missed.
‘I don’t know if they’ll welcome you, guv.’
‘I’m not asking for a red carpet.’
But even before Diamond arrived, psyched up and with pulse racing, the meeting had been cancelled. He wasn’t the only one in a state of tension. The entire place buzzed with it. ‘What happened?’ he asked.
‘I’ve been trying to find out,’ Leaman said. ‘No one is saying. All I know is that the theatre director has been given a bloody nose.’
‘Shearman? Literally?’
‘Yes, it’s a right mess, I was told. He had it coming to him, if you ask me. Bumptious little sod. I didn’t get much co-operation out of him.’
‘Where is he now?’
‘In the wardrobe department being patched up. The woman in charge won’t let anyone near him.’
‘We’ll see about that.’
Diamond tried the door of wardrobe and found it locked.
‘Piss off, will you?’ Kate’s voice yelled from within.
‘It’s the police. Superintendent Diamond. Open up, please.’
There was a pause, followed by her voice again. ‘He says it’s not a police matter. He doesn’t want to lodge a complaint.’
‘Unlock the door.’
‘It’s not him you should be coming after. He’s the victim here.’
‘If you don’t open it, I’ll force my way in.’
More hesitation and voices inside followed by the sound of unlocking.
‘He can’t speak,’ Kate said, blocking the way. ‘He’s in no state to see anyone.’
‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ Diamond told her, pushing the door wider.
He was presented with the bizarre spectacle of Hedley Shearman lying face upwards on an ironing board holding a bloody tissue to his nose.
‘Vicious and unprovoked,’ Kate said. ‘It won’t stop bleeding. Is it broken, do you think?’
‘I’m not a doctor. Has he tried pinching it?’
‘What for? That will cause more pain.’
‘It has to form a clot. Try gentle pressure against the side the blood is coming from.’
Shearman did so, and groaned.
‘Who did it?’ Diamond asked Kate.
‘Preston.’
‘Preston Barnes?’
‘You’d think he’d learn to control himself. He was with the Royal Shakespeare.’ She leaned over Shearman and said, ‘How are you doing, duckling? Has it stopped yet?’
‘I don’t know,’ Shearman said without opening his eyes. The fact that he could speak was enough for Diamond to start the questioning.
‘What was this about?’
‘About Preston’s dressing room being searched,’ Kate said.
‘I’ll hear it from Mr Shearman,’ Diamond said and got closer. ‘Preston objected, did he?’
Shearman responded on a low, nasal note, pitiful to hear. He was another creature from the rampant stud seen in wardrobe the previous evening. ‘He said some of his personal things had been moved. He blamed me. I told him everyone’s room had been searched and he said I should have stood up to the police.’ A pause. ‘He didn’t say “police”, in point of fact.’
‘Where did this fight take place?’
‘It wasn’t a fight,’ Kate said. ‘It was a brutal, unprovoked assault.’
‘In the auditorium,’ Shearman said.
‘In front of several witnesses,’ Kate added. ‘Hedley was getting ready for the meeting, having the house lights put on.’
It was impossible to shut her up.
‘I didn’t stand a chance,’ Shearman said. ‘He was in a blazing temper before he started.’
‘You’ll make yourself worse with this talking,’ Kate said.
Diamond said, ‘It’s your talking that bothers me, ma’am. If you don’t button it, I’ll ask you to wait outside. Now, Mr Shearman, what is it with Preston? What’s behind this?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘He was secretive from the first day of rehearsals, insisting he was given time to psych
