‘More the way she spoke them. Trying too hard. It’s not an easy part, Sally Bowles.’
‘Was there a sense that the play was going to flop?’
Kate hesitated. He’d pressed too hard again. No one admits they’re involved in a turkey until it’s too late.
‘More nervousness than usual, then?’
‘I suppose.’
‘And how was Denise taking it? Was it personal for her?’
She was even more twitchy now that Denise’s name had come up again. ‘What do you mean – personal?’
‘She worked here a long time. She was proud of the theatre, wasn’t she?’
‘It was a job like any other. There’s this idea that theatre people are like a family. Sentimental tripe.’
‘You get dysfunctional families.’
‘Too true.’ She busied herself brushing the front of a jacket with such sudden force that it was a wonder the lapels stayed put. ‘But we’re professionals and we do the job we’re paid to do, or try to.’ There was strong resentment here, but what about he couldn’t tell.
‘If a play flops, you all work hard for small audiences and a blasting from the critics,’ he said. ‘I get the impression there was a lot of nervousness about this one. I’m wondering if Denise took it to heart.’
‘She felt we’d been short-changed with Clarion getting the role, and quite a number of us shared her opinion.’
‘But then it’s all over at the end of a week,’ he said. ‘Didn’t justify killing herself. Was she well balanced?’
‘I always thought so.’
‘Maybe there were other strains in her life.’
She was shaking her head before he’d got the words out. ‘I doubt it.’
‘Was she romantically involved with anyone?’
‘In the theatre?
‘Or outside.’
‘If she was, she never said a word about it. I’m sure I’d know. I’ve talked to her often enough about my own love life. It’s a standing joke that I wear my heart on my sleeves. Sleeves – geddit? Being upfront, as I am, I find encourages other people to share their secrets.’
People’s self-image is often at variance with reality. Diamond wouldn’t have called this lady upfront. ‘She lived alone.’
‘Her choice. Some of us think a man is for pleasure, not for life.’ Surprisingly in the circumstances, she was giving Diamond the eye. Maybe that was what she meant by upfront.
‘Did she have any other secrets I should know about?’
‘What are you hinting at? She wasn’t gay. Plenty of people in this profession are, but Denise wasn’t.’
‘On Monday when the play opened, did she call in here?’
‘Always does, about six, in time to deliver the costumes to the actors. She was no different from usual, just anxious about the first night, as we all were.’
‘Can you recall what was said?’
‘Not much. She was doing the rounds of the dressing rooms. It’s not a time for chat. I think we both said we hoped it would go better than the dress rehearsal. When the time came to sort Clarion out, she picked up her case and tootled off, as calm as a lake in heaven.’
‘Her case. You’re speaking of the make-up case?’
‘Yes.’
‘I want to be clear about this. Denise arrived with the makeup. Had she come straight here from her car?’
‘I assume so. She was still wearing her coat. Like I said, she always hung it on the door behind you.’
‘So no one could have tampered with the make-up before she got to Clarion’s dressing room?’
‘That’s for certain.’
Useful information. Suspicious as always, he’d been toying with the possibility that some other person could have added caustic soda to the make-up before the show. This seemed to scotch the theory. ‘Did you see her after the incident on stage?’
‘No, she went to the hospital with Clarion. I was way too busy helping Gisella. There was a swift decision to get her on as understudy, and my job was to get her into one of the Sally Bowles costumes.’
‘And make her up?’
Kate shook her head. ‘She was playing Natalia, so she was done already.’
‘She performed well, I gather?’
‘She was marvellous, considering. We had an ASM understudying her part – two small scenes – and she had to step up as well. Fortunately for me they’re similar in build. All it needed was some pinning here and there.’
‘What troubles me about all this,’ Diamond said, ‘is the phrase you used just now. You said when Denise left this room to go and see Clarion, she was “calm as a lake in heaven”.’
