Foul Play

Forty-Five

Stone arrived back at Teterboro late the following afternoon, and Fred met him in the hangar and drove him home. On the way in, Stone called Dino.

“Bacchetti.”

“I’m nearly home. Do you still get hungry in the evenings?”

“I do, and the wife is abroad. Patroon at seven?”

“You’re on.”

Over their first drink, Stone brought Dino up to date on the Kronk situation.

“You think that will work?” Dino asked.

“I think he’s probably as weary as we are by now. It just might work.”

“The more I hear about Kronk, the more worried I get,” Dino said.

“You hear about Kronk?”

“I didn’t, until I started paying attention and asking questions. One thing I learned is that our Italian-American mob friends are scared shitless of him.”

“What are their reasons?”

“They’ve had a couple of deals go wrong. Kronk reacted badly. They lost some people, and painfully.”

“Just what I wanted to hear when I’m about to start dealing with him.”

“Explain ‘dealing.’ ”

“We’re going to offer to sell him the patents.”

“The only problem with that is,” Dino pointed out, “that he believes he already owns them.”

“Well, there is that.”

“I believe that he could take an offer to sell them to him as an affront, so you’d better be very, very careful.”

“Oh, I’ll just be my usual, affable self.”

“I’m not sure charm will be enough.”

“We’ll have to see.”

“All right,” Dino said. “Let’s write ourselves a little scene. I’ll start.”

“Okay.”

They pretended to negotiate for a moment, but got nowhere. “You’re being intractable,” Stone said.

“That’s right,” Dino said, “I am. Do you think Kronk is going to be more tractable?”

“You have a point,” Stone said.

“I think you need to let him know, right off the bat, that you’re not going to be a pushover.”

“I’ll think about that,” Stone said, and they ordered dinner.

The following morning, promptly at ten, Joan showed Kronk into Stone’s office. He didn’t even look at Stone. “All right, Barrington, you asked for this meeting, what’s on your mind?”

“I thought we might try and reach an accommodation that would be beneficial to both you and my client.”

“I’ll tell you what will be beneficial: give me the patents and a release.”

“And what would you give us?”

“Your balls, to keep.”

“That’s not an accommodation, that’s a threat.”

“I’m glad you recognize it for what it is.”

“If you persist in this manner, I’ll tell you what we’ll give you, if there’s no accommodation.”

“You? Give me?”

“My client will sit down at any computer in the world, enter a series of codes, and shut down every factory you are operating. The coded machinery will become nothing more than a rusting pile of scrap metal, and that will be its only value. Now, from that position, calculate the loss of your investment and of all the income you would have derived from it, if you had been more tractable.”

“Tractable? What does this mean?”

“Cooperative. Nicer, even.”

Kronk glowered at him. Then Stone thought his shoulders slumped just a bit. “What number would your client deem ‘tractable’?”

“My client feels that the value of the patents and the software is equal to that of the factories.”

“You’re saying he wants another two hundred fifty million dollars?”

“I think I might be able to persuade him to be tractable.”

“I’ll offer him another hundred fifty million,” Kronk said.

Stone shrugged. “I can’t promise an outcome, but I’ll put your offer to him today.”

“I know you have his authority to make a deal. I want your answer now.”

Stone buzzed Joan. “Print a copy of the patent transfer, and insert the figure of one hundred fifty million dollars.”

“I won’t be a moment,” Joan said.

Stone and Kronk sat and stared at each other for three or four minutes.

Suddenly, Kronk spoke, “What do you think of an Italian restaurant called Mama Leoni’s?” he asked. “It has been recommended to me.”

“I think it closed many years ago,” Stone said. “Instead, try Caravaggio, on East Seventy-Fourth Street.”

“Like the painter?”

“Exactly.”

“Is it very good?”

“Yes, and it has the charm of being open.”

Joan bustled in with the contract and handed them each a copy.

“You may wish to consult your attorney,” Stone said.

“I am an attorney,” Kronk said. “In my spare time.” He signed the contracts and handed them to Stone. Stone signed both copies and handed him back one.

“Now,” Stone said. “Let’s close this meeting as we began it, with a threat: if any move is made against my client, his properties, or me and mine, he retains the ability to shut you down.”

“And he expects me to trust him?”

“He trusted you not to burn down his properties. Would you like to make an offer for the land?”

“I would not,” Kronk said. “I will be happy with these.” He held up the contract. “And the patents, if you please.”

Stone buzzed Joan. “Bring me the patents, please.”

Joan entered Stone’s office, crossed it, went into the back room and returned shortly with the leather envelope. “There you are, sir.”

Stone handed the envelope. “There you are, sir. These are the originals. We retain copies.”

Kronk made to rise.

“Just a minute,” Stone said.

Kronk stopped. “What is it?”

“There is the matter of payment.”

“Ah, yes.” He removed an envelope from an inside pocket, opened it, removed three pieces of paper, handed one to Stone, and returned the others to his pocket.

Stone looked at the paper; it was a cashier’s check for $150 million. “What are the amounts of the other two checks?” he asked.

Kronk, for the first time ever, smiled. “You will never know,” he said.

“Remember,” Stone replied. “If my client is... interfered with, he can always shut you down.”

“At his peril,” Kronk said. He got up and left.

Stone took a deep breath, then buzzed Joan.

“Yes, sir?”

“Come in.”

She entered, and he handed her the check. “Call our bank and have them confirm that this won’t bounce when presented.”

Joan left, then returned. “Good as gold,” she said.

Stone picked up the phone and dialed a number.

“Hello?”

“You’re one hundred fifty million dollars richer than you were ten minutes ago,” Stone said. “That should more than cover the houses.”

“Yes. Are we free to move about now?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“We’ll talk it over and let you know.”

“I would suggest that you not go directly back to anywhere Kronk knows about, at least for a week or so.”

“You said you have a property in England?”

“I did, and you are welcome to it. My airplane will be at your disposal when you need it.”

“Thank you. I’ll call.” They both hung up.