In our last episode, Marvin had been fired from his $12 per hour job flipping burgers for McDouglas. Priscilla had been seriously insulted by the McDouglas manager and had been very angry.

That was on a Sunday evening. At first Priscilla had taken out her frustrations on Marvin, but the range of her ire quickly spread to McDouglas and the Doublejumpers.

Monday morning came along. Priscilla normally rose at 5 AM to exercise, have breakfast, and then ride in her chauffeur driven limo to her office, arriving promptly at 7:30 AM.

Marvin, especially since he had started working the two to midnight shift at McDouglas, generally didn't get up until around nine.

But this morning, he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him roughly. It was, of course, Priscilla.

"Wake up, Marvin. Now." It was said in a loud and insistent voice.

Marvin rolled over. "What time ... "

"Time for you to wake up and listen to what I have to say."

Marvin managed to glance at the bedside clock. "Gee Prissy, it's only six thirty ... "

'Don't call me Prissy! Now listen!"

Marvin sat up and tried, without a lot of success, to look alert.

"I'll be leaving for office in a few minutes. When I get there I'm going to make some phone calls, and I expect a lot of things will start to happen after that. I want you up and dressed and ready to go out on a moment's notice. If your phone rings, you are to answer it immediately, and, I might add, in a polite and business-like manner. Should I call and give you instructions, you are to follow them to the letter and without question. Am I making myself clear?"

Marvin, looking puzzled, replied, "Uh yeah, but what's the big deal? I mean, well, sure, I'm out of work now and need to look ... you trying to line me up with something? Or like, I dunno, get me back on at McDouglas?"

"Never mind the questions," Priscilla said curtly, "just do as you're told. That's the least you can do after what you put me through last night."

"What I put you through?"

"Don't start. I've calmed down, don't stir me up all over again."

With that Priscilla left their bedroom. Soon thereafter Marvin heard her leave the condo by her private elevator.

Marvin wasn't sure what to make of all this, but he thought it best to listen to Priscilla. She had been very poorly treated by his now ex-boss the previous evening, and Marvin did feel bad about it even though he shouldn't have to accept the blame. But Priscilla was Priscilla.

He quickly showered and dressed, and by 8 AM--- rather early for him--- he was ready for whatever might come along. Or at least so he thought.

There was nothing to do but wait. He took a cup of coffee into the breakfast room along with a copy of All Checkers Digest. This month's issue had a number of good checker problems and Marvin was looking at the one shown below.

Marvin thought he had a line on the solution when his phone rang. It was now about 10 AM. Heeding Priscilla's instructions he answered at once. The phone display showed "Unknown Caller."

"Hello?" Marvin said.

"Is this Mr. Mavin?"

"Yes, it is."

"This is Andrew Terry. I'm a senior partner in the law firm of Katzen, Ratzen, and Jatzen. I'm representing you in your lawsuit against the Detroit Doublejumper Checker Club, Inc."

Marvin, once again surprised, said, "What lawsuit?"

"You don't know? Ms. Snelson, your wife, called us this morning and had us institute an action seeking your full reinstatement plus statutory, punitive, exemplary, consequential and collateral damages for a variety of just and adequate causes including ... "

"Okay, uh, Mr. Terry, I get it. Is there something you need from me?"

"Oh, yes, Mr. Mavin, you're to be at a meeting at Doublejumper corporate at 11 AM. That's an hour from now. The front desk will direct you. It seems the Doublejumpers are willing to settle on terms favorable to us. Can you be there?"

Marvin thought about what Priscilla might say if he didn't show up and said, "Okay."

"See you soon, Mr. Mavin." The line disconnected and immediately rang again. It was Priscilla.

"The limo will pick you up in fifteen minutes," Priscilla said. "Be ready." The line disconnected once again.

Marvin changed very quickly into a seldom worn suit and tie, and hurried to meet the limo, which was already waiting in front of the condo.

The limo sped him downtown to Doublejumper headquarters, a place which Marvin had been to many times before, generally as a part of contract negotiations. In the lobby he met up with Priscilla and a small man in a very expensive blue suit and lemon-colored tie. "Prissy --- I didn't know you'd be here ... "

Priscilla glared but only said, "Marvin, this is Mr. Terry, your legal counsel."

Marvin and Mr. Terry shook hands, after which Mr. Terry said, "Well, Mr. Mavin, are you ready?"

"Uh ... sure ... but for what?"

"You just let me take the lead," Mr. Terry said.

They all took the elevator to the top floor and were shown into the Checkers Conference Room, a large well-appointed meeting area with a long, wide mahagony table surrounded by leather chairs. A minute or so later, a bevy of Doublejumper personnel entered the room. Marvin recognized the Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the V.P. of Human Resources, and the V.P. of Legal Affairs, along with their assistants.

