committed Monday evening and we have a duty to investigate.’
She folded her arms. ‘Speak to me, then. I’m aware of all the facts.’
‘We’ll speak to Miss Calhoun.’
‘I told you. She’s not speaking to anyone.’
‘She’s spoken to you, apparently, or you wouldn’t be aware of all the facts. Are you going to step aside, or do we charge you with obstructing the police?’
‘That’s blatant intimidation,’ she said, and then, as the last words sank in, capitulated. ‘For God’s sake. Wait here. I’ll see what state she’s in.’
‘No need,’ Diamond said. ‘We’re going straight in. Inge, you go first.’
Tilda Box was incandescent, but stopped short of wrestling with them. Inge went through two sets of swing doors, turned and gestured to Diamond and he followed her into a large room and got his first sight of Clarion Calhoun. He was prepared to find a figure swathed in bandages with apertures for the eyes and mouth. Not so. The patient wasn’t bandaged and wasn’t in bed. Dressed in a white bathrobe, she was in an armchair looking at television. Her face, neck and what was visible of her chest appeared to be coated in a yellowish ointment or healing agent. To be fair, the damage to her skin was evident, flakes of tissue hanging from raw burns. She tugged at her long, blonde hair to screen her face from the intruders. ‘Who are you?’
Diamond showed the ID and introduced Ingeborg.
‘I’m not speaking to the police,’ Clarion said. ‘Tell them, Tilda.’
The agent had come into the room behind them. Diamond swung around and said, ‘Out.’
‘I absolutely refuse to leave you alone with her,’ Tilda Box said.
‘You can absolutely get lost, or I’ll absolutely do you for wilfully obstructing a police officer.’
He had Tilda’s measure. She quit the room without another word.
‘Now, Clarion,’ he said. ‘I take it you didn’t do this to yourself, so it’s our job to find who is responsible.’
She appeared to think about playing dumb. There was a lengthy pause. Then she couldn’t resist saying from behind the hair, ‘The theatre is responsible and we intend to sue.’ The voice was easy on the ear. She would have got by as Sally Bowles.
‘It may not be so simple,’ he said.
‘Explain.’
‘If someone wanted to harm you, they’re mainly to blame.’
Startled, she let go of the hair and turned, giving them a front view of her damaged face and neck. Skin has a marvellous capacity for healing, but it was hard to imagine that the scarring would ever disappear. ‘Nobody wants to harm me. That’s ridiculous. This is a clear case of negligence. They used some defective product that ruined my skin. These are chemical burns.’
‘I doubt if any cosmetics firm would sell a product as harmful as that.’
‘In case you’re not aware of it, the doctors here are world experts and they’re treating me for burns.’
‘I’m not arguing with that. I’m saying we don’t know how the make-up got to be so dangerous. Was something added to it? That’s what we need to find out.’
‘Added by mistake, you mean?’ She frowned and it was obvious that the flexing of her skin caused pain.
‘Or intention. Do you have any enemies, Clarion?’
‘No.’ The denial was total. As soon as she’d made it, uncertainty showed in her eyes.
Ingeborg said, ‘Someone as mega-famous as you is going to have enemies. You don’t get to the top without making people jealous.’
She enjoyed the flattery. It showed in her voice. ‘Envious, perhaps, but I can’t accept what you’re saying. No one could hate me that much. This is the end of my career.’
‘Has anyone threatened you recently or in the past?’
‘I’d remember, wouldn’t I? Of course they haven’t.’
‘Crazy fans? Someone else’s fans?’
‘I’m coming up to thirty. My last album was two years ago.’
‘Three, I think,’ Ingeborg said, and got a glare for her accuracy.
‘I was about to say my fans have grown up with me,’ Clarion said. ‘People of my age don’t do crazy. They’ve grown out of all that hormonal silliness.’
‘How did the theatre people treat you in rehearsal?’ Diamond asked, moving it on, but not confident of shaking the self-esteem of someone who’d basked in admiration for years. She couldn’t believe anyone would want to harm her. ‘You’re an outsider, in a way.’
‘I was at drama college, a good one. I’m not a total novice.’
‘Yes, but you’re not known for your acting and you walked into a starring role. How did they take it?’
‘With good grace. They’re professionals. My name sells tickets. Few of them would pull in an audience. That’s how it is in the commercial theatre and they accept it.’
‘Jobbing actors,’ Ingeborg said.
‘I wouldn’t say so in their presence, but yes.’
