I smiled.
"Now that the deal fell through, I suppose Engel has no choice but to close those theaters.
He can't get product anywhere else."
Sheffield was silent, his eyes wary.
"All right, Jonas," he said. "What's on your mind?"
"How would Mr. Engel like to buy the Norman Film Distributors of England. Ltd.?
That would assure him access to our product and he might not have to close those theaters."
"How much would it cost him?" Sheffield asked.
"How many shares of stock does he own?"
"About six hundred thousand."
"That's what it would cost him," I said.
"That's five million dollars!
British Norman only nets about three hundred thousand a year.
At that rate, it would take him almost twenty years to get his money back."
"It all depends on your point of view.
Closing two hundred theaters would mean a loss to him of over a million pounds a year."
He stared at me for a moment and then got to his feet.
"May I use your phone for a call to London? In spite of the time difference, I just might still catch Mr. Engel before he leaves the office."
"Help yourself," I said.
As he walked to the telephone, I looked down at my watch.
It was nine o'clock and I knew I had him. Because no one, not even Georges Engel, left his office at two o'clock in the afternoon.
Not in merry old England, where the offices were open until six o'clock and the clerks still sat at their old-fashioned desks on their high stools.
Engel was probably waiting at the telephone right now for Sheffield's call.
By noon it was all arranged.
Mr. Engel and his attorneys would be in New York the next week to sign the agreement.
There was only one thing wrong with it: I would have to remain in New York.
I reached for the telephone.
"Who're you calling?" Mac asked.
"David Woolf.
He's the executive officer of the company. He might as well be here to sign the papers."
"Put down the telephone," Mac said wearily. "He's in New York. I brought him along with me."
"Oh," I said. I walked over to the window and looked down.
New York in midmorning.
I could sense the tension in the traffic coming up Park Avenue. I was beginning to feel restless already.
I turned back to McAllister.
"Well, get him up here.
I'm starting a big picture in two months. I'd like to know what's being done about it."
"David brought Bonner along to go over the production details with you."
I stared at him.
They'd thought of everything.
I threw myself into a chair. The doorbell rang and Robair went to open it.
Forrester and Morrissey came in.
I looked up at them as they crossed the room. "I thought you were supposed to leave for California this morning, Morrissey," I said coldly. "How the hell are we ever going to get that new production line started?"
"I don't know if we can, Jonas," he said quickly.
"What the hell do you mean?" I shouted. "You said we could do it.
You were there when we signed that contract."
"Take it easy, Jonas," Forrester said quietly. "We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"The U.S. Army just ordered five CA-200's.
They want the first delivery by June and we're in a bind.