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Back The Cottage Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. TWENTY-NINE
  32. THIRTY
  33. THIRTY-ONE
  34. THIRTY-TWO
  35. THIRTY-THREE
  36. THIRTY-FOUR
  37. THIRTY-FIVE
  38. THIRTY-SIX
  39. THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. THIRTY-NINE
  42. FORTY
  43. FORTY-ONE
  44. FORTY-TWO
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. FORTY-FOUR
  47. FORTY-FIVE
  48. FORTY-SIX
  49. FORTY-SEVEN
  50. FORTY-EIGHT
  51. FORTY-NINE
  52. FIFTY
  53. FIFTY-ONE
  54. FIFTY-TWO
  55. FIFTY-THREE
  56. FIFTY-FOUR
  57. FIFTY-FIVE
  58. FIFTY-SIX
  59. FIFTY-SEVEN
  60. FIFTY-EIGHT
  61. FIFTY-NINE
  62. SIXTY
  63. SIXTY-ONE
  64. SIXTY-TWO
  65. SIXTY-THREE
  66. SIXTY-FOUR
  67. SIXTY-FIVE
  68. SIXTY-SIX
  69. SIXTY-SEVEN
  70. SIXTY-EIGHT
  71. SIXTY-NINE
  72. SEVENTY
  73. SEVENTY-ONE
  74. SEVENTY-TWO
  75. SEVENTY-THREE
  76. SEVENTY-FOUR
  77. Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
  78. Keep Reading …
  79. Lisa Stone also writes under the name of Cathy Glass.Don’t miss her latest book …
  80. About the Author
  81. Books by Lisa Stone
  82. About the Publisher

The other reason Jan believed Chris had lied to the police was that she was certain it hadn’t been Bill in her garden last night. She’d seen Bill Smith wandering around the village and he was a big man, over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a large stomach. Although the image in the video hadn’t been clear, the person certainly wasn’t tall and broad. They were much shorter, smaller and thinner. But why had Chris lied? Had he recognized the person in her garden and was covering up for them? There was no other explanation.

Jan fully intended to take another video if possible that evening and then go to the police with the full story. Now someone else had reported a strange sighting she felt sure that, together with the video clip, her fears would be taken seriously. She could imagine the teenage girl’s horror when she’d gone into the kitchen. The police were putting it down to an animal getting in, but Jan knew differently. Food seemed to entice them, and Jan would be using it again tonight. But she wouldn’t be showing Chris her evidence this time. He couldn’t be trusted. After she’d gone to the police, she’d call Camile and say she wanted to leave as soon as possible. Enough was enough. This was supposed to have been a quiet retreat to give her time to heal, and it was anything but.

At 7.30 Jan arranged the food she’d prepared around the outer edges of the patio, not close up to the window as she had done before, then returned indoors. She shut Tinder in her bedroom and then, downstairs again, opened the living-room curtains. Hardly daring to breathe, she put on her jacket, boots, scarf, beanie hat and gloves, and, tucking her phone into her pocket, quietly let herself out of the back door, closing it again behind her. The light from the living room shone out over the patio. From outside looking in, it was obvious that no one was in the living room. They would be wary about being caught a third time, so she was using a different tactic tonight and showing them the room was empty.

Struggling to believe she was actually doing this, Jan crossed the lawn to the shed at the bottom of the garden and let herself in. Thankfully Camile had kept it reasonably clean – there were just a few cobwebs hanging in the crevices.