RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31340, 10 April 1967, Page 22

RANDOM REMINDER

COMMERCIAL CLOAK AND DAGGER

Not all the excitement of commercial conflict is confined to the biggest cities. Christchurch recently provided the stage for an extraordinary drama, based on the simple wish to wring the best possible profit out of some property. The property was in a suburban district, and was owned by a woman. A businessman obtained a signed option to buy it, and he proposed to build. But the woman obtained a considerably better offer from someone else; the businessman said he would meet the new price, and this time he obtained a signed contract to buy.

It was soon after this that she had an even better offer for the land, and this persuaded her, evidently. that it would not be

wise to move out But for a while, it was obvious that the processes of the law would soon surround her, and she took careful steps to avoid them. In this enterprise, she was assisted by the fact that there were two cars in the family, and two different lines of exit With her husband and children posted as lookouts, she was able to enter and leave the property freely and at will. Elusive, she was, and skilful. This brought the purchaser and his solicitor into conference. Something, the purchaser said, would have to be done. And it was. The purchaser dressed himself up in the oldest clothes he could find, borrowed a broom, put on yes, true a false beard, and went to work sweeping the gutter

outside the property. The lady came out, cautiously, in her car, saw no-one but an old man with the broom, and drove away. She became accustomed to seeing him there, most days, for some time. One day, he struck. He dropped the process paper on the path as the car came out, attracted her attention and said: “Excuse me, I think you hflve dropped something.” She said it couldn’t be hers. He said he thought it must be because It had her name on it

And as she inspected it the lawyer emerged from behind a tree to witness the serving of the process. It was beautifully timed, and it all went to show that even in a computer age, there can be romance in the gathering of coin.