‘No,’ said Nat, ‘and it wouldn’t have even crossed my mind to behave this way if we hadn’t been dealing with Ralph Elliot.’ He paused. ‘I did warn you that I was going to kill him. I just didn’t tell you how.’
39
‘You’ve got the chairman of Fairchild’s on line one, Joe Stein on line two, and your wife on line three.’
‘I’ll take the chairman of Fairchild’s. Ask Joe Stein to hold and tell Su Ling I’ll call back.’
‘Your wife said it was urgent.’
‘I’ll call her back in a few minutes.’
‘I’m putting Mr Goldblatz through.’
Nat would have liked a few moments to compose himself before he spoke to the chairman of Fairchild’s, perhaps he should have told his secretary that he would call him back. For a start, how should he address him; Mr Goldblatz, Mr Chairman or sir? After all, he had been chairman of Fairchild’s when Nat was still at Harvard Business School doing case studies on banking.
‘Good morning, Mr Cartwright.’
‘Good morning, Mr Goldblatz, how can I help you?’
‘I wondered if perhaps we could meet.’ Nat hesitated because he wasn’t quite sure what to say. ‘And I think it would be wise if it were just the two us,’ he added. ‘Jus... jus... just the two of us.’
‘Yes, I’m sure that would be all right,’ said Nat, ‘but it will have to be somewhere no one would recognize us.’
‘Might I suggest St Joseph’s Cathedral?’ said Mr Goldblatz, ‘I don’t think anyone will recognize me there.’
Nat laughed. ‘When did you have in mind?’ he asked.
‘I would have thought sooner rather than later.’
‘I agree,’ said Nat.
‘Shall we say three o’clock this afternoon? I can’t imagine there will be that many people in church on a Monday afternoon.’
‘St Joseph’s, three o’clock, I’ll see you there, Mr Goldblatz.’ No sooner had Nat put the phone down than it rang again.
‘Joe Stein,’ said Linda.
‘Joe, what’s the latest?’
‘I’ve just picked up another hundred thousand of Fairchild’s stock, which takes you up to twenty-nine per cent. They’re currently around $2.90, which is less than half their high point. But you do have a problem,’ said Joe.
‘And what’s that?’
‘If you don’t get hold of fifty per cent by Friday week, you’ll be facing exactly the same problem Fairchild’s had a fortnight ago, so I hope you know what your next move is.’
‘It may become clearer after a meeting I’m having at three o’clock this afternoon,’ said Nat.
‘That sounds interesting,’ said Joe.
‘It could well be,’ said Nat, ‘but I can’t say anything at the moment because even I’m not sure what it’s all about.’
‘Curiouser and curiouser,’ said Joe. ‘I’ll look forward to hearing more. But what do you expect me to do in the meantime?’
‘I want you to go on buying every Fairchild’s share you can lay your hands on until close of business tonight. Then let’s talk again just before the market opens tomorrow morning.’
‘Understood,’ said Joe, ‘then I’d better leave you and get back on the floor.’
Nat let out a long sigh, and tried to think what Murray Goldblatz could possibly want to see him about. He picked up the phone again, ‘Linda, get me Logan Fitzgerald — he’ll be on his New York number.’
‘Your wife did stress that it was urgent and she called back again while you were speaking to Mr Stein.’
‘Right, I’ll phone her while you try and find Logan.’
Nat dialled his home number and then began strumming his fingers on the desk as he continued to think about Murray Goldblatz and what he could possibly want. Su Ling’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
‘Sorry I didn’t call you straight back,’ said Nat, ‘but Murray...’
‘Luke’s run away from school,’ said Su Ling. ‘No one’s seen him since lights out last night.’
‘You’ve got the chairman of the Democratic National Committee on line one, Mr Gates on line two, and your wife on line three.’
‘I’ll take the party chairman first. Would you ask Jimmy to hold and tell Annie I’ll call her right back.’
‘She said it was urgent.’
‘Tell her I’ll only be a couple of minutes.’
Fletcher would have liked a little more time to compose himself. He’d only met the party chairman a couple of times, in a corridor at the national convention, and at a cocktail party in Washington DC. He doubted if Mr Brubaker would remember either occasion. And then there was the problem of how to address him, Mr Brubaker, Alan, or even sir. After all, he’d been appointed chairman before Fletcher had even run for the Senate.
‘Good morning, Fletcher, Al Brubaker.’
‘Good morning, Mr Chairman, how nice to hear from you. How can I help?’
‘I need to have a word with you in private, Fletcher, and wondered if you and your wife could possibly fly down to Washington and join Jenny and me for dinner one evening.’
‘We’d be delighted to,’ said Fletcher, ‘when did you have in mind?’
‘How’s the evening of the eighteenth looking? That’s next Friday.’
Fletcher quickly flicked through the pages of his appointment book. He had a caucus meeting at noon, which he shouldn’t miss now that he was deputy leader, but nothing was pencilled in for that evening. ‘What time would you like us to be there?’
‘Eight suit you?’ asked Brubaker.
‘Yes, that will be fine, Mr Chairman.’
‘Good, then eight o’clock it is, on the eighteenth. My home is in Georgetown, 3038 N Street.’
Fletcher wrote it down in the space below the caucus meeting. ‘I look forward to seeing you then, Mr Chairman.’
‘Me too,’ said Brubaker. ‘And Fletcher, I would prefer if you didn’t mention this to anyone.’
Fletcher put the phone down. It would be tight, and he might even have to leave the caucus meeting early. The intercom buzzed again.
‘Mr Gates,’ said Sally.
‘Hi, Jimmy, what can I do for you?’ asked Fletcher cheerily, wanting to tell him about his invitation to have dinner with the chairman of the party.
‘It’s not good, I’m afraid,’ said Jimmy. ‘Dad’s had another heart attack and they’ve rushed him into St Patrick’s. I’m just about to leave, but I thought I’d give you a call first.’
‘How bad is he?’ asked Fletcher quietly.
‘Hard to tell until we hear what the doctor has to say. Mom wasn’t exactly coherent when she got in touch with me, so I won’t know a lot more until I’ve been to the hospital.’
‘Annie and I will be with you as soon as we can,’ said Fletcher. He touched the bridge of his telephone and then dialled his home number. It was busy. He replaced the phone and began tapping his fingers. If it was still busy when he tried again he decided he would drive straight home and pick Annie up so they could go over to the hospital together. For a moment, Al Brubaker flashed back into his mind. Why would he want a private meeting that he would prefer not to be mentioned to anyone else? But then his thoughts returned to Harry and he dialled his home number a second time. He heard Annie’s voice on the end of the line.
‘Have you heard?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ said Fletcher, ‘I’ve just spoken to Jimmy. I thought I’d go directly to the hospital so we could meet there.’
‘No, it’s not just Dad,’ said Annie. ‘It’s Lucy, she had a terrible fall when she was out riding this morning. She’s concussed and has broken her leg. They’ve put her in the infirmary. I don’t know what to do next.’
‘I blame myself,’ said Nat. ‘Because of the takeover battle with Fairchild’s I haven’t been to see Luke once this term.’