Kane & Abel (1979) (54 page)

‘To the next chairman of Lester’s,’ said Leach, raising his glass.

William hesitated.

‘Don’t drink, Mr Kane. As you know, you should never drink to yourself.’

William laughed, unsure of what to say.

A few moments later two older men came into the bar and walked across to join them, both tall and assured in their bankers’ uniform of grey three-piece suits, stiff collars and dark, unpatterned ties. Had they been strolling down Wall Street, William would not have given them a second glance. In the Metropolitan Club he studied them carefully as Leach introduced them.

‘Mr Alfred Rodgers and Mr Winthrop Davies. Both board members.’

William’s smile was reserved, now uncertain whose side anyone was on. The two newcomers studied him with interest. No one spoke for a moment.

‘Where do we start?’ asked Rodgers, a monocle falling from his eye as he spoke.

‘By going up to lunch,’ said Leach.

The three of them turned, obviously knowing exactly where they were going. William followed. The dining room on the second floor was vast, with another magnificent high ceiling. The maitre d’ placed them in a window seat, overlooking Central Park, where no one could overhear their conversation.

‘Let’s order and then talk,’ said Leach.

Through the window William could see the Plaza Hotel. Memories of his celebration with the grandmothers and Matthew came flooding back to him - and there was something else he was trying to recall about that tea at the Plaza …

‘Mr Kane, let’s put our cards on the table,’ said Leach. ‘Charles Lester’s decision to appoint you as chairman of the bank came as a surprise to all of us, not to put too fine a point on it. But if the board were to ignore his wishes, the bank could be plunged into chaos, and none of us want that. He was a shrewd old buzzard, and he will have had his reasons for wanting you to be chairman. That’s good enough for me.’

William had heard those sentiments before - from Peter Parfitt.

‘All three of us,’ said Davies, taking over, ‘owe everything we have to Charles Lester, and we will carry out his wishes if it’s the last thing we do as members of the board.’

‘It may turn out to be just that,’ said Leach, ‘if Parfitt succeeds in becoming chairman.’

‘I’m sorry, gentlemen,’ said William, ‘to have caused you so much consternation. If my appointment as chairman came as a surprise to you, it was nothing less than a bolt from the blue for me. When I attended the reading of the will, I imagined I’d receive some minor personal memento in memory of Mr Lester’s son, not the opportunity to run his bank.’

Leach smiled when he heard the word ‘opportunity’. ‘We understand the position you’ve been placed in, Mr Kane, and you must trust us when we say we’re on your side. We are aware you may find that difficult to accept, after the treatment you’ve received from Peter Parfitt.’

‘I have to believe you, Mr Leach, because I have no choice but to place myself in your hands. How would you summarize the current situation?’

‘The situation is clear,’ said Leach. ‘Parfitt’s campaign is well organized, and he now feels he’s acting from a position of strength. I am assuming, Mr Kane, that you have the stomach for a fight.’

‘I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t, Mr Leach. And now that you’ve summed up the position so succinctly, perhaps you’ll allow me to suggest how we should go about defeating Mr Parfitt.’

‘Certainly,’ said Leach.

The eyes of all three bankers were fixed on William.

‘You are undoubtedly right in suggesting that Parfitt feels he’s in a strong position, because until now he’s always been the one on the attack, knowing what’s going to happen next. The time has come for us to go on the attack, where and when he least expects it - in his own boardroom.’

‘How do you propose we go about that, Mr Kane?’ asked Davies.

‘I’ll explain if you’ll first permit me to ask you two questions. How many directors have a vote?’

‘Sixteen,’ said Leach instantly.

‘And with whom does their allegiance lie at this moment?’

‘Not the easiest question to answer, Mr Kane,’ Davies chipped in. He took a crumpled envelope from his inside pocket and studied the back of it before he continued. ‘I estimate that we can count on six certain votes, and Parfitt can be sure of five. But it came as a shock to me to discover this morning that Rupert Cork-Smith - he was Charles Lester’s oldest friend - is unwilling to support you. It’s very odd, because I know he doesn’t care for Parfitt. That would make it six apiece.’

