JR (82 page)

—Don't have any damn shirt on, who's the nigger with her.

—I understand he's a young musician from India sir, he …

—The same one she's stretched out here naked with, how do you like his…

—By God Beaton told you to keep a file on Boody don't mean you have to buy every smut sheet in town.

—No sir this appeared in a leading fashion magazine sir she, here I'm sorry ma'am I'll pick them up let me get the door sir …

—Anything new on Freddie, Beaton?

—No sir he was out again late last week and apparently eluded his attendants for most of a day but…

—Devil's this back here looks like a bus sign.

—A New York City bus sign yes sir, since its meaning is clearly unintelligible I expect to use it in court to support Deleserea's contention that rather than soliciting she was merely asking passersby for dir…

—I want her back by lunchtime Beaton and I want that carload of nig…

—Whole damn board waiting Zona probably all asleep in there, Beaton get on those phone calls hear me? While you're at it get that damn fool running that bank out there Whitefoot something like that Bulcke's got the number just see if he sounds ready to talk business once we get this little wop straightened out.

—Yes sir… and for a moment he appeared to cling to the doorknob for balance once he got it closed behind them before his own black shoes parted to tread by turn a breast, a face, Heiress in Bomb Plot, Andros viewed over tawny buttocks across the carpet to the desk where they drew close again and his hands briefly cradled his face before one dropped to the telephone. —Miss Bulcke I want you to

place a call to Mister Crawley and another one to a bank executive with a name like Whitelaw the Governor says you have his number, out on Long… yes and Miss Bulcke I want you to try to reach Mrs Joubert it's quite urgent, I suppose the school where she's teaching would be the

… yes and if I'm on another line when you reach her simply cut in and… yes simply say you have a call for me from Senator Broos… and his face was gone in his hands again until a button glowed. —Yes hello… ?

—Hello, hello…

—Paint dropping off the ceiling into my soup and I'm litigating with the landlord, I've brought suits against two publishers and Tuesday I have to go into small claims court for …

—Excuse me I have your call from Senator…

—Hello… ? Shirley what in the hell is … no I know it's a crossed line nobody I know'd be in small claims court, if Stamper's trying to get through stay on it and then come in here and fix these electrodes, just hang this up for me there will you Bast? Six thousand shares of phone company stock and I can't reach Billy be damned, well. Brought our magnum opus in, have you? no just put the whole case here in front of me, have to keep my feet in this damn tub, it … hand me that letter opener.

—Yes here the, that catch sticks sometimes but…

—There … wait, probably want to save this piece won't you, might want to get it repaired. Now, let's have a look… and he held the page from the top at arm's length.

—Oh yes well no that's just…

—See how those beggars got off with a billion dollars? Next thing we'll be handing money out to the reindeer up there, sorry…

—No I'll get it, it's just something I …

—Might just roll up that right trouserleg while you're down there, don't want it copper plated eh? Now, yes this is more like it yes, this the opening bars is it?

—Oh that's I forgot I'd, that's an accordion solo I …

—Accordion eh? Sounds interesting Bast but I think we'll want something a little more impressive to open up, looks like a footprint on it too …

—Yes the accordionist did that, I just went down there to get paid and he said the dancers were the ones who'd hired me and since they'd

both just been fired nobody was responsible for …

—Yes come in Shirley tighten up these electrodes will you? Slipping like that no current coming through at all, now what was that Bast?

—Nothing just the first violin was the only nice person there, he said he'd call up somebody he knows at ASCAP and I might get a job listening for their songs on the…

—Little tighter there Shirley, ever pick up jungle rot Bast still the best treatment for it there is, did all this by hand did you?

—Well yes but that top part's something I …

—Little string of black notes running along here, might be our dik- dik is it?

—Well I'd indicated castanets for the…

—Almost see the little fellow running there can't you, glad my slides were a help, yes. Turn tumti, tumti tumti, of course I can't really read it you know that, just a lot of hentracks to me. You know Bast I still find it one of life's great mysteries, people like you who can look at these hentracks and hear those soaring tones that conjure up the vastness of the plains, the purple mountains' majesty, here… I'm just looking for one of our big fellows here somewhere, here now this might be one yes… his clear nail traced a double mordent, —eland maybe?

—Yes well that just indicates a grace…

—That's it Bast grace, did your homework didn't you, and I think you've captured it. Find some game's about as graceful as a hatrack till it moves and then this grace comes in yes, all these notes here looks

like you've got a lot of movement in here and I think you've captured it Bast, remarkable, just remarkable. Just tell me something, Bast. When you sit down to compose, do you hear this tumti tumti turn and then get it right down on paper? or …

—Yes well that's a little difficult to …

—No no don't try to explain it to me probably wouldn't understand it if you did, prodigious Bast, prodigious, that grandeur we talked about I can almost feel it right here in my hands… and the case came up briefly —just the sheer bulk of it, spared nothing have you.

—Yes well I felt you'd want it scored for full orchestra and of course dealing with ninety-five instruments is …

—Each playing its part to fill the screen with the breath of life, to make us feel the vastness of the plains, the purple mountains' majesty all down in these little hentracks. Ever happen to read a novel called Trilby, Bast?

