“It may take longer than that, but I’ll be as quick as I can,” I replied calmly. “Where were you between eleven and two the night before last?”

“I’ve already told the police all this,” she complained, moving ahead down the aisle.

“I’m sure you have. So it should all be clear in your mind.”

Gloria’s blue eyes narrowed in a glare. If looks could kill, the corn-fed chicken would have been well past its sell-by date. “I was in the TV room watching The Late Show on BBC2 till quarter to midnight. Then I came into the office to check the answering machine. There were no messages, so I went straight up to bed. I was reading till the sound of the intercom disturbed me.”

“You got there very quickly,” I commented.

“My bedroom is right at the top of the stairs,” she replied defensively.

“I thought you’d have a TV in your room,” I said.

“I do. But it doesn’t have stereo speakers and there was a band

I shook my head. “It’s a long way short of being all, Gloria. Why did you hate Moira so much?”

“I didn’t hate her,” she blurted out. The woman standing next to her having the mental washing-powder debate was so riveted she began to follow us before she was withered by Gloria’s hard stare and her muttered, “Do you mind?”

A few feet further on, she said, “I just didn’t like the effect she had on everyone. We were all happy here together before she arrived. Since she got here, everyone’s been bickering. And whatever anyone else says, she made Jett edgy with her constant demands. Everything had to be just the way she wanted it.”

“So you’re not exactly sorry she’s dead?”

Gloria banged her fabric conditioner on the side of the trolley. “That’s not what I said!” she flared. “Just because I didn’t think she was good for Jett doesn’t mean I’m not upset about the way she died. I know you don’t like me, Miss Brannigan, but don’t think you can pick on me!”

I felt a pang of sympathy for her then. She was too young to be setting herself up as the devoted handmaiden to the great man. She should have been out there enjoying life, not stuck with a bunch of piranhas who fed off each other’s emotions and talents. I mean, for God’s sake, who sends a qualified secretary round the supermarket these days? Apart from anything else, it would be cheaper to hire a woman from the village.

“How long have you been with Jett?” I asked, hoping to defuse her anger.