‘So we have until Thursday,’ said Leach, ‘to make sure of three more votes.’

‘Why Thursday?’ asked William.

‘That’s the day of the next board meeting,’ answered Leach, stroking his moustache. ‘And Item One on the agenda is the election of a new chairman.’

‘I was told the next board meeting wasn’t until Monday,’ said William in astonishment.

‘By whom?’ Davies asked.

‘Peter Parfitt,’ said William.

‘His tactics,’ Leach commented, ‘have hardly been those of a gentleman.’

‘I’ve learned enough about that gentleman,’ William said, placing an ironic stress on the word, ‘to make me realize I’ll have to take the battle to him.’

‘Easier said than done, Mr Kane. He’s very much in the driving seat at this moment,’ said Davies, ‘and I’m not sure how we go about removing him from it.’

‘Let’s switch the traffic lights to red,’ replied William. All three men looked puzzled, but didn’t comment. ‘Who has the authority to call a board meeting?’ he continued.

‘While the board is without a chairman, either vice chairman,’ said Ted Leach, ‘which means Parfitt or me.’

‘How many board members form a quorum?’

‘Nine,’ said Davies.

‘And who is the company secretary?’

‘I am,’ said Alfred Rodgers, who until that moment had hardly opened his mouth - one of the many qualities William always looked for in a company secretary.

‘How much notice do you have to give to call an emergency board meeting, Mr Rodgers?’

‘Every director must be informed at least twenty-four hours beforehand, although it has never actually happened since the crash of twenty-nine. Charles Lester always tried to give at least six days’ notice.’

‘But the bank’s rules do allow for an emergency meeting to be held at twenty-four hours’ notice?’ said William.

‘Yes, they do, Mr Kane,’ Rodgers affirmed, his monocle now firmly in place and focused on William.

‘Excellent. Then let’s call our own board meeting.’

The three bankers stared at him as if they had not quite heard him clearly.

‘Think about it, gentlemen,’ William continued. ‘Mr Leach, as vice chairman, calls a board meeting, and Mr Rodgers, as company secretary, immediately informs all the directors.’

‘When would you want this board meeting to take place?’ asked Leach.

‘Three o’clock tomorrow afternoon.’

‘Good God, that’s cutting it a bit fine,’ said Rodgers. ‘I’m not sure—’

‘It’s only cutting it a bit fine for Parfitt, wouldn’t you say?’ said William.

‘Fair point,’ said Leach. ‘And what do you have planned for this meeting?’

‘Leave that to me. Just be sure that it’s legally convened, and that every director is given at least twenty-four hours’ notice.’

‘I wonder how Parfitt will react?’ said Leach.

‘I don’t give a damn,’ said William. ‘That’s the mistake we’ve been making all along. Let him start worrying about us for a change. As long as he’s given the full twenty-four hours’ notice and he’s the last director informed, we have nothing to fear. We don’t want him to have any more time than necessary to stage a counterattack. And gentlemen, don’t be surprised by anything I do or say tomorrow. Trust my judgement; just make sure you’re there to support me.’

‘You don’t feel we ought to know what you have in mind?’

‘No, Mr Leach. You must appear to be uninvolved, and doing no more than carrying out your duty as directors of the bank. However, it will be important for Mr Rodgers to be fully prepared to conduct an election without looking as if he was aware it was coming.’

It was beginning to dawn on Ted Leach and his two colleagues why Charles Lester had chosen William Kane to be their next chairman. They left the Metropolitan Club a few minutes later, more confident than when they had arrived, despite being totally in the dark about what Kane had planned for the board meeting they were about to call. William, on the other hand, having carried out the first part of Thomas Cohen’s instructions to his satisfaction, was actually looking forward to the more difficult second part.

He spent most of the afternoon and evening in his room at the Yale Club, making copious notes and going over his tactics for the next day’s meeting. At six o’clock, he took a short break to call Kate.

‘Where are you, darling?’ she said. ‘Stealing away in the middle of the night to I know not where.’

‘To my New York mistress,’ said William.

