Reunited: Florence Bechelet with her pet corgi Coral When 92-year-old spinster Florence Bechelet returned home from an outing to find her pet corgi missing, she presumed it had run away.
It was only when she heard the dog had been loaded into a waiting car by a woman with a walking stick that she thought she might need to do some Miss Marple-like detective work.
For the woman fitted the description of Miss Bechelet's ex-housekeeper and carer, 80-year-old Betty Lansdown, who just days before had given up the post after two and a half years.
Miss Bechelet, from St Ouen, Jersey, discovered that Miss Lansdown - who had said she was returning to England for a knee operation - had not left the island on the day she had announced.
Instead, she had booked into a hotel and stayed for an extra two nights so she could snatch the corgi, named Coral, before taking a ferry for England.
Miss Bechelet said: 'It was terrible. Betty had looked after me very well, I don't have a bad thing to say about her in that respect. But I always thought she had more time for the dog than me.'
In the style of Agatha Christie's spinster detective, Miss Bechelet managed to find a forwarding address in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, for her ex-carer and passed it to Thames Valley police.
Back home: Officers found three-year-old Coral with Miss Lansdown and arranged for its return to Miss BecheletOfficers found the three-year-old dog with Miss Lansdown and arranged for its return to Miss Bechelet but this cost her £658 in travel costs.
She said yesterday: 'I have sent Betty the bill. If she doesn't pay it, I will have no option but to prosecute.'
Miss Lansdown said she would not pay.
She added: 'I took Coral because she had nobody there to care for her. Florence did not know where Coral was most of the time. I don't regret anything I did. I was very close to Coral and miss her very much.
'But I think Florence has learned from having lost her once and I hope she'll now take more care of her.'
A Thames Valley Police spokesman said they would be taking no further action.
source: dailymail
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