Winter took out two pieces of paper. ‘Here are Benjamin Albert’s details. It’s your job to find out more about him and whether his death is connected to the show itself or to anything magical. If you can find evidence of the latter, the Order can get involved. You’ll also need to keep any eye out for any suspicious behaviour, particularly involving the remaining contestants. We can’t have anyone else getting hurt. Check out the crew. I have details here about all of them and basic information on their backgrounds. We’ve not uncovered anything worrying yet – but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.’

I stared at him. ‘I assume you want me to have time to eat and breathe as well.’

‘Don’t be facetious.’ He pointed to yet another piece of paper. There was a photograph in the right-hand corner. I craned my neck, catching a glimpse of a man in his thirties and who was wearing a witch’s hat of all things. I grinned. I knew instantly who he was.

‘This is Trevor Bellows,’ Winter explained. ‘He’s the magical consultant for the show. Any spells are run through him and he’ll sniff you out in a second if you’re not careful.’

‘I know. I’m a fan of the show, remember?’

‘Indeed. Do you know his background?’

I thought about it. Nope. He was obviously not much of a witch or he’d be in the Order rather than working for Enchantment. He’d always struck me as more of an actor than a magician.

Taking my silence as an answer, Winter continued. ‘This is his official background story, which was released by the production company several years ago. He’s not an Order witch and never has been, so we have no way of knowing what his actual abilities are.’

I put aside the long list of orders from Winter for now and focused on Bellows, glancing down at his meagre biography. ‘He grew up in Tibet? Seriously?’

‘His story is that his parents were seconded there by the British government.’

I looked up. ‘You don’t believe it?’

Winter’s lip curled. ‘We have traced him so far to Slough. It appears that the nearest he’s been to Tibet is getting his photo taken with a yak at a local petting zoo.’

Hmmm. ‘I’m not convinced he possesses much magical ability. I’ve seen him perform a few spells in previous series but they never really amounted to much.’

‘As I said, we have no idea what he’s capable of. I don’t think he can do much either but, until we know otherwise, you should assume that he’s dangerous and has a battery of abilities and knowledge at his fingertips. He has, after all, been the main consultant for Enchantment for years. There must be something to his claims.’

I frowned. ‘The target audience isn’t witches. All the magic is fairly low-level stuff which is designed to provoke loud whistles and create big bangs but isn’t really anything of substance. The challenges don’t require much in the way of magic knowledge either.’ I tapped my mouth thoughtfully. ‘For example, the big show-stopper last season when it came down to the final two contestants was to create a spell to make as many people as possible stop in their tracks and watch. One contestant designed a light show that failed epically because it was high noon and there was too much sunshine for it to make an impact. Most of what she created was simply enhanced fireworks. The other one turned the Thames pink.’ I shrugged. ‘It was more of a murky purple really.’