Okay I see there's no love for the non-typed version of this conclusion... so bear with me.
I've started writing this at 20:10 on a fairly breezy Friday evening somewhere in the UK... condensation is currently forming on the outside of my wine glass 😉
My last detailed update was just before I bought the spy cameras. For those who either haven't read the original thread or can't be bothered to read the original thread, or for those who have read it but want a quick recap read on. Or if you'd prefer not to, skip to THE JUICY BITS further down.
[RECAP]
I engaged the services of a tradesperson to carry out a replacement of all the consumer units in and around my property. (FYI: my property is a very modest two-bedroom Victorian semi before anyone makes assumptions but it has a big garden and several outbuildings, each with its own electricity supply.) Prior to this, I had previously engaged the services of said tradesperson back in May to install a Ring doorbell camera. So I knew who he was (I found him through a trade website) and felt he did a good enough job to invite him back for more work. But more importantly, he knew I had a Ring doorbell because he's the one that installed it. Duh!
Anyway, as you know (YOU HAVE READ THE THREAD, RIGHT GUYS?) I noticed a woman walking across my driveway (it was picked up on my Ring doorbell and alerted me and I checked through these later that same evening). The woman appeared on two separate days and when I checked the footage more closely, I realised she had been at my property in total for 7 hours across the two days. The tradesperson even tried to obscure her exiting on the first occasion by standing in front of the camera and pretending to empty his shoe. It was an Oscar-worthy performance, that is until he looked directly at the camera afterward and I knew then something was up.
I should add, I didn't find out any of this until Thursday evening when I got home from work and spent time looking through the footage properly. The tradesperson wasn't due back until the following Tuesday (RIP HM Queen Elizabeth II) as The Queen's funeral gave everyone a day off (except you know, those key workers!)
At this point, I didn't have evidence the woman was in my house but I knew she had gone into my garden as I heard her open my garden gate just outside the range of the camera lens, and tap on the door or window to the kitchen.
Rather than confronting the tradesperson, I opted to gather more evidence as I didn't want him to either walk out of the job or sabotage my electrics. At this point, I only had power to half the property and to risk living like that for months on end until I found someone else to take over the guy's work. So I did what any sane person would do 😏 and installed some internal cameras in the house to see if she came back.
This decision really got some posters' backs up. How dare I film the inside of my own house to try and establish if this tradesperson was bringing an unknown woman into my home. I knew it wasn't his wife because I'd searched her on social media and they were completely different people. One was blonde and the other brunette for a start (and no, she hadn't dyed her hair...)
On Tuesday, after an awful night's sleep, I set the cameras up inside the house and out in the garden. And then I went to work and tried not to imagine what I'd come home to. I left before he arrived just so I wouldn't have to face him (I'm not a coward, but I felt if I saw him, I wouldn't have been able to speak to him without confronting him about the situation.)
[THE JUICY BITS]
Later on Tuesday night when I came home and checked the footage, I found my evidence. I should make clear, it's just as well I did install the internal camera as he turned off the power to my house that day and there was no footage from my driveway camera. I would never have known she'd entered my house without the inside camera (which runs off a battery before anyone asks).
The camera recorded part of a telephone conversation he had which revealed he was in the very early stages of divorce. (Sorry to all those who thought he was cheating - I'm only telling you about his divorce because he actually told me about it this afternoon before I confronted him and I would have found this out without the inside camera's help.) Anyway I digress. On Tuesday morning, the camera picked up someone entering the kitchen (it's motion activated) and all of a sudden I'm confronted with the tradesperson... and the woman! He's walking backwards with her pushing him against the kitchen counter and they're snogging (for all the non-brits, that's a very passionate kissing sesh). Note to self: must wipe down all surfaces.
It lasts a few moments and then she's off again. Out the door - to where I don't know. But it was proof she had entered my house, he knew her, he allowed her in, and he was romantically involved. So yes, he wasn't cheating on his wife, but perhaps she's the reason for the divorce?! The jury's still out on that one but I'm sure MN will have some opinions.
Unfotunately the driveway camera was switched off the rest of the week due to the tradesperson working on the electrics. Although I didn't see the woman visit again (inside the house at least), I have no way of knowing if she came round again and spent time in the garden. Who knows if the fluffy blanket and pillow got a third outing?!
Anyway, the final day loomed (today) and I printed out my evidence (mainly so I didn't have to hand him my phone to show him the footage, but also so I could record our conversation on the phone. I arrived home and we had a discussion about his work, he handed over the certificates and the keys and said he'd email over the invoice later once he had added on a few extra materials he had needed to buy throughout the week.
