Neil stretched out in his chair and crossed his legs at the ankle, revealing odd socks above his scuffed leather loafers. “First, Tamar,” he said, a note of relish in his tone that made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Life with Richard has shown me that journalists are the biggest bitches on two legs, but I still can’t get off on listening to them dishing the dirt. “They were on the rocks long before you found Moira. She’d actually taken a walk a week or two before that gig when I met you, but when Jett didn’t chase her, she came back off her own bat. If he hadn’t been so distracted with the work on the album, she’d have been on her bike a long time ago. But she was putting a lot of work in on making herself indispensable. When Moira turned up, Tamar could see all that good work going down the tubes.”

“What d’you mean, good work? All I’ve seen her do so far is doss around,” I interrupted.

Neil grinned. “I mean, ‘Yes, Jett, no, Jett, three bags full, Jett.’ And all those evenings in the kitchen rustling up tasty little gourmet dinners for her hard-working man. Not to mention the horizontal work. Once Moira arrived, she used to wind Tamar up something rotten, flirting with Jett whenever Tamar was around. As long as Moira was around, Tamar was living on borrowed time. And hell hath no fury. But now Moira’s gone, Tamar’s wasting no time consolidating her position. As you no doubt noticed for yourself yesterday.”

“I can’t see Tamar choosing a tenor sax as her murder weapon,” I objected.

Neil crushed out his cigarette. “All the more reason for her to use it,” he countered. “Though I agree it is a bizarre image.”

We both paused for a moment to contemplate the idea. For me, it didn’t work, but judging by the satisfied smirk on Neil’s face, he was having less trouble with it. “Next,” I demanded. “Gloria at 3–1.”

“Obvious motive. She is obsessive about Jett. Madly in love with him, and all she is to him is a housekeeper with word-processing skills. She didn’t approve of Moira’s presence, reckoned she was disruptive and ultimately bad news for Jett, trapping him in a time warp. And if she thought Moira was going to spill any dirt on her idol, Gloria would have a double motive for getting her out of the way,” Neil summed up with an air of having said all there was to be said on the subject.

“And you think Kevin’s motive is as strong?” I challenged him.

“We-ell, that depends on how straight you think he is. There’s been a lot of argument in this house over the past few weeks about money and contracts. Jett was pissed off with Kevin for signing me up, you know. He wanted your boyfriend.”