The Jagged Edge of Sanity

Over Exposed

Tessa and Nikki were out walking their dog and were trying out a new area. They’d been walking Bosh, their springer spaniel around the same parks and fields for five years and heard about a great walk near a village called Colgate. 

It was a sunny day, and Bosh was having a wonderful time, sniffing new smells, meeting new dogs, and chasing squirrels. They got to the top of a hill and could see a large number of cars and people moving around. It looked out of place, like an ant farm in the distance. Tessa commented that her father loves a car boot sale and sold all her belongings when she left the family house after she got married.

Bosh led the way, and they headed towards the commotion. There was a real hustle around the place, there were the casual time killers checking out people's belongings, but also the serious buyers. They were pushing themselves to the front, frantically looking through piles of clothes, bartering and bargaining. There were even some people with cameras strapped to their chest filming their day for their own YouTube channel, everyone wants to be famous.

A little lively city that gets built up like a mirage in the countryside just for it to disappear by the early afternoon, as though it never existed. Nikki joked that more people attend car boots sales than the high street.

There was the delicious smell of fried onions coming from a food van, drawing in a large queue of hungry bargain hunters. Hot dogs, greasy burgers with melted cheese dripping down the side and lashings of tomato ketchup, adorning t-shirts and faces as they were devoured. 

Most of it was good natured and people were having a great time perusing the secondhand treasure. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and an ice-cream van was causing a crowd, £3.50 for a 99 with a flake, daylight robbery.

Tessa and Nikki took their time, meandering around, looking at everything and then they came across a beautiful vintage camera. It was sat on a folding decorating table in front of an old white Mercedes Benz estate. There was a nice old man stood guard over the treasure displayed on the table, he had a small scar above his left eyebrow. The camera was an Iford Sporti 4, made in a country that no longer exists, West Germany. They picked it up; it was basic but came with a lovely brown leather carry case and it had Dacora Subitar Lens. It even had a 35mm film already locked and loaded, the photo counter was on eighteen, so it possibly had six photos left to take. 

The price tag attached was for £10, which they didn’t think was too expensive, however, after watching every one else barter, they thought they’d have a go. Tessa used to love photography as a student and thought it could rekindle her interest once again. Nikki pulled out £5 cash from her purse and went over to the stall holder. 

“Excuse me, excuse me. 

Would you take £5 for the camera? It’s all I have.”

The gentleman looked at her and the camera and just as he was about to answer the excited lady, another shopper, a woman in her sixties wearing a fedora straw hat joined in the conversation without an invitation. 

“I’ll give you £7 love; I like the look of that. Yeah, I’ll give you £7.”

The stall holder looked at both women and before he could say anything, Tessa barged in with an extra £5 note she pulled from her coat pocket. She grabbed the £5 from Nikki and said,

“There you go, there’s £10. That’s the asking price. Thank you.”

As she planted the money into his sweaty hand. He smiled and as Tessa and Nikki turned around to leave, the other woman had disappeared like a ghost. 

The couple were over the moon and took it to a quiet area to give it a proper viewing. Nikki fell in love with it and said,

“It’s been fifteen years since I’ve taken photography seriously, I love it. Let me take a picture of you (Nikki) and Bosh.”

After all that excitement they grabbed a coffee and then walked back to their car. Bosh was tired, he’d had a long walk and fell asleep on the backseat on his way home. The ladies discussed what else could be on the camera film and why it was sold with an undeveloped film still in place. It was fairly mysterious, and they wondered if they could identify the people in the pictures and possibly return their pictures. They regretted not asking the stall holder some questions about it, but he was busy selling his wares. 

Nikki and Tessa had been a couple for fifteen years; Tessa was previously married to Dave but after a miscarriage they struggled to cope. Tessa realised quite quickly that marriage wasn’t for her, and she was divorced by the age of twenty-three. The women had met at work when they both worked for a travel agency but were made redundant as internet bookings took over and made the need for travel agents obsolete. Dave ended up with Tessa’s best friend and went on to have three children, she only saw him in passing and it always made her sad.

Nikki was now a self-employed marketing consultant and Tessa worked in childcare. They both enjoy their jobs, but more importantly they loved being together with their dog. When they got back to their small semi-detached home, they put the camera on the mantle piece and made lunch. The couple were working on new ideas for their small but private garden. Tessa wanted a small pond as she wanted more wildlife in her garden, but Nikki wanted a nice lawn with a curvy flower bed running alongside, with a rock garden in the corner.

After a few days, the couple went out for a picnic to the local country park, and it was the first time they took the camera with them. They had a lovely day with Bosh and took pictures of the swans on the lake, of Tessa holding a cake she was eating and Bosh jumping into the water. They used up the camera film with wonderful memories and loved the noise the old camera made every time they took a picture, click, click, click.

After a few weeks they eventually sent the film off to get developed, they were eager about what pictures they were going to receive, it was the unknown, who had owned the camera? Why hadn’t they processed the film?

