Neil Fonseca had not paid his flat's rent for three months but was maintaining three cars and two drivers, said the owner of the 1,500sq ft Palm Avenue apartment where the bodies of Neil's wife and twin teenage sons were found on Saturday morning.

The family had been living in the four-bedroom apartment on the second floor of a four-storey building opposite former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's home for the past nine years and paid a rent of around Rs 20,000

The landlord, Avishek Sethi, said on Sunday that Neil usually gave him a cheque within the first four days of the month but the payments were getting delayed for the past seven months.

"Neil had said he was going through financial problems. He did not pay any rent in the past three months. He was extremely polite and well-behaved, so I could not ask him for money," Sethi told Metro.

But Neil apparently was paying the two drivers and a cleaner for his three cars - a Hyundai Verna, a Hyundai i10 and a Maruti Wagon R. The drivers used to report at the flat by 7am every day and the cleaner also used to come and wash all three cars every day.

"He was very particular about his cars and would keep them in perfect condition. He used to pay the cleaner Rs 4,000 a month and I don't think he had ever defaulted in paying his drivers," said Arup Jana, who works as a driver and cleans cars on Palm Avenue in the morning. Jana knows the cleaner who used to work for the family

A neighbour who used to occasionally visit the Fonsecas on weekend evenings said the mini bar in the living room was stocked with single-malt whiskies and wines. "He would have a drink or two with me and then head to clubs with his wife. I have never seen them fight," said the resident of nearby Bibhuti Bandopadhyay Sarani, in his late-50s.

Neil was a regular at Dalhousie Institute. On Friday night, the couple's sons played football in the Ballygunge club while they were in the bar with friends. Both Neil and Jessica had danced and Jessica had even sung on the mike.

"They seemed a perfect family and Neil, in particular, looked a gentleman. Every Christmas, they used to bake cakes at home and gift them to families in the neighbourhood," recounted another neighbour. Landlord Sethi also spoke about this family tradition.Neighbours recalled Jessica as a jovial woman who was very nice to children and someone who used to spend hours taking care of the flowers and plants in the balcony adjoining the couple's bedroom. She had more than 70 types of flower and plants.

"Jessica was very fond of gardening. She used to get up late but even then would spend at least an hour daily watering the plants and trimming them," said Sarla Singhi, who lives in a building opposite the family's home.

Another neighbour, who was friends with the couple's sons Joshua and Darren, said Jessica never used to scold them even if they broke windowpanes while playing cricket on the road.

"Unlike most people in the area, Jessica aunty was the only one who used to return our tennis balls if it dropped on their balcony after breaking the glass panes. She never abused us and only asked us to play carefully," said the Class XI student.

The boy added that the brothers were avid bikers and both had high-end cycles on which they would often practise stunts.