She’d have done anything to get away in the spring of last year, when she was working without making any effort at the farm, feeling resentful of anyone who seemed to be getting on in life or had money or things that she wanted, but the truth was that when she had got away, she’d felt lost and unsure of what to do with herself. Little Grindle was all she knew. Now, when she wanted to escape in her head to a better place, it was to Highview Cottage, with Mum and Nell, sitting round the kitchen table, laughing and drinking strong tea, or the rose garden at Grindle Hall, a perfect paradise of beauty, with fragrant flowers clustering around the bench she’d liked to sit on, and Coco at her feet, looking up at her adoringly.

Oh God, Gina, what have you done? Why did you think that was not enough for you?

How had she taken this wrong turn from the Merrylife to a horrible hotel in Coalhouse Terrace, Blackburn so quickly? It should be called Chimney View, she sneered miserably. The horizon was dominated by that gigantic chimney she’d seen from the passenger seat of James’s little car – the Audley Destructor, she’d learned it was called. Amazing and awful at the same time.

Was it really only the day before yesterday that she’d decided to go into Blackpool for the afternoon by herself? What an idiot she’d been …

The day out with Mavis had given Gina a taste for the gaudy delights of Blackpool and she felt ready to risk the very small chance of bumping into Bella Bertolli; she’d keep a lookout, she resolved. St Annes was so much smaller than Blackpool and could be a little too quiet, in Gina’s opinion.

Gina had window-shopped along the main commercial street and then come across a more run-down row of small shops in a side street, including some selling antiques. She looked in the windows, wondering if this would be the right place to try to get rid of the loot still hidden in the back of her drawer.

She chose one shop, which sold small items, including jewellery, and went in to look.

The man behind the counter didn’t greet her. He seemed to be reading a newspaper and Gina browsed the displays, trying to decide what to do. She saw some beads very like the ones stashed in her drawer and held them up to examine the jewelled clasp.

The man looked up from his paper and gave her a hard stare, and Gina put the necklace down and moved on to a display of brooches. She hardly even knew what happened next. Maybe old habits died hard with Gina, and she hadn’t consciously meant to steal the little pearl brooch at all, but the man behind the counter was there with his hand around her wrist before she knew it.