EYES UNSEEN, BUT SEEING ALL

NZ Truth, Issue 1227, 6 June 1929, Page 5

EYES UNSEEN, BUT SEEING ALL

Faithless Wife Kept Tryst With Lover While Husband Waited and Watched SEQUEL STAGEdIn~DIVORCE COURT (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative). Seen . . . through a glass . . . darkly . . . The soft blanket of night falling swiftly across the grassy expanse separating two figures from a- knot of men- who watched through the lenses of their field glasses. ; . Impending night had almost placed its screen between. Suddenly, the bushes moved, marking the identity of the man and the woman. Then, a rush and scurry of feet, startled cries from the woman and an anguished exclamation from the man as he received a blow to the jaw — flight — and Phiilip John Lye had affirmed his right to a divorce. \ .

. ~ : - — C WHEN Lye related his case before Mr. Justice Herdman, m the Auckland Supreme Court, neither his . wife, Merania Audrey Lye, nor her lover, Arthur John Power, a clerk m the Native Land Court, Auckland, appeared to proffer any evidence m rebuttal, with the result that his Honor quickly made his decision by recording a decree -nisi, with costs on the lowest scale against the co-respondent. Fortunately, there were no children of the marriage. They married m mid-June of 1925, under the happiest of happy circumstances, liyed m various parts of Auckland, the tenor of their married life being one of mutual regard and faith. ■■..,, Time passed. Unknown to the husband, and, likely enough at first, unsuspected by the girl hersejf, the fingers of discontent crept slowly into the soul of Merania Lye, took possession and m remarkably short time had driven , out the spirit of satisfaction and marital, happiness. Discontent developed into a flame of

She Left Him

open hostility, until at length the couple decided upon a separate existence. Lye's solicitor drew up the necessary documents, and their two signatures completed the wall which had reared slowly between them. They came together again, however, but misunderstanding and circumstance combined to split the breach, ending m the frank admission of the wife that she loved her husband no more. She left him, and after a short while had elapsed, Lye asked a judge of the Supreme Court to order her return within fourteen days. *, . So implicit 'his trust m his wife, Lye never for one moment doubted her virtue until a few months ago, v when ■ vague, half-apologetic whispers came to him ; whispers which placed his wife's felicity very much m doubt. Inclined at first to discredit them, the persistency of these rumors at length succeeded m convincing him that she- had become absorbed m her affection for the co-respon-dent, Power. Whispers of indefinite shape and] substance gave place to strong pre- i sumption that not only had she left i

y . _ — : : r~ < -him, but everything which held her to him, and he was constrained to enlist' the services of a private.d etective who was not long m confirming what he had already heard from other sources. ' ' The wife and Power were m each other's company a good deal — too rrvuch for Lye's peace of mind— and on the several occasions when John Goddard, one of the inquiry agents, summoned him to be present at a certain time and place, they saw the couple m varied circumstances, always of seeming affection. . Goddard kept very close watch .upon the movements of Mrs. Lye, and as

■ sedulously advised her husband as to the result of his observations. Late one afternoon she left "Ivanhoe," the house m Sentinel Road, Herne Bay, where she lived, and made her way towards the lower entrance to Point Erin Park, situated not more than fifteen minutes' walk from her home. At the park gates she was joined by the co-respondent — obviously by appointment—and when they had'! affectionately greeted one another they walked, arm-in-arm, towards one of the seats dotted around the edge of the grass, and almost beneath the trees. ' : Completely unaware that they were

3 ' . . . — , __ — _ being watched by Goddard, who later | was joined by two other sleuths named Wilson and Scarfe, Mrs. • Lye and Power" indulged themselves m a round of loving embracements which lasted almost an hour. ; Day slowly merged into night. The •watchers' on-. the other side of the green found observation difficult at times,, even through the agemcy of field glasses, and several- times the detectives were obliged to shift their positions to find some more advantageous watching post. Three-quarters of. an hour elapsed, but the . couple on the . seat gave no signs as to their ultimate intentions, so Goddard left his fellows to watch, while he raced away to the nearest telephone, calling, the waiting husband. Shortly after Lye arrived, Power , was seen to rise from the seat, leading Mrs. Lye m the direction of the bushes which fringe the park. Slowly, quietly, the four men closed m upon the spot where were Mrs. Lye and her lover. About twenty yards away, somebody gave the signal to rush the" spot, and

Lye Gave Chase

before the. -startled couple knew what had happened four, determined' men had swooped down upon them. Mrs. Lye gave a frightened shriek as she found herself within the focus of four electric torches. Power scrambled hastily to his feet, and made no answer when Lye exclaimed: "What are you doing with my wife?" "Is this your wife?" asked Goddard of Lye. "Yes, that's my wife, and I know him," retorted Lye, and with that he swung a hefty punch to Power's face, jarring every tooth m his head. Power bolted. When Power . dashed away into the shelter of the darkness, Mrs. Lye ran shrieking ' after him. Lye gave chase, and ere she had gone many y_ards caught up with her. "Leave me alone, leave me alone!" she exclaimed, but Lye refused to let her go until his divorce detectives had established her identity to their satis-' faction. • > So' ended an inglorious episode, wherein Power achieved his deserts and was depicted m a most unsavory light, while Lye has secured the judicial separation to which he was most justly entitled.