Two weeks later on a rainy Saturday morning, there was a light thud from the hallway, Tessa went over to the front door and saw an A4 padded envelope on the floor. She picked it up not knowing what it was and walked into the kitchen where Nikki was making some coffee. It was addressed to Tessa, so she ripped open the envelope to find a cover note and a photo envelope full of little memories. She instantly became excited and enthusiastic.

“Well look at this Nikki, the photos have arrived.”

Nikki replied,

“Oh cool, don’t look yet. Let me finish off the coffee and we can sit down at the dining table to have a look together. Did you put a new film in the camera?”

“I’ll do that now. I’ll be waiting at the table.” Replied Tessa.

Nikki finished the hot drinks off and brought them over to the dining table. She sat down with intrepid excitement and said, “Come on then Tessa, I’m all ready, let’s see what we’ve got.”

Tessa opened the small envelope and pulled all the pictures out in one go, like a wedge of cash. She said,

“I feel really nervous, I don’t know why.”

The first picture sat on top of the pile was of Bosh and Tessa, it looked great and the next five were of the three of them on their picnic. The vintage camera had worked its magic. They were then on to the unknown pictures. The next few were of two women, they were taken from a distance, and the women were out having a meal. It looked as though the two women had no idea the pictures were being taken. Then the following few pictures were of another couple. This time they were at a horse race, again it was from a distance and the subjects were celebrating a win. Then there were another couple, then another and another. Tessa and Nikki stopped looking and said,

“What the heck is this, Nikki? This is really odd. It looks as though these people have no idea they are being spied on. I don’t think they know that they are the subjects of these pictures.”

Nikki agreed, “Yes this is totally bizarre. It’s as though the photographer is getting off on taking these unsolicited pictures. It’s so creepy, but I can’t stop looking. There’s only a few more left.”

Tessa picked up the pictures and yet again there was another couple and this time they were pictured leaving the theatre. The photographer was over the road and was focusing on two people in a crowd of theatre goers. As Tessa flipped over the next picture, their world came crashing down. It was a photo of Nikki sat in a coffee shop with a young beautiful woman, Nikki almost fainted. Tessa blew her lid,

“Who the hell is that? What’s going on?”

Nikki began shaking, she said,

“That’s Taylor, she’s my cousin, this must have been taken ten years ago. This is crazy, how on earth am I on here? This is getting really strange now. Whoever owned this camera is some sort of stalking freak.”

“Sorry Nikki, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I’ve never met your cousin. But you’re right. This is freaking the hell out of me. Where is Taylor now?”

Nikki replied, “Taylor and I lost contact when she went to South America to travel and teach English. I’ve never seen or heard from her since.”

Tessa flipped over the next picture; this time it was Tessa with Nikki. They were in Dorset in a pub garden around five years ago. The women just looked at each other in complete shock. Neither knew what to say. They had looked through all of the pictures and the whole experiment left them haunted. Whoever owned the camera had stalked women from a distance and took pictures, but even stranger was the fact they were targeted and then randomly bought it at a car boot sale that they just came across. That morning couldn’t have been any stranger. They had no idea what was going on, they were scared.

They tried to reason with the abnormality of the situation and find some logic, but they couldn’t. There was no logic to the photos, no reason, the ladies talked about going to the police, but what could they do. After a while they had made a plan, they were going back to the car boot sale in Colgate to find the man who sold it and ask him some serious questions.

The Investigation

The next car boot sale was in two weeks, so the women carried on with their lives, however they were checking over their shoulders every where they went. They thought that the deranged stalker could still be out there taking pictures of them or maybe worse.

The time came for the next car boot sale. The ladies donned their wellies and raincoats and took Bosh out to find the old man with his white Mercedes estate. It was drizzling and the ground was a bit soft, but it didn’t hold the crowds back. There were hundreds of people trudging around the field searching for a bargain. The women walked back and forth through line after line of car boots but there was no sign of the man and his white Mercedes. He hadn’t attended but through the crowd they did see a straw fedora bouncing up and down as it disappeared into the distance. Tessa and Nikki looked at each other and Tessa said,

“We have to go after the hat; it’s our only lead. Come on, let’s go.”

Off they went with their dog in tow fighting their way through the crowd, they were like a tidal wave taking everything in their way. As they got closer, they could see the hat heading for the portable toilet. Tessa and Nikki caught up and stood outside the cubicle patiently. They knew there was a slim possibility that the person might know something, but they had to ask.

After a few minutes, the flimsy toilet door flung open, and a man came out wearing a fedora. Tessa and Nikki had followed the wrong person and any possible insight into the camera had evaporated into thin air. They were back at square one.

The couple were crestfallen and walked back to their car to head home, they needed a new plan. That night they went into town to meet up with a group of friends and told them about their recent purchase and the weird pictures it came with. Their friends thought they were joking at first but when they showed them the pictures the friends were shocked. They spoke for hours about the predicament they had found themselves in, and then about their next move.

The following morning, Nikki and Tessa went on their dog walk slightly worse for wear; due to the amount of wine they got through with their mates. They had agreed on their next plan. They were going to find the other people in the pictures. They had the locations of the photos, the pubs, theatres, and restaurants and of course they had the faces of the subjects. It wasn’t a job they could do overnight as the locations were in different parts of the Southeast. They were going to need to brush up on the detective skills.

