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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

Returning indoors, Jan took off her outdoor shoes and went upstairs. The cottage had two bedrooms. The main one at the front was Camile’s and she’d cleared it out so Jan could use it. The second, a smaller bedroom, was at the rear of the cottage and Camile used it for storage. Jan had looked in when she’d first arrived but not since. There’d been no need to.

She went in. As well as a single bed, a small wardrobe and a chest of drawers, it was full of Camile’s belongings, some from the main bedroom to make space for Jan. Clothes she didn’t need were in sealed polythene bags on the bed, and the storage boxes on the floor seemed to contain books, photograph albums, old CDs, DVDs, china ornaments and other knick-knacks.

Jan carefully picked her way around the boxes to the window. The sensor light was just below it on the other side. However, the bed was pushed right up against the wall, so she couldn’t see where the cable came in. She pulled the bed away from the wall and the junction box came into view. She squeezed into the space between the bed and the wall. She would need a screwdriver to take off the front of the box to get to the fuse. But then, as she took a closer look, she saw the on–off switch was set to off. Surely it couldn’t be that simple? She flicked it on. Could it have accidentally got switched off when the bed had been pushed against the wall to make room for the boxes? But wouldn’t Camile have checked that?

Jan went downstairs. The more likely explanation was that the light had broken and Camile had switched it off at source. Without bothering to change out of her slippers, Jan stepped outside and looked up at the light. She stared in amazement as the small infrared light flashed, suggesting it was working. The real test would come after dark. She’d check it as soon as the daylight faded, but now she had to go to the village shop for the milk she needed.

FIVE

Detective Constable Beth Mayes sat at her desk in the open-plan office at Coleshaw Police Station. It was Saturday and she was doing overtime alongside a few colleagues. With no major incident currently under investigation, most of the others were at home with their families. Beth was catching up with some administration work, form-filling and report-writing, which was mainly done online now and stored digitally.

The door to the office opened and closed behind her and then Detective Sergeant Bert Scrivener appeared at her side.