in truth , the job of carrying out garnets final will had , so far , been more a matter of cunning diplomacy and financial negotiations , than that of actual , physical demolition work : carver quickly discovered that the pen and the cheque book could halt construction of a building far more readily than any amount of high explosive , nevertheless , it was an enterprise that called for a considerable deal of acumen , and no little element of risk , when failure would be judged by a snipers bullet .