The Mist of Time Ch. 11-12

"Perhaps I should, and then I could sack you."

"Do that and I will make Aleksy build in to your house some nasty surprises." She grinned at me. "This is very interesting."

"Oh?" Tina laid a copy of the email in front of me. Then for comparison she gave me a copy of the letter from Huddingtons.

"Look at Mr. Somers. According to Huddingtons, he rents forty acres. By his own admission he rents forty five acres from you. Now look at Mr. Gilmore. Again according to Huddingtons he rents thirty acres. Mr. Gilmore says that he rents forty. They have been skimming for years."

Tina was right. Huddingtons had been skimming for years. I was supposed to be letting one hundred and twenty acres. The truth was that I was letting one hundred and fifty acres. How long this had been going on I couldn't know, but they had skimmed a lot of money over the years. Not from me though. It was Brian Morestead and that old lady, Mrs. Tiverton who had suffered. I couldn't care less about Brian. If he was so casual that he didn't look into it then it was his loss. Neither could I do anything about Mrs. Tiverton; she was dead. However I could do something about Huddingtons. I think a visit to them is needed. That visit came closer the next day when Aleksy phoned Tina. Someone from the council had called to the site and ordered all work to stop. He would return tomorrow at ten o' clock when he expected whoever had authorised this work to be there. Tina told Aleksy we would be there at ten a.m.. I had a conversation with the planning officer when we were in Braintree. He had indicated that restoring the house would be permissible as long as no changes were made to the exterior. Subsequently we had an exchange of correspondence agreeing the details. Tina had all of this in a folder, together with photographs taken around nineteen oh eight. I could see Tina mentally strapping on her armour and sharpening her sword. She would enjoy this.

"Tina, we are not going into battle. This is probably some jobsworth who hasn't read the file nor has he taken advice from the planning officer. It will be settled amicably." She bristled, settling amicably was not to her liking. I threw her a bone. "Take the correspondence regarding the rented land. We will visit Huddingtons while we are in the area."

Tina brightened considerably. "I'll make us a nice cup of coffee." That was an olive branch in Tina's world.

We pulled in to the Dower House at nine fifty-five. Aleksy and his crew were sitting around disconsolately drinking coffee. I allowed Tina to greet Aleksy as they usually did, then I asked. "Why are you sitting around? There's work to do."

Aleksy looked surprised. "Boss. Man said to stop work."

"He doesn't have the authority to do that. I have all the papers from the planning department which says we can restore the house. Now I am paying your wages, so let me see work."

Aleksy straightened up and called the men. I didn't understand the words, they were in Polish, but I understood their meaning. They were up and at it within three minutes complete with smiles.

The man from the council didn't arrive until ten forty-five. His first words were. "Why are your men working. I told them they had to stop."

I decided that I was going to put this one in his place. "My name is Chandler, and I own this property. I told them to work, as you do not have the authority to stop them. You made an appointment for ten o' clock and you are forty-five minutes late. Perhaps sometime you will explain the discourtesy of not apologising. However none of this matters. I would strongly suggest you consult with Mr. Manders, the planning officer."

"Mr. Manders is aware of this work?" His face had gone white.

"Yes. We talked three months ago. We exchanged correspondence and I have permission to have this work carried out. Do you want to see the letter?"

"Eh, yes please." His face was now a warm pink.

"You will see it's all in order, Mr. Er..."

"Mr. Snelling." That annoys me. The address of 'Mr' is a courtesy bestowed on you by others. To adopt the title for yourself is either ignorant or someone who has an inflated view of their own importance. He read the correspondence and the warm pink visage became a fiery red. He handed the file back to me and without another word got back in his car and drove off."Nice chap!" I mentioned to nobody in particular.

With his departure Aleksy took on a more relaxed demeanour. "Is everything o.k. Boss?"

"It's all sorted, Aleksy. How is everything going?"

