— No sir I have the report right here in fact Governor and as far as Mister Pecci goes sir, it offers what can only be called an embarrassment of riches. Apparently Mister Pecci’s wife recently…
— Get to it later if we have time, all I want clear before this meeting’s how much his shenanigans and the rest of this nonsense in the paper had to do with a class action against Diamond Crawley said something about. This whole Diamond tender’s taken one hell of a lot of putting together and I don’t want to see some damn nuisance suit interfering with it.
— A, a what sir? I’m sorry sir I don’t…
— A class action damn it Beaton, lawyer don’t know what a class action is? Crawley said you and he’d discussed it some talk of settling now what the devil was there to it.
— Oh yes sir no, no that happened some time ago but I believe what Mister Crawley was referring to was a threatened stockholder’s suit by, another inspiration of Mister Davidoff’s sir, to have class six J threaten suit against the company as an exercise in corporate democracy in action I believe he described it, he…
— Damn it Beaton what are you talking about, class six J…
— Yes sir the class of schoolchildren Mrs Joubert brought in to buy a share of Diamond Cable stock as their share in America you may recall sir, she…
— She’s a ninny.
— Just be quiet Zona what do you mean threatened a lawsuit.
— Always said Emily was a ninny, had her little pissants running all over the boardroom…
— No Mrs Joubert seemed quite unaware of this so-called suit sir, Mister Davidoff seems to have arranged it as a game to give the children a looksee at the system I believe he put it, a few corporate dollars to play with…
— What in hell do you mean corporate dollars to play with!
— Yes sir before I learned of any of this sir Mister Davidoff had settled this so-called suit for cash from his public relations budget, he was thoroughly unpleasant when I…
— Cash damn it Beaton how much cash!
— Eighteen hundred some odd dollars sir, he…
— Some odd dollars by God you can get every one of those some odd dollars right back out of his pay, damned…
— Yes sir but I thought you were aware he no longer…
— What damned excuse he could have for a stunt like this…
— Frankly sir with this and the attentions he gave her class for an Annual Report feature I felt he was trying to make an impression on Mrs Joubert…
— Same way that driveling Frenchman got into her pants, what are you doing about that.
— Done it. What’s the latest quote on Nobili, Beaton.
— It opened at thirteen and a half sir, I haven’t checked the…
— Tell Crawley start picking it up again at twelve, probably sold it short himself at about that, hear from Amy tell her we settled her lulu for her shouldn’t have any more problems with him.
— Yes sir but she, didn’t she get in touch with you sir?
— Been in the hospital damn it Beaton what do you…
— Yes sir I gave her that number, she’d apparently met Mister Crawley in the Metropolitan Art Museum and learned of this pressure being brought on Mister Joubert and became quite distraught…
— Must have been the Natural History Museum Beaton what the devil would Crawley want in the Metropolitan.
— Wherever it was she was quite frantic sir, alarmed at the way Mister Joubert might react to being pressed to the…
— Not a damn thing he can do to her now is there?
— No sir but her concern for Francis was extremely…
— Don’t see what he can do there either, day she brought her class in here we tied up both those foundations so he couldn’t touch either one of them with a ten foot pole, forgot the little lesson I gave you that day Beaton?
— No sir but right now I think her fears concerning Francis are what really…
— Better not forget it either, come up with another half-baked proposition like that when she comes in to sign this final set of papers on those two foundations we’ll all go to the poorhouse and that fourth dividend, you keep your eye on the date hear me?
— Yes sir it’s, excuse me. Hello…?
— That’s Stamper I told them to send him right in.
— It’s Mister Cutler in Washington sir. Yes, hello? Dick?
— What’s he doing down there.
— Yes just a minute. He went down to settle the details of this Endo Appliance divestiture with the Justice Department sir but apparently some question’s just come up regarding…
— Here give me that… Cutler? What the devil’s the problem down there… Yes I damn well am out of the hospital, spent another day there we’d all be out of business. What the devil’s going on, this Endo nonsense should have been cleared up a month ago… Took title to the patents didn’t we? Without them nothing left but a damn shell, last year’s inventory and some lamebrain salesmen I know that, so does the Justice Department whole damn point… The what…? Hasn’t mentioned it no but… Well you tell them this whole damn thing was settled two months ago, they agreed not to give us any problem on this Diamond tender if we tied the can to the Endo outfit and that’s… what do you mean some question… Course I saw the newspapers… Well you tell Frank Black I, wait damn it tell him myself. Beaton? Here, get me Frank Black.
— Yes sir…
— Put in a call to Monty too, damn nonsense about withdrawing this tender…
— Yes sir… Miss Bulcke? Yes get Frank Black please and then… yes and then put in a call to Mister Moncrieff…
— One newspaper headline they’re ready to close shop, Beaton what the devil’s this about irregularities in the Endo inventory.
— Yes I was going to mention that sir, apparently Mister Davidoff was making gifts from the inventory to…
— Just what the devil do you mean making gifts, to who.
— To various schools and institutions apparently sir, he…
— What in hell was he doing that for!
— I believe he felt it could be used to bring the attention of the press to the company’s…
— The press! Bring the attention of the Justice Department the SEC and every damn leftwing politician looking for a headline, nothing left to that Endo outfit but its damn inventory he’s giving away with one hand while we’re complying with this Justice Department ruling to sell the company with the other, already jeopardized the Diamond tender with this damn fool news story tell me what in hell he thinks he’s been doing?
— In his rather inflated notion of improving the corporate image he appears to have…
— This keeps up by God there won’t be anything left but the damn image, who the devil gave him this kind of authority.
— In Mister Moncrieff’s absence sir I believe he had the impression that he, in his own phrase that he was running the store.
— Running the, by God anybody ever run a store by giving away everything in it? Get him in here Beaton, see what else he’s given away. And get Crawley, Frank Wiles, whoever’s handling this Endo divestiture, find a buyer at any damn price they can get and just write off the rest, get rid of the whole thing and anybody connected with handing out its inventory before this whole deal with the Justice Department blows up in our faces. Get him in here, see what else he’s given away damn it Zona just be quiet…
— But he’s no longer with us sir he…
— Gives away the whole damn company and then quits? Where the devil is he.
— I understand he’s joined a public relations agency sir but his departure was hardly…
— Lucky to get out of here with his hat and his ass and I want him arrested too Beaton. When he interfered with my workmen removing my painting to take to my house he went out of here ass over teakettle John, and Beaton I want him arrested.