36
To the finish
‘Gerald!’
‘I’m gathering that the dog’s dead,’ Joan said, as Jason pushed her out onto the front path, behind Grace and Paul. ‘Small mercies, I suppose—’
‘Gerald, where are you?’
‘Okay, maybe not.’
‘Unless she’s wondering what realm of heaven the dog’s gone to,’ Paul said.
‘I knew you were into Dungeons & Dragons,’ Joan said, making Paul laugh just as the door to Ethel’s chalet flew open and the old woman stepped out, hair wild, still—bizarrely for three o’clock in the afternoon—in a dressing gown.
She took one look at them standing on the grass in front of Grace’s chalet and bared her teeth.
‘You did this,’ she hissed. ‘You took my Gerald. What have you done with my darling? I lie down for a short nap, and he’s gone.’
‘We haven’t seen your dog,’ Grace said, putt
