[sometime in autumn 2022]

Ellie Charlton was one of those people who couldn’t help being in the public eye. Being left a large fortune at the age of sixteen and becoming a very beautiful woman didn’t help preserve her anonymity.

The digger was delivered the next morning as planned. Dora was on hand to watch Tom drive it down the narrow drive towards the house.

[NEC, Birmingham, UK]

The applause and cheering gradually died down after ‘Hazed’, aka Hazel Donaldson and her backing band, had left the stage. Then the chants of ‘More’ grew until the stage lights went on again to reveal an empty stage apart from Hazel, a stool and an acoustic guitar. In the minute or so from the lights going out to now, she’d changed from her previous outfit into a simple white lace dress.

Dr Wiggins performed the post-mortem the next day at the Morgue in Stevenage. He had an audience of DCI Pascoe and Chief Superintendent Montgomery. The presence of the Chief Super told Dr Wiggins that these children were important to a lot of people way above his pay grade.

[At the home of Mr Fox and his Son early Monday morning]

The SOCO team was assembled for a briefing. More than a few were yawning. It was not yet 06:00.

“I want this place taken apart. Every nook and cranny. Check the walls and under the floors. Who knows… there could even be secret rooms,” said Detective Chief Inspector Clive Pascoe.

John’s depression was down to the failure of AC Morgan to act on the information given to her by John, Dido and Chrissy. She’d gone silent, and so far, she had not returned any calls from John. His contacts in the Met were also very quiet.

John was still waiting for the call, which, with every passing minute, looked like it would never happen, when Dido appeared late on Saturday morning. She and Trish had both decided to skip classes on Thursday, but had gone to the university on Friday as one of their lectures was given by Fox himself.

It did not take a lot of persuasion for Trish to accept Dido’s offer to share her home for the remainder of their time as students. Now that Trish knew all about Dido’s very chequered history and they had the beginnings of a relationship that was turning out to be more than just good friends, all the awkwardness of the first year between them was a thing of the past.

Josie took the first of two carloads of possessions to her new home. Having an 'upstairs’ was a first for her. All her childhood had been in a top-floor but single-storey council flat in Limehouse.

Getting to see her ladyship proved easier said than done. The estate manager took an immediate dislike to Josie. Thankfully, his boss was at her office desk when he called her. A few words from her to the manager were enough to let her pass.

Once Ma’s death had been ruled as being due to natural causes, the atmosphere in town visibly relaxed. Kelly reported that almost everyone she came into contact with sent their best wishes for both of us in a time of stress.

Jak didn’t fully appreciate how hungry he was. Stella saw him clear his plate with ease and was ready with more ham, homemade bread and eggs. It was all washed down with some excellent tea.

[Edinburgh early that evening]

“You look great,” said Sarah.
She’d just finished applying makeup to Jak. Both of them were dressed to go out on the town. While Jak’s clothes appeared to be a little dated, the addition of a brightly coloured shawl changed the look entirely.

After they’d eaten and cleared away,
“Is Calum’s ‘grand plan’ becoming a bit clearer?” asked Sarah.

“I can sort of understand why Calum invested in the Salmon farms. It is a growth area, but some of these other businesses seem a bit weird to me,” said Jak as he reviewed the descriptions of the businesses that he’d left them both.

Jak was surprised by the cheerful tone of her greeting.

“Yes, or at least I think so. I’m Jak McGee, and I’d like to see Mr MacKay.”

“Would that be Mr MacKay, the elder, or Mr Mackay, the Junior?” she asked.

News that a woman was being interviewed for the position of Chief of Police spread through the town like a rampaging wildfire. Opinion was divided, but because of the corrupt nature of the last Chief, many were willing to let her have the benefit of the doubt should she take up the post.

[The events in this part of the story take place before County Sheriff – Part 17.]

When Ingrid returned home, she had started to call Sean’s place home now, and she found him kneading some bread. Despite trying hard, she failed to stop herself from laughing.

“What’s so funny?” said Sean as he used the back of his hand to move a lock of hair from his eyes.

After the revelation about the seizure of the van and the discovery of some of Dido’s DNA, the atmosphere at the cottage was very subdued.

Trish was taken by surprise by Dido wanting to kiss her. She slowly responded, but broke off the kiss before it got out of hand.

“Sorry, Trish,” said Dido.

After the episode with DI Farmer and the PI’s report, or rather what was implied by the report, but not said, and a couple of phone calls, John Proudfoot did something very much out of character for him: he booked a round of golf at the Army Golf Club in Aldershot.

[The following February]

The steady stream of punters leaving the club signified that closing time was near. The flow soon dwindled to a few stragglers. The two doormen looked at their watches anxiously. It was well past 02:00 when the last customer left the club and climbed into a waiting taxi. For the doormen, their work for the night was done and dusted. They went inside and locked the door behind them.

Three years have passed since Dido turned eighteen and was therefore legally able to make decisions about her life for herself. In the interim, she had enough cosmetic surgery done on her face to make her look quite different from the sixteen-year-old who had tried to break into John's lovingly restored Ford Cortina. With John’s help, she’d become a legal person with all the responsibilities that came with being a citizen. She had even voted in an election.