New Directions (7)

I said my goodbyes to Celia after thanking her for being so understanding about the cheque and promising to send her best wishes to David and Dev. The premature November snow gave up the ghost while I was inside the cottage and the grey clouds were breaking up. In Celia’s garden a patch of bare earth she’d prepared for spring planting now had a salt and pepper appearance. I trekked across the white tipped village green to my car. Melting snow flakes lying on its roof wept cold tears down the windscreen.

The car’s interior smelt of damp carpet mingled with scent from the little bottle of deodorant clamped to an air vent. Sitting in the driving seat I pulled the letter I’d pinched out of my pocket. I laid it over the steering wheel and studied it trying decide if it was printed on genuine letter headed paper or a clever mock up. I didn’t look like a photo copy. I planned to compare it with a genuine letter head when I got home. I read Celia’s letter and thanked the gods she hadn’t remembered the exact wording.

*

Dear Miss Harrington-Bow,

We are writing to confirm our agency have arranged with your landlord, Mr. Dev Mullur to take over management of your account as from the above date. Please note this change will not result in any differences regarding your rental fees.

However, we are pleased to offer as part of our normal operations a rental collection service. This service offers the convenience of a member of our collection staff calling on you during the last week of each month to collect your payment. We would be grateful if, for future collections, you could have a cheque for £495.00 made out to Daniels & Sons Ltd ready for when we call on you.

In addition please note (for your personal security) we have a structural insurance arrangement with our clients which will require a brief survey of the property during the initial visit by our collections manager, Mr David Brown. We trust this will not be inconvenient.

We look forward to working with you.

Yours faithfully …….. blah-blah-blah

*

Two things shocked me. One – the cost of the rent. Dev must be desperate to get his hands on the other cottages to go with a rent half the normal rate. Two – how the fuck did they know how much Celia paid?

I needed to meet with Dev now. I left a message on his mobile number and started the engine ready to set off to the address on the card he gave me. As I pushed the clutch pedal to select reverse I noticed something white by my foot. Slipping the gear back to neutral I picked a piece of paper about the size of a bank cheque off the carpet. It turned out to be one of David’s receipts torn from the kind of cheap pre-printed book anybody can buy in an office supply shop. Received the sum of £495.00 in his hand writing scrawled across its face. It must have stuck to the letter when I lifted it – a real bit of luck. Someone might recognise his untidy script. I headed for Dev’s place annoyed I hadn’t thought of it myself.