—Well no I don't think I …

—Probably a little before your time yes but there's a passage in there I never forgot, the man standing there at the piano staring at the music can't read a note and he can't play. All the soaring tones and rapturous sounds that could express his highest dreams and desires right there in front of him and he can't get at them, yes of course that was all back in the days before tapes and records so we won't have that happen here will we. Shirley on your way out there look on my calendar, I think I've

got some free time this afternoon in fact Bast and Shirley bring in my checkbook, here this may be Stamper now just hand me that will you? I know he'll want to hear the, yes hello … ? Who … ? Beamish? no don't think I ever … oh yes yes heard of your company of course been having your troubles haven't you… Yes I don't know why he'd tell you to call me about it though, these people who've taken over X-L Lithograph are still having a little cash flow problem of their own and whether they're in any position yet to settle this old debt to Triangle right now

is … haven't discussed it with them no just this item in this morning's paper, speculation seems to be they went after X-L strictly as an advertising medium, diversifying right and left expanding line of products plan to use these matchbook covers all over the country to put themselves across move in on these markets and saturate the… topflight aggressive young management yes, happen to have one of their principals sitting right here in fact, Mister … no no their executive officer, probably clear up the status of this long-term debt right now, Mister Bast… ?

—No well if you wouldn't mind speaking to him Mister Craw…

—Busy on something else Beamish but… what? I didn't… oh that's the way it is yes, yes I knew you people were looking around but that asking price what was it? twelve million? probably a little beyond their

… Go right ahead yes I'm listening, fixed assets seven and a half yes push that pad over here will you Bast… ? two million one and eighty percent of the difference back on taxes four million three… ninety percent of the inventory two million seven and eighty percent yes… four and a half million cash yes sitting right here he'll call you back on it Beamish, probably want to discuss it with… whether they'd want to write off your bad debts yes of course I'd advise them to look into the… what? Suppose you could call it wallpaper yes it just happens I know a good deal about this Duncan and Company's situation right

now and the bank acting as … not receivership nothing like that no, no my point's simply that rather than running around after bad debts Mister Bast's people here might think about just absorbing the whole… Which one… ? Ritz yes yes I remember them, didn't know you had an interest there too thought the whole thing was… good for a tax loss yes let me get all this together and get back to you with it Beamish, Mister Bast will want a chance to discuss it with his … Tamarack? play up there myself sometimes think I'll be up there Saturday in fact I'll

look around for you, fine … hang this up there will you Bast? Lawyer for Triangle Paper Products their real book value must be up toward twenty million sounds like a damn clever fellow, he's got it worked out so you people can pick it up for four and a half cash.

—Four and a half, million?

—Cash yes, wipe out your longterm X-L debt there and pick up a good steady tax loss situation in Ritz Bright Leaf Tobacco didn't know they controlled it …

—Yes well of course…

—Yes well of course you'll want to discuss it with your associate and when you do you might mention this Duncan and Company too, a fine old firm even though Beamish there calls their list wallpaper and I didn't know they'd let their bills for paper stock pile up that way at Triangle, but I might have an inside track for you people there at the bank acting as corporate trustee if you're interested just give me the go-ahead, might be preferable to running around after bad debts.

—Yes I certainly…

—Might make a lot of sense too if you're really thinking of picking up Her.

—Who?

—Your man Piscator's the one who mentioned it to me, take on Duncan and Company too and get all your publications under one roof you might be able to do a lot of cost cutting and bring it around but just let me give you a little advice Bast and I hope you won't mind.

—No no I'd ap…

—I like to stay out of corporate affairs and the petty infighting that goes on everywhere but this Piscator of yours, I can't say I take to him.

—Yes I know what you …

—Not our sort Bast just not our sort at all, little too fast on his feet if you follow me, even asked me outright to propose him up at Tamarack, no question of prejudice of course but they'd think he came with a traveling dog troupe if he showed up there in that outfit. But that's not my point. You take this Her for instance, fine old women's magazine and all the rest of it but they've been losing advertising revenue up there since the day television came in and they've been trying to sell off their plant for three years. Look at it as a good dependable tax loss proposition fine but I've been around a little longer than you have Bast and it looks to me like you people have

about all of that you need, but my point here is since their advertising's handled by these same Pomerance Associates you people have just taken on to do your PR and this Pomerance is Piscator's brother changed his name somewhere along the way and I can't say I blame him, I'd look twice at the whole thing before I held my nose and jumped in.

—Yes well you see Mister Crawley this here whole, I mean this whole thing is …

—Nothing wrong with the basics in this rough prospectus for this stock issue you're bringing out once he's got your Jamaica incorporation squared away, can't even say I find anything to criticize in the way he's handling your acquisition of this mom and pop funeral home chain but any first year law student could handle that one, eh?

—Well yes I, I didn't know we…

—Didn't know the details no, been busy with your music Bast I know that, why I try to keep as many of these little headaches off your shoulders as I can. Wagner the name of it isn't it? All pretty cut and dried, two brothers built up the chain and the older one just died

holding forty percent turns into the same old story, widow and five children controlling the business need cash and the younger brother with his twenty percent wants to plow all the earnings back into expansion but can't buy them out so you people are pledging the widow and children their share of the book value in cash and giving the others a small downpayment plus installments based on future earnings, I don't think you'll miss with it Bast. Younger brother's a real go-getter and it's one business you don't have to worry about dropoff in consumer demand eh? But getting back to your man Piscator here, get into something like this Ray-X situation and you may need more

leverage than somebody like him can provide. Looked over that report I sent have you?

—No Mister Crawley and, and listen to tell you the truth about the whole thing I haven't even…