‘Ah. The Kept Woman motif.’

‘Sounds familiar?’

‘Extremely. So, let me guess. Mistress gets restless and grabby, starts making demands, sparks a confrontation . . .’

‘That’s uncanny.’

‘Hardly, John. How many of these have we worked on now? Do you want me to cite cases?’

‘No need. So – Mrs Rivelli gives him an ultimatum – ditch the bitch or pack your bags. Rivelli promises her faithfully that he’s done so . . .’

‘Oh God. This is so depressing.’ Particularly so, thought Christine, as he could easily have been talking about the former Mr and Mrs Andrew Cissé.

‘Then she finds text messages on his mobile phone, she gets a private detective on the case . . .’

‘Ouch.’

‘And she finds out exactly where the mistress is living, flaunting her status as Rivelli’s wife-in-waiting – which is presumably what he’s led her to believe, although he denies it strenuously. Relations break down irrevocably, and Mrs Rivelli instructs her solicitors.’

‘Who are?’

‘Pennington and Blythe.’

‘She means business then.’

‘Oh yes. She asks for everything, he instructs us to offer next to nothing, and here we are today.’

‘What sort of assets are we talking about?’

‘That’s the problem,’ said John. ‘He’s a very cunning man, Rivelli. He’s got fingers in an awful lot of pies which he, being Italian, thinks he has an absolute right to keep secret.’

‘Well, John,’ said Christine, dabbing her lips on her napkin and putting her knife and fork down, ‘if you want my advice, I would say that no counsel worth their salt is going to touch a case like this unless there is a full and frank disclosure of assets.’

‘That’s what I’m telling him.’

‘Because if he’s involved in anything dodgy . . .’

‘Which he undoubtedly is.’

‘Then she is going to find out.’

‘He doesn’t believe me.’

‘Okay, John. I’ll sum up my advice at this stage in five very simple words. The Proceeds of Crime Act.’

‘Quite so.’

‘If Pennington and Blythe suspect for one moment that your client is concealing assets, they’re going to go after him hard and fast. And it’s not difficult to get that kind of information. He’ll not only lose his case, he’ll find himself in the dock.’

‘But, of course, he doesn’t want to disclose the full scale of his assets because if he does, then his wife will feel that she’s entitled to a great deal more.’

‘Which I have no doubt she is. So we’re in for a spectacular court case.’

‘Out of which we could do very well indeed.’

‘Precisely.’ They raised their glasses. ‘This is what you might call a win – win situation.’

‘Isn’t it always?’ said John. ‘Here’s to Justice, and big fat fees.’

Rivelli agreed, after some persuasion, to allow Victoria to tell her side of the story. He turned up at the flat looking like a whipped dog; his home life was obviously horrific. Normally, he’d have been round like a shot at the first sign of a row with the wife; Victoria could always tell, by the tone of his conversation and the style of his fucking, when things weren’t going well with Janet. But this time she’d been turned down three times before he agreed to sneak over.