She followed Jett's first hit with an unadventurous selection of torch songs, ending up with a version of 'Who Will I Turn To' that almost had tough old Brannigan in tears. The audience loved it, clapping and cheering and demanding more. Moira looked dazed and surprised by her reception, and after a few minutes of applause, she turned and asked the organist something inaudible. He nodded and she launched into Tina Turner's whore's anthem, 'Private Dancer', with the kind of bitter attack that could only come from experience. The crowd went wild. If it had been up to them, she would have been there all night, but she looked exhausted by the end of the song and escaped gratefully to the wings.
Like the audience, I'd been mesmerised by Moira and when I looked back to where Maggie had been standing, I realised I'd been letting pleasure interfere with work. Maggie had gone. Furious with myself, I hurried down the side of the room and through a pass door at the side of the stage.
I was in a narrow corridor. Two doors on the left were marked Ladies and Gents, and on my right were steps leading up to the stage. Round a corner, I found three more doors. No reply to my knock on the first. Same with the second. On the third attempt, I hit pay dirt. The door opened six inches and Maggie's face appeared in the crack. Close up, she was a pretty woman. She had small, neat features and intelligent blue eyes with laughter lines at the corners. I put her in the mid thirties. 'Can I help you?' she asked pleasantly.
I smiled. 'You must be Maggie. Hi. I'd like to see Moira.'
She frowned. 'I'm sorry, have we met?' Without waiting for a reply, she went on. 'Look, she's too tired. If it's an autograph you want, I can get her to sign one for you.'
I shook my head. 'Thanks, but I need to see her. It's a personal matter,' I stated calmly.
'Who is it?' a voice from inside the room called out.
'No one we know,' Maggie remarked over her shoulder. She turned back to me and said, 'Look, this is not a good time. She's just done a show, and she needs to rest.'
'What I have to say won't take long. I don't like to be difficult, but I'm not going till I've spoken to Moira.' I spoke firmly, with more confidence than I actually felt. I was in no doubt that Maggie could have me thrown out of there so fast my feet wouldn't touch the sticky carpets. However, to do that, she'd have to leave Moira. I couldn't see Darsett Trades and Labour Club being the kind of place that had a house phone in the star dressing room.
'What the hell's going on?' Moira demanded, pulling the door open and staring belligerently at me. It should have been a moment of triumph for me, to come face to face with my quarry like this, but any satisfaction was destroyed by the irritation in her voice. 'Are you deaf or what? She told you, I'm too tired to talk to anybody.'
'I'm sorry it's a bad time, but I need to talk to you,' I apologised. 'It's taken me a long time to find you, and it's important for you that you listen to what I have to say.' I tried a conciliatory smile which produced a scowl from Maggie, standing like a bulldog in front of Moira.
Moira sighed and pulled her white bathrobe more tightly round her. 'You're damn right, it's a bad time. I suppose you'd better come in. Let me tell you, sister, this better not be bad news.'
I waited for Maggie to move reluctantly away from the door before I entered the tiny dressing room. There were two small formica topped tables in front of mirrors, a corner sink unit, three chairs and several hooks on the wall. Moira sat down in one chair facing a mirror and carried on removing her make-up. Maggie leaned against the wall, arms folded.
I pulled a chair over beside Moira and sat down. 'I don't think it's bad news, but that's for you to decide. My name's Kate Brannigan and I'm a private investigator.' Moira flashed a quick look at me, fear in her eyes, then forced herself to look back in the mirror.
'So what's your interest in me?' she challenged.
'Jett asked me to find you,' I told her, watching for her reaction. The hand with the make-up removal pad shook and she quickly lowered it to the table.
'I don't know what you're talking about,' she said in a low voice.
'He wants to work with you again. He bitterly regrets what happened all those years ago,' I tried. My instincts told me that with Maggie in the room, I should steer well clear of the emotional arguments.
Moira shrugged. 'I haven't a clue what you're on about.'
'I think you should go now,' Maggie piped up.
I ignored her. 'Look, Moira, Jett is desperate to reach you. He says his work has gone down the tube since the two of you stopped writing songs together. As a fan, I have to agree with him. And I bet you do too. He just wants to meet you, to talk about the possibilities of making music together again. That's all. No strings.'
Moira laughed, a harsh bark. 'Oh yeah? And what's Kevin going to say about that? If you've been looking for me, you know what my life's been like the last few years. I'd be too much of a skeleton in the cupboard for Mr Clean. Never mind what Jett will think.'
