Lady in distress

I have a Qualcast Easi Trak 320 lawnmower.

I got it out today for the first time since last year and it wouldn't work.

I fiddled about with it for a while and then decided to take the cover off the handle control... Oops! a piece of metal shaped like an 'L' fell out, so I have no idea where it should go. I got the PDF manual on the net, but there is nothing in there about how the handle should be wired/assembled and where that metal piece should go.

Do you think it's gonna cost me money to have someone fix it?