‘Then this will be his one and only call because you’ll block him again. He won’t be able to afford to keep doing that.’

I gulped. ‘You’re right. I’ll answer and not speak.’

She nodded.

I touched the green button on the touch screen and set it to loudspeaker.

‘Hello?’ said a frail voice. Male. Possibly elderly.

Evie and I exchanged glances; either Harvey was playing games or it wasn’t him at all.

‘Hello? Oh, dash it, Roger, I think it must be one of those blessed answerphones.’

‘Well, leave a message then, man,’ said an impatient muffled voice in the background.

‘This isn’t Harvey,’ I whispered. ‘We’re getting paranoid.’

We grinned at each other with relief; these two sounded completely harmless.

‘Hello there?’ I said. ‘Sorry about the delay, I couldn’t hear anything.’

‘Can you hear me now?’

‘Loud and clear,’ I replied.

‘Get on with it,’ hissed the other voice.

‘All right, all right.’ The man cleared his throat. ‘This is Godfrey Hallam. Calling regarding your application for the position at Butterworth Wines?’

‘My application?’ I stared at Evie whose eyes widened guiltily.

‘I was going to tell you,’ she whispered, ‘and then the phone rang.’

‘Well, yes,’ said Godfrey, sounding uncertain. ‘I received an email this morning. I have got the right number? This is Miss Allbright?’

‘Yes, yes,’ I said, a bit flustered. ‘It’s … I was … well, I suppose I wasn’t expecting a response so soon. You’re very efficient.’

Evie clapped her hands excitedly. I gave her a stern look. Wanting me to move out was one thing; actually applying for a job on my behalf was quite another.

‘Why thank you!’ said Godfrey, chuckling. ‘One does one’s best. I was the editor of a regional newspaper once upon a time, you know. And the urgency of working to a tight deadline never leaves you.’

‘For heaven’s sake, Godfrey, get to the point, she’ll be here in a minute,’ hissed the man I assumed was Roger.

‘Keep your hair on, old chap.’ Godfrey sounded like he had his hand over the mouthpiece. Then his voice became clearer again. ‘Sorry about Roger. He isn’t yet retired and hasn’t learned to slow down and smell the—’

‘Right, I’m taking over,’ said Roger. ‘Hand me that phone.’

There were some grunts and tussling noises for a moment and then a sharp voice came on the line. ‘Miss Allbright, Roger Cooper here. Are you available for an interview this morning at the winery at eleven, yes or no?’

The phone was still on loudspeaker. Evie shrugged and pulled a ‘what have you got to lose’ sort of face.

‘Um.’ I blew my cheeks out, still bewildered that I seemed to have landed an interview for a job I hadn’t applied for and wasn’t sure I even wanted. Despite that, I found myself answering that I was available.

‘Excellent. See you anon.’