Hammond Innes The Strode Venturer

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planning to do. The gift of these shares to me is the measure of his determ
ination to do what he could to prevent the company falling into the hands of a
group of unscrupulous men bent on wrecking what he had helped to build.'
The room was very still as I sat down. Henry Strode gave a little cough. 'I t
hink you should withdraw that last remark.' And when I didn't answer, he said
with emphasis, 'In reaching our decision this morning about the future we al l
of us had the best interests of the two companies in mind.' He turned to Wh
imbrill again. 'I take it that the balance of the shares against the motion w
as in the form of proxies?'
'I hold one proxy only. It's for a hundred and seventeen thousand shares - si
gned by Peter Strode.'
I saw Henry Strode make a quick mental calculation. 'And you have no other p
roxy. My sister, Jennifer de Witt didn't -'
'No. She decided that as a Dutch resident she would prefer not to vote. The
balance -' Whimbrill hesitated, looking up at his chairman, a small, tired,
disfigured man who, now that he had decided to fight, suddenly had stature.
'The balance is made up of my own shares. I own seventeen thousand and fifty
and I voted against the motion.'
'I see.' Henry Strode removed his glasses and stooped towards Whimbrill. 'And
you voted against us.' His tone was magisterial, the threat of dismissal the
re for all to see. 'You realise, of course, Mr. Whimbrill, that with Peter St
rode's death -'
'He's reported missing, that's all.'
'My information leads me to fear that it's more definite than that.' And in s
upport of his brother, George Strode said, 'They've been searching for him fo
r a week - and for that damned island of his. And now the search has been cal
led off.'
'That's not conclusive,' Mr. Whimbrill said obstinately. 'And in any case, I
have taken legal opinion on this. Until a coroner or some other court has con
firmed his death the proxy he signed is perfectly valid.'
'Dammit, man, what more do you want? The whole resources of the R.A.F. -
'
George Strode was on his feet again, and so was I. 'That would mean nothing
,' I said, 'if it is proved that Reece has deliberately given them the wron g
position,' It was a shot in the dark, the use of the word deliberately qu ite
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unjustified, but by then I was past choosing my words. I was so angry I
didn't care what I said and as I stood there, staring at George Strode, I
saw him wilt and his eyes dart quickly round the room as though afraid othe rs
would make the same accusation. The man was suddenly scared. He sat down
abruptly and an awkward silence hung over the room, broken only by the scr ape
of Slattery's chair as he left. Henry Strode stood there for a moment,
undecided. To press the matter was to appear to be wanting his own half-bro
ther dead. Finally he said, 'I think in the circumstances it would be best to
adjourn this meeting sine die.' I would have been prepared to accept tha t,
but to my surprise Whimbrill demanded that the question of adjournment s hould
be put to the meeting in the form of a motion. As sometimes happens w hen a
man has his back to the wall and is forced to fight, he was a differe nt
person entirely. He seemed suddenly in command of the situation. Henry S
trode sensed this and after a hurried consultation he proposed instead the
re-election of his brother and Hinchcliffe. We followed Whimbrill's lead an d
voted against it. With Lingrose's support withdrawn the motion was lost b y
huge margin.
'I think, Mr. Chairman,' - Whimbrill had risen to his feet - 'there is reall y
one solution to the present difficulty.' And he then proposed that Ida and
I should be elected to fill the vacancies on the board. 'Mrs. Roche is, of
course, a member of the family. Commander Bailey, who is now one of the larg
est shareholders, has also been closely connected . . .' I don't think anybo
dy heard him refer to my connection with Bailey Oriental for the sudden outb
reak of conversation almost drowned his voice. He put the motion and to my a
stonishment it was seconded by Elliot from the body of the hall. There was n o
need to count the votes and Henry Strode, his voice trembling, all his cas ual
ease of manner gone, said, 'I shall, of course, take legal opinion mysel f. In
the meantime, I must make it plain that I propose calling a further me eting
as soon as Peter Strode's unhappy death is confirmed.' He then conclud ed the
formalities by proposing the re-election of the auditors and after th at the
meeting broke up.
An air of shock hung over the big, ornate room, and as the members of the f
amily and their friends filed out they stared at us curiously. At the direc
tors' table Whimbrill was as isolated as we were. 'You won't get away with
this.' It was John Strode. He had occupied the big office next to his fathe r
ever since he had come down from Cambridge and his face was white with ra ge.
Then a reporter was at my side asking me to fill in for him on what Whi
mbrill had said about my connection with the company. He looked barely twen ty
and he was asking Ida how she felt as the only, woman on the board. 'I'v e no
idea,' she said sharply. 'I'm more concerned about my brother at the m oment.'
By the time we'd got rid of him the place was empty, only Whimbrill and ou
rselves left. 'What happens now?' Ida inquired.
'You may well ask, Mrs. Roche.' Whimbrill gave her a lop-sided smile. 'To c
omply with the Companies Act you both have to write me letters expressing y
our willingness to serve as directors. Ante-dated, of course. But that can
wait. Right now I think a drink, perhaps.' He was in that mood of elation t
hat follows upon the success of a desperate decision as we went out through
the main doors I was wondering whether Turner had envisaged this. Had he p
lanned it all, thinking it through like a game of chess - right through to the
point where Whimbrill would be forced to propose Ida and myself for ele ction
to the board? But I didn't think so, for nothing had been solved. All we had
done was gain time.
We lunched together, but though we discussed it from every possible angle we
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always came back to the same thing in the end - everything depended on Pete r
being alive, the island still there. Back at the office I rang George Stro de.
I thought he might refuse to see me after what had happened, but instead he
told me to come straight down so that I had the feeling he had been expe cting
me. 'I want you to understand, Bailey, that the full resources of Stro de
Orient are at your disposal so long as you think there's a chance those m en [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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