"Work goes well. Electricity has been connected and Stanislaw is busy completing the wiring. Come look at stairs." When he became excited his command of English suffered a little. He led the way into the hall. The stairs were a work in process. The main body, without banister came down from the top hall. It ended some eighteen inches above the floor where a solid platform supported the string. The platform would form the half-landing and had been built by one of his crew. "Gustaw here is good carpenter. The string and risers we got from builders merchant, but they don't do half-landings. Gustaw makes anything in wood. Very good man."

"Dobry rano Gustaw." Tina had told me how to say Good Morning in Polish. Gustaw stood up with a broad smile, clicked his heels, bowed to me and let loose in Polish. Of course none of which I could understand.

Aleksy translated. "He say is pleasure to work for good boss. His wife is happy too and she make Gustaw very happy on weekends."

"Possibly a little more than I needed to know, Aleksy. I think your idea was very good, it's going to look very special. Any other ideas?"

"Windows, Boss. I can get them in wood, but they don't season the wood as well as they used to. Can I suggest UPVC?"

"Will that be authentic?"

Aleksy got the photograph of the house out of his folder. He pointed. "Windows were all painted. Could be cream or white. UPVC is white, not a lot of difference. They will be sash windows same as original, only more secure."

I called Mr. Manders on my mobile. He told me that UPVC would be fine. "Ok, Aleksy. Fit the windows in UPVC. Anything else?"

"One more thing. There isn't mains gas here. We have to put in a pressure tank for that. Where would you want that?"

"I would suggest somewhere around where your caravans are."

"Right. I'll see if it can be below ground. Better that way."

I could see Tina champing at the bit. "O.k. Let's go and see Huddingtons." Her face lit up, she briefly kissed Aleksy and was in the car in a flash. As I drove to Braintree, Tina was going through the file. She was memorizing the acreage supposedly rented and the acreage actually rented. If you are having a discussion, or even a heated discussion it makes sense to memorize certain salient facts. Stopping to consult the file breaks your flow and the impression you make on the other side. Tina had seen me use this tactic and adopted it for herself. Apart from introducing ourselves I will let Tina do the dirty work. The whole plan collapsed as we arrived outside Huddington's address which turned out to be not an office but a shop. However the premises were empty! "The bastards." Tina almost screamed the epithet. "They have moved."

"I don't think so, Tina." I got out of the car and walked over to the shop. I tried the door and shading my eyes from the light, looked in. Beside bare walls and a few scraps of paper on the floor the place was deserted.

Tina joined me. "Where do you think they have gone?"

I looked over the windows and door seeking a notice. There was nothing to suggest a re-location. "I have no idea, Tina and in any case I suspect they do not want anyone to find them. Let's go into the solicitor next door and see if they know anything."

The solicitor's receptionist knew nothing of their erstwhile neighbours. Mr. Adams the solicitor came out to see us. I didn't really want to discuss the whole episode with a solicitor so I just said we had been expecting a valuation on some property and as we were in the area decided to call in.

"If I could, I would give you a forwarding address, but they left very quickly, almost overnight. You aren't alone, we have had a few people asking after them. Some, from their looks and demeanour I would not like to anger. If you haven't made any contract with them or paid them a deposit in lieu of a purchase, I would say find another agent."

"If I had, what would you advise?

"Consult a solicitor." He smiled.

"Sorry. I asked them for a valuation of property and that was the total contact I had with them. I'll take your advice and find another estate agency."

Tina had calmed down by the time we got back in the car. Inwardly I chuckled as the entertainment she looked forward to fizzled out like a damp squid. Instead I acted as disappointed as she. "I am a little pissed off! However they seem to have done that which I would have tried to effect. They have ceased trading. See if you can get anything on the internet, names of those who ran the business. You never know they may try to set up again and try the same scam."

"If I dig up anything, perhaps Mr. Martin could help. He will have access to stuff we can't get."

"Good idea. Chad may enjoy sniffing out thieves."

To be continued...