That was true, but… "You make it sound as if the company is trying to hide something."
"No. No matter what Dan Fallacaro says, Ellen killed herself. If we did anything wrong, it was in not getting her out of there before it was too late." He paused for a long time, and when he spoke again, his voice was softer, with more rounded corners than sharp edges. "That was my fault. I should have seen how overwhelmed she was." He picked up the receiver. "Alex, I'm not going to make the same mistakes again. It's my job to keep you focused on the right things, and that's all I'm trying to do. Pay attention to the airport and what needs to get done there. Get the numbers up and don't get distracted. I'll hold Scanlon off until you can get things under control there."
"Scanlon?" My heart did a double clutch.
"Boston has been receiving what you might call unusual interest from the chairman." He stretched out the middle 'u'-un-yooo-su-al. "I've had calls from him almost every day since you've arrived."
"About what?"
"About the problems in your station. I know you've only been there a week, but he's not interested in excuses. I can only do so much before he loses patience with the both of us."
Lenny had no idea how hollow his threat was. I wasn't afraid of Bill. But I also didn't want him interested in my operation. I stood up, paced over to the window, turned around, paced back, sat down, and stood up again. I didn't want to see him; I didn't want to talk to him on the phone; even talking about him touched on a nerve that was still painfully exposed. Moving to Boston had been a way to put distance between us, and he had promised to honor that decision. I could only hope that in spite of any problems I was having here or what Lenny might say, he would keep his promise.
"Do you understand?" Lenny asked me.
"I understand."
"I appreciate your commitment on Angelo," he said, "and I'd like to ask for another. My plan is to send someone up there from my Human Resources staff here in D.C. to handle Ellen's personal effects, someone who has some training in this area. For my peace of mind, can you promise me that you will work on the problems at the airport until I can free someone up?"
"Yes, I can do that."
"That means you will stay out of Ellen's house?"
I really had no good reason not to make him that promise. "I'll stay out."
"Do I have your word?"
"You have my word."
"Good. Now, all you have to do is ask and I'll take care of Fallacaro for you. You can bring in your own guy-or gal."
I didn't think I knew any "gals." "Take care of him how?"
"I'll make him a ramp supervisor in the farthest place I can find from New Jersey."
"Do you mean Boston?"
"I mean New Jersey. Newark. If he gives you any more trouble, tell him that. And call me when you've come to a decision about Angelo."
"I will."
When I hung up, Molly was in the doorway with her coat on. "Matt's calling back. He got tired of waiting and hung up."
I checked my second line, unaware that it had even rung.
"And I'm going home. Don't forget that tomorrow is Tuesday and you've got your staff meeting."
"Thanks, Molly. Have a good evening."
I punched up Matt's call. He'd been promoted since the last I'd seen him, so instead of a manager's cubicle in the midst of the hoi polloi, he'd be in a big window office sitting in a high-backed swivel chair behind his turbo desk.
"Have you got your feet up on the desk, Matt?"
"That's what it's for, isn't it?"
"And I'll bet you haven't looked at the mountains for a week." Matt had a magnificent view from his side of the building. I'd spent most of my time in headquarters gazing out the window at the canvas peaks of Denver International Airport and in the background, the real thing-the majestic peaks of the great Rocky Mountains.
"We're much too busy to appreciate the natural beauty of our surroundings. I hear it's more exciting where you are. What's it like out there?"
"It's like an airport, Matt." I checked the view out my window, where I could see a line of purple tails with Majestic logos, one on every gate. "We have airplanes here and passengers and cargo. You should come out sometime and see what kind of business you're in."
"No time for that." I heard the clacking of his computer keys, and I knew he was checking e-mail. "I'm talking about all the rumors. Word here is everyone in Boston thinks someone murdered Ellen Shepard. Don't you feel weird? I feel weird, but you're sitting in her chair."
"What happened to her is not contagious, Matt, and I like to think of it as my chair now." I touched the armrest, felt the rough, nubby weave that wore like iron. This chair was probably going to survive the next twelve general managers. "I feel sad about what happened to Ellen, not weird. She was more than a rumor. You know that. You worked with her."
"That was two years ago," he said. "She wasn't suicidal when I knew her."
"I'm not sure she would have announced it, particularly to a sensitive guy like you. How did she sound when you talked to her last week?"
"How'd you know I talked to her?"
"You left a trail of phone messages. What did she want?"
"She had some questions about an old Finance project. I don't think it would pertain to anything you're doing now."
His voice was taking on that arch, staffy quality that really got under my skin. It was a good thing I'd known him since he was a baby analyst. "Matt, if you don't want to tell me what she wanted, say so, but don't give me that secret Finance handshake bullshit."
The clacking keys went silent. "Why do you need to know? Are you thinking she was murdered?"
"I've got some problem employees here, and I think Ellen was building a case to get rid of at least one of them. If she was, I'd like to finish what she was doing."
"Hold on." I heard him get up and close his office door. "That's not why she called," he said when he was back, "but I'll tell you anyway. She was looking for an old schedule, something from our task force days."
"The Nor'easter Acquisition Task Force?"
"Yeah. We worked on it together. She wanted the schedule of purchase price adjustments."
I opened a drawer, found a pad of paper, and started taking notes. "What's a purchase price adjustment?"
"Adjustments to the price Majestic paid to buy Nor'easter."
"What's special about them?"
"Nothing. They're just expenses that are incurred as part of the deal, so they get charged against the purchase price instead of normal operations. That's why you keep them separate."
"What are some examples?"
"Lawyers. You have to have lawyers to negotiate and draft documents for the transaction, and they charge a fee for that. Accountants, consultants, anyone we hire for due diligence. We wouldn't purchase their services if we weren't doing the deal, so their fee gets charged to the deal."
"That doesn't sound particularly relevant to the ramp in Boston."
"I told you."
"There's a schedule of these charges?"
"Yeah. Ellen maintained it when she was on the task force. She didn't have a copy of it anymore, so she called me."
"What does it look like?"
"It's nothing but a spreadsheet. Down one side you've got the payee and the nature of the expense if it's not obvious. Down the other you've got the dollar amount."
"Why would she be interested in something like that two years after the fact?"
"I haven't got a clue."
"You don't know, or you're not telling me?"
"She wouldn't say. I told her where to find it and that was it."
"Which is where?
"Archives. All the merger files have been archived for about a year now."
"Can you send a copy of that schedule to me?"
"I'd have to sign it out, and I don't think I want my name on anything having to do with Ellen Shepard. That whole subject is taboo around here right now. We're not even supposed to be thinking about it, much less talking about it. I could get into trouble."
"Come on, Matt. How many times did I bail you out in the past? Don't you remember that time when you were working on that appropriations request for San Francisco and you needed that information right away and I was the one who went back out to the airport that night to get it-"