—he’s married to a Korean girl whose family fought against the Americans during the war;
—the only job he could find after being sacked by Morgan’s was with an old school friend, who just happened to be chairman of Russell’s Bank.
Pledge your shares to Fairchild’s: be sure your future is secure.
“This is the response that I propose we send out by express mail today,” said Logan, “allowing Fairchild’s no time to respond to it.” He slid a copy across to each board member.
Things you ought to know about Nat Cartwright,
the Chief Executive of Russell’s Bank
—Nat was born and raised in Connecticut;
—he won the Medal of Honor in Vietnam;
—he completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard (summa cum laude), before going on to Harvard business school;
—he resigned from Morgan’s, having made a profit for the bank of over a million dollars;
—during his nine years at Russell’s as Chief Executive, he has quadrupled the bank’s profits;
—his wife is Professor of Statistics at UConn, and her father was a master sergeant in the American Marines.
Stay with Russell’s: the bank that cares about you and takes care of your money.
“Can I release it immediately?” asked Logan.
“No,” said Nat, tearing it up. He didn’t speak for some time. “It takes a lot to get me angry, but I am about to kill off Ralph Elliot once and forever, so listen carefully.”
Twenty minutes later, Tom ventured the first comment, “That would be taking one hell of a risk.”
“Why?” asked Nat, “if the strategy fails, we’ll all end up multimillionaires, but if it succeeds, we’ll take control of the biggest bank in the state.”
“Dad’s livid with you,” said Jimmy.
“But why?” asked Fletcher, “when I won.”
“That’s the problem, you won by over twelve thousand votes, which was tactless of you,” said Jimmy as he watched Harry Junior running down the wing, the ball at his feet. “Don’t forget that he only managed eleven thousand once in twenty-eight years, and that was when Barry Goldwater was running for president.”
“Thanks for the warning,” said Fletcher. “I guess I’d better avoid the next couple of Sunday lunches.”
“You’d better not, it’s your turn to be told how he made a million overnight.”
“Yes, Annie warned me that he’d sold his shares in Russell’s Bank. I thought he’d made a pledge not to release them to Fairchild’s at any cost?”
“He did, and he would have kept to it, but the day before the offer was due to close, and the shares had peaked at $7.10, he had a call from Tom Russell, advising him to sell. He even suggested that he get in touch with Ralph Elliot direct so the deal would go through quickly.”
“They’re up to something,” said Fletcher. “There’s no way Tom Russell would have told your father to deal with Ralph Elliot unless there’s another chapter still to be written in this particular saga.” Jimmy said nothing. “So can we therefore assume that Fairchild’s has secured over fifty percent?”
“I asked Logan the same question, but he explained that because of client confidentiality, he couldn’t say anything until Monday, when the official figures would be released by the SEC.”
“Ouch,” said Jimmy, “did you see what that Taft kid just did to Harry Junior? He’s lucky Joanna’s not here, otherwise she would have run onto the field and whacked him.”
“Those in favor?” asked the chairman.
Every hand around the table rose, though Julia seemed to hesitate for a moment. “Then it’s unanimous,” declared Tom and, turning to Nat, added, “perhaps you should take us through what’s likely to happen next.”
“Certainly, chairman,” said Nat. “At ten o’clock this morning, the SEC will announce that Fairchild’s has failed to secure control of Russell’s Bank.”