their voting-power to the
board of directors. Evidently Fleming didn't approve of the feminine
touch in business."

"Yeah, isn't that a dandy?" Ritter asked. "The directors are elected by
majority vote of the stockholders. They now have the voting-power of a
majority of the stock; that makes the present board self-perpetuating,
and responsible only to each other."

"So it does, but that wasn't what I was thinking of. According to Tip,
the board is one hundred per cent in favor of the merger with National
Milling & Packaging. We'll have to suppose Fleming knew that; there must
have been considerable intramural acrimony on the subject while he was
still alive. Now, since he opposed the merger, if he had intended
committing suicide, he would have made some other arrangement, wouldn't
he? At least, one would suppose so. Well, then," Rand asked, "why, since
he is so worried about these suicide rumors, doesn't Goode use the one
argument which would utterly disprove them? Or is there some reason
why he doesn't want to call attention to the fact that Fleming's death
is what makes the merger possible?"

"Well, that would be calling attention to the fact that the merger made
Fleming's death necessary," Ritter pointed out. He poured more beer into
his glass. "While we're on it, what's the angle on this butler's livery
I was supposed to bring? I brought my tux, and I borrowed a striped vest
from the Theatrical Property Exchange, and I brought that Dago .380 of
yours. But what makes you think the Flemings are going to be needing a
new butler? You going to poison the one they have?"

"The one they have has been exceeding his duties," Rand said. "He was
supposed to clean the pistol-collection. Not content with that, he's
been cleaning it out. I know it was the butler." He went, at length,
into his reasons for thinking so, and described the _modus operandi_ of
the thefts. "Now, all this is just theory, so far, but when I'm able to
prove it, I'm going to put the arm on this Walters, if it's right in the
middle of dinner and he only has the roast half served. And I want you
ready to step into the vacancy thus created. I'm going to be busy as a
pup in a fireplug factory with this Rivers thing, and I'll need some
checking-upping done inside the Fleming household."

He went on, in meticulous detail, to explain about the Rivers murder.
"I'll have some work for you, before you're ready to start buttling,
too." Disencumbering himself of