Part 39 (1/2)

this developer is notorious for taking beautiful land parcels

and turning them into some pretty shoddy developments.

'Cheap and sleazy' is how the L.A. Times described them.

Also, he's notorious for cutting corners, using cheap or even

illegal labor and inferior construction materials. Then he

sells most of the units, leaves the place in the hands of bad

management, and moves on.”

”Oh, my,” said Elizabeth. ”That sounds horrible.”

”How can you be so sure?” injected Buckie. ”What if it's

all just hearsay? Or suppose this developer's being slandered

by his compet.i.tion? And don't forget how Rick and Greg

*were so opposed to bad development last summer. Surely

*they won't let their very own property turn into the kind of

mess you just described.”

”The only reason those boys ever opposed development

last summer was to protect their little scheme with Arnold

Westerly,” Clyde blurted out. ”Everyone knows it was

already in the works, and they didn't want anyone coming

in here with more money and cutting them out. It's no secret

they stole that land from Arnold.”

”They stdle land?” asked Michael with wide eyes.

”Not really,” Jed quickly explained. ”They just didn't pay

the old guy what it was truly worth. In a sense, they cheated

him.”

*”He signed the papers of his own free will,” argued

Buckie. ”No one forced his hand.”