‘Yes, he came into my office. He asked if I’d had a good weekend and I said that I’d been to an opening night and that on Sunday I had had a game of tennis at the Queen’s Club. He was quite sporty, you know, but I hated playing tennis with him because he was such a poor loser.’ She bit her lip, near to tears.

‘Did he have any enemies?’ Spencer asked.

Laura gave a light laugh. ‘You know, in this business you can accumulate an awful lot of enemies without really trying, but someone who would want to kill him? I can’t imagine that. I’m aware that Charles was a complex individual. He was a man who detested failure. Let me explain what I mean by that: if, for example, he represented a director who got the break of his life with a big American movie, and it bombed, the director would not get any sympathy from Charles. So, yes, he did acquire enemies. However, I have my own clients and in the past few years the two of us have been quite distant, so if there was any recent altercation, I wouldn’t know about it.’

‘What about his ex-wife?’ Spencer asked.

She smiled wryly. ‘I was expecting you to ask about her at some point. It’s common knowledge that Justine hated me. She believed, incorrectly, that I was having an affair with Charles. I can assure you nothing was further from the truth – it would not only have been unprofessional, but . . . he had a deviant side to him, which I found repellent.’

Spencer leaned forward. ‘What exactly do you mean by that?’

Laura hesitated and started to flush, clearly wishing she hadn’t mentioned it.

Jane now took over. ‘Miss Queen, it is important that you explain what you have just said – it is obviously strictly confidential.’

Laura picked up a pencil and tapped it on the notebook in front of her.

Jane continued. ‘Was Mr. Foxley having a relationship with Emma Ransom?’

Laura leaned back, shaking her head with a half smile. ‘I’m afraid she is far too plain for him to even notice she was female.’

Yet again Laura appeared to be slightly embarrassed by what she had said.

‘I’m sorry, I must sound such a bitch . . . I really don’t know why I came out with that about Emma. The truth is, and I’m not the only one to be aware of this, Charles had a predilection for prostitutes – and not particularly glamorous ones; in fact, I believe he preferred obese women.’

Spencer glanced at Jane. ‘Was he into S&M?’

Laura shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Look, it’s wrong of me to repeat gossip. I think we should just stop there.’