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acting in only a professional capacity. He knew my musical tastes ran differently to his, but that wasn't an issue.”
“His death came quickly, but it wasn't sudden. Why do you think he neglected this piece in his will? Did he not mention it to you at all?”
“I was with him often in his last days. There were some final adjustments to his will, all properly witnessed and signed, and never was there any mention of this piece.”
“Can you think of any reason for that?”
“Only that it must have slipped his mind completely.”
“But, according to expert analysis, Last Rhapsody was only recently completed.”
“Perhaps that explains it. He had a lot on his plate near the end.”
“You are, perhaps, talking about his tumultuous, on-again, off-again, relationship with Michelle? Or maybe his roaring arguments with his younger brother, Roger? Or was it the rumours of a secret love affair?”
“I was thinking of his cancer, Carmen.”
“… So, Mason, who do you think should have the rights to this piece?”
“Unlike so many others, I think it's very clear. It should fall with the rest of the residuary estate.”
“Which goes to a charity, I see. A charity for which you are one of the administrators.”
“Just one of several, Carmen.”
- - -
“Charles—”
“Call me Charlie, please.”
“All right. Charlie. You're with us tonight on behalf of a Seymour Layton fan club, is that right?”
“That's right, Carmen. The Layers, it's a reference from one of his very early pieces. I'm one of the founding members. We're the oldest official supporters group. Seymour used to come online and chat with his fans at our site as often as he could.”
“I see. And your group—”
“Not just our group. His fans world-wide agree with us on this. We're convinced his death was no accident.”
“It was cancer.”
“We believe that was just a cover up. Some believe his wife – I won't repeat on air what some of his fans call her – irradiated Seymour to cause his cancer.”
“Surely that's just—”
“But others are convinced that his brother did something, or maybe that shady looking character that handled all the legal stuff after his death. In fact you brought up—”
“Charlie, there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding Seymour Layton's death.”
“That just shows you how clever it was. There's even a small faction of the fans that think one of his students arranged it – some quite plausible scenarios have been offered.”
“It was unusual, wasn't it, for a musician in Seymour Layton's position to take on students. More than unusual, unprecedented.”
“That's just the sort of man that Seymour was. Very giving. If more professional musicians followed his example, tutoring and mentoring upcoming musicians, and interacting with their fans in such an open and active way, then the whole music industry would be better off.”
“There were rumours that Layton had affairs with some of his students – male and female.”
“That's just too clichéd to really believe, isn't it, Carmen? It's just the sort of thing Seymour's critics would make up to discredit him. He was a lovely man with many friends. Certainly he was openly affectionate, but that's just who he was.”
“And what did the fans make of Last Rhapsody when Ben Cain made it available to all?”
“At first there was a lot of doubt, it was only to be expected. But as soon as anyone really sits down to listen to it the doubt simply vanishes. It's a beautiful piece, quite possibly his best work – although not everyone agrees with me on that. Many fans have suggested it must have been written after he realised he was going to die, that he was trying to bring all his brilliance together in one piece. It is, almost literally, a culmination of everything he'd done so far.”
“What makes you say that, Charlie?”
“It's just so beautifully and thoughtfully composed. There are echoes of almost everything Seymour ever did, they run right through it.”
“So it's a derivative work? A copy of what he's done before?”
“Certainly not! We've heard that accusation before, but even Michelle and Roger have joined together to denounce such ridiculous claims. All the true experts agree, this is something that builds on what went before in a completely original way. It's a perfect expression of who Seymour Layton was, and how his music has always made people feel.”
“Is it right that most of his fans want to see this Last Rhapsody placed officially in the public domain?”
“Absolutely, Carmen. The way it was found and released is something that Seymour would have thoroughly approved. We believe this piece was written for his fans. Some say that it was Seymour's spirit that guided Ben to the music, and helped him to make it available in this way.”
“Layton left no other music to the public. Doesn't it make sense that he would want any money from this piece to go towards his family, or maybe to one of the charities he supported in his will.”
“No, we don't see that at all. If Seymour was still alive, all his fans would willingly keep buying his music to support him. But now he's dead, where's the money going to go but to his cheating wife or his undeserving brother? What have they ever done to deserve any more?”
“But—”
“No, Carmen. The fans are what brought Seymour Layton his fame and fortune. I feel confident in stating that Seymour, if he were here with us now, would say that his fans are the ones that deserve this small thank you for their support throughout his career, support that continues even now, after his death.”
- - -
“Why do you think that nothing has been found that speaks of his work on this piece?”
“Carmen, once you have looked through all his files, as I have, you see that there is often no mention of what he was working on at any particular time. When Seymour finished a piece he would often destroy his notes, not wanting any reminders of the imperfections that existed along the way. He said that he only wanted to remember the final product, the sculpture at the end, not all the chisel marks and battered fingers along the way. He could be quite the poet, my brother.”
“Do you think Seymour would be happy that you have gone through all his things? He said some very unflattering things about you in the press.”
“All families have their tiffs, it's just those in the spotlight of the media that get blown out of all proportion. Despite what the press has reported, my brother and I were very close.”
“Michelle has said otherwise.”
“Michelle would have to, wouldn't she? It was usually her that Seymour and I would argue about.”
“Oh?”
“She was bad for him, and Seymour didn't like it when I told him that.”
“Is Michelle the reason why you weren't at your brother's funeral?”
“It felt horrible to have to stay away like that, but it would have been worse to have caused a scene. I knew I couldn't trust Michelle to remain civil, so my only recourse was to absent myself. Seymour would have understood.”
“And what of Last Rhapsody, do you like it?”
“Very much. Like many, I consider it to be the best thing my brother did. I firmly believe it will soon become his signature piece, the one that everyone recognises as being the definitive Seymour Layton.”
“And who should control the rights?”
“You already know the answer to that, Carmen, I've said it often enough to the press.”
“You think they should go to you?”
“I think that would only be fair. He was my brother, I think it's only appropriate that I should retain control over what will become the greatest of my brother's legacies.”
“The press reports that he left you a substantial amount of money, isn't that enough?”
“It's not about the money. It's about Seymour's l
egacy to the world. It's about the Seymour Layton name. Who knows what crazy thing Michelle may end up doing with those pieces that were left in her control.”
“But isn't that the point? He left some music to Michelle, but none to you.”
“I think this was the piece he was planning to leave to me, but his illness, in the end, got too much for him and he simply forgot to put it in.”
“What about charity? Wouldn't it be logical to leave all the rights to charity? Wouldn't that be the fairest outcome from all this?”
“Carmen, what charity has the expertise to handle this properly? We have to see the existing proliferation of pirate copies stopped. We have to see the piece professionally produced and packaged. And we have to provide the ongoing management of advertising and related complications. It's not something that a charity or Michelle, quite frankly, is competent to handle.”
- - -
“Sergeant, you should see this.”
“What have you got?”
“The tech' guys just sent up the last of the files off that drive.”
“Haven't we already seen all that?”
“There were still a couple of small ones that the kid hadn't gotten around to opening. This one's a letter.”
“Don't make me get up, read it out to me.”
“Um hmm. Okay. It reads …
“My Dearest Seymour,
“It is a sad testament to our lives that it should have been necessary to keep our relationship secret, and even sadder that it should remain so with your death. Don't get me wrong, I do understand. Michelle would jump to all the wrong conclusions, and Roger … well, best to leave that unsaid. I do think you are wrong about your fans though, I think they would forgive you