“My dear lady, you are extraordinary.” Innes-Bowen’s textile prices had remained conservative. He was overjoyed at the prospects.
D’Almeida, who realized she could not enter his Franco-Italian rails, took another view. “You can not purchase one share of my property, madame!”
“Some of you are more fortunate than others, Monsieur D’Almeida.”
Leacock, the financier, the gentlest trace of a brogue in his cultivated voice, spoke up. “Granting what you say, and it is entirely possible, Madame Scarlatti, what have we suffered?… We have not lost a daughter, but gained a minor associate.” He turned to the others who, he hoped, would find humor in his analogy.
Elizabeth held her breath before speaking. She waited until the men of Zurich were once again focused on her.
“I said before noon Scarlatti would be in the position I outlined.… One hour later a tidal wave will form in the Kurfuerstendamm in Berlin and end in New York’s Wall Street! One hour later Scarlatti will divest itself of these holdings at a fraction of their cost! I have estimated three cents on the dollar.… Simultaneously, every bit of information Scarlatti has learned of your questionable activities will be released to the major wire services in each of your countries.… You might sustain slander by itself, gentlemen. You will not be the same men when it is accompanied by financial panic! Some of you will remain barely intact. Some will be wiped out. The majority of you will be affected disastrously!”
After the briefest moment of shocked silence, the room exploded. Aides were questioned peremptorily. Answers were bellowed to be heard.
Heinrich Kroeger rose from his chair and screamed at the men. “Stop! Stop! You damn fools, stop it! She’d never do it! She’s bluffing!”
“Do you really think so?” Elizabeth shouted above the voices.
“I’ll kill you, you bitch!”
“You are demented, Frau Scarlatti!”
“Try it … Kroeger! Try it!” Matthew Canfield stood by Elizabeth, his eyes bloodshot with fury as he stared at Ulster Stewart Scarlett.
“Who the hell are you, you lousy peddler?” The man called Kroeger, hands gripping the table, returned Canfield’s stare and screeched to be heard by the salesman.
“Look at me good! I’m your executioner!”
“What!”
The man called Heinrich Kroeger squinted his misshapen eyes. He was bewildered. Who was this parasite? But he could not take the time to think. The voices of the men of Zurich had reached a crescendo. They were now shouting at each other.
Heinrich Kroeger pounded the table. He had to get control. He had to get them quiet. “Stop it!… Listen to me! If you’ll listen to me, I’ll tell you why she can’t do it! She can’t do it, I tell you!”
One by one the voices became quieter and finally trailed off into silence. The men of Zurich watched Kroeger. He pointed at Elizabeth Scarlatti.
“I know this bitch-woman! I’ve seen her do this before! She gets men together, powerful men, and frightens them. They go into panic and sell out! She gambles on fear, you cowards! On fear!”
Daudet spoke quietly. “You have answered nothing. Why can’t she do as she says?”
Kroeger did not take his eyes off Elizabeth Scarlatti as he replied. “Because to do it would destroy everything she’s ever fought for. It would collapse Scarlatti!”
Sydney Masterson spoke just above a whisper. “That would appear to be obvious. The question remains unanswered.”
“She couldn’t live without that power! Take my word for it! She couldn’t live without it!”
“That’s an opinion,” said Elizabeth Scarlatti facing her son at the opposite end of the table. “Do you ask the majority of those at this table to risk everything on your opinion?”
“God damn you!”
“This Kroeger’s right, honey.” The Texas drawl was unmistakable. “You’ll ruin yourself. You won’t have a pot to piss in.”
“Your language matches the crudity of your operations, Mr. Landor.”
“I don’t give pig piss for words, old lady. I do about money, and that’s what we’re talkin’ about. Why do you want to pull this here crap?”
“That I’m doing it is sufficient, Mr. Landor.… Gentlemen, I said time was running out. The next twenty-four hours will either be a normal Tuesday or a day which will never be forgotten in the financial capitals of our world.… Some here will survive. Most of you will not. Which will it be, gentlemen?… I submit that in light of everything I’ve said, it’s a poor fiscal decision wherein the majority allows the minority to cause its destruction.”