IN OUR GARAGE
dirty rotten scoundrels
Scrots!
Let’s take a moment or two to talk about complacency... I’ve lived in the same house for around 30 years, and in that time I’ve never had a car broken in to, Muddy Madam has, but not me. With this in mind, and although I never keep anything of huge value in Deux Smurf, there are certain bits ‘n’ bobs that usually stay in the boot because they’re either a nuisance to remove or just handy to keep there - a tyre compressor, a few tools, wellies and recovery equipment. Without going into too much detail, at around 1.30am on a Monday morning there was a knock at the door, it was a policeman. He told me that there had been reports of two ‘people’ in the area trying car doors, and whilst patrolling he noticed that Deux Smurf had been broken in to. It wasn’t difficult to spot as the knuckle draggers had scarpered leaving her driver's door wide open and a few belongings strewn across the road. I don’t mind admitting that not only was I fuming, but I had that sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach. I have zero tolerance for thieves. They entered Deux Smurf without causing any damage, thankfully, but had totally ransacked her. Under torchlight I could see that they’d emptied every cubby box and door pocket. They’d removed the fuse panel cover in an attempt, I assume, to hot wire her, which didn’t work because, as mentioned in the previous Our Garage article on page 36, it happened to be the time her battery was completely flat. A stroke of serendipity! After the policeman took a statement I was instructed not to handle anything as the CSI would be in touch in the morning to check for fingerprints, so I couldn’t really check to see what had been taken. I stayed up for the rest of the night, in the living room, curtains open keeping an eye on them returning. I was livid and ready to pounce if I saw anyone looking remotely suspicious.. In the morning, after the forensic team had given me the all clear, it was time to have a proper inspection, and put things back where they belong.
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THE MUD LIFE MAGAZINE
