‘You’re not going to believe this. Langton admitted that on occasion he took cocaine, but insisted that he was not an addict, just an occasional user. And—’

Jane had a mouthful of shepherd’s pie on her fork, holding it inches from her mouth as she waited for him to continue.

‘Ahmed Farook is his dealer.’

Jane dropped her fork onto her plate. ‘You’re kidding me.’

‘Nope.’

‘My God. We never even considered him! But it makes sense. Foxley, a regular client needing a regular supply of coke, or whatever. Did you get anything else?’

Spencer told her about Langton’s visit to Mandy Pilkington’s on the afternoon of the murder, and how he’d had to wait for Farook to take him home again.

‘Langton was dressed and ready to leave. He was expecting Farook to be on the landing to help him down the stairs, but he wasn’t there, which was odd as he was rarely late. Eventually Farook turned up at about quarter to seven and apologized for keeping him waiting. Langton said he appeared to be agitated and unlike himself. What do you think?’

‘Well, we’ve obviously got enough to bring Farook in for questioning regarding the drugs and we could get a warrant to search his house and his car as well. But are you also putting him in the frame for the murder?’ Jane asked.

Spencer shrugged. ‘I’ve not thought that one through yet. What would be his motive? If Charles Foxley paid him on a regular basis for drugs, why kill the hand that feeds you? However, they could have had a fall-out. Foxley might have got another supplier or refused to pay him.’

Jane frowned. ‘But Farook had the time, between say 5:30 until six p.m., to commit the murder?’

Spencer nodded. ‘I suppose. But it wasn’t exactly quick: you’ve got the blows to the head, slitting his throat, then the disemboweling, plus the time needed to clean himself up afterwards . . . ’ He looked at Jane expectantly. ‘OK, your turn.’

Jane briefly described her interaction with the Montgomery family and only went into more detail when she explained that Annalise had been sexually abused by someone connected to the film The Slave Trader.

‘She does look older than she is, but when the sexual assault occurred, she was only sixteen. We have Julia Summers as a friend, introducing her to the modelling agency.’

Spencer nodded. ‘Yeah, I remember when we first went there. I can’t recall who it was, but they mentioned that Julia Summers often brought in her posh girlfriends.’

‘Well, I would say Annalise fits that description – they’re very wealthy. But after the incident, she had run off to Julia Summers’ place. When she told her what had happened, another of the girls, Tanya, said that it had happened before and that she should complain to Foxley. Guess what happened then?’

Spencer grinned. ‘Surprise me.’