Chapter 5

With Tina away I had a quiet day that Thursday. I busied myself looking on the internet for any property auctions that may be coming up. These auctions usually offer re-possessed property, where the Bank or Building Society try to recoup their outstanding debt. They put on a reserve that matches their debt so if they have a property with a debt of say three hundred thousand pounds that's their reserve price, even though the value of the property was much higher. As long as they get their money back they don't care, it's the poor sucker who defaulted on the loan who loses. By law any monies recovered in excess of their debt should go to the defaulter. The bidders are not often able to view the property before the auction, so knowledge of the area and the wording in the description of the property is very important. Terms like 'needing attention' or 'in need of decoration' are danger signs. I had fallen foul of such terms before, believing that the blurb was accurate. I learned the hard way, which is the expensive way. I made notes of a couple of auctions that may be interesting. However I wouldn't confirm my attendance until I had Mr. Ander's money in the bank.

On that Friday I arrived at Chetford just after ten. Aleksy's van was parked outside the front door. He had persuaded the gates to open fully and then obviously ignored the brambles and nettles drove straight through them creating an almost cleared path. I didn't follow suit, but left my car just inside the entrance. I was wearing jeans and heavy boots, yet walked gingerly along the cleared path he had made. I was surprised that the boarding had not been taken off the windows. I couldn't see either Aleksy or Tina, but I heard them as I approached the opening where the front door had been. I heard Tina giggling and her words, "stop that!" followed by a slap.