I think you do have a fair point Steve.
Whilst friendly and helpful on the phone, the Police said that having a name and a mobile number was not enough to track someone down. (This rather shattered my illusions as an avid detective/Danish drama watcher, I always imagined, as in Spooks, such detail would allow them to see deep into the man's soul, not just get something mundane like his address!).
After he had not answered voicemails and texts, I searched the web for his name and found nothing on LinkedIn (or via my daughter on Facebook). However, a search on his mobile number did throw up a local village Post Office's business directory, with a building partnership (named with initials) showing his mobile and two other numbers.
I rang those and got his former business partner. After a brief explanation of the circumstances, and an unsubtle, and rather exaggerated, explanation of the laws of partnership (you will be jointly and severally liable to his debts, which could be large with the factory repairing the car, etch etc), he reacted in the way I hoped and rang and texted the arse telling him to contact me. He didn't know precisely where the arse lived but gave me a village name.
One of the upsides of having lived, played and worked in this part of the world for all of my life is having a fantastic network. I made two calls to an ex rugby chum and my wife's cousin, between whom know everyone (and every detail about them) within 5 miles of the village in question. They knew the bloke, knew his car (confirmed as a grey Vauxhall Asta estate) and the road that he lives in. It did not surprise either of them that he had done what he had.
At this point, I was excitedly going to set off to drive down his road to see if I could see his car, number plate and a house number. The women in my life were looking a bit nervous with the thought of a pen pushing bespectacled 54 year old Chartered Accountant who still thinks he is playing on the wing for Midlands Schools getting into a confrontation with a hairy arsed builder. But actually he rang at that point and eventually accepted he'd done it. My adrenalin was slightly disappointed to be on stand down.
