‘Hello, you funny little fella,’ Gina whispered, bending down and patting the silky head. A revised plan was already forming in her mind.

‘Coco,’ trilled a woman’s voice faintly from the open room further down. ‘Coco, come to Mummy.’

Gina saw she was standing outside a closed door. She opened it, glanced in the thankfully empty room, silently shooed the puppy in with the aid of her foot and crept in after it, closing the door behind her.

‘Right, Coco, you and me are going to wait here a couple of minutes and then we’ll go and find Mrs Stellion,’ Gina said. ‘All you have to do is be quiet.’

Coco gave a little yelp of agreement and circled Gina’s feet a few times, the tail still wagging.

‘Shush, you daft creature.’ Gina looked around. The room was a little sitting room with deep sofas and heavy curtains at the long window.

Gina picked up the puppy and he snuggled under her chin, settling in her arms quite happily. She went to stand behind the curtains in case someone should enter the room without warning. It would be enough of a hiding place if they did no more than glance about.

Gina could hear the woman calling the dog and evidently Coco knew his name as he was listening, then gave a little bark. The voice became louder as the woman approached up the corridor … then faded and finally ceased. Gina held her breath, her stomach churning. It would be difficult to concoct any believable story to explain why she was hiding in this room holding the missing puppy, although Mrs Stellion would be unlikely to believe he’d managed to secrete himself behind a closed door. If only he would be quiet for a few minutes …

On a side table next to one of the sofas was a tray with a biscuit barrel on it. Gina, still holding the puppy, went across, grabbed it and retreated behind the curtain again, placing the tin on the window ledge and removing the lid with one hand.

‘Rich tea … well, I reckon at least they won’t do you any harm,’ she whispered, giving one to the dog.

Coco had eaten three rich tea biscuits by the time Gina decided she was ready to return the lost puppy to its owner.

‘Come on, let’s wipe those crumbs off your whiskers. Our secret, eh?’ she murmured, carefully removing all evidence of their presence in the room. She liked to think that covering her tracks was a lesson she’d learned long ago.