“So I have the word here and there that Santo will swing when something looks good. And I think he is smart enough to ease his way into it, because if he comes in too hard and fast, it is going to go up the ladder so fast I’m not going to have a chance to use the buying power on the margin account to keep doubling on the way up. He’ll have to set it up to work through several accounts, and be willing to sell off blocks of it to kill the momentum if it starts to go too fast.”
“You said something about it not being nickel and dime.”
“So it would depend entirely on how far he wants to go with it. If he goes in, it will take a million to create the pressure it needs. I would say he could come in anywhere from one million on up to a tops of four. Over four and it would put it too far out of balance and attract too much attention in the long run. Frankly, I’d be hitchhiking, using his buying pressure to get on for the ride up, and taking the chance he can keep the climb controlled. I could assemble syndicate money because the track record is good, but the leaks would hurt. If I had the million, I wouldn’t be here. Let’s say he can count on three hundred percent long-term gains, if he doesn’t plumber it. This is the kind of thing that comes along every three to five years, where all the factors fit like a beautiful watch.”
“Mr. Santo has very little tendency to plumber anything.”
“That was my evaluation. And when the ride is over, I should be where I won’t have to fool with syndicates and Santo. I’ll be where I can make my own markets.”
“A listed security?”
“And a company in a potentially dynamic growth area.”
For the first time I saw the suggestion of a smile on that heavy little-girl mouth. “And absolutely no point at all in asking you the name of it, of course. But I can ask you for… bank references?”
“That’s a silly question. If he wants to dig around and check me out, lots of luck. He could find worms in the apple. All he’ll be interested in is the track record.” I took the envelope out of my inside jacket pocket and took out the brokerage account forms and flipped them over to her. “Take a look, if you can read them and interpret them, and then you can give Santo a nice verbal reference.”
She went through the margin account monthly summary forms first, sheet by sheet. Midway through she gave me a sudden green glance of reappraisal. On the last one, the December one, I had penciled beside each stock listed in the security position the January second market value. She checked those values against the purchase confirmations-not all of them, just a random few.
“May I hold these for a few days?” she asked.
“No.”
“Can I have them Xeroxed? It would take just a few minutes:”
I hesitated. “On one basis, and I can’t enforce it. You see them and Santo sees them, and that’s it.”
“That would be up to him.”
“So relay my humble request to the great man, sweetie.”
“Do you have to be so sarcastic?”
“Am I supposed to be impressed by Gary Santo? He happens to be my number one on a list of three possibles. Whoever it turns out to be will make a bundle on their terms while they help me make a bundle on my terms. I didn’t come to beg, sweetie.”
“You do make that clear. I’ll be right back.”
“If you ever stoop to manual labor around this shop, I think it would be nice if you did the Xeroxing yourself.”
“I shall, sweetie. And you just made a nice brownie point. Cautious is as cautious does. We treasure that around here.”
She was back in under ten minutes. She did not sit again. I stowed the account forms in the envelope and in my pocket.
I said, “You see, Miss, there’s all those chests of gold coin busted open and spilled out right across the white sand bottom next to Hustler Reef.”
“That was clumsy, wasn’t it? I must stop typecasting. Of course you realize I have no idea whether or not this will appeal to Mr. Santo. The idea, I mean. If it does, he will have to know the security you’re talking about, and he will want to have it checked.”
“Quietly, I hope.”
“Of course.”
“When do I get to see him?”
“How can I reach you?”
“I’m going to be on the move. Suppose I phone you tomorrow afternoon.”
She shook her head. “Friday. Say at four in the afternoon. Ask for me by name and give my extension number or you won’t be put through. Sixty-six.”
“Just what is your job around here, Mary Smith?”
“You might call me a buffer zone.”
“Have I gotten past you?”
“On Friday we’ll both know, won’t we?”
Ten
ON TUESDAY evening I reached Preston LaFrance by phone at his home in Sunnydale. I taped it so that Meyer and I could study the playback.
“McGee? Trav? I’ve been wondering all day-”
“Too much has been happening; Press. I might say that things are shaping up a little better than I’d hoped. I might have some good news for you when I’m able to get up there.”
“I need some good news; and you can believe it. When are you coming up.”
“I’ll have to let you know. That money we talked about. Have you got it set aside?”
“Let me get one thing straight. I get to know about what’s going on before I have to go ahead and buy that damned thing for three or four times what it’s worth, don’t I? I mean I get a chance to make a decision based on what you tell me?”
“Naturally. But as you must realize, I’m not in this thing for that kind of a profit.”
“I can figure that out for myself all right. Okay I’ve got that money set aside, in case I want to go along.”
“You will. I’ll have the papers all drawn and bring them along. But one thing has come up which worries me a little, Press.”
His voice tightened up. “What? What?”
“Have you had any recent contact with Santo?” No. No reason to. Why?“
“I think it would be a very good thing if you make certain he never hears about any kind of deal between you and me.”
“I don’t understand what you-”
“Did you hear anything about somebody topping your offer that same day title reverted to Mrs. Bannon, and I bought it from her?”
“I sure did, and it puzzled the hell out of me. It come through Steve Besseker here, and he won’t say who made it.”
“I have it on pretty good authority that Besseker was representing Gary Santo.”
“What! The hell you say! Steve?”
“Santo sent some woman up to give him his orders, apparently. A tall redhead.”
“By God, somebody was kidding Steve about seeing him over in Broward Beach with a big good-looking redhead sometime just before Christmas.”
“It was probably the same day I bought the Bannon property. And it strikes me that the way things are going, Santo would want to know if there is any present or pending agreement between you and me, and he might have asked Besseker to find out.”
I could hear him breathing, and then he said softly, “Well, I’ll be a son of a bitch! The very next day he asked me if I knew you, and if maybe you were acting for me because, like Whitt Sanders said, that Bannon woman certainly wouldn’t have sold to me no matter what I offered her. What’s going on, McGee?”
“I’m afraid he’s gotten wind of the deal I’m trying to pull off, and it would sting him a little. I suppose Besseker will keep him posted on every move you make. Well, we have to move a little faster than I planned. Santo will hear about you buying the Bannon place from me as soon as the sale is recorded. Until then, keep your mouth shut because I wouldn’t want to have it turn out that you end up with no share in either his deal or mine.”
“Listen, I can’t risk anything like that happen-”
“Sit tight, Press. Hang on. Keep the faith.”
As he started to speak again I hung up on him. About an hour later I played it for Meyer. He listened and then shook his head. “What’s the point, Travis? Why are you confounding that dull boy with all this business of wheels within wheels?”