Ransom for a Phone

Wife E took a minibus taxi to work (usually she drives to work). Her phone vanished. She was searching her mind all day as to what she might have done with it. I said, It was a skelm, in the taxi! They stole it! Apparently the skelm sold the phone -- an iPhone 12 -- for R5,000. The buyer offered it to me for R5,000. I easily bargained him down to R2,500. E's employer said, bargain him down to R500! Unfortunately, I do not have amazing bargaining powers. I bargained him down to R2,000. We arranged a rendezvous -- Woodbridge Island lighthouse -- I paid him the money -- he was wearing dark glasses -- and I got the phone. OBSERVATION: I asked him,Why did you buy a blocked phone? He said, The seller said that the batteries were flat! I checked the batteries. They were 33% charged. But E was over the moon to have her phone back.