Me: 'So when you originally sent over your estimate, you allocated for 8 days work. What are you charging on the invoice?'
Him: '8 days, Monday-Thursday and then Tuesday-Friday.'
Me: 'That's great, thank you. By the way, my neighbour spoke to me and said they'd seen a woman walking across my driveway and heading to the garden whilst you were here. Do you know who she is? Did you see her?'
Him: 'Oh yes, she dropped off my lunch.'
Me (laughing in a breezy way): 'Oh, your lunch? So she didn't stay long then?'
Him: 'No, about 20 minutes.'
Me: 'Okay great. So I checked my camera footage just to be sure because I was concerned and I just want to confirm this is the woman you mean?' (I show him a photo of the woman walking across my driveway.)
Him: 'Yes.'
Me: 'And she just dropped off your lunch the once?'
Him: 'Yep. She provided me with a food delivery service.'
Me (Taking out the next photo): 'You see, here is the same woman again, only she's wearing different clothes and it's on a different day. So she came round again?'
Him (Looking closely at the photo): 'Oh yes, she popped round again and dropped my lunch off and we ate lunch together in the garden.'
Me: 'That's interesting because half an hour before she arrived, you were seen walking past the driveway camera carrying a bag full of shopping back from the shop. So clearly she didn't bring you your lunch. Why was she here?'
Him: 'I meant she shared lunch with me here in the garden.'
Me: 'Right okay, and so you shared lunch with this woman in my garden, and then she left?'
Him: 'Yep.'
Me: (Taking out the next photo) So here's the woman leaving. At this point, 4 hours have gone by since she arrived, that's a long lunch.
Him: 'Are they timestamped?'
Me: 'Yes.'
Him: 'Well, we shared lunch for an hour. I'm entitled to a lunch break. And then she chatted to me whilst I worked.'
Me: 'You are entitled to a lunch break, absolutely. But you're not entitled to bring an unknown woman onto my property for 4 hours whilst I'm paying you a day rate to work. I wouldn't bring my friend to work for that length of time, and if I did, I certainly wouldn't be doing any work, I'd be too busy chatting.'
Him: 'I'm really sorry, but she only stayed out in the garden.'
Me (Taking out the next photo): 'So why do I have this photo of you kissing this woman in my kitchen up against my worktop?'
Him: 'Er, um - it was just whilst I was waiting for the kettle to boil.'
Me: 'So to recap, this woman, who you claimed only popped round to drop off your lunch, who then stayed to eat said lunch, who you then said came round specifically to share lunch with you that you bought from the shop, so she didn't in fact drop off your lunch, whilst only staying about 20 minutes, but then you remembered she stayed for longer, during your entire lunch break and then spent several hours chatting to you... who you maintain didn't come in the house, but this photo proves otherwise... I ask you, who is this woman and why did you invite her into my property without my permission?'
Him: 'I'm really sorry. It's not what it looks like.'
Me: 'You're right, it's not what it looks like, it's what it is. The proof is right here. You've lied consistently throughout my questioning, each time changing your story. Even if what you said is true, that you worked on my property throughout her being here, I can't trust a single thing you say. I gave you a key to my house and with that comes trust that you will respect my house and behave professionally. Instead, you go out of your way to give this woman my address, invite her round and then lie about how long and why she is here. It's a violation of my trust and of my home and I'm extremely angry about your actions. So how are you going to remedy this?'
Him: 'Well I can take the hour off she was here during my lunch break...'
Me: 'Well that's great, but she was here longer than an hour and I'm not paying you by the hour. She was here for nearly 8 hours as far as I'm aware.'
Him: 'I can take off a day the final invoice...'
Me: 'Thank you. Under the circumstances, that's the fairest thing you could do. It's such a shame because when I met you, I really liked you and thought you were a good guy, but you completely abused my trust and behaved unprofessionally. From what you told me about your marriage breakdown it sounds like you have a lot of personal issues going on right now and it has caused you to have a major lapse in judgement. I hope you can use this and learn from it.'
[THE END]
And that's pretty much how things ended. He was really apologetic as he should be. Yes, I could have probably asked for more money off the final invoice, but I wanted to be reasonable (even if his actions were unreasonable). Most importantly, my house is safe, I was unharmed and I didn't pay for the time she was on site.
Thanks for sticking around to reach the conclusion. Sorry it took so long to write (it's currently 21:40 now) but it's been a long bloody week.
I'm sure I'll get a lot of moaners complaining what a bad ending it was, but if you heard my recording, you'd hear the shovel hit the ground as he dug himself a deeper hole. It was satisfying for me and that's all that matters. Cheers.