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Jamie Stewart, 24, and his brother Oliver, 21, who lived with their father and Helen Bailey, had no reason to question his claims. 

But the truth dawned later and the two men gave evidence against their father at his trial. 

They sat on the sofa watching television while Ms Bailey and her pet dog Boris lay dead a short distance away.

Jamie told the jury: “I asked if Helen and the dog had gone off for a walk because I hadn’t seen them in the house.” 

For months Stewart stuck to the lie that she had gone to her seaside home in Kent and then vanished. 

I asked if Helen and the dog had gone off for a walk because I hadn’t seen them in the house

Jamie told the jury: “At that point Helen had gone to Broadstairs to get some time to herself and she had left a note saying not to contact her. He told me he thought he had thrown the note

out with the rubbish.” 

Jamie added: “Through the week he got more and more stressed. He asked whether Helen had been in contact with me – she hadn’t.” 

After her body had been found, Stewart claimed she had been kidnapped and killed by two mystery men called Nick and Joe. 

Asked if his father had ever mentioned either man, Jamie replied: “No.”

He did convince his younger son during a prison visit while Stewart was on remand.

Oliver told the jury: “I concluded they were involved in taking Helen. There was fear in his face. He was not just joking about this.” 

Last night both men were coming to terms with the fact that their father told them a pack of lies and had been unmasked as a calculating killer.

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