‘Poor girl,’ said Kate. ‘What’s her advice on the devious Mr Parfitt?’

‘Haven’t had time to ask her, we’ve been so busy doing other things. While I have you on the phone, what’s your advice?’

‘Do nothing Charles Lester or your father wouldn’t have approved of,’ said Kate, suddenly serious.

‘They’re probably playing golf together on the eighteenth cloud and taking a side bet, while keeping an eye on me the whole time.’

‘Whatever you do, William, you won’t go far wrong if you remember they’re watching you.’

W
HEN DAWN BROKE
William was already awake, having managed to sleep only fitfully. He rose a little after six, had a cold shower, went for a long walk through Central Park to clear his head and returned to the Yale Club for a light breakfast. There was a message waiting for him in the front hall from his wife. He read it, and laughed out loud. ‘If you’re not too busy, could you remember to buy a New York Yankees baseball cap for Richard?’

He picked up a copy of
The Wall Street Journal
, which was still running the story of friction in Lester’s boardroom over the selection of a new chairman. It now had Parfitt’s version of events, hinting that his appointment would be confirmed at Thursday’s board meeting. William wondered whose version would be reported in tomorrow’s paper. How he would have liked to read Friday’s
Journal
now.

After another call to Thomas Cohen, he spent the morning double-checking the articles of incorporation and the bylaws of Lester’s Bank. He skipped lunch in favour of F.A.O. Schwarz, where he bought a baseball cap for his son.

At two-thirty he took a cab to Lester’s Bank in Wall Street, and arrived outside the front door a few minutes before three. The young doorman asked him who he had an appointment with.

‘I’m William Kane.’

‘Yes, sir. You’ll want the boardroom.’

Good Heavens, thought William, I don’t even know where it is.

The doorman noticed his embarrassment. ‘Take the corridor on the left, sir, and it’s the second door on the right.’

‘Thank you,’ said William, and walked slowly down the long corridor. Until that moment, he had always thought the expression ‘butterflies in the stomach’ a stupid one. He felt that his heartbeat must be louder than the ticking of the clock in the hall; he would not have been surprised to hear himself chiming three o’clock.

Ted Leach was standing at the entrance to the boardroom. ‘There’s going to be trouble,’ were his opening words.

‘That’s hardly a surprise,’ said William. ‘But that’s the way Charles Lester would have liked it, because he always faced trouble head on.’

William strode into the impressive oak-panelled room, where a number of men were standing in groups of two or three, deep in conversation. He did not need to count heads to know that every director was present. This was not going to be one of those board meetings a director could afford to miss. The buzz of talk ceased the moment William entered the room. He took the chairman’s place at the head of the long mahogany table before Peter Parfitt could realize what was happening.

‘Gentlemen, please be seated,’ he said, hoping his voice sounded authoritative.

Ted Leach and some of the other directors took their seats immediately; others seemed more reluctant.

‘Before anyone says anything,’ began William, ‘I would, if you will allow me, like to make a brief opening statement, and then you can decide how you wish to proceed. I feel that’s the least we can do to comply with the wishes of the late Charles Lester.’

One or two reluctant board members took their seats. Every eye in the room was fixed on William.

‘Thank you, gentlemen. To start with, I would like to make it clear to all of you that I have absolutely no desire to be the chairman of this bank’ - he paused for effect - ‘unless it is the wish of the majority of its directors. I am, gentlemen, at present deputy chairman of Kane and Cabot, and own fifty-one per cent of that bank’s stock. Kane and Cabot was founded by my grandfather, and I think it compares favourably in reputation, if not in size, with Lester’s. Were I required to leave Boston and move to New York to become the next chairman of this bank, in compliance with Charles Lester’s wishes, it would not be easy for myself or for my family. However, as it was Charles Lester’s desire that I should do just that - and he was not a man to make such a proposition lightly - I am bound to take his wishes seriously. I would also like to add that his son, Matthew Lester, was my closest friend for over fifteen years, and I consider it a tragedy that it is me, and not him, who is addressing you today as your prospective chairman.’