninsula and surrounding region. But the unique character of this parcel makes it hard to give a true comp. Still, you should get a sense of what your money can do here.
That’s the formal stuff! Don’t be a stranger.
Beau
(for EB)
The trail left by ML was jumbled and difficult to trace.
The trail left by its namesake was anything but.
Emil Richard Bergstrom, born October 13, 1962, Xenia, Ohio. The databases were silent on his childhood, but I surmised it had been less than idyllic: Shortly after his seventeenth birthday, he’d gone into the army.
It must have felt like a safe bet. Vietnam was over; enlistments were down, bonuses up.
Not a good fit. Five months through his term of service, he was discharged.
I couldn’t view the complete record to know why he’d been let go. Entry-level separation was at the discretion of the military. The cause could be anything from lack of effort to disciplinary infractions.
By the mid-eighties, he’d made his way to California. And found romance. On December 3, 1984, Emil Bergstrom and Kathleen Adele Jessup wed before the Los Angeles County Clerk.
Alas, fate hadn’t smiled upon the union. Though Emil had done better at matrimony than soldiering, toughing it out with Kathleen for three and a half years.
More accurately, she’d toughed it out with him. In 1987 Emil pled no contest to one count of misdemeanor domestic battery. Ninety-day suspended sentence.
Their son, Richard Beaumont Bergstrom, was born the following March. Kathleen had already filed for divorce. Los Angeles Superior Court rendered final judgment two months later, awarding her full custody.
The late eighties and early nineties came across as a tumultuous time for Emil. In addition to the implosion of his personal life, he was paddling against a deluge of lawsuits: His name cropped up on the docket in Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange County, San Diego, and Kern.
He’d sold a lot but never transferred title (allegedly).
He’d misappropriated funds (allegedly).
These early schemes were comparatively crude, less con artistry than blatant fraud. Not all involved land. Bergstrom had dabbled in cars, electronics, scrap metal. Nor had he yet perfected how to erase his tracks. To the contrary: He displayed a flair for public relations, issuing press releases at a blistering pace. Luckily for him, small local papers had column inches to fill.
Valley Times (North Hollywood CA), 19 January 1988 — Sales Reach $8 Million Dollar Mark. Western Development Company achieved a total of $8 million in sales during 1988 according to Emil R. Bergstrom, president of the firm. The company has gained prominence in the past in the acquisition, development and sale of land throughout San Fernando Valley and the Newhall-Saugus area. The firm is located in Sherman Oaks.
Encino Sentinel (Encino CA), 25 April 1990 — Industrial, Development Firms in Merger. California Semiconductor Corp. has merged with Pacific Land Investment Co. and in conjunction with a one-for-10 reverse split, has changed its name to Pacific Research and Development Co. Emil Bergstrom, formerly president of Pacific Land Investment and president of the new corporation said that Pacific Research has signed an agreement to provide a computer programmed economic analysis for Apex-Carlsbad Corp. of Escondido.
Valley Journal (Sherman Oaks CA), 9 July 1991 — Development Firm Forms Subsidiary. Symbiotic Systems Corporation has been organized as a subsidiary of the Western Development Corporation, according to Emil Bergstrom, president of the parent firm. The new corporation will be a service organization to handle administration, advertising and direct mail and other assistance to Western Development Corporation and two other subsidiary firms, Numeric Coordination Services in Van Nuys and Property Analysis Corporation in Irvine. The formation of Symbiotic Systems is the latest step in the current expansion program of Western Development Corporation. The land acquisition and sales firm has operations in Southern California and intends to open an office in Northern California later this year, Bergstrom adds.
The similarities between these rackets and Swann’s Flat lay in the revolving door of partnerships, the ever-changing names and addresses.
The typical con man’s approach to skirting consequences.
Aside from the DV rap, Emil Bergstrom had never been charged with a crime or seen the interior of a jail. He often managed to get civil suits against him dismissed, and any judgments he faced were negligible. At worst he simply closed up shop and reopened elsewhere, sometimes down the hall in the same building. I doubted he’d ever paid out a cent.
In 1993, reality finally caught up to him. He defaulted on a multimillion-dollar loan. The resulting judgment forced Bergstrom to file for bankruptcy.
The plaintiff?
William Arenhold.
The lawsuit constituted my first evidence of the two men interacting. That they then went on to form a fruitful, decades-long collaboration seemed bizarre on the face of it — former adversaries teaming up, like some ill-conceived superhero franchise crossover.
But I could think of an explanation.
Bergstrom’s painted himself into a corner. Low on cash. Investors wary. Creditors with pitchforks and torches, bearing down on the gates.