Scam

Pritchert?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Why of course not?”
    “Why would they?”
    “I take it you made these calls before the murder?”
    “Of course.”
    “Because after the murder it would have been a topic of conversation.”
    “Exactly.”
    “But it wasn’t?”
    “No.”
    “No one mentioned Cranston Pritchert at all?”
    Rothstein hesitated.
    “Yes? What is it?”
    Rothstein made a face. “Nothing. It’s just when you say at all … well, one of the stockholders I called was voting for Pritchert.”
    “Oh?”
    “Which is not what you were asking. Has nothing to do with the incident. It’s just his name did come up.”
    “Did he say why?”
    Rothstein hesitated again.
    “What is it?” I asked.
    “Nothing. It’s just ...well, actually, it’s a she.”
    “Oh. Did she say why?”
    “No. She didn’t.”
    “Is this someone you know personally?”
    “Not at all,” Rothstein said. “Just a stockholder. A rather large one. Not as large as any of us, but a substantial stockholder.”
    “And the fact is, she said she was voting for Pritchert. That must have been rather upsetting. One of your clients, voting for Pritchert.”
    Again, Rothstein’s eyes betrayed him. Finally, it dawned on me why.
    What a dope. I’d been attributing his embarrassment to the fact he must have a personal relationship with the woman. When actually it was the other way around. He had no relationship with the woman at all.
    The woman was one of Cranston Pritchert’s clients.
    Aha, Rothstein.
    So that’s the way the wind blows.

35.
    J ACK J ENKINS LOOKED LIKE A bookkeeper. I know that’s a horrible thing to say, but that’s how he struck me. A little man with a bald head and wire-rimmed glasses, he looked as if he spent all his time staring at books and adding up long columns of figures. Which makes no sense at all, since modern-day bookkeepers use calculators and. computers and what have you, and probably don’t even need to know how to add.
    Anyway, Jack Jenkins, who was indeed a bookkeeper, crinkled up his nose and peered at me through his glasses. “And just what is it that you want?”
    “I was hoping you could tell me about the company stock.”
    “Such matters are confidential.”
    “I’m sure they are. I wasn’t referring to any particular stockholder. I meant in general.”
    “In general?”
    “Yes. Say I was interested in buying stock in your company. What would I be buying?”
    Jenkins cleared his throat. “I don’t sell stock.”
    “I understand. But you’re the bookkeeper. You keep track of it.”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “So what’s a share worth? How many shares are there?”
    Again Jenkins cleared his throat. “As to the worth of a share, that would fluctuate with the stock market. As to how many shares in all, I’d have to ask you what’s your interest?”
    “There’s a stockholders meeting coming up.”
    “Yes. Tomorrow night.”
    “To elect a new chairman of the board.”
    “Yes. So?”
    “I’m wondering how many shares it would take.”
    “To get elected?”
    “Yes.”
    “It would take a majority.”
    “A majority?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Can you be more specific?”
    “What could be more specific than that?”
    “Do you mean fifty-one percent?”
    “That’s right.”
    “What if the winner got forty-nine percent?”
    “Then he wouldn’t be the winner.”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “He would have a plurality, not a majority. Which would not be enough to win.”
    “What would happen then?”
    “There’d be another vote.”
    “You mean a runoff?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Between the top two candidates?”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “What would happen with the proxies?”
    “Proxies?”
    “Yes. Would new proxies have to be sent in?”
    “Not necessarily.”
    “Why not? What about all the proxies sent in for people who weren’t in the runoff?”
    Jenkins shook his head. “You don’t understand.”
    “Probably not. Why don’t you explain.”
    “A proxy isn’t a vote—it delegates the power to vote. Say you have shares in the company. You want to see me chairman of the board. You give me your proxy to vote your shares. So I vote for me. But suppose I don’t win. Suppose there’s a runoff and I’m not in it. I still have your proxy and I can vote your shares for either candidate I wish.”
    “What if I didn’t like that?”
    “You could send in another proxy. Any new proxy supersedes an old one.”
    “That’s what I thought. Now,