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Maureen and Laura were spending the morning over at Welch Properties so that Laura could familiarise herself with the business and administration before Pamela left at the end of the week. Laura would also assist Ron with his own business matters from the Welch Property office until they made a decision whether to close the office in town and thus relocate it to Brensford Manor. Nowadays, tenants were more likely to search online than visit an office in person so an improved website could serve the business well. The atmosphere between Ron and Maureen had been civil but slightly cool since the visit to the cardiologist and the discussion with Pamela. However, Ron felt confident that soon Maureen would be back to her usual affectionate self.
Ron was alone in the annexe at Brensford Manor, catching up with his phone calls. ‘Hello, Gerald, I’ve been trying to contact you. Where have you been hiding?’
‘Oh, we went over to France for a few days. I’ve not been using my phone much, trying to have a complete break.’
‘Good trip?’
‘Not bad, the weather was nice. Bit of a hold up on Eurotunnel on the way back due to a faulty train so we had to queue. Anything, in particular, you wanted to speak to me about?’
‘Oh, I wondered whether you’d picked up that email about the equity in PersCure?’
‘Yes, that was a bit of a surprise I must say. Why do you think the bloke wants to sell his investment?’
‘Not sure. He doesn’t have to give a reason. Just wondering whether you are interested?’
‘I might be, why?’
‘Well, good luck.’
‘How do mean?’ It’s a good investment, isn’t it? I think I could up my stake.’
‘Well, it’s your choice of course. For my part, I think I’ll stick with my current amount.’
‘You surprise me. I thought you’d have leapt at the chance.’
‘I’ve been evaluating my portfolio and I think I’ve taken on enough risk for the moment, what with ClinTry as well. Also, well, I have to plan for the future, in case I’m ill.’
‘Are you ill?’
‘Not at the moment but you never know what’s around the corner.’
‘No,’ said Gerald. His tone seemed less upbeat now. Although he was comfortably off his wealth would never compare with that of Ron’s.
‘The trouble with businesses, like your shops, is that the money is all tied up, isn’t it? It can be a bugger if you need some readies, well a large amount at short notice.’
Gerald didn’t reply.
‘But I guess in your case you and Felicity are in good health so you can afford to be a bit more adventurous. You’re not likely to need a large sum are you?’
‘You know Ron, I’m so glad you called me. I think I need to have a rethink. I might be getting a bit carried away with PersCure. After all, I did commit quite a large sum and it did take a sizeable chunk of our liquid assets.’
‘I’m not trying to put you off, you know.’
‘I realise that. No, it’s just helped me think about things more rationally. I’m going to hold off investing more money.’
‘Why don’t you think about it?’
‘I don’t need to. My mind’s made up. I’ll leave the field clear for the other guys. I wonder who will be interested? Perhaps someone in the city or a there’s a businessman in Persford we don’t know about who’ll be interested.’
‘Perhaps,’ smiled Ron.
‘Well, I better be on my way. Felicity needs a lift to the shops. And thanks Ron, for the advice. It’s always good to chat.’
‘Anytime, bye, Gerald,’ said Ron. He chuckled to himself. What a gullible idiot Gerald was. It was so easy to lead him on that it almost seemed cruel. Well, that was one main contender off the list. He would have difficulty influencing the others but somehow he just had a good feeling about this.
**
‘Well, it all seems quite straightforward,’ said Laura. ‘I’m used to dealing with spreadsheets and I’ve some experience of using a database.’
‘I can show you that in a minute,’ said Pamela. ‘We’ve also got all our rental properties listed here in this book. It’s good to have a paper backup. You never know when technology is going to let you down.’
Laura flicked through the folder. There was a mixture of flats, houses and a couple of bungalows. She focused on one detached house. The address caught her attention.
‘This one looks nice,’ she said. ‘I wish I could live in a property like that.’
‘Oh, yes, Bridlegate Gardens. It’s a lovely location out towards the countryside. Mr and Mrs Welch built those six houses a while ago. They decided to keep one, it was the show house actually and it’s rented out now partially furnished. It’s popular with staff moving to the University to rent for six months whilst they look for a property to buy.’
‘I see. Well, it looks lovely.’
‘Yes, it was a good piece of land to acquire. It was a bit of a mess before so although there can be some opposition to building more houses I think it was of benefit to the area.’
‘Why? What used to be there before?’
‘Oh, an old farm and smallholding but the old dear had let it go to rack and ruin. It was an eyesore really.’
‘She didn’t mind moving then? Sometimes when people have lived there all their lives they don’t want to leave. It can be unsettling.’
Pamela didn’t respond and busied herself with the administration.
‘Yes, well, I’ll have to show you how we do the credit checks on people next.’
‘OK. You know what you’ve just been telling me reminds me of something my friend told me, she’s married to a builder by the way, well she told me recently about a case locally where an unscrupulous property company had managed to get an old lady to sign their property over to them for a bargain price when she was confused and didn’t know what she was doing. It’s dreadful what people get up to.’
‘Mmm,’ said Pamela clicking away at the keyboard.
‘I wonder where it was? I can’t remember exactly. I remember the name of it. Lane End Farm I think it was, yes, that was it.’ She looked over to where Maureen was filing away some paperwork, ‘Have you heard of that story, Mrs Welch?’
‘Er, no, I don’t think so,’ said Maureen without looking up from the filing cabinet.
‘So, this database,’ said Laura, inching her chair nearer to Pamela so she could see the screen more clearly.
Maureen felt hot and flushed. Was she being paranoid by the events of this week or had Laura somehow been digging and had happened upon the history of Lane End farm? It seemed unlikely that she would be so interested in local news as she had always given the impression of being a bit of an airhead. Or had Ron been digging again, like he had over Councillor Long? But surely he wouldn’t have told Laura? Once again she felt unsettled and her thought processes muddled. Perhaps once the wedding was over, she could relax more and view things more rationally, she really hoped so.
