Portobello

There weren't any Inspector Wexford Novels available so I took Ruth Rendell's Portobello. Interesting beginning. A man has a heart attack and drops an envelop of money which another man finds. The second man decides to try to find the rightful owner of the cash by placing flyers on lamp posts around the neighborhood as one would for a lost cat, announcing he found some money and provided a phone number to be called. A con artist sees the flyer and makes the call only to be told by the finder he wishes to meet the man who says he lost the money before asking the sum of money lost. What? The first exchange has to be how much money was lost. If the sum is correct then arrange for its return in a neutral place, not in the finder's home. Then the rightful owner calls and gives the amount lost before anything else happens and the finder realizes he has a problem. The finder considers paying both the amount of money he found. What?

I can't read anymore. This is ridiculous, unbelievable and just plain stupid. Rendell is obviously an acquired taste, juts not mine. Too much suspension of disbelief for me.