‘I can’t,’ Dawkins said.
‘Why not?’
‘You asked me what you hear about me upsetting the civilian staff. What you hear is in your head.’
The logic was correct, but inflammatory. ‘You know bloody well what I’m talking about.’
‘That, too, is questionable.’
‘You were out of order talking about time and motion. Don’t deny it, Fred. People don’t lie about stuff like that.’
‘Time and motion?’ Dawkins scratched his head and seemed genuinely at a loss. ‘Ah, I have it. I was quoting Ford.’
‘Henry Ford?’ Diamond said, thinking of car production.
‘John.’
‘
‘’
‘Sergeant, there’s something you’d better get very clear. We don’t go in for personal abuse in this department.’
‘It’s Jacobean.’
‘It’s offensive.’
‘It’s the title of a play.’
‘I’m not on about plays. This is about you stirring up trouble in the department.’
‘By speaking of time and motion?’
‘You’ve got it.’
Unexpectedly, Dawkins made a fist and raised it. Briefly, Diamond thought he was about to strike him, but it was a theatrical pose and the man started speaking lines. ‘“Why, I hold fate clasped in my fist, and could command the course of time’s eternal motion, hadst thou been one thought more steady than an ebbing sea.”’
One thing, and one thing only, was clear. Manvers Street nick wasn’t ready for Jacobean drama.
‘“Time’s eternal motion,”’ Dawkins repeated.
‘Ah.’
‘I can explain.’
‘Save your breath. I’m beginning to cotton on. Do you make a habit of quoting lines from plays?’
‘I would characterise it as an occasional indulgence.’
‘Knock it off, for all our sakes. It caused confusion and near panic. The only quoting we do in CID is the official caution.’
‘I shall curb the habit,’ Dawkins said, and added with an earnest look. ‘I trust I haven’t blighted my prospects… guv.’
They were blighted the moment you stepped in here in that clown suit, Diamond thought. ‘So are you a theatre-goer?’
‘One of my indulgences,’ Dawkins said.
‘I suppose it comes with the dancing. Do you know the play Clarion was in?’
‘Know it, no. Know of it, yes. I haven’t seen it, which is a pity. I was at some disadvantage questioning Mr Shearman, the manager, but I formed the impression that he wasn’t all that familiar with the script himself.’
‘It’s the same story as
‘Then you were not told the whole truth. There’s no music in
‘A vehicle for Clarion Calhoun.’
‘That, I think, goes without saying.’
‘You also spoke to Denise Pearsall. What did you make of her? Was there any aggro towards Clarion?’
‘Aggravation? None that I noticed. I saw anxiety in plenty.’
‘Denise was troubled?’
‘Exceedingly.’
‘From guilt, would you say?’
‘Difficult to divine. Conscience, possibly. She appeared to accept that her make-up was the likely cause of the occurrence.’
‘Did you question her about it?’
‘Minutely. She told me she used new materials.’