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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
signs of occurring."
Grebel, the accountant, fidgeted with his note pad, and Evan nodded
toward him. The young man sat forward, hands clasped together before him. "You
have to admit it isn't normal for anyone to become a hermit. Not in this dayand age,
whatever used to happen in the distant past. No one sees the woman to
know how or what she's doing or how she's getting along."
"You're forgetting, Ed. I see her." Turner kept his voice cool. "I see
her every month, without fail. I send Alistair with her groceries and other
necessities. He always has tea with her in her parlor, after he puts things
away for her. Never has he had anything but compliments for her personal
appearance and the neatness of her house.
"We both marvel at how well she manages, all alone, to keep that huge
place going. She is quite organized and orderly, and when I go we do discuss
those balance sheets and reports, Gertrude. Thoroughly. She understands just
what is going on in every segment of this business in which her competence
lies. She keeps at me until I explain to her satisfaction all the rest that is
not in her field of expertise."
Gertrude frowned. "Are you absolutely certain? Sometimes unbalanced
people can be very persuasive." She tapped her pencil on the table in an
annoying rhythm.
Evan shook his head. "You forget that I knew her before the tragedy. I
have known her almost since she married Ben Clarrington, and I can bear
witness that she managed the farms almost from the first days of her marriage.
She was reared on a farm, had it in her blood. Her understanding of
agriculture is solid." He cleared his throat and paced quickly back and forth
behind his chair.
"She absorbed Ben's theories of silviculture, and she keeps a knowing
eye on our practices in that area. Heaven forbid that she ever should catch
you, Englund, clear-cutting. Considering the stability of our timber branch's
profits, Ben's theories have been proven ten times over."
Englund squirmed, and Evan knew the young man had envisioned huge
machinery capable of clearing large tracts, then replanting with finger-sized
trees. This was a good chance to drive home the company policy before he
brought that subject up again.
"Marise Clarrington has a clear and logical mind. She understands
bookkeeping; never doubt it. While she may remain inside her house and run
things from there, that does not mean she doesn't know what we are doing and
how we are doing it."
Englund, unsquelched, flushed. "The big companies are making pots of
money with clear-cutting. It saves time and labor, which both mean big money,
and the row planting makes it possible to use machinery to harvest. I've
begged and pleaded to be allowed to clear-cut, and you tell me this unstable
woman is the reason we can't do it! I just can't accept that."
"Then you'd better quit and go to work for one of the biggies," Turner
said pleasantly. "Or one day I'll find a note in the mail asking me to replace
you with someone who will hew to company policy. What you can't see past the
dollar signs in your eyes is the fact that we have a constant, unvarying
supply of saw timber and will have for the foreseeable future. When its price
is high we harvest hardwood. When that sinks we harvest pine.
"We do not own one single acre of bare land that will require fifteen
or twenty years to produce a crop of inferior pine timber. No other outfit in
this country, large or small, shows the profit margin that we do. Thank that
over and keep still."
Turner saw a flicker of movement. Corrigan was frowning, now. Evan
nodded in his direction.
The securities man said, "That may be true. Nobody denies the company
is solid as a rock, but there are things we could do like short term, high
interest investments that could become extremely profitable, if we were
allowed to take advantage of them. Any other enterprise this large would be
forced to take such measures by the stockholders."
Evan smiled, knowing the farseeing good judgment of his predecessor.
"There are no stockholders, as you know very well. The entire corporation is
privately owned, and Marise Clarrington owns all the stock, except for the
small parcel Ben left me in his will. "Each one of us is paid directly by Marise
Clarrington, and every one
of our jobs is at her disposal. Never forget that, and don't think I don't
know why Gertrude is fidgeting to get Marise's hand off the controls.
"There is a lot of money and lot of power tied up in Clarrington
Enterprises. Declaring the sole stockholder insane would open up the
possibility of making the firm go public. That would give every one of us an
inside opportunity to buy hefty blocks of shares in a highly profitable
company.
"If you think I don't see how your minds work you are mistaken. I do.
You are typical of those running business these days, and I understand you.
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