Everyone shook hands with Priscilla, Mr. Terry, and Marvin, and then seats were taken. The Doublejumper Chairman, Mr. Ward Warden, rose and addressed the group.

"We'd like to settle this dispute quickly," he began. "As you know the Doublejumpers are not having a good year, so to make a long story short, we'd like to reinstate Marvin as a member of the team and as team captain, effective at once." Mr. Warden smiled. "We think that's a great offer under the circumstances and should easily settle all outstanding issues."

But Mr. Terry put his palms flat on the table and said, "Not so fast, Mr. Warden. While my client appreciates your willingness to settle this case, you're going to have to do a lot better than simple reinstatement. My client suffered abuse and humiliation at the hands of the Doublejumpers. His life was thrown into chaos. He is suffering from trauma, elevated blood pressure, insomnia, sciatica, hives, dandruff, swollen ankles and ... um ... other problems."

"I am?" Marvin muttered but he was silenced with a glance from Priscilla.

However Mr. Terry was still speaking. " ... punitive and compensatory damages in the amount of $10 million, reinstatment at double his contract salary, full back pay, a public apology ... "

The Doublejumper V.P. of Legal Affairs, a Mr. Gerald Grimly, rose to his feet. "You can't seriously expect us to listen to such demands on behalf of someone who has behaved as poorly as ... "

"Sit down!" Mr. Warden told Mr. Grimly. "We have to settle this! Can you imagine the bad publicity we'll get? In case you haven't noticed, the team is in last place and we're losing money in ticket sales, sponsorships ... I want you to settle this case now."

The V.P. of Human Resources, a Ms. Ino Kea, said in a stage whisper, "But Mr. Warden, sir, our employee handbook strictly forbids ... "

"Keep quiet, you!" Mr. Warden said with an angry glance at Ms. Kea. "Now let's get on with this.

The discussion, or perhaps debacle from the standpoint of the Doublejumpers, lasted only another 15 minutes. Marvin was to be immediately reinstated to his former position, he was to receive full back pay, and also the full $10 million in damages. The only concessions were that his contract salary would be raised by 20%, to $6 million per year instead of doubled, and that the public apology would be mild rather than abject.

The meeting concluded with another round of rather cold handshakes. Back down in the lobby, after Mr. Terry had departed, Marvin remarked to Priscilla, "Gee honey, you sure did get some action with whatever calls you made this morning. But I thought you said it wasn't worth suing the Doublejumpers because of all their hot-shot lawyers and stuff?"

"A woman has a right to change her mind," Priscilla said with a smile, "and I have resources that you don't." She paused a moment. "By the way, we're not quite done yet. We're meeting our other lawyer for lunch."

"Other lawyer? What other lawyer?"

"Sandra Sprinkler, of Sprinkler, Mower, and Edger," Priscilla said. "She's handling our case against McDouglas. The McDouglas CEO will arrive on his private jet this afternoon and we're to meet with him at four o'clock. I expect we'll get quite a good settlement from them, too. And you'll probably like to know that your former manager has already been dismissed from his position."

"Wow!" Marvin exclaimed. "Don't mess with Priscilla!"

Priscilla gave Marvin a long, steady look before saying, "That's right, Marvin. Remember that. Don't mess with Priscilla."

---

We hope you liked the conclusion to our latest Marvin J. Mavin series. Marvin will surely have further adventures in the months to come.

Solution

The source of this problem is a late 19th century checker publication called "The Board" produced by one E. E. Burlingame. He called it Prize Position No. 45 and offered a three month free subscription to his publication to the reader who sent in the best solution. Unfortunately as originally published it had multiple solutions, so we've moved it up one move and changed the terms so that the most interesting line of play takes place. (The previous move was 14-10 and the terms were Black to Play, What Result?)

1.	...	19-16
2.	31-26	16-11

The only move to draw; see below. The original play, later corrected, gave 16-12.

3.	26-23	11-8
4.	23-18	24-19
5.	18-15	19-16
6.	15-19	8-12
7.	27-23	16-11
8.	10-15	11-8
9.	15-11	8-4
10.	23-18	12-8
11.	11-15	8-12
12.	15-11	...

Drawn. Despite a commanding position in the center, Black cannot win.

The originally published play is quite instructive after White's losing 16-12 move. Play can vary; explore further with your computer.

1.	...	19-16
2.	31-26	16-12

This move loses; 16-11 draws as per previously shown play.

3.	10-15	12-16
4.	26-22	16-19
5.	15-10	19-16
6.	22-18	16-19

16-11 is no better.

7.	18-15	19-16
8.	10-7	16-19
9.	15-11	19-16
10.	27-32	16-12
11.	32-28	24-19
12.	28-32	12-16
13.	32-27	16-12
14.	7-3	12-16
15.	27-23	16x7
16.	23x16	20x11
17.	3x10	...

Black Wins with the move.