Final Option

discussions about what I’m supposed to wear, whether the servants should come in their uniforms or be allowed to wear what they want, what kind of music, and on and on. Jane says that it’s just Mother’s way of compensating for the unsavory way that Dad died, but I can’t help but find it very strange. And she seems to have developed this weird grudge against the exchange.”
    “In what way?”
    “Well, for one thing she’s insisting that none of the pallbearers be people whom Dad knew through business. She’s asked Buck Farnscroft, whom Dad hardly knew except to play golf with once a year, to be a pallbearer, but she doesn’t want Tim because he worked for Dad at the CBOT. Tim was Dad’s nephew, for goodness sake.”
    “Won’t Tim’s feelings be hurt?”
    “Of course, but Tim’s used to it by now. Mom’s never been overly concerned about his feelings. She’s always looked down on Tim because Uncle Billy ran a hardware store and Aunt Lillian came to the house in a polyester dress once. She’s never really treated Tim as part of the family. I don’t know. This is bringing out all the worst parts of her personality.”
    “Funerals have a way of doing that,” I said.
    “Plus she’s got it in her head that the proper time for the funeral is ten in the morning. When I pointed out that the market will be open and a lot of people from the Board of Trade won’t be able to come, she actually hung up on me. She’s also announced that she’s closing up the house and moving to Palm Beach as soon as the funeral is over. She’s given the staff notice, and when I was over there this morning I found them all packing boxes.”
    “Why?” I asked, surprised.
    “She says she’s always hated the house, it takes too many servants and costs a fortune to heat. Now that Dad’s dead, she’s not going to live there anymore. She says that she’s making way for Jane and me, but Jane said she wouldn’t live in that house for anything in the world. Who knows what’s going to happen? Anyway, I’ve given them instructions to box up all of my father’s business papers and send them here to you.”
    “Thanks,” I said. “I’m very concerned about this CFTC matter. When I spoke to the head of the enforcement section and asked for an extension I was very surprised by his response. Not only did he refuse to grant us more time, but he seemed to take vindictive glee in the whole situation. He flat out told me that he was determined to shut down Hexter Commodities.”
    “It is weird that the CFTC is coming down so hard,” said Barton Jr. “I thought they spent most of their time lobbying Congress over sunset provisions to keep themselves in operation. What’s their beef with Dad?”
    “A month ago your father received a Wells Notice. That’s a copy of a formal communication from the CFTC’s enforcement division to the Commissioners that says that, after extensive investigation, they think the agency should bring charges against an individual or a firm. In this case it’s both. According to the Wells they're alleging that your father and Hexter Commodities traded two accounts in tandem last March and April in order to exceed position limits in the soybean market. You know that in every market the CFTC sets an upper limit on the number of speculative contracts that can be bought and held for any one account. The Enforcement Division is alleging that by trading his personal account and an account for a company called Deodar Commodities together, your father’s limit was exceeded.”
    “That doesn’t sound like that big a deal,” protested Barton Jr.
    “No, it doesn’t. In cases like this you can either fight it or decide up front to negotiate a settlement. Either way the end result’s the same—the CFTC levies a fine. That’s why I don’t understand Geiss’s attitude at all. It sounds like he has some sort of vendetta against Hexter Commodities. Does he?”
    “I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure, Dad hated the CFTC. He always said they were a bunch of pencil necks who got their kicks making up irritating rules to impede trading. Dad did a lot of lobbying on behalf of the industry, and I know he made no secret of the fact that he thought the CFTC was ineffective and self-serving. Maybe they’re just looking for a chance to finally get even. What do you think?”
    “I have no idea. Your father and I never got around to discussing it. I still don’t even have copies of the trading records