Chapter Seven

After leaving Hampstead, Jane walks with Dexter through bright May streets, craving a glamorous city night. Dexter declines dinner due to a dance class and suggests she visit his father, Tony. With her dogs cared for by Shannon, Jane messages Tony and heads to his discreet Seven Dials townhouse.

Jane arrives to Tony’s familiar charisma and comforts, which stir nostalgia without rekindling romantic desire. Over drinks, she admits wanting a messy night out but not alone. The conversation turns to midlife anxieties, dwindling time, and the burden of Rosebery Hall, which she’s had valued and knows she must sell.

Jane floats, for the first time aloud, the idea of retraining as a private detective. She explains the thrill of a recent UK case she tangentially helped with and then outlines the current mystery: a starved terrier found at Rosebery, traced to Hugo Tucker in Hampstead, and the disappearance of Rose White from a nearby rental.

Jane hints at the unease she felt in Hugo’s strange house but withholds older personal shame about a dangerous night years ago. Doubting her experience, she calls herself nosy and underqualified. Tony counters with confidence in her abilities, dismissing self-sabotage and encouraging purpose over drift.

Emboldened, Jane reframes London as a beginning, not just an ending. As they take their drinks to the terrace to watch the sunset, Tony urges her to act: go find Rose. Jane’s desire for a shining moment sharpens into intent to investigate the disappearance.