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“What kind of stray?” Gabriella suddenly perked up.

“I haven’t laid eyes on it.” From the look on Bob Morton’s face, Gabriella bet the dog was lucky he hadn’t. “And I haven’t heard it since last night.”

“Well, there is a dog missing,” she said. “So if any of you see a Scottish Terrier, please call Traffic Warden Headquarters and leave a message for me. I’ll come right away.”

“I don’t care about someone’s lost dog, I want Mrs. Carey to stop her campaign against me.” Bob Morton put his hands on his hips.

“I’m afraid that’s not within my remit,” Gabriella said. “And if you will excuse me, I need to get these to the police.” She lifted the letters carefully cradled in her hands, and walked away.

“I say,” Bob Morton said behind her, outrage dripping from his voice.

“Stuff a cork in it, Bob, she’s got more important things to do,” Tweed Lady said, and Gabriella had to fight not to laugh as she walked away, headed for the nearest telephone box.

When she found one, she called James’s office, but it just rang through, so she called PS Yates at the local nick, and explained, because she didn’t want to speak to DI Layman, and while Yates seemed a little skeptical, he asked for her route and said he’d send a bobby round to collect the letters.

It was a good thing the women had found them and handed them in, but she was sad that it had nothing to do with Jerry.

She met up with Constable Evans about twenty minutes later.

She’d been carrying the letters carefully, afraid they might tear if she put them in her bag, and he immediately saw the problem himself.

“Hold them while I note down the address where you found them,” he said, and then tucked his notebook away and took them from her equally carefully.

“The woman who flagged me down is a former post mistress, so I think the information is reliable,” she said.

Constable Evans gave a nod.

“You haven’t heard any word about Jerry, have you?” she asked, although she knew he would have told her if he had.

He shook his head. “Sorry, Gabby. Sometimes blokes like that just vanish, you know? They’re damaged and they can’t cope with life.”

“I know that’s probably true of a lot of people who have the same background as Jerry, but he has his own place now, and he loves looking after the animals. Please don’t write him off.”

“I’ll keep looking,” Evans said, giving her a sweet smile before he lumbered off. He was a giant of a man, and one of the nicest bobbies in the area.

She knew he meant well, and was probably speaking from years of experience, but Jerry wouldn’t have abandoned his new life without a word, she was sure of it.

She carried on with her round, but this time, she kept her eye out for any letters floating around.

When she turned onto Shepherd’s Bush Green, she saw Teddy Roe attaching a missing poster for Jerry onto a lamp post, and walked over to him.

“No luck?” she asked, but it was obvious there wasn’t.

He shook his head.

“People have been hearing a dog barking one street over from where I saw Jerry that last time. So maybe, if you have time, have a good look and listen when you go down there.”

Teddy Roe perked up. “Barking where?”

“In Bob Morton’s garden, and he tells me he doesn’t own a dog.” Gabriella felt a little frisson of excitement at the thought that it might be Scotty.

“I’ll go right now.” Teddy Roe sounded a little more upbeat.

“Do you have some spare posters and tape?” Gabriella asked. “I can put up more on my route.”

“Thanks, Gabriella. That’s a good idea.” He handed over four posters and some tape. “Some people take them down, you know? The poster I put up in the street where you saw him last? Someone’s taken it down twice now.”

“I’m going that way, I’ll make sure I have a spare one to put up if it has been taken down again,” she said.