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.She thought you might be a salesman of some sort, in that flashy suit and wearing a tie on a Sunday afternoon." Townsend tried not to laugh."No, Mr.Ampthill, I'm not." "Call me Ben, everybody else does." "No, Ben, I'm not a seller, I'm a buyer."THE FOURTH ESTATE 331"And what are you hoping to buy, young man?" "Your radio station." "It's not for sale, Keith.Not unless you also want the local newspaper, a no-star hotel, and a couple of coalmines thrown in.Because they're all part of the same company." "Who owns the company?" asked Townsend."It's just possible that the shareholders might consider." 'There are only two shareholders," Ben explained."Pearl and me.So even if I wanted to sell, I'd still have to convince her." "But if You own the company-" Townsend hesitated "-along with your wife, you have it in your power to sell me the station." "Sure do," said Ben."But I'm not going to.If you want the station, you're just going to have to buy everything else that goes with it," After several more Resch's and another hour of haggling, Townsend came to realize that Ben's niece had failed to inherit any genes from his side of the family.When Townsend finally emerged from Ben's office it was pitch dark, and the receptionist had left.He fell into the car, and told Sam to take him back to the Ampthilis' house."And by the way," he said, as the car swung round yet again, "you were right about the coalmines.I'm now the proud owner of two of them, as well as the local paper and a hotel, but most important of all, a radio station.But the deal can't be finally ratified until I've had dinnei~ with the other shareholder, just to be sure she approves of me."332 JEFFREY ARCHER When Keith crept into the house at one o'clock the following morning, he wasn't surprised to find Susan was fast asleep.He quietly closed the bedroom door and went down to his study on the ground floor, where he sat at his desk and began writing some notes.It wasn't long before he started wondering what was the earliest moment that he could possibly call his lawyer.He settled on six thirtyfive, and filled in the time by having a shower, putting on a fresh set of clothes, packing a suitcase, making himself some breakfast and reading the first editions of the Sydney papers, which were always delivered to him by five every morning.At twenty-five to seven he left the kitchen, returned to his study and dialed his lawyer's home number.A sleepy voice answered the phone."Good morning, Clive.I thought I ought to let you know I've just bought a coalmine.Two, in fact." "And why in heaven's name did you do that, Keith?" a more awake voice asked.It took another forty minutes for Townsend to explain how he had spent the previous afternoon, and the price agreed on.Clive's pen never stopped moving across the pad by the side of his bed, which was always there just in case Townsend phoned."My first reaction is that Mr.Ampthill looks as if he's got himself a good deal," said Clive when his client finally stopped talking."He sure did," said Townsend."And had he wanted to prove it, he could also have drunk me under the table." "Well, I'll call you later this morning to fix an appointment so we can flesh this deal out." "Can't do that," said Townsend."I have to catch the firstTHE FOURTH ESTATE 333flight to New York if I'm going to make this deal worthwhile.You'll need to sort out the details with Ben Ampthill.He's not the sort of man who'll go back on his word." "But I'm still going to need your input." "You've just had it," said Townsend."So be sure You have the contract ready for signing the moment I get back." "How long will YOU be away?" asked Clive."Four days, five at the most." "Can you pick up what you need in five days?" "if I can't, I'll have to take up coalmining." Once he had put the phone down, Townsend returned to the bedroom and picked up his suitcase.He decided not to wake Susan: flying off to New York at such short notice would take a lot of explaining.He scribbled her a note and left it on the hall table.When he saw Sam standing at the end of the drive, Townsend couldn't help thinking that he looked as if he hadn't had much sleep either, At the airport, he told him that he'd be back some time on Friday."Don't forget you're getting married on Saturday, boss." "Fven I couldn't forget that," said Townsend."No need to worry, I'll be back with at least twenty-four hours to spare.In the plane, he fell asleep moments after he had fastened his seatbelt.When he woke several hours later, he couldn't remember where he was going or why.Then it all came back to him.He and his radio team had spent several days in New York during their preparations for the earlier net- work bid, and he had made three subsequent visits to the city that year, setting up deals with American networks and334 JEFFREY ARCHER agencies that Would have been immediately turned into a program schedule had he been awarded the new franchise.Now he intended to take advantage of all that hard work.A Yellow Cab drove him from the airport to the Pierre.Despite all four windows being down, Townsend had removed his tie and undone his shirt collar long before he was dropped outside the hotel.The concierge welcomed him as if he had made fifty trips to New York that year, and instructed a bellboy to show Mr.Townsend up to "his usual room." Another shower, a further change of clothes, a late breakfast and several more phone calls were made before Townsend began shuttling round the city from agent to agent, network to network, studio to studio, in an attempt to close deals at breakfast, lunch, dinner and sometimes in the small hours of the morning.Four days later he had purchased the Australian rights for most of the top American radio programs for the coming season, with options on them for a further four years.He signed the final agreement only a couple of hours before his flight was due to leave for Sydney.He packed a suitcase full of dirty clothes-he disapproved of paying unnecessary bills-and took a cab to the airport.Once the plane had taken off he started drafting a 500word article, revising paragraphs and changing phrases, until he was satisfied it was good enough for the front page
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