'Jett knows all about it. And he didn't tell me to stop looking just because you'd been on the game, or on smack. He wants to talk to you. He doesn't care what's happened in between,' I argued as fiercely as I could.
Moira ran a hand through her short curls. 'I don't think so,' she said softly. 'Too much water under the bridge.'
'You heard her,' Maggie interjected. 'I really think you'd better go now before you upset her any more.'
I shrugged. 'If that's what Moira wants, I'll go. I told Jett he might be wasting his money, asking me to find you. I told him you might not want to be found. But he's not going to be satisfied with that. And the next private eye he hires might not do things my way.'
'Don't you threaten us!' Maggie exploded.
'I'm not threatening you,' I flashed back. I'm simply trying to be straight with you. Jett wants to find you. Whatever that takes. You might do a runner after tonight, but you've got to leave traces. Someone else will track you down, just like I did. And next time, it could be Jett knocking on your door. Don't you think it would be better to meet him on your terms, when you're prepared for it, rather than have him catching you by surprise?'
Moira's head dropped into her hands. 'You say he knows already?' she mumbled.
'He knows about everything except the singing.' And I don't think that's going to give him the screaming habdabs, I thought wryly.
Moira's head came up and she stared at her face in the mirror. 'I don't know,' she said doubtfully, lighting up a pungent Gauloise.
Maggie crossed the room, all two paces of it, and put a protective arm round Moira. 'You don't need him any more,' she declared. 'Where was he when you really needed help? If he'd been so bloody keen to find you, why didn't he do it when you left? He's just being selfish. His career's a disaster area, and he wants you to get him out of the shit. You don't owe him anything, Moira.'
Moira's head dropped into her hands. 'You say he knows already?' she mumbled.
'He knows about everything except the singing.' And I don't think that's going to give him the screaming habdabs, I thought wryly.
Moira's head came up and she stared at her face in the mirror. 'I don't know,' she said doubtfully, lighting up a pungent Gauloise.
Maggie crossed the room, all two paces of it, and put a protective arm round Moira. 'You don't need him any more,' she declared. 'Where was he when you really needed help? If he'd been so bloody keen to find you, why didn't he do it when you left? He's just being selfish. His career's a disaster area, and he wants you to get him out of the shit. You don't owe him anything, Moira.'
'Oh, I see,' I remarked. 'There's a statute of limitations on feeling guilty now, is there? Just because Jett didn't act right away, then he can only be out for himself? Is that it?'
Maggie glowered at me, but Moira actually smiled as she reached up to squeeze her lover's hand. 'He's really not like that, Maggie. He's one of the good guys. I didn't expect him to come after me. I'd been doing his head in for so long he must have been glad of the peace.'
'So what's it to be?' I asked. 'Will you at least listen to what he's got to say?'
Moira took a deep drag on her cigarette. Maggie looked as if she was holding her breath and praying. Moira blew two streams of smoke down her nose and nodded at me. 'I'll listen. When can you set it up?'
'The sooner the better. He's at home working on his new album. Believe me, he needs your help yesterday.'
Moira smiled, a wide grin that lit up her whole face and took ten years off her. 'I'll bet,' she said. 'What about tonight? Might as well get it over with.'
'But it's past ten o'clock!' Maggie protested. 'You can't go off there now.'
'Maggie, unless Jett has had a personality transplant, he'll be up watching videos and listening to music till three or four o'clock. He doesn't get up to listen to the Archers omnibus on Sunday mornings,' Moira replied, a gentle tease in her voice.
Maggie flushed. 'I still think you should leave it till tomorrow,' she said stubbornly. 'You're tired. You need a night's rest after the show.'
She still had a lot to learn, I thought sadly. Every performer I've ever met is so high after a show that they need half the night to come down to a point where sleep's possible. That's why so many of them get hooked on a mixture of uppers and downers.
As if reading my thoughts, Moira said, 'No, Maggie. Right now, I'm on a high. All that applause! Tonight, I feel like I could meet Jett as an equal. And if I sleep on it, I'll probably bottle out. Or else I'll let you talk me out of it.'
Moira got to her feet and put an arm round Maggie's waist. 'Kate, if you'll give me ten minutes, we'll meet you in the car park. Ours is the red 2CV. I'll have to go home and change into something more suitable,' she added, waving at her blue lurex dress and a jogging suit. 'If you follow us back there, then you can take me over to see Jett. If that's OK with you.'
'Fine by me,' I confirmed, feeling exultant. There's no better feeling in the world than the moment when you know you've cracked a difficult job. Moira wasn't the only one who was on a high.