“Yes.”
“I’ll look forward to hearing from her.” Eggers hung up.
Stone called Arrington. “Good morning,” he said.
“It’s afternoon.”
“Yes, it is. I have good things to report,” he said. “Rex Champion has accepted your offer of thirty-six million dollars for Virginia Champion Farms.”
“That’s wonderful! It’s less than I offered.”
“It’s what you offered,” Stone said. “We thought the extra million was too much.”
She laughed. “Thank you for ignoring my orders.”
“Improving on your orders. Now, we’re closing in a week, and I need some paperwork from you right away. Got a pen and paper?”
“Yes,” she said.
“First write a letter to Woodman amp; Weld saying as follows: ‘Dear Sirs: I herewith appoint your firm as my sole legal representatives, under the supervision of your partner, Stone Barrington.’ ”
“Partner?”
“We’ve been talking about that for months; your business sealed the deal.”
“Well, congratulations!”
“Thank you, ma’am. Please get that typed up on your letterhead, sign it, and fax it.” He gave her the number. “Then mail Bill Eggers the original. Then, as soon as you’ve done that, send the following letter to the person who supervises your accounts at Chase Private Bank. Ready?”
“Ready.”
“ ‘I have appointed the firm of Woodman amp; Weld as my sole legal representatives. You may deal with either Mr. Stone Barrington, the supervising partner on my account, or Mr. William Eggers, the firm’s managing partner, on my behalf.’ ”
“Got it.”
“Fax that to both your Chase banker and Bill Eggers and mail Chase the original.”
“Will do.”
“Time is of the essence,” Stone said. “We have to arrange a bridging loan from Chase right away to close the sale of Champion Farms, so that you won’t have to sell stocks at a loss.”
“I understand.”
“As soon as Eggers and Chase receive your faxes, we’re in business. I’ll have Eggers fax you the deal memo on the sale, which will protect you from undiscovered liabilities.”
“Thank you, Stone, I appreciate your getting this done with such dispatch. What’s happening with the sale of Centurion?”
“There’s been a bad turn of events,” Stone said. He told her about the murder of Jennifer Harris.
“Am I in any danger?”
“No. Just don’t tell Howard Sharp what we’re doing with Champion and don’t talk to him about anything else, either. Write him a letter discharging him and instructing him to overnight all your files to me in New York.”
“I’ll get it done today,” she said. “Bye-bye.”
Stone returned to breakfast.
“Everything okay?” Dino asked.