Maggie sighed again. She pulled a small tin out of her pocket and with trembling fingers rolled a cigarette. “She rang the morning after. She said that she and Jett had had a long talk.” A

“It doesn’t sound unreasonable to me. I’d guess that Jett could afford it,” I agreed.

“Jett was over the moon, according to Moira. He said she’d have to work out the money details with Kevin, but it was fine by him. She was laughing, you know? She said he’d got into all this New Age stuff, and kept telling her they were soul mates and must be together. She’d told him that only extended to work and he could forget sex. Then he went all huffy and started on about spiritual love. She was very funny about it all.” Memories overwhelmed Maggie suddenly and she looked away.

Awkwardly, I said, “I liked her sense of humor, too. Maggie, did she say anything about the reactions of the others at the manor to her arrival?”

Maggie relit her cigarette and took a deep drag. “Not then. But she had plenty to say later. Only Neil seemed really pleased that she was there. He seemed to think she’d be able to fill in any gaps from the early days. I know he talked to her about what it was like before Jett hit the big time. She said Gloria was always trying to bust up their conversations. She wanted to come across as the only significant person in Jett’s life. Pathetic, really.

“Tamar hated her on sight, of course. Her and Jett have been having this on-off relationship for a few months now, and I guess she saw Moira as a threat. Moira couldn’t stand her, thought she was just a stupid bimbo, and she told me she used to wind her up by flirting with Jett when Tamar was around. But there was nothing in it. She told me that, and I believe her. I trust …” she gulped. “I trusted her.”

“What about Kevin? How did he take it?” I probed.

“She said he wasn’t thrilled, but that she wasn’t surprised because the idea of parting with any money, even if it’s not his own, gives him a physical pain. She said if he gave you his shit for fertilizer he’d want the roses. And there was a lot of money coming to her. All those years of royalties from the first three albums.”

“Did she get the money?” I suspected I knew the answer before I asked the question.

“Not yet. Kevin said it was tied up in some account where he had to wait three months before he could get access to it.”