‘He was a very canny man, investing every spare penny he earned on the stock market. He died a very wealthy man.’

‘That’s odd,’ Denyer said, shuffling through more documents. ‘I have a copy of his grant of probate, filed with the Probate Registry. It showed he left a net of £177,532, to be divided between your wife, Barbara, and four other relatives. I’m struggling at the moment, Mr Gready, to get to the £272,000 you paid for your Marbella flat.’

‘Yes, well, I’m sure you are,’ Gready said, testily. ‘I’m afraid what the will isn’t showing you is all the money he had placed, quite legitimately, abroad. He was an extremely good salesman and his customers loved him and supported him strongly. There is a lot of money to be made in handbags.’ He hesitated. ‘Look, I’m an ordinary guy, this is all hugely embarrassing. I’m struggling to keep my legal practice afloat thanks to the ridiculously low fees we get these days. So, my wife and our parents stashed away a bit of cash – good on them. You’ve also not mentioned the money my wife inherited from her mother, close to £300k. What’s your problem?’

Emily Denyer went through a number of documents and spreadsheets regarding his financial accounts and background over the next hour.

‘Have you now all the answers you need, Ms Denyer?’ Fox asked.

Gready glanced at his wrist, forgetting his watch wasn’t there – it had been taken off him for safekeeping after his arrest. He glanced at his solicitor’s watch. 4.53 p.m.

Emily Denyer produced a clear plastic exhibits bag, with an Envoseal tag securing it and a signed exhibit label. Inside was his beloved Rolex.

Sounding much more friendly, she said, ‘Nice watch! My dad’s got one very similar. Can I have a look?’

‘Yes, please do!’ he said proudly, thinking that maybe this could be the icebreaker between them.

She made a play of peering closely at it, through the plastic. ‘Am I right, it’s a Rolex Submariner?’

Gready nodded eagerly. ‘Yes.’

‘A vintage one? Looks vintage to me.’

Gready nodded again. ‘Yes, you are right. Circa 1955!’

‘Very nice, must be worth a few bob.’

‘It’s insured for £50,000.’

‘Very sensible,’ she replied. ‘I’d make sure it was well insured if it was mine.’ Then, seamlessly, before Terence Gready was even aware what she was doing, she dropped the watch into her briefcase. ‘I need to retain this.’

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘What are you doing? You can’t take it!’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll give you a receipt for it – I have one here. Your watch will be part of our investigation. If everything is fine, you’ll get it back. You will just need to prove to us that the money to purchase it came from a legitimate source – that it was honestly purchased.’