Chapter 19

Several weeks later, all of the pieces were fitting into place. There was a conference in progress in Cliff's office. Sandy had made some changes in the executive office layout. In just a couple of weeks she would be elected Chairman of the company and an office was being built for her next to Cliff's.

Cliff had teased her because her furnishings were quite modern. He pretended to grump, "It's going to cost us a fortune to redecorate the entire executive floor. No one cared as long as everything was 1950's business traditional, but now you've gone and started something."

They also had a new secretary. Sandy had hired Stacey Evans, Stephanie Simpson's former secretary. Sandy had called the girl as soon as she heard about George Simpson's termination at Ajax. It turned out the girl was married to a graduate student and lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, closer to Milwaukee than Chicago. She was delighted to leave Stephanie. With Simpson out at Ajax, they doubted if Stephanie was still with the public relations firm but no one cared enough to find out.

Stacey brought in a tray with coffee for the group that included Sandy, Sam Johnson, and Kelly. Sam was briefing them on results. "It looks like the turkeys are ready for roasting. It's remarkable what a little knowledge can do to get people to talk. It's also clear, Sandy, that your theory of the cabal was accurate. There was great care taken in Milwaukee but apparently nowhere else. When the FBI raided the house near Chicago where they were intending to take Sandy, the people there were cooperative.

"It turns out Metcalf was the link to the stuff as we suspected. He's a friend of the president of the little company. In fact, we understand he had been invited to join its board. Cartwright has the Cayman Islands contacts. Apparently he's been shuttling back and forth, and there are dozens of telephone calls from his office to the Cayman Islands bank that's the source of so many of the uncovered short sales. He also has the Miami underworld contacts that provided the manpower.

"We're not certain about that, and it doesn't matter a whole lot, but the contacts for the people could have been initiated in the Cayman Islands. There's a lot of drug money down there. Foster in Chicago seems to be the guy with most of the money. He doesn't seem to have taken as active a rôle as the others, although he was pulled in because they needed a place within reach to keep Sandy. That still puzzles us a bit. We have been unable to figure out what they were intending do with her. They still haven't covered their short position, so they are financially destroyed, or soon will be.

"This brings me to the reason for our visit: The police and FBI are ready to move on the gang now. However, they recognize the case would still be open if it weren't for your cooperation and your idea about the cabal. Actually, they did an excellent job of screening themselves here in Milwaukee. If it hadn't been for Sandy, I don't know where we would be. On the other hand, they did next to nothing out of town to cover their tracks, so we worked the case from the outside in.

"Anyway, we're ready to move. When would you like us to? Our thought is to wait until the voting rights are signed over to you and then arrest them. We would hate to see the company tied up in knots because the voting trustee is in jail leaving no one with the power to act. We're willing to wait until October 1 to make the arrests. How does that sound?"

Cliff looked at Sandy, who shrugged. "Why don't you do it then," Cliff said. Sam got up to go.

Stacey saw the meeting was breaking up and brought in the mail. There was a very large Federal Express mailing tube for Cliff, marked "Personal & Confidential". He opened it, curious about its contents and found that it was a large calendar, along with a rather lengthy letter from JL Wilson. Cliff glanced at the letter, then unrolled the calendar. He asked Sam if he had a minute, and asked Kelly and Stacey to come and look also.

"Sandy, this is a secret ... at least for a few more minutes. I want these people to look first."

The three gathered behind Cliff's chair and looked over his shoulder. Auto parts suppliers specialize in cheesecake calendars they distribute to garages, service stations, and service departments of car dealerships. This calendar, JL's letter said, was not for distribution. There had been a very limited run, just enough for the stores. It showed Sandy wearing the white bikini she bought in Charlotte and lying on her back resting on her elbows. With her back arched, her breasts were prominent, and her auburn hair was hanging down loose. Cliff recalled the pose because she was looking at him when it was taken. She looked gorgeous.

In large letters below the picture were the words, "Our Owner." Below the picture, in very small type, was the identification, "Sandra M. Donnell, majority stockholder, Murphy Manufacturing Company, the owner of Southern Auto Parts."

The girls pretended to study it carefully. Kelly was the first to speak. "Stace, don't you think it's a little too ... conservative?"

Stacey cocked her head. "Well ... a little, maybe."

Then Sandy came over, her curiosity getting the better of her desire not to give Cliff the satisfaction of seeing her acting curious. As she came toward the desk, Cliff laid the calendar out flat and turned it around to face her. After placing some weights on the corners to keep it flat, he began to read JL's letter carefully.

"My God!" Sandy exclaimed. "This is awful! Where did it come from? It had to have been taken when we were in Charlotte, but I don't remember any cameras. I know we didn't have one, and the Wilsons didn't, either. Cliff, I feel awful!"

"Maybe this will make you feel better," he said. "JL writes that a member of his club had a camera with a long lens and took it. He gave the picture to JL who later got the negative." Cliff glanced at the calendar itself and continued. "You can see the calendar itself is different. The dates begin with August of this year and run through December next.

