Deja vu

Phone call today from nice local man at 1.15pm today who said "I think I've just seen your dog!"
He knew all about Sky - plus the timid behaviour of the much-spotted black lab, so was a reliable informant.
The sighting was in one of the "favourite" places - in a field near Pete & Bren's house, just off the Barton Lane (perpendicular to Green Lane, on the Lount side). He said it was pottering around nonchanlantly and he watched it for a while expecting to see an owner, but then the dog saw a tractor in the field which seemed to trigger him to run off to (what we call) the Tori and Ffion copse (being so often patrolled by us after being seen running off in that direction many times before and with it having nice pheasant feeders and dens and running water). It was the running away scared behaviour that particularly interested him - as he said, a farm dog won't behave like that.
I rang Digger's mum and after his recent escapades he was firmly locked in the kitchen!
So off we set in the cheeky Jeepy - glad that we were on leave and both at home (rare event). Tim drove "the circuit" while I walked diagonally through that area.
Nothing. As usual.
Tim is currently (at dusk!) laying a scent trail. He is a bit haunted by a neighbour saying she saw a black dog at 03.00 back in May, in the grounds of Osbaston Hall. That's where Tim had been scenting as far as, back in those days, but stopped just there on the basis that that's just the opposite side of our village. Having said that we didn't often go down that end so Tim's been obsessed about this ever since. Tonight he'll scent all the way up the lane (another half mile) to home.
What does this mean today? We don't know.
The corn fields and high grass are now being cut, so there's visibility across fields which there hasn't been since May.
We still have posters up in the area and local people still have a good awareness, we think.
Dogs do move territories then come back. The triangular territories they inhabit are up to 15 miles wide.
We're going to London early tomorrow morning to a conference. I'll be back late Thurs night and Tim's not back till Saturday afternoon. I can just feel it in my bones that the minute I arrive at Imperial College, the mobile will go...................