Scam

mind telling me how that happened?”
    “Simplest thing in the world. And the fact is, I never saw it coming.” He shook his head. “Asleep at the switch. All of us were. The next thing you know, disaster.”
    “Help me out here,” I said. “I wasn’t there. How’d the meeting go?”
    “Fine, at first. No hint of trouble. Just like any other stockholders meeting. Except that Cranston and Philip weren’t there.”
    “Who was?”
    “Me, Marty, and Kevin. Miriam Pritchert, there to vote Cranston’s shares. And Amy Greenberg there to vote Philip’s.”
    “What happened?”
    “Well, we’re about to start the meeting when Amy Greenberg comes in. All bubbly and schoolgirlish. I mean, from her attitude you wouldn’t know her grandfather’d died. Let alone a board member’d been murdered. But no, she’s all, This is a stockholders meeting, what am I supposed to do?” He grimaced. “Damn. See, she’s even got me talking like her. That girl screws up your head. Anyway, I wasn’t sure whether to expect her. I had talked to her on the phone, of course, advised her how things were. I knew the other two were courting her votes, but she was being coy. I told her she had to either show up herself and vote the stock, or give someone her proxy. Well, like I say, she wasn’t giving up her proxy, so I said she should come. So she said she would, but that didn’t mean anything, because she’s so ditsy she wasn’t even clear on the day. So I don’t know whether to expect her or not. Actually, she’s late and we’re about to start the meeting. And then she shows up like a bolt out of the blue.”
    “And what happened?” I said, somewhat impatiently.
    “So, we start the meeting and I count out the proxies.”
    “You hadn’t counted them before?”
    “No. I thought I told you. I don’t like to do that. It puts too much pressure on me, knowing who’s got what. I always add ’em up right there on the spot. So that’s what I did.”
    “So, what happened?”
    He shrugged. “What happened was totally unexpected, on the one hand. On the other hand, if I thought about it, it was perfectly natural. See, you got stockholders all over the country. And they’re not really involved. You know how it is. Half the business reports they get, they throw ’em away. So the people sending the proxies in, a lot of ’em don’t even know Philip Greenberg is dead. They just fill in his name as a matter of course. He’s the chairman of the board, they always give him their proxy. So they give it to him again. Not all of ’em, but a lot.”
    “Do you mean ...?”
    “Sure I do. Amy Greenberg is there, voting Philip Greenberg’s stock. Philip Greenberg gets a shitload of proxies. Enough that, coupled with his personal holdings, constitutes a majority. Suddenly Amy Greenberg’s in the driver’s seat, voting over fifty percent of the stock.”
    Jenkins threw up his hands. “So what does she do? She giggles, she says something idiotic, like her grandfather would have liked her to keep it in the family, and she votes herself in as chairman of the board.”
    “Good lord.”
    “Good lord is right. Now, just between you and me, I don’t know if it makes any difference. Too soon to tell. I mean, is she going to be personally involved in the business, or is she just going to go off and play golf? If she wants to just run around being a playgirl, fine. On the other hand, it’s like having an infant in charge. A superbaby with unlimited powers. I mean, if she wants to start firing people, changing things, making policy, she can. She’s the goddamn chairman of the board.”
    “What a mess.” I jerked my thumb. “Is she here now?”
    “No. Thank goodness for small favors. She breezed in first thing this morning, took a look around Philip’s office, and breezed out again, saying she’d be back next week with an interior decorator. As if all there was to running a business was how your office looked.”
    “That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”
    “No kidding. So, if I seem a little indifferent to your problems, it happens I have problems of my own.” Jenkins picked up a sheet of paper from his desk. “You know what I’ve been working on this morning? My resume. I don’t know which way the wind blows, but I’m not taking any chances. First sign of trouble, I’m bailing out.”
    I exhaled. “Jesus Christ. Look, I know this is a disaster, and it’s hard for you to think of anything else, but try this on