The first couple of locations didn’t bare any fruit, they showed the pictures to the staff, hoping that the ladies in them were regular customers, but unfortunately they weren’t. They asked if there was ever an odd man hanging around taking pictures of people. Then one of the staff members asked them if they had heard of Google Lens. They discovered that they could take a picture of the photo on their mobile phone and use Google to identify the face. If a person has pictures online there was a good chance a picture could lead them to their Facebook profile or LinkedIn page. They kicked themselves that they hadn’t thought of this before as it was a serious time saver.

Unfortunately, the first couple of pictures didn’t identify anyone, but the third picture did. It directed them to a LinkedIn page for Susan Rhea. She was an accountant in London and had previously studied in Sheffield. They then took their time crafting a well written email to her without scaring her off.

It read,

Dear Susan,

I hope you’re well.

I recently bought a secondhand vintage camera a few weeks ago at a car boot sale, we had the film processed and we believe there was a picture of you in one of them.

I just wanted to touch base with you to see if you knew anything about the picture, camera or photographer. I think the picture was taken around five to ten years ago and you were in a Costa Coffee in Worthing.

Please email me or call.

Kind regards,

Tessa.

Susan replied, stating that she had no idea what Tessa was talking about, and whether she could send her the picture, which Tessa did.

What Susan saw, made her blood run cold. She had no idea that the picture was taken and absolutely no idea who took it. What she did say caused Tessa and Nikki to really worry about their safety. Susan told them that the woman she was with was a new partner and around seven years ago she was found dead with a needle in her arm. The police put it down to an accidental overdose, but the woman had never touched drugs in her life. Susan believed she was murdered.

This was incredibly shocking to Tessa and Nikki, they didn’t know whether that was a coincidence or some kind of conspiracy. Tessa was a nervous wreck and struggled to sleep, she was so worried.

A few days later they ran another picture through Google Lens once they gained their composure. It came back to a woman called Kate Savage. Kate’s picture came back to her association with Surrey Pride. Tessa sent a similar email to Surrey Pride as they didn’t have a direct contact for Kate and hoped for the best.

A few weeks later, Tessa and Nikki received a reply. It was from Mr Smith, he explained that Kate was no longer available, she was involved in a car accident four years ago. Her brakes failed and she now resides in a care home after suffering with severe brain injuries.

Another suspicious incident to another person in the pictures. After running the rest of the pictures through Google Lens, only one more face came back recognised. This time the person was a lady called Hannah, and she was a singer in the local pubs and clubs. She had her own website promoting her work and booking details. Nikki sent Hannah an email asking for her to get in touch.

After a few days, Hannah replied and was intrigued about the interest in her. Nikki explained the situation which sent shock waves through poor Hannah’s mind. Nikki sent her the pictures of her and a female companion and Hannah, like the others, didn’t know who took the picture, nor why. Unfortunately, the person Hannah was with had died, her name was Maggie. Around a year after the pictures were taken, Maggie was rushed to hospital after accidentally eating some poisonous mushrooms and her body never recovered, she died after two weeks in Intensive Care.

Nikki and Tessa were beside themselves; they had now uncovered three suspicious deaths from the subjects of a random camera they bought in a car boot sale. They too were in the pictures and they both feared harm to them wasn’t far away. They weren’t sure what the police could do, but it appeared most people in the pictures had a tragic end.

The ladies gathered all of their evidence together, the pictures, the camera and the stories and booked an appointment to speak to an officer about the strange situation they found themselves in and the potential danger that could come their way. They met with an officer called PC Jenkins, he was fairly young, but very interested in the story, he even joked that it would make a good movie. He said that each individual incident had been dealt with and concluded, however the mysterious photographer was intriguing. He explained that taking pictures of people whilst in public is not a criminal offence, it’s just impolite and rude, but the whole situation was bizarre. He was completely lost with what actions if any, he could take. He promised that he would speak with his sergeant to see if they had any ideas or enquiries he could make. He took Tessa’s phone number and promised to call, however, he said it could be a mysterious phenomenon.

Nikki and Tessa thanked PC Jenkins for his time, got in their car and left the police station, feeling happy they were listened to but still felt vulnerable and frustrated. They began their drive home but, unfortunately, they never made it. As they pulled up to a T-junction they heard a loud click, click, click, coming from the back of their car, a startled Tessa panicked and pulled out of the junction. They were immediately struck by a HGV, their car was crushed like an egg and the women had no chance of survival. Tessa and Nikki had died just minutes after leaving the police station. The driver of the HGV was completely cleared of any wrongdoing, and no one could understand why Tessa had pulled out in front of oncoming traffic.

Their deaths were recorded as accidental, and both families were devastated. They had lost their, daughters, sisters and aunties, for no apparent reason. Once the funerals were over, the families attended their home and packed up their possessions. Bosh went to live with Nikki’s brother. The vintage camera was with Tessa’s property. Nikki’s father asked Tessa’s dad what he was going to do with her belongings, he said, once we’ve secured the sentimental items, we’ll probably just take the rest to a car boot sale, the one in Colgate is popular.

The End.