When a woman moves into the sleepy town, it rouses everyone's tongues to start wagging. She is strange and distant in her manner. Tia Frost is blissfully unaware of the townsfolk's discomfort with her. With Burt at her side, she wonders about the wo...
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I walked through the door sighing with relief that my shift was over. This flat is my sanctuary after the long boring day I'd just had. I sat in the chair and closed my eyes.
I groaned as the phone rang. "I'll get it." Roland called as he walked to the phone. As he answered the phone I looked over at him. "Yer he just got in... OK I'll ask. Mac, it's the chief he wants to know where old Betty is."
"Tell him she's with Bill."
He mouthed 'What?' at me before relaying the message. "Oh OK... I'm sure I can manage that. Have a good night, bye."
He hung up the phone and brought me the beer he carried. "He told me to tell you, you're not getting a new car just because you broke yours. He also asked me to make him another cake. What happened today to make you look this miserable?" He walked over to the kitchen and opened the oven.
"It was the same as always. Except I got to talk with that lady that bought up all that land..."
He spun around and said excitedly. "You got to talk to that oddball?"
I took a sip of my beer. "Yes. Have you had to deal with her?" He brought me a plate of food and sat down next to me with his.
"I did. She came into the shop looking for something. As soon as she came in I said she could take her dog off the lead if he was well trained. She did and... well that dog was the best behaved animal I've seen. I mentioned this which seemed to please her. I told her dog Burt that he could pick a treat for being so well-behaved. I've never seen anything like it! That dog looked over the treats picked one dried pig ear and.. put it on the counter! I swear I thought he was going to pull out a wallet and pay for it himself."
I nodded. "I met Burt too. He is very well trained. What did she come in for?"
"She was looking for something to feed hedgehogs and deer."
I frowned. "When was this?"
"Just after she moved in. Anyway, I sold her the feed I had and asked her if she wanted a rolling order. She stared at me for like a full minute before she answered, it was creepy."
"She did that to me a few times."
He took a sip of his beer. "You don't think she is like, having a fit do you?"
"Maybe... I didn't think about that. That would explain why she's so close to her dog."
He nodded whilst chewing, then asked. "Why did you go see her?"
"Her neighbour called us and said she was trespassing. It turned out that Edith the neighbour was building on her land. Her name is Tia and she invited me to her house."
"Ohhh you saw her house?" I nodded chewing my mouthful. "Tell me everything!"
"Everywhere in there were bookshelves stuffed with books. The house itself is your typical holiday home. It was pretty unremarkable other than all the books and being completely devoid of anything personal."
