Steve Kane went to work at the site the next day.
When Lara told Keller what was happening, he said, “You didn’t have to get involved in this. I could have handled it for you.”
“I like handling things myself,” Lara said.
That was the end of the conversation.
Five days later Kane appeared at Lara’s office.
“Have you found out anything?”
“Everything,” he said.
“Was it the watchman?”
“No. The lumber wasn’t stolen from the building site.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it never reached there. It was sent to another construction site in Jersey and double-billed. The invoices were doctored.”
“Who’s behind it?” Lara asked.
Kane told her.
The following afternoon there was a meeting of the committee. Terry Hill, Lara’s lawyer, was there, Howard Keller, Jim Belon, the project manager, and Pete Reese. There was also a stranger at the conference table. Lara introduced him as Mr. Conroy.
“Let’s have a report,” Lara said.
Pete Reese said, “We’re right on schedule. We estimate four more months. You were right about going fast track. It’s all going smooth as silk. We’ve already started on the electrical and plumbing.”
“Good,” Lara said.
“What about the stolen lumber?” Keller asked.
“Nothing new on it yet,” Pete Reese said. “We’re keeping an eye open.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about that anymore,” Lara announced. “We found out who’s stealing it.” She nodded toward the stranger. “Mr. Conroy is with the Special Fraud Squad. It’s actually Detective Conroy.”
“What’s he doing here?” Pete Reese asked.
“He’s come to take you away.”
Reese looked up, startled. “What?”
Lara turned to the group. “Mr. Reese has been selling our lumber to another construction job. When he found out that I was checking the reports, he decided to tell me there was a problem.”
“Wait a minute,” Pete Reese said. “I…I…You have it wrong.”
She turned to Conroy. “Would you please get him out of here?”
She turned to the others. “Now, let’s discuss the opening of the hotel.”
As the hotel grew nearer completion, the pressure became more intense. Lara was becoming impossible. She badgered everyone constantly. She made phone calls in the middle of the night.
“Howard, did you know the shipment of wallpaper hasn’t arrived yet?”
“For God’s sake, Lara, it’s four o’clock in the morning.”
“It’s ninety days to the opening of the hotel. We can’t open a hotel without wallpaper.”
“I’ll check it out in the morning.”
“This is morning. Check it out now.”
Lara’s nervousness increased as the deadline grew closer. She met with Tom Scott, head of the advertising agency.
“Do you have small children, Mr. Scott?”
He looked at her in surprise. “No. Why?”
“Because I just went over the new advertising campaign and it seems to have been devised by a small retarded child. I can’t believe that grown men sat down and thought up this junk.”
Scott frowned. “If there’s something about it that displeases you…”
“Everything about it displeases me,” Lara said. “It lacks excitement. It’s bland. It could be about any hotel anywhere. This isn’t any hotel, Mr. Scott. This is the most beautiful, most modern hotel in New York. You make it sound like a cold, faceless building. It’s a warm, exciting home. Let’s spread the word. Do you think you can handle that?”
“I assure you we can handle it. We’ll revise the campaign and in two weeks…”
“Monday,” Lara said flatly. “I want to see the new campaign Monday.”
The new ads went out in newspapers and magazines and billboards all over the country.
“I think the campaign turned out great,” Tom Scott said. “You were right.”
Lara looked at him and said quietly, “I don’t want to be right. I want you to be right. That’s what I pay you for.”
She turned to Jerry Townsend, in charge of publicity.
“Have the invitations all been sent out?”
“Yes. We’ve gotten most of our replies already. Everybody’s coming to the opening. It’s going to be quite a party.”
“It should be,” Keller grumbled, “it’s costing enough.”
Lara grinned. “Stop being a banker. We ’ll get a million dollars’ worth of publicity. We’re going to have dozens of celebrities there and…”