Eugene Barker was just twenty-five years old and seriously contemplating getting married. He had met the girl that he thought would make him a good wife and make him happy. He loved her very much and he was sure that she felt the same way.
Her name was Lisa Wallace and she was the girl of his dreams. She was funny and kind and enjoyed many of the same things that he did. They had met at work and had become good friends right away. Until he had met Lisa he had never thought that there was anything known as love at first sight. But, the first time that he had seen her something clicked.
The two of them had sat together from day one and as the weeks had gone by they had become known as the company couple. They had discovered that they both had many of the same interests. She was a bottle collector as he was. He had never met any other woman who was interested in digging for old bottles. She had her own little sight, as did he where she had been digging for the past five years.
The two of them went digging and then cleaned them each and everyday almost. Working in a hole digging for something that had been dumped as trash nearly 100 years ago was something that took someone special. But as they spent more and more time together, they found out that they both were big fans of the old television shows and movies that were in black and white.
Today the two of them were going to be going out to dinner at one of their favorite Chinese food places. Gene was in the middle of getting ready to pick Lisa up when he was surprised to see that she was calling him. He picked up the phone and she said that she was cancelling the dinner date for that night. Something had come up and she was sorry.
Gene was disappointed that Lisa had cancelled their plans that evening. She had never done that before . He sat down in his living room and turned on the television. It was strange that a lady who had just come into his life a few short months ago was now leaving an empty spot in his heart. He missed her very much and considering that he had just seen her not two hours ago he shook his head.
Lisa had not wanted to cancel the date, but she felt that she needed to. She had met and been dating Gene for several months now. He was kind and gentle and treated her like a lady. She had been very happy with him.
But as in any relationship that was new, she had not told Gene everything. She had come to the LA area because of a past relationship that had gone sour. She had been a little uneasy telling him the truth. She had been in a relationship with another woman. Some men felt insecure with such things. But that day she had gotten a call from Bonnie her ex girlfriend. She had wanted to see her and talk.
As Bonnie came to her house that evening, she took a seat. "Lisa do you remember the land that we bought a couple of years ago? Well there is someone that wants to buy it. The land is in a good solid place and the taxes are due. They have offered us a price of fifty thousand dollars. The price seems to be quite fair and quite frankly I could use the money." she told her.
To Lisa this was a good thing. She remembered the property and had thought that when they had paid ten thousand dollars for it they were being ripped off. 'Why would someone want to pay them fifty thousand dollars for the land? It was practically in the middle of nowhere.' She thought for a moment and said "All right I will call my attorney in the morning and set up a time for us to meet about the sale." she told her.
Bonnie left happy thinking that things would work out and that she would have the money soon. She was sad that she had lost Lisa. Lisa had been the best thing that had ever happened to her, but maybe they could get back together. She would test the waters later.
Once Bonnie had left Lisa took a deep breath. She had been all right with her ex lover and had found that she no longer felt anything but friendship for her. She would call Perry Mason in the morning and set up an appointment.
Perry Mason had been surprised when Della had given him his list of appointments for the day and saw that Lisa Wallace was on his list. He hadn't seen her in almost a year and thought that she had moved to another city with her partner Bonnie. As Bonnie and Lisa came into the office Della offered them a seat. He listened intently as they explained about the land. He had handled the purchase some five years ago and was amazed at why someone would offer them fifty thousand dollars for the land. Yes he would be glad to have someone look into it and get back to them within a few days.
As the two ladies left the office Perry turned to Della and asked her to get in touch with Paul Drake. Within a few minutes Paul was at the back door knocking. As he was let in he took a seat in his favorite chair. "You rang?" he said with a smile.
Perry let him know about the land and the high offer for it. Paul said that he would get right on it and let him know what was going on as soon as he found something out. With that he left and Perry and Della went back to work.
Bonnie had been a little upset that it was going to be another few days before she had her money and told Lisa "Why don't we go up and take a look at the land? We haven't been up there in at least two years? Maybe we can find out what is going on ourselves." she told her.
That sounded good to Lisa. This had caught her interest and she too wanted to know what was going on. The two of them headed out to the land to see for themselves why someone would offer them five times what they had paid for the property just a few years ago.