Chapters (82)
- Cover
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
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‘I’m Jan Hamlin, I live in Ivy Cottage, Wood Lane,’ she said as soon as she was connected. ‘There were intruders in my garden again just now and I think they are in the woods. I can see a torch. Please come quickly.’
‘Ivy Cottage, Coleshaw Woods?’ the operator checked.
‘Yes.’
‘We’ll have someone there as soon as possible. Stay in the property and keep your windows and doors locked.’
‘Yes. I will. Please hurry.’
Jan kept her phone at the ready, but as she looked the torch light disappeared. She had no doubt that by the time the police arrived there’d be nothing to find, just like the last time.
FIFTY-FOUR
A little after six o’clock the following evening, Ian pulled into Dells Lane. He drove to the end of the road and parked a few spaces back from Anne’s house, as he’d done the previous night. It had been raining most of the day and although it had stopped now, a damp mist hung in the air. Tinged with orange from the street lamps, it gave everything a ghostly hue.
Anne’s house was in darkness, her car wasn’t parked outside and the garage door was closed. Ian assumed she hadn’t returned from work yet, so he’d wait in his car just as he had the night before, only this time he’d make sure he spoke to her. According to her neighbour she would return to walk her dogs at some point, for they weren’t the type of dogs you could ask someone else to walk. Ian struggled to reconcile the Anne he and Emma knew – a gentle, sensitive midwife – with a woman who kept dangerous dogs. But then Ian would be the first to admit he was struggling with a lot of what he’d learnt in the past few days.
At 6.20 he saw headlamps as a car pulled into Dells Lane. He tracked its progress in his wing mirror, but it parked halfway down the lane. Not Anne. Not this time. He blew into his hands to keep them warm and then turned on the car’s heater. His gaze wandered to the common. The mist was thicker there, drawn to the damp soil of the turf; it hovered unnaturally in the frost-laden night air.
Ten minutes passed, then another set of headlamps appeared at the end of Dells Lane. Ian straightened in his seat and monitored the car’s progress as it came steadily towards him. He ducked as it passed, then raised his head and watched Anne park her car in the road outside her house. He waited until she got out, then opened his car door. ‘Anne!’ he called, walking swiftly towards her. ‘It’s Ian Jennings.’
‘Ian! Whatever are you doing here?’ she asked, shocked.
‘I need to talk to you,’ he said, and followed her to her front door.
She put her key into the lock. ‘Why? Is Emma unwell?’