"JL got the idea because he heard how effective your speech to the workers was here in Milwaukee. He felt it was even more important to his people because they're scattered all over the South and aren't in parts manufacturing at all. Furthermore, he feels that his people tend to be a lot more motivated by personal loyalty than by loyalty to some big company.

"He kept the whole thing a secret from us and apologizes to you, Sandy. However, he wanted to see what would happen. What happened was sales in the units nearly doubled. He sent this Federal Express because he said some time this morning Kevin O'Rourke or Jeff Stover will be running in with the sales results."

There was a knock on the door. "Speak of the devil! Stace, you want to see who's there?" Kevin and Jeff were at the door. Jeff was holding a stack of papers. As they walked in, Cliff removed the paperweights and allowed the calendar to re-roll. The two were obviously agitated.

"What's the problem, guys?" Cliff asked.

Jeff replied, "Our computers have gone crazy. It's Southern Stores. Jamie Carothers is beside himself! He's afraid you're going to fire him because he didn't insist on using the mainframe here in Milwaukee."

"You still haven't told us what happened. What did?" Cliff persisted.

"Cliff, you know how our sales through the stores nearly tripled because of the upgrades, and the rest? Well last month they almost doubled again off the higher base! At least that's what the numbers say. The puzzling thing is, though, they actually add up. There are significant out-of-stocks for the first time, and there are also major increases in warehouse movement.

"What should we do?" Jeff asked.

Sandy's face was impassive as she said, "Why don't you send them a fax for retransmission to all the stores saying something like, "Last month's results were the best in history. Thanks guys, and keep up the good work! Sign it Sandy Donnell, Owner."

Kevin and Jeff looked at each other, utterly baffled. Cliff unrolled the calendar for them. "Here's the secret weapon. It's called motivation! He picked up his phone and called JL in Charlotte. When JL came on the line, he activated his speaker phone. "JL, it's Cliff. Sandy's here with me. While she was trying to recover from a galloping case of embarrassment, Kevin and Jeff came in with the sales results. They're here, too. I got the letter, obviously, but we wanted to hear it from you. What's the story?"

JL laughed. "Folks, in the South we call it motivation. I don't know what you Yankees call it. Sandy, I surely hope it wasn't too embarrassing for you. But what it's done for my people! Wowee! I don't know how much you know about our business, but the big traffic location is the parts counter. Well, folks, the fairly typical arrangement is to have that calendar right behind the parts counter protected by acetate, and in at least one store, by Plexiglas. When we sent it out ... Well, I have never seen anything like it.

"Sandy, it was a good thing you came down with Cliff and visited some stores. There were a lot of our people who got to meet you. Well, their phones were ringing off the hook. The guys who hadn't ever met you were calling their friends who had. They got the same answer, every time: 'Yes, sir. That's our owner, Miss Donnell! Ain't she a beauty?'

"I don't know if you noticed, but our guys did. There's a tiny line that says 'unretouched photograph, ' and by God, it surely is. Well, folks, that calendar has been the biggest sales motivator I could possibly imagine. And it's given me another idea: We're going to have a convention in Hilton Head in late February. We've never had one before, so it would be wonderful if you all could come down. After the way things are going, Sandy, I know those boys would just love to meet you in person. Do you think you could make it?"

"JL, if I possibly can, I will. Could we maybe bring some other Milwaukee people down with us? I think it would be a good idea if our people got to know one another. And there are a lot fewer of us than there are of you. Besides, JL, there's something you should know: One of my ancestors fought for the South in the Civil War. I guess they didn't get up to Milwaukee till after the turn of the century. If anyone's interested, I'll try to find out his name and unit. It was my great-great grandfather, plus or minus a great. Any interest?"

"Of course I'm interested," JL replied. "But I'm just a little concerned. Sandy, my boys would go to hell and back for you right now! If I told 'em you're a daughter of the Confederacy, I'm not so damn sure they might not start marching on Washington! But I would sure love to see it."

Cliff said, "JL, I need to talk to the people here for a bit. Are you going to be in your office for a while?" JL said that he would. "Good. I'll try to get back to you later today."

Cliff hung up. "Sandy," he said, "something just occurred to me. Would you have a big problem if we restructured the Southern operation? I'm thinking we ought to make it a subsidiary of Murphy, rather than a division. We could incorporate it as Southern Auto Parts, Inc. My idea is we retain 80 percent or so of the stock. We let JL and his key people buy the other 20 percent. Furthermore, we structure the stores in the same way as subsidiaries of Southern.

"Then the local manager and his key people have an equity interest in their unit. If they do a good job, they share in the profits, regardless of how well any of the other units do. This has been used very effectively elsewhere. There's a baking company in the South that runs this way. The real motivation comes from the minority interest. What do you think? How would you like to be Chairman of Southern Auto Parts, Inc.?"

"Cliff, I think it's super! Kelly, you're our financial advisor. What do you think?"