The night man worked for Sociedad Mercantil de Importaci?n de Productos Petroliferos, not for the Edificio Kavanagh. He could be counted on to have the door open in anticipation of Mallin's arrival. He could also be counted on to have a kettle of water simmering in the small kitchen in Se?or Mallin's private office, and to have checked with the Communications Department to make sure that all communications Se?or Mallin would possibly be interested in were neatly laid out on the conference table in Se?or Mallins office.
Enrico would brew his own tea (Hornyman's Special) in a china teapot, remove his jacket and loosen his tie while he was waiting for it to steep, and then begin his day by reading the material from the Communications Department.
Very little of this was addressed to him personally. And very little of what he read required any action on his part. He made the odd note now and again to query one of his Division Chiefs, but the basic purpose of his spending an hour or two reading the communications was simply to get an idea of what was going on.
One piece of wisdom he brought home from Americaan insight that was ignored at the London School of Economicswas the leadership philosophy he acquired from a marvelous curmudgeonly character of an American oilman, Cletus Marcus Howell. Howell told himactually proclaimedthat if you have to look over the shoulder of the people you've hired to make sure they do what you tell them to do, you've hired the wrong people.
The philosophy was simplistic, of course, but in practice it worked. And in the case of Cletus Marcus Howell, in that wonderful American expression, he put his money where his mouth was in his relationship with Sociedad Mercantil de Importaci?n de Productos Petroliferos. SMIPP had represented both Howell Petroleum and Howell Petroleum (Venezuela) in Argentina for many years. There were twice-annual visits (annual now, because of the war) by Howell's accountants to have a look at the books. But aside from that, Howell (or his people) rarely asked questions and never offered any criticism of the way Mallin was running things.
They offered, of course, constructive suggestions, but these were precisely that: both constructive and suggestions. Generally speaking, when other SMIPP clients offered "constructive suggestions," they were actually criticizing. And "suggestions" was a euphemism for orders.
Over the years, Mallin had taken more care handling the Howell accounts than any others, simply because he knew he had a free rein, and it would have been terribly awkward and embarrassing if he was caught doing something unwise. Or stupid. Mallin took a little private pleasure in knowing that in his case, Cletus Marcus Howell was sure he had hired the right man.
Mallin almost casually glanced at the material laid out on his conference table, then poured himself a cup of tea, adding sugar and lemon. He then went to the window and slowly sipped it, gazing out at the boats on the River Plate as he did. As long as the office was his (he inherited it, so to speak, on his father's death three years before), the view fascinated, almost hypnotized, him. He privately acknowledged that looking out the window was one of the reasons he came to the office so early. If others wanted to believe he spent every moment reading the mail, no harm was done.
Now that he was here, he regretted not stopping in to have a coffee with Teresa. There was something wonderfully erotic about letting himself into her apartment, walking quietly to the bedroom, and watching her sleeping. Especially now, in the summer, when he could often find her without a sheet covering her, and with a flimsy nightdress more often than not riding high on her legs. When she was sleeping, there was a strange and entirely delightful warmth about her, and a slight musky smell. Teresa kept an apple on her bedside table. She wouldn't let him kiss her on the mouth until she'd taken a bite or two. Then her mouth tasted of apples.
Tomorrow,Mallin decided. I will visit Teresa tomorrow.
He turned from the window and went to his desk and consulted his schedule for the week. He had an appointment at eleven o'clock tomorrow.
There will be time for Teresa before I have to meet with Schneider. And if 1 run a little late, Schneider will just have to wait.
He glanced at the paper spread out on the conference table and sighed.
I better stop thinking about Teresa and do my reading. What the devil is that? A cable. I don't remember seeing that before. I've told that idiot again and again to put the cables on top!
He walked around his desk to the conference table and picked up a pale-pink envelope and tore it open.
WESTERN UNION
NEW ORLEANS
1115AM NOV 19 1942
FROM HOWELL PETROLEUM NEW ORLEANS
VIA MACKAY RADIO
ENRICO MALLIN
SMIPP
KAVANAGH BUILDING
CALLE FLORIDA 165
BUENOS AIRES ARGENTINA
FOR REASONS MY GRANDSON WILL EXPLAIN IN PERSON HOWELL VENEZUELA OPENING BUENOS AIRES
OFFICE STOP CLETUS HOWELL FRADE AND ANTHONY J PELOSI COMMA TANK FARM ENGINEER COMMA
DEPARTING MIAMI PANAMERICAN FLIGHT ONE SEVEN ONE NOVEMBER TWENTY STOP APPRECIATE YOUR
ARRANGING HOTEL ETCETERA UNTIL PERMANENT ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE MADE STOP REGARDS CLETUS
MARCUS HOWELL END
The old man is opening a Buenos Aires office? And sending his grandson down here to do it? What in the devil is that all about?
The first thing that came to his mind was that SMIPP had somehow failed to meet the old man's expectations. Had some thing gone wrong?... He couldn't imagine what...But was he about to lose Howell Petroleum as a client?
Almost immediately, he realized that couldn't possibly be the case. Their relatively simple business relationship had gone on long enough to work effortlessly; all the little problems that inevitably occur had been resolved.
In their own bottoms, or hired bottoms, Howell (Venezuela) shipped Venezuela crude to Buenos Aires. This was most often (and now almost always, with the war) off-loaded directly into the tanks of the refinery that was to process it. Since there was an import tax, the government determined precisely how much crude there was. The government inspectors were kept honest during off-loading by the presence of representatives of the refiner (who wanted to make sure the inspectors had not been paid by SMIPP to report a greater tonnage than was the case) and of SMIPP (who wanted to make sure the inspectors had not been paid off by the refiner to report the off-loading of a lesser amount of crude than was the case).
Within forty-eight hours of off-loading, the refiners paid SMIPP for the crude. And within twenty-four hours of receipt of their check, SMIPP paid into Howell (Venezuela)'s account at the Bank of Boston the amount they were due: gross receipts less taxes, stevedoring, and, of course, SMIPP's commission.
Handling of Refined Products (cased motor oil and lubricants) from Howell Petroleum (which Mallin thought of as Howell USA) was a bit more complicated. But this was still done in much the same way. There was, of course, a greater problem with pilferage: Refined products were shipped as regular cargo aboard freighters that were not owned or controlled by Howell, and the crews of these freighters had discovered that oil products floated (even in cans and cases), and that some of the operators of boats on the River Plate would make gifts to seamen in proportion to the number of cases of refined products they found bobbing around in the river.