Contents
Chapter Two
Overview
Jane brings Dexter to return the found dog, Hugo, to an address in Hampstead’s Vale of Health. The journey triggers Jane’s vivid memory of being taken to that same house years earlier by a married stranger, where she sensed menace and fled after a disturbing noise. Realizing the address matches, Jane confronts a past tied to the dog’s owner.
Summary
The morning after finding the dog, Jane visits her stepchild Dexter in Belsize Park and enlists him to help return Hugo to the owner listed on the microchip. Dexter, hungover but enthusiastic, joins her, and they set off toward Hampstead’s Vale of Health.
As they descend into the hamlet, the address "Thornwood" stirs Jane’s memory. She recalls the year 2000, when, heartbroken after leaving her first husband, she met an older married man in a Soho bar who offered her work and impulsively brought her to his home in the secluded Vale.
Jane remembers entering the house, meeting the man’s wary wife, and noticing unsettling details that sharpened her sense of danger. A sudden scream and thud from upstairs deepened her alarm, while the man pressed her to stay and drink, briefly gripping her wrist until the wife intervened.
Seizing a moment, Jane stepped outside to smoke, unlatched the gate, and ran, escaping the situation before it could escalate. The memory remains fragmented but charged with fear and regret.
Back in the present, watching her phone’s map, Jane realizes the address tied to Hugo’s microchip is the very same house, Thornwood, forcing her to confront a troubling intersection between her past and the dog’s origin.
Who Appears
- Jane TrevallyProtagonist; takes Hugo to Hampstead, recalls a perilous 2000 visit to Thornwood, and recognizes the same house.
- DexterJane’s beloved stepchild; joins her to return Hugo and provides support despite a late night.
- Unnamed tall married manMet Jane in 2000, took her to Thornwood, pressed her to stay despite her discomfort.
- Unnamed wife at ThornwoodWary host in 2000; intervened when her husband gripped Jane’s wrist, allowing Jane to leave.
- HugoRescued white terrier; microchip address leads Jane to Thornwood, linking present to past.