The tall man was in a hurry to get away. He muttered a quick ‘Good evening’ to us and gathered up his laptop and papers, shoving them awkwardly into a leather briefcase. Maureen showed him out and I heard a brief snatch of their conversation at the door.

‘I’ll call you in a couple of days.’

‘Thank you, Martin.’

‘I’m so sorry. You know …’

‘Don’t worry. We’ll deal with it.’

Not good news, then.

Meanwhile, I had introduced Hawthorne to Ahmet and he had taken the empty seat. Ahmet had stayed at his desk, half concealed behind a laptop and a great pile of letters and bills. As usual, he was wearing a suit, but had taken off his jacket to reveal an old-fashioned shirt and braces. His fingers were stained yellow with nicotine. It had even crept into his eyes.

‘So, how are things?’ Hawthorne asked cheerfully.

‘Not so good.’ The three words were like a death knell. I had never heard him sound so defeated. He looked at me like a dog abandoned by its owner. ‘Martin, the man who was here just now – he is my accountant. A very reliable man. And what he tells me …’

‘Are we going to have to close?’ I asked. It was the inevitable conclusion. I just wanted him to get to the point.

He drew out another cigarette and lit it. ‘I am fighting, Anthony. All my life I have been fighting.’ He blew out grey-blue smoke. ‘I will tell you. It was my ambition to produce for the theatre from the day that I joined the Really Useful Theatre Company. I was there for many years.’

‘You worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber?’ I asked. I was impressed. The Really Useful Group had been set up to look after Lloyd Webber’s multibillion-pound musicals, but had since diversified into theatre ownership, film production and records. It was a fantastically successful conglomeration, but Ahmet had never mentioned he had been part of it.

‘I worked for him in IT,’ he explained. ‘I helped to develop the box-office ticketing software they still use to this day!’ For a moment, a smile flitted across his face and his eyes were far away. ‘Database compatible files, easily imported into spreadsheets. Mail merge files and account reports. Online credit card verification. Publicity. Revenues. One of the first user-friendly onscreen seating charts! Do you know what I called it? Computer-assisted Ticketing System. CATS! They told me that Sir Andrew smiled when he heard that. He was not a lord then. I don’t know why they didn’t use it. The name, I mean. The system is still very much alive.’

‘Is that why you became a producer?’ Hawthorne asked.

‘Yes, sir. I looked at the enormous amounts of money these musicals were making. It was incredible! Do you know that a hundred and fifty million people have seen Phantom of the Opera and that it has made more than six billion dollars worldwide?’ He pointed at me. ‘And not all the reviews were favourable, let me tell you! There were critics who said that it was old-fashioned hokum. What did they know?’