Isabelle laughed. ‘Oh for God’s sake.’

But the police officer wasn’t laughing. ‘Miss Cissé?’

‘Of course I was. I mean, he’s my best friend. He’s like a brother to me. He’s closer than a brother . . . He’s . . . like . . .’ She started crying again.

‘This is difficult for you, I know. But did you have any reason to believe that Will was involved in anything at all . . . kinky?’

‘Like what?’

‘Do you know what S&M is?’

‘Of course I do.’

‘Well?’

‘Well what? Are you asking me if Will was into that stuff? No. Not as far as I’m aware.’

‘Not as far as you’re aware . . .’

‘For heaven’s sake, he might have gone in for a bit of spanking or whatever . . . No, don’t write that down! I’m only guessing! I mean, we all have our . . . moments.’

‘You never noticed marks on his body.’

‘I wasn’t in the habit of examining his body.’

‘He never turned up to work with a black eye.’

‘No. Absolutely not. If anyone had hit Will, I’d have . . .’

‘Okay, okay. Now, Miss Cissé, I need you to think very carefully. Do you know the names of any of Will’s boyfriends?’

‘He didn’t have any boyfriends in LA. Doesn’t have, I mean. He doesn’t know anyone here, apart from me and . . . well, Mercy Williams.’

‘That’s not quite true, I’m afraid. We’ve traced him to a party in West Hollywood last night. He seems to have been quite well known there.’

‘What do you mean? Of course he went to parties. He was networking. But he didn’t have any particular friends.’

‘It was a gay party.’

‘What are you implying? That he picked up some nutter who beat him into a coma? Because if that’s what you think, why aren’t you out there looking for this bastard instead of sitting here hinting to me that he somehow asked for it?’

‘We’re doing nothing of the kind, Miss.’

‘I’m sorry. I’m just . . .’

‘Please, think carefully. We need to know the names of any boyfriends that you think he might have been seeing. Anywhere. Don’t try to cover anything up. Here, or in London, or anywhere else.’

‘I don’t know his boyfriends. There was someone called Ricky . . .’

‘His surname?’

‘I don’t know. He works for a music company of some sort.’

‘Who else?’

‘There was no one else. Well, unless you count Joel, of course.’

‘Who?’

‘Joel. He’s a sort of hanger-on. I think they might have been having a bit of a thing.’

‘His surname?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Can you describe him?’

‘Tall, dark hair, good looking. I think he’s Australian.’ She didn’t mention that he’d also had an affair with her mother.

One of the police officers walked out of the room, looking very serious.