On Thursday, August 25, the townspeople of Vidaillat were on high alert, an unusual contingency for the sleepy river-valley village (population 180) in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France. They’d received a tip-off 12 hours prior that a dangerous English ex-con may be closing in by road on an overnight drive from Wokingham, a market town in Berkshire, England.
Four local volunteers had been patrolling all night outside a dilapidated farmhouse occupied by a mysterious 49-year-old Englishwoman named Sandra Clifton. The townspeople had been suspicious of her initially. Since her arrival, in 2015, Clifton hadn’t left the house, receiving occasional supplies from an unusual Englishman. A constant cacophony of barking dogs prompted complaints to the government animal-protection agency.
