A little bit of industrial espionage

The Diary is a good-natured beast, always willing to help those in distress. Hence its publishing of Yellow Submarine’s appeal for help last month (MW March 20) when its periscope was stolen.

There have been further developments in the case, however, and the Diary regards them with suspicion and ire. Has Yellow Submarine been bending the truth as a periscope bends light?

The evidence: Yellow Submarine has sent the Diary what it claims is a ransom note, made up of cut-out letters, from the periscope’s captors – complete with picture.

So far, so sinister. But the content – the ransom demand includes “MCCA Award: best integrated campaign” and “Photo of cute business development manager”, all to be left at a Soho bar – suggests a captor with an unusual agenda; and the fact that the “envelope went in the bin, unfortunately”, making the note untraceable, led the Diary to suspect Yellow Submarine might be best off searching its own offices for the “captive”…