‘What the fuck were you thinking?’ Tom shouted, before Charlie could open his mouth and say anything. ‘Going on national television and publicly denouncing Holly and her case without even a thought for the bad publicity it would generate?’

‘What? I didn’t…’ Charlie was befuddled.

‘You might as well just have twirled a moustache and given an evil laugh, the way the media’s painting you right now.’

‘Ruth Middleton…’ Charlie sighed, instantly seeing the reporter’s cool stare in his mind’s eye. ‘She caught me on the hop. And I had no idea Holly was going to be smack in the middle of that demonstration until I got there. Seeing her, I just lost the thread of what I was saying.’

‘Oh, so you decided to publicly step away from the campaign that you became the poster boy for after PMQs and not expect any fallout? Not only do you look like a total prat, now, but you look like an indecisive, heartless one, too. And add that to that fucking awful Charlie the Cad story on AllFeed, it’s a wonder the selection committee aren’t calling for your resignation.’ Tom began to pace the threadbare carpet of the office. ‘Didn’t I tell you enough times that the first rule of politics is never to be doorstepped – talk to the press on your own terms. It seems Holly knows that better than you do.’

At the mention of her name, Charlie’s heart lurched. ‘Have you spoken to her?’

‘No,’ Tom replied. ‘I thought it was best to keep some distance between her and this office for now, until I’ve worked out who the hell fed that pile of crap to AllFeed in the first place.’

‘You said you had your suspicions?’ Charlie said, relieved that the barrage he was facing seemed to be ending.

‘I do indeed.’ Tom stopped pacing and rummaged in his briefcase, open on the desk.

‘Well?’ Charlie suddenly felt very stressed and very, very tired. It had been a long week, and it wasn’t over yet. He wished he could turn to Holly for comfort, but he’d be the last person she’d want to see.

‘If I’m right, this all goes back to Miles Fairbrother.’ Tom passed Charlie a piece of what looked like fax paper.

‘What’s this?’ Charlie couldn’t make any sense of the information.

‘As you know, Miles was more than just put out when Holly bought the freehold to the building where she now runs her shop. He’d been gagging to expand the bakery for years and wanted any excuse to put the boot in once he realised that she’d bought one of the prime locations on the High Street outright, and with her grandfather’s money, too.’