‘Would there ever be meetings Mr Gready held that might have escaped your notice?’

‘Not during business hours, certainly not. Mr Gready was a busy man, much in demand – he relied completely on me for keeping his schedule.’

‘Would you organize his meetings, court appearances and such?’

‘I would keep a diary of his commitments.’

She was clearly thinking carefully each time before she spoke. Meg wondered if she had been coached for this grilling.

‘And you would ensure he was not double-booked, was in the right place at the right time, and keep his diary up to date?’

‘Correct.’

‘Did you always know exactly your boss’s movements, or did he ever do some things himself without informing you?’

‘We always worked closely as a team,’ she replied.

‘Was there any flexibility in your working arrangement for Mr Gready to meet anyone without your knowledge?’

‘I would say not really, no.’

Meg, in the jury box, wondered exactly where this was going. She rather liked this woman, who stood with her head held very high, her body language telling Stephen Cork she was not going to be intimidated by him.

There was a sudden, expectant hush in the court. All eyes locked on Cork. Clearly some kind of sucker punch was coming.

Without taking his eyes off the woman, he said, ‘In Tab M of the bundle you will find a statement that you gave to the police, shortly after Terence Gready’s arrest.’ He turned to the jury, indicating for them to check their bundles. Then Cork’s assistant counsel, Paul Williams, handed him a document, marked with fluorescent tags.

‘Mrs Butt, do you recall giving a statement to the police on the 11th of December 2018?’

‘Yes,’ she replied.

He then asked the usher to pass the statement to the witness.

‘Mrs Butt, do you recognize this document?’

‘Yes, it’s the statement that I made to the police.’

Cork said, ‘Might I ask you to read paragraphs 12, 13 and 14 just to yourself?’

After a short time, she looked up and said she had done so.

Cork said, ‘In your evidence you stated that Mr Gready would not meet anyone without your knowledge – that is what you said just now, isn’t it?’

‘Yes.’

Cork continued. ‘But that isn’t quite what you told the detectives in your statement on the 11th of December?’

For the first time, Sophie Butt looked flustered. ‘Well – not exactly, no. I was confused and frightened when speaking to the police.’

‘Your exact words were: My boss is mostly pretty good at keeping me filled in, but he’s a very busy man, much in demand, and does sometimes forget to tell me about appointments.’