‘Are you certain of that?’
‘Hundred per cent. I watched her.’
‘Denise putting powder on Clarion’s face while she was waiting in the wings?’ This was dynamite if it was true.
‘Yes.’
‘Was she using the same stuff as you?’
‘I don’t know. She had her own powder box.’
‘From the wardrobe department, like yours?’
She spread her hands. She didn’t know.
‘Did it look the same?’
‘I can’t say for sure. There wasn’t much light.’
He checked the tip of his little finger again. The skin was unharmed. ‘You just said you opened a new box today.’
Belinda nodded. ‘Strict orders from Mr Shearman: start with fresh powder every performance.’
‘But was that the rule on Monday, before the incident happened?’
She blushed. ‘No, I used the box I’d opened for the dress rehearsal. I didn’t want to waste it.’
‘And where had it been kept overnight? In the wardrobe department?’
‘Yes.’
‘Was there a second box beside it – the one Denise used?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. She brought her own.’
‘In a bag, or what?’
‘I don’t think she had a bag. I just saw her working on Clarion before she went on.’
‘Did you speak at all?’
‘We’re supposed to keep quiet.’
This young girl came across as a convincing witness. More and more, suspicion was returning to Denise as the cause of Clarion’s scarring. Diamond could see how impressed Ingeborg was. His hypothesis that Denise was innocent and a murder victim was unravelling by the second.
He asked about Belinda’s background, something he should have started with. ‘Did you know Clarion before you started working here?’
‘I knew about her. Everyone does. Well, everyone with an interest in music.’
‘Personally?’
She sighed. ‘I should be so lucky. I don’t mix with pop stars.’
‘Would you call yourself a fan?’
‘To be honest, she’s more for people over thirty.’
‘Not cool, then?’
‘Not any more.’
‘And you. Where are you from?’
‘Twickenham.’
He perked up. ‘I know Twickenham. I played rugby there for the Metropolitan Police.’
Ingeborg smiled at Belinda in a sisterly way and said, ‘That’s all some people know about Twickenham.’
Diamond gave Ingeborg a sharp look. ‘How much do you know about it?’
‘Eel Pie Island, Alexander Pope – ’
‘Okay, I shouldn’t have asked.’
Belinda said, ‘I was named after a character in a poem by Pope.’
‘It crossed my mind. It’s an unusual name,’ Ingeborg said.
It hadn’t crossed Diamond’s. He wasn’t going to ask which poem. There were times when he found himself in agreement with the CID gripe that Inge was too clever by half. ‘So what brought you to Bath?’
‘The job. After drama school, I applied everywhere. I want to act, but when you’re starting out you take anything you’re offered, front-of-house, part-time, anything. Mr Shearman saw me helping in the box office and said he’d do his best to find me something backstage. I got lucky.’
Shearman no doubt thought he’d got lucky, too. Before long he’d be offering something more backstage. ‘It’s tough for young actors, I’ve heard. How did you feel when you heard about Clarion walking into a starring role?’
A catch question she dealt with. ‘I was told she went to drama school.’
‘But not one of the better ones,’ Ingeborg said.
