“Gloria, who is a diabetic, had noticed syringes going missing from her room. It was only a matter of time before she got round to telling Jett, who at the very least would have confronted Moira and accused her of returning to her old habits. But not content with that, the person who stole the syringes also purchased some heroin. According to Maggie, every few days some heroin and a syringe would appear in Moira’s room, facing her with a temptation that most people in her shoes would have found it impossible to resist.

“But she did resist, and so the first thing I had to ask myself was if the killer was the same person who’d been trying to get rid of her earlier. But you weren’t the killer, were you, Tamar?”

Tamar was on her feet. “You poisonous bitch,” she screeched at me. “You poisonous, lying bitch!” Then she whirled round to face

“I can prove what I’m saying,” I replied coldly. “The pusher who sold you the heroin identified your picture. You might have tried to get rid of Moira, but I’m satisfied you didn’t kill her. There’s a big difference between offering someone the option of death and actually facing up to your victim and caving her head in.”

Tamar clutched Jett’s arm and fell to her knees in a histrionic show of supplication. He shrugged her arm off roughly and hissed, “Get away from me, slag.”

She collapsed on the floor and began to sob noisily. Micky moved across to her and jerked her to her feet. “For fuck’s sake, get a grip,” he shouted angrily, dragging her away and thrusting her into an armchair.

“Get on with it,” Jett snapped.

“Gloria wasn’t telling me the whole truth either,” I reported. She looked startled and gazed at me with a terrified fascination.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she stammered. “I haven’t lied to you.”

“You came downstairs on the night of the murder and saw someone leaving the rehearsal room. You denied it, but there’s only one person you’d lie to protect, and that’s Jett. It was Jett you saw leaving the room, and you lied about it.”

“I never,” she shouted, like a small child who’s been caught out lying about a broken piece of crockery. “I never did.”

“What you didn’t realize was that Jett had admitted to having been in the rehearsal room earlier. But that was before Moira arrived there. So there was no point in your lie.”

Gloria collapsed into the nearest chair and buried her face in her hands. “Is there anything else you’ve lied to me about?” I asked gently.

She looked up, tears streaking her cheeks, and shook her head mutely. I was inclined to believe her.