Q&A WITH YOUR FAVOURITE AMATEUR SLEUTH ELLIE QUICKE

How many cats have you had in your lifetime?

I have had only four cats in my lifetime. One when I was growing up — but she wasn't really my cat.

Then there was Jamie, who came as a baby from a farm but adapted very well to city life. He was loved dearly for twenty years. He was aware of our problems and would come and sit on us if he saw we were in trouble.
The next one was Midge. He was wired up wrongly. He thought he was a dog, and didn’t let us forget it. But, he fought everything that moved and came to an untimely end by trying to stop a car with his head.
And then there was our last and much loved Peter who could open any door with a handle, who stayed with us for another twenty years . . . and now there is only Flo, who is a toy cat and sits on my lap when I watch television. And he’s black. And don’t ask me why a black male cat should be called Flo. He just is.

As a devoted tea addict what is your go-to biscuit to have with your tea?

Take two chocolate digestive biscuits, hold them choc side together and munch. That way you get your fix of chocolate, but don't get it on your fingers.

What is the hardest case you have had to work on?

The hardest case? That will always be the one I'm currently working on.

Could you ever see yourself moving away from Ealing?

Would I move away from Ealing? No. Hopefully not. I live in an end-of-terrace house, with a park opposite. Trees can be seen on all three sides of the house. There’s a short walk to the shops, the church, the dentist, the optician, the doctor’s, the post office and the library. And we all talk to one another hereabouts. Well, nearly all . . . that man who walks a bully dog without a muzzle is not on my visiting list.