legends · 4 min read ·
Check-In Inspection
A car-rental condition report grows scratches in the shape of fingers, and returns the car without the renter.
**Brightline Car Rental · Vehicle Condition Report**
**Vehicle:** Ford Focus, silver, reg. on file · **Renter:** Callum Reyes · **Pickup:** 3 Oct, 09:40 · **Mileage:** 14,208
**Pickup inspection (Bay 3, staff: D. Ioannou)**
- Front bumper: no damage
- Driver's door: no damage
- Rear quarter panel: no damage
- Interior: clean, no marks
- Windscreen: no chips
*Photos taken: 12. Vehicle signed out.*
· · ·
**Return inspection (Bay 3, 6 Oct, 17:20)**
- Front bumper: *no damage*
- Driver's door: **scratch, 14 cm, horizontal, sharp, along the lower panel**
- Rear quarter panel: **four parallel marks, approximately 4 cm apart, shallow**
- Interior: **handprint, adult, on the inside of the rear passenger window**
- Windscreen: **fine crack, starting at the centre, radiating outward**
*Renter's statement: I didn't do any of this. I drove the car to the coast and back. Nobody else was in it. The scratches must have happened in the car park.*
*Inspector's note: the four marks on the rear quarter panel are the same width and spacing as the fingers of a single adult hand. The handprint on the window is from the inside. The renter's hand was measured. It does not fit.*
· · ·
**Claims letter (Brightline to renter, 8 Oct)**
Dear Mr. Reyes,
We have assessed the damage to vehicle reg. on file. The repair estimate is £640. Please settle the balance within 14 days.
We have attached the return photos. We note the damage to the rear window is consistent with a passenger seated behind the driver and leaning forward to watch the road.
· · ·
**Renter's reply (Callum Reyes, 9 Oct)**
I'm not going to pay for something I didn't do. But I have something to say about the photos. Look at the rear window. There's a face in the reflection, just behind the handprint. It's the same face as in the photo I took of myself at the coast, sitting in the driver's seat, with the sea behind me. The face is looking at me. It's smiling. In the photo, I'm not smiling.
I haven't been able to get the car out of my head since. I keep hearing the engine running in the car park at night, very quietly, with someone in the back saying "Keep going, we're nearly there."
· · ·
**Second rental (Brightline, 12 Oct)**
Renter: Callum Reyes · Vehicle: Ford Focus, silver, same reg. · Pickup: 12 Oct, 08:55 · Mileage: 14,208
*Note from the duty manager: the vehicle is the same car as the one returned on 6 Oct. The mileage has not changed. The damage has not been repaired. The renter asked for the same car, by number, and was told it was unavailable. He then sat in the car in Bay 3 for forty minutes, without the engine running, looking at the rear view mirror.*
· · ·
**Return inspection (Bay 3, 19 Oct, 16:55)**
- Front bumper: no damage
- Driver's door: scratch, 14 cm, horizontal, sharp (unchanged)
- Rear quarter panel: four parallel marks (unchanged), with a fifth, lighter mark added beside them
- Interior: handprint on rear window (unchanged), with a second handprint, smaller, on the back of the front passenger seat
- Windscreen: crack has extended, now reaching the driver's side
*Inspector's note: the fifth mark is smaller than the others. It was made by a much smaller hand than the others.*
· · ·
**Brightline internal memo (22 Oct)**
Vehicle reg. on file has been removed from the fleet. Renter's account has been closed. The vehicle is recorded as *returned in damaged condition, damage unrepaired, not roadworthy*.
Please note: the vehicle has been seen in the car park since 20 Oct, parked in Bay 3, with its engine running. The driver's seat is empty. The rear seat is occupied by a figure who is leaning forward, with one hand on each front headrest, looking out through the windscreen at the building as if listening for directions.
· · ·
**Final return inspection (Bay 3, 27 Oct, 23:58)**
- Vehicle returned by: C. Reyes (renter, deceased, per notification from police)
- Damage: as previously recorded, plus a seventh mark on the rear quarter panel, small, four parallel lines.
- Interior: handprints as previously recorded, plus one set in the centre of the windscreen, from outside.
*Inspector's note: there are no more claims. The car has returned itself, and the keys are in the ignition, and the mileage reads 14,209. Someone has added one mile, the mile it took to get home.*