‘Very good. Pretty graphic, I have to say, some of the throat-cutting.’
‘Don’t throw a wobbly, whatever you do. You’re over all that, I thought.’
‘Happily, yes.’
‘And the case? Is that all wrapped up now?’
‘It is.’
‘Georgina was telling everyone at the bar about young PC Pidgeon making the arrest on the staircase behind the boxes. Apparently he did a brilliant job, got an armlock on the guilty man and delivered him to the police van. He and Dawn Reed are both being recommended for promotion.’
‘So I heard.’
‘Well, the armed police weren’t needed after all.’
‘Right,’ he said. ‘Georgina is pissed off about the cost of the operation. It was all double-time, being at night, and we’re way over budget. I told her if she hadn’t insisted on Dawkins joining CID, none of this would have happened.’
‘You won’t get a commendation for tact.’
‘It was the truth.’
‘Are you certain of that?’
‘Well, I guess he would still have done the murders as a uniformed sergeant, but it would have been more difficult covering them up.’
‘When will the case go to trial?’
‘Not this year. The law works slowly.’
‘And then he’ll get life?’
‘That’s automatic, but don’t waste any sympathy on him. I feel sorry for the prison governor who gets him.’
Titus O’Driscoll joined them, a glass of wine in his hand. ‘Do you mind if I butt in? There’s something I’m anxious to know.’
‘What’s that?’ Briefly, Diamond wondered if it was about his relationship with Paloma, but it was not.
‘When you and I went backstage and looked at the number one dressing room, we found a tortoiseshell butterfly, dead, and to my embarrassment I passed out.’
‘I remember.’
‘Furthermore, I was informed that when you searched the box where Clarion was murdered, you found a second butterfly caught in a cobweb.’
‘That’s right.’
‘My question is this: did the murderer have anything to do with the butterflies?’
‘You mean did he place them there himself?’ Diamond paused for thought. ‘It’s one question he wasn’t asked. You’re thinking about the superstition, aren’t you? If you want my opinion, Titus, they found their own way there. It was a natural occurrence, or supernatural, depending on your point of view, and I think I know what yours is.’
Titus smiled.
