Let me know how it went, will be free by five, ring me, xxx

She would ring him, but first she needed to speak to Rivka, she might be able to help. How, Jodie wasn’t sure, but she had great faith in her friend’s abilities. If it could be done, Rivka would be the one to do it.

Her phone was answered on the first ring, her friend’s breathy How did it go tumbling out before she’d a chance to say hello.

‘Ghastly! Worse than I could possibly have imagined.’ Jodie filled her in on the meeting and the accusation against her. ‘They’ve fired me.’

‘Bloody hell! Can they do that?’

‘Unfortunately, yes, since they’re accusing me of gross misconduct and putting residents’ health at risk. Never mind that they virtually accused me of having designs on a resident’s life.’

‘Bloody hell!’

Jodie was almost amused. She couldn’t remember her friend being stuck for words before. ‘Since I know I didn’t leave those blasted tablets there, it looks like I’ve been set up.’

‘Set up?’

It was an improvement on bloody hell but still not much help to have Rivka parroting everything she said. ‘It has to be that,’ Jodie said firmly. ‘I didn’t leave the tablets there and nobody else has access to medication during the day, so someone had to have brought them in and left them there.’

There was silence from the other end.

‘Rivka?’

‘Yes, I’m here, thinking. This is some seriously creepy stuff you’re saying. If you’re right, someone deliberately set out to ruin your career but who would do such a thing?’

‘I don’t know.’ Jodie had considered and rejected any of the staff she worked with, even that irritating care assistant. Irritating and incredibly stupid, but not vindictive or malicious. Jodie’s leaving wouldn’t impact very much on anyone really. She’d never fallen out with anyone, never had words with any of the residents’ families. ‘As far as I can think, nobody would have a motive for doing such a thing.’

‘Troublemakers don’t always have a motive, though, do they? Maybe you pissed off that care assistant more than you think.’

‘I work with her maybe once or twice a month, I can’t see it really.’

‘Then who?’

‘I don’t know. I’ll speak to my union tomorrow and see what they think. I was wondering about fingerprints.’

‘Fingerprints!’ Rivka’s voice rose in a squeak. ‘Seriously?’

Jodie moved the phone to her other ear and rested her head back. ‘If they could lift fingerprints from the medicine pot, they’d know they weren’t mine and I’d be in the clear, wouldn’t I?’