Justine watched as her mother exited the room, closing the doors behind her.

‘So, now you’ve met my mother,’ Justine said, as she walked slowly across the room and sat in the same chair her mother had used.

She was wearing a beautiful black Chanel dress and black sheer tights with soft ballet shoes. Her blonde hair, although similar to her daughter’s, looked freshly washed, healthy and glossy. She wore no make-up and her skin was flawless, her eyes the same brilliant color as her mother’s. But unlike Florence’s, there was a washed-out sadness in them and from her expression it looked as if a heavy weight was pressing down on her.

‘What do you need to know?’ she asked softly, as she lit a cigarette from the same silver box.

‘When did you last see your ex-husband?’

‘I spoke to him early that Monday, but I had not seen him for over a week.’

‘What time was that?’

‘I called him at the office. It was about nine a.m.’

‘How did he sound?’

‘He sounded his usual self. I asked whether or not he would be coming to a parent-and-teacher meeting at Clara’s school and he said he would let me know nearer the date, which is what he always said. Then he always found an excuse not to go. Charles showed little or no interest in Clara.’ She gave a small shrug.

‘Do you know of anyone who would have a motive to kill your husband?’

‘I think you will probably find a number of people. He could be cruel. He controlled a lot of people’s lives and an awful lot of people detested him.’ She dragged heavily on the cigarette, taking the smoke deep into her lungs. ‘I think you could say I was probably one of those people.’ Her voice had a slight quaver to it.

Jane was trying to assess whether Justine was being truthful, or giving a very good performance.

‘Your mother said you and Charles had a love-hate relationship and that although you are divorced, you couldn’t live with or without each other. Would you say that was true?’

‘Not quite. I could live without Charles, but he found it very difficult to live without me. Even though we were divorced, he would never leave me alone. If I formed a relationship with anyone else he would make abusive phone calls and threaten them. No matter how hard I tried, he refused to let me live my life without him. In all honesty, I have wished him dead many times.’

‘Do you know anyone else who wanted him dead?’