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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

Jan scrolled down the pages. There were reports about a body being found in the quarry in Coleshaw Woods two years ago. The police had struggled to identify the woman as she was a stranger to the area, but the crime had been solved. She found another article about a woman, Miss Susan Pritchard, sixty-five, who’d been walking her dog in the woods when it had chased something and disappeared. While she was trying to find it, she’d thought she’d heard a baby cry and had reported it to the police. But after an extensive search nothing had been found and it was decided it was very likely a cat she’d heard. ‘It was a strange cry for a cat,’ she was quoted as saying.

Interesting, Jan thought, but she hadn’t heard a noise like a cat. She continued down the list of articles, pausing to read anything that might be relevant and explain what she’d seen.

Half an hour later she was forced to admit that nothing remotely matching what she’d seen had been sighted in the woods. Unsure if she should feel relieved or disappointed, Jan closed the laptop, finished unpacking the groceries, fed the meter and left the bag of change beside it in the cupboard under the stairs. She made herself a coffee and took it upstairs. She needed to get a move on – DC Matt Davis would be here soon and she was seeing Chris later. But first she needed to clear up the mess Tinder had made in the spare bedroom.

She went in. He had really made the most of his time in the bedroom. Many of Camile’s boxes had at least some of their contents removed. Thankfully he hadn’t chewed much. The bootee he’d brought to her earlier was a bit mangled, and Jan now saw that some of the polythene bags on the bed containing Camile’s clothes had teeth marks. Just as well he hadn’t managed to tear them open and chew what was inside!

Setting her mug of coffee to one side, Jan knelt on the floor and began repacking, hopefully returning the items to their correct box. Tinder was exhausted after his long walk and was asleep downstairs so couldn’t do any more damage. Jan would tell Camile what had happened, apologize and reassure her it wouldn’t happen again, as she was making sure the door to the spare bedroom was kept shut at all times.