The words hung in the dead air of the conference room.
"Mergers & Acquisitions Division."
Elias Thorne stared at Arthur as if the boy had just started speaking in a foreign language. Julian Graves, who had been pacing in a red-faced fury, stopped. Walter Hayes, by the door, just looked confused.
"Arthur," Elias said, his voice dangerously quiet. "I am going to say this one time. It is over. I am tired of these... these games. I am not... 'building' a new division. I am dissolving this bank. This... this fantasy is finished."
"You are defeated," Arthur said. It was a simple statement of fact.
Elias's eyes blazed. "Yes! Yes, I am defeated! Are you not? We failed! We were humiliated! They called us 'newly-formed' and laughed us out of the room! We are a joke, Arthur. A two-month-old bank run by a lawyer and a boy. Now, if you will excuse me..."
Elias turned to leave.
"And yet," Arthur's cold voice cut through the room, "their 'no' does not change the facts."
Elias stopped, his hand on the doorknob.
"Fact one," Arthur said, his voice ticking like a metronome. "Boeing is still bankrupt. Fact two, their loan is still due on April 30th. Fact three, their 'long-standing financial counselors' are the same ones who let them get into this mess. They have no real solution. They are just as proud, stupid, and desperate as they were yesterday."
He looked at the three men. "We did not fail, gentlemen. Our tactic failed. We tried to charm them. We failed because they do not want to be charmed. They are builders. They are engineers. They saw Julian," he said, motioning to the banker, "as a salesman. And they hate salesmen."
"So what!" Julian snapped, his pride wounded. "What is this new plan? 'Buy the back door'? What does that even mean? You want to buy a... a factory? We're a bank! We don't make... things! We make money!"
"Precisely," Arthur said. "And we are going to use that money to buy a thing. A thing so important, so critical, that they cannot build their planes without it. Walter," he said, turning to the researcher.
Walter jumped, terrified. "Yes, Mr. Vance?"
"Your new job is the most important one in this bank," Arthur said. "I want you to go back through all your research. Find me a bottleneck. Find me a company that supplies a part for the B-17. It cannot be a simple part, like a screw or a sheet of aluminum. It must be complex. Something specialized. Something that cannot be easily replaced. Find me the one, small company that makes it."
Walter was scribbling on his notepad. "A... a specialized supplier. Yes, sir."
"And Walter," Arthur said, "this is the most important part. Find me one that's in trouble. Find me a family-owned shop, a brilliant engineer who is bad at business. Find me a company that is in debt, just like Boeing. Find me a company that we can buy... cheaply. And quietly. Can you do that?"
Walter's eyes, which had been dull with defeat, suddenly lit up. This was a hunt he understood. This was another secret. "Yes," he said, his voice firming. "Yes, I can do that. I... I think I've seen a few names in the union reports. Suppliers who were complaining about Boeing not paying their bills..."
"Good," Arthur said. "Go. Take your team. I want a list by tomorrow."
Walter nodded and practically ran out of the room, his sense of purpose restored.
The door clicked shut, leaving Arthur with Elias and Julian.
Julian Graves had been silent. His anger had faded, and he was watching Arthur with a new, strange look in his eyes. It was a look of cold, professional respect.
"You're not buying a company, boy," Julian whispered, a slow, dangerous smile spreading on his face. "You're not buying a 'thing.' You're buying a hostage."
Arthur met his gaze. "I am buying leverage. The 10% equity was an invitation. They refused it. Now, we will create a reason for them to invite us in. When we own their most important supplier, we are no longer 'a newly-formed bank from New York.' We are a problem they must solve. We are the men who own the part."
Julian let out a low whistle. "A hostile... supply-chain... takeover. I've... I've never seen it done. It's brilliant. It's ugly. I love it."
Julian's fire was back. The humiliation was gone. This was a game he understood. This was not charm. This was power. "And when we have them... when they can't build their planes... we force the meeting."
"Exactly," Arthur said. "And they will take our deal. Because this time, we will not be asking for 10%. We will be asking for fifteen."
Elias, who had been listening with growing horror, finally spoke. "No. Absolutely not."
Julian and Arthur turned to him.
