Clemmie by John D. MacDonald Read Free Book Online

through the memos and new orders, make phone calls, dictate new memos. When he was quite obviously through and ready to go out to the production areas, Betty still sat there.
    “Well?” he asked, somewhat impatiently.
    “A new latrine-o-gram, Mr. Fitz. Mr. Ober had Mr. McCabe in his office for over two hours yesterday. McCabe was in rough shape when he got back. Dorothy Bowman said he had the twitches. He went out for an hour and when he came back he was very jolly and slightly loaded. That has never happened before.”
    “Maybe he’s been due.”
    “That’s three so far. Mr. Ober seems to be working his way through the list. You ought to be about due.”
    “Not for a chewing, Betty. I do my ugly little job with neatness and a certain amount of dispatch.”
    “Maybe that’s the way he operates.”
    “I hope he doesn’t try it.”
    She looked concerned. “Please don’t—blow up if he does. I mean—we both just work here.”
    The phone rang and she picked it up. “Mr. Fitz’s office, Miss James speaking. Yes? Just a moment, please.” She covered the mouthpiece. She looked slightly pale. Her freckles were more noticeable. “Can you see Mr. Ober at eleven-thirty?” He nodded. She said into the phone, “Mr. Fitz will be there at eleven-thirty. You’re welcome.” She hung up and said, “Speak of the devil.”
    “Why do you act scared of him, Betty?”
    “Well, everybody knows his reputation.”
    “You aren’t flattering me. Run along and type that stuff up. I’ll be with Chernek and then I’ll go right from there to Ober’s office. Put what you’ve finished on my desk before you go to lunch.”
    “Yes sir,” she said. And left, setting her heels down firmly.
    As he walked to Purchasing to talk to Chernek, he thought of Paul Ober and what Ober might mean to him personally. U. S. Automotive was known throughout the industry for ruthlessness on the executive level. Competition between top men was savage. According to companypolicy, you did not stay in one place for long. You were promoted or weeded out. This lack of paternalism on the executive level seemed to keep the total operation, all twelve plants, more profitable. Though the name was still U. S. Automotive, horizontal expansion had taken the corporation into textiles, chemicals, plastics, and electronics. The Quality Metal Products Division was the only manufacturing facility which still had a substantial share of production taken by the automobile industry, but a lot of that output was flash merchandise for independents and retail chains—side mirrors, hood ornaments, hub caps, chrome stripping, dashboard accessories.
    The previous plant manager, Harvey Haley, had reached retirement age in January. Paul Ober had arrived to take over. He had a reputation throughout the corporation and the industry as a tough and effective trouble-shooter. His assignment to Quality Metal Products was an indication of the dissatisfaction of the Board with plant operations. It was rumored that he would spend a couple of years chopping out dead wood and tautening operations and then be assigned to the next problem plant.
    Ober brought with him one tall, blonde, plain, chilly private secretary named Commerford—frighteningly efficient and apparently emotionless—and one small, fat, impassive man with thick glasses named L. T. Rowdy. Rowdy attended all executive conferences and never spoke. He could stand for two hours watching one manufacturing operation without seeming to move, or breathe. On rare occasions he would make a notation in a dimestore notebook with a slim, gold pencil.
    Ober was not as ominous as his two assistants. He was a tall man in his early forties, without office softness or office pallor. He dressed casually, had roan, bushy hair worn too long, glasses with heavy black frames, a shaggy mustache, and a pipe. He was languid and gracious and soft-spoken. The hair, mustache, pipe and glasses made it difficult to remember just what he looked like.