Jodie had been in reception on occasion and observed people she’d never seen before walk through the home’s open door. They’d sign the book that was left helpfully on the countertop and carry on inside. It never occurred to her to question who they were and, if they didn’t know the code for the internal keypad that opened the door between reception and the nursing floor, the receptionist would call it out without questioning their right of entry. ‘No, nobody checks. If they looked respectable, it would be assumed that they were visiting someone.’

‘Okay,’ Rivka said, excitement lighting her eyes. ‘Then someone could simply walk in, go into that room, and leave a container of medication, couldn’t they?’

Of course they could. Jodie had weighed up the likelihood of one of her colleagues bearing a grudge against her, she’d not thought of an outsider. She locked eyes with Rivka, a grim certainty creeping over her. ‘Victor?’

Rivka tilted her chin towards the box. ‘The shoes, he used them like a calling card. Even if you hadn’t kept them, you were hardly going to forget that he’d given you a pair all those years ago. And coming so soon after that catastrophe in work – it’s too much of a coincidence, Jodie. Maybe he is trying to destroy your career, and he wants you to know it’s him.’

15

Jodie was exhausted from the mental strain of trying to put it all together by the time Rivka looked at her watch and said she had to go.

‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to stay? I know you have this Flynn fellow coming, but if you’re not going to tell him about Victor it means you have to bottle that part of your problems up. Maybe you should–’

Jodie held up a hand to stop her friend. ‘No, I’m not going to tell him. Honestly, it will be a relief not to have to keep talking about it.’ She saw a quick look of hurt cross Rivka’s face. ‘I didn’t mean that to sound the way it did, I’m sorry. I meant what I said, it helped to be able to talk about it with you.’

Rivka stood and pulled on her raincoat. ‘I’m at the end of the phone if you need me. Try to get some rest over the weekend. You look exhausted.’ She bent to kiss Jodie gently on the cheek. ‘Enjoy this new man in your life. If he makes you happy, he’s okay with me.’

‘I’ll walk to the train station with you,’ Jodie said, getting to her feet. ‘I was heading out to the shops earlier when I found that package. I was going to cook something, that isn’t going to happen now.’

‘That’s what takeaways were invented for.’

Jodie smiled. ‘Very true.’