James Vyver

But I actually don't even really think it's a – it may not even be a European thing.

My granddad was a greengrocer.

he carried lots of cash around all the time i don't trust banks he'd always tell me and so perhaps for different i mean he lived in london during the blitz and so at the other end of the war i mean it's it's perhaps a generational thing um but the other touching thing and it's you know it's interesting how the little details stay with people about all of this microscopic dna and undercover operations just little things like irma and her lemon tree and the walnuts hanging under the house so just little vignettes that people

could recognize along with, you know, these little idiosyncrasies of stashing money for whatever reason it may be.

So it's nice to be able to sort of bring that to people now and hopefully close that loop for the Svetlanas and everyone else out there who probably as kids remember eating walnuts or, you know, finding like, you know, 50 grand down the back of the loo or something.

I don't know.

But you can understand why people who had fled ultimately or perhaps migrated, however you want to put it, would stash this money around the place.

There was an afternoon or it may have been a morning, but for people who never worked in a newsroom, they're quite messy.

And there's a section behind my desk in the ABC Canberra newsroom that has copies of the Canberra Times that

They they they are like an archive they go so far back Point being is there's lots of notepads and old reports and bits and pieces around in the newsroom Liz and I looked through all of these weird shelves and round corners in nooks and crannies to see if one of our colleagues had kept this sections of this coronial in in the past to see if we could sort of you know provide it for the legal process and

We were not able to, but, you know, that's kind of, we thought, well, it was worth having a look.

Liz came in and goes, I'm looking for a coronial inquest.

And I had another look.

And then, anyway, it was just old reporters who have since retired their notebooks and, you know, various other bits and pieces.

Liz has been like the John Farnham of court reporters.

There's been so many farewells that we thought we were going to have.

And then she would just do one last tour, albeit not by her own design.

But I would say she's the best we've got, and if not the best court reporter that the country's got.

That's my two penneth.

And working with her over this last nine weeks, I've learned an immense amount.