"This is... this is monstrous," Elias said, his voice shaking. "This is not 'business.' This is... this is a back-alley fight. 'Hostages'? 'Ugly'? Julian is right! We would be... we would be corporate raiders! Vultures! This is not what I agreed to! This is not legal!"
"It is perfectly legal, Elias," Arthur said calmly. "We are a bank. We will use our capital to acquire a controlling interest in another company. It is done every day. We are just doing it with... a specific goal in mind."
"And it's immoral!" Elias shot back. "We would be threatening to destroy Boeing, to put thousands of men out of work, all to... to get what we want? I will not be a part of it."
He looked at Arthur, his face filled with genuine disappointment. "I thought... I thought you were a builder, Arthur. This is the work of a destroyer."
Arthur was silent for a long moment. The room was tense again. Elias was the moral center of the bank. He was also its president. If he refused, the plan died.
"You are right, Elias," Arthur said.
Elias and Julian both looked at him, surprised.
"It is an ugly tactic," Arthur said. "It is aggressive. It is ruthless. And you are right. This is not the kind of man I want you to be."
He paused. "This is why you will not be the one making the threat."
"I... I don't understand," Elias said.
"This new department," Arthur said, "Mergers & Acquisitions. It has two parts. The Acquisition, and the Merger."
He looked at Julian. "Julian. Your charm failed. But your aggression is exactly what we need. When we find the target... you will be the one who goes to Boeing. You will be the 'bad man.' You will be the one to lay down the law. You will be the one to make them hate us."
Julian's smile widened. "A role I was born to play."
"But," Arthur said, turning back to Elias, "we cannot do that unless we own the company first. And that, Elias, is where you come in."
"Me?"
"This is not a Wall Street deal," Arthur said. "This is not a public offer. This must be a quiet deal. We will be approaching a small, family-owned company. They will be in debt. They will be scared. They will not be impressed by Julian's $500 suit. They will be terrified of him."
Arthur walked closer to Elias. "They need a lawyer. An honest, older man who speaks their language. A man who can look the family owner in the eye and say, 'I am here to solve your problems. We will buy your company for a fair price. We will pay your debts. We will secure your family's future.' They need a man they can trust."
Arthur looked at his president. "I do not need the charmer for this part, Elias. I need the lawyer. I need the honest man. I need you."
The logic settled over Elias. Arthur was not asking him to be the destroyer. He was asking him to be the rescuer... of the company they would use as a weapon. It was a dirty job, but Arthur had wrapped it in a clean, legal, and even noble package. He would be saving a small family, not threatening a large one.
"This new department," Arthur said, "this M&A Division... it needs a head. A man who can read a balance sheet, see the debt, and write a perfect, iron-clad contract that saves the target and gives us control. Quietly. Legally. This is your department, Elias. You are the Head of Mergers & Acquisitions."
Elias was quiet. He looked at Arthur, and then at Julian. He saw the new machine Arthur was building. Research finds the target. M&A, led by Elias, legally and quietly secures the leverage. And Capital Raising, led by Julian, uses that leverage to close the final deal.
It was a perfect, four-part strategy.
Elias let go of the doorknob. He walked back to his desk. He was still worried. He still felt that this was a dark path. But... he was a lawyer. And the boy had just given him a clean, legal case to win.
He felt his purpose return. He was not a failure. He was the head of a new, vital division.
"Alright, Arthur," Elias said, his voice low and firm. "We will try your 'new angle.' I will handle the acquisition. But I am warning you both... I will not be a part of anything that crosses the line."
"Of course, Elias," Arthur said, his face calm. "We are bankers. Not barbarians."
Julian Graves just smiled. "One question, Arthur."
"Yes?"
"When Elias buys this little company... who is going to run it? We don't know anything about landing gear."
Arthur Vance looked out the window. The first days of April 1940 were beginning. "We don't have to," he said. "The old owner will. We will just be the new boss. The new, silent boss, who pays the bills... and tells him who he can and cannot sell to."
Elias Thorne sat down and picked up his telephone. "Mrs. Gable," he said, his voice no longer weak. "Please get me the corporate registrar for the state of Ohio. I need to know the laws on private incorporation."
The machine, which had broken down, was being rebuilt. It was stronger, sharper, and far more dangerous.