‘There are ladies present.’
There was a sharp intake of breath from Ingeborg.
‘“Fun and games”,’ Dawkins said, ‘is a euphemism.’
‘For fuck’s sake, Fred,’ Ingeborg said. All the good will he’d earned with her had just drained away. ‘Do you mean sex?’
‘In a word, yes.’
‘Say it, then.’
Dawkins tugged the leather jacket more tightly across his front. ‘What if those nights in Melmot Hall didn’t turn out as Mr Melmot hoped? If the’ – he paused – ‘sex was unsatisfactory, or a disaster, he may have panicked that Clarion would tell everyone and he’d be a laughing-stock.’
No question: this new man brought fresh thinking to the team.
‘Good point, Fred,’ Diamond said. ‘It’s true she didn’t stay long.’
‘Perhaps he didn’t.’
‘Didn’t what?’
‘Stay long.’
‘What?’
Halliwell said, ‘It’s a joke, guv.’
‘Is it? Oh, I get you.’ Not many in CID had caught on.
Leaman said, ‘Those are our suspects, then?’
‘For my money, yes,’ Diamond said.
‘What about the gay guy?’
‘Titus?’
‘He knows his way around the theatre.’
‘He would. He’s the dramaturge. Advises on the scripts, or something like that. Yes, he goes backstage. He’s toured me round a couple of times. What are you driving at, John? You think Titus had a motive?’
‘I don’t know about a motive. He had the opportunity for sure if he can come and go without anyone asking what he’s up to.’
‘Agreed, but I can’t see why he’d want to damage Clarion’s face.’
Leaman backed down. ‘Just me thinking aloud, guv.’
‘No harm in that. I doubt if Titus has it in him to do anything like this. He’s full of stories about spooks, but when he saw a dead butterfly he passed out.’
Now Ingeborg thought it was worth pursuing. ‘As someone who cares about the theatre, he could have decided to stop her.’
‘But not like that.’
‘You don’t think he’s capable of it?’
‘Don’t get me wrong, any of you,’ Diamond said, ‘but I have some respect for Titus.’
No one in the room had any doubts about the big man’s sexuality and no one sniggered. Yet there was a moment of awkwardness that lasted until Dawkins cleared his throat.
Diamond turned to him. ‘You want to say something else?’
‘It popped into my head… guv.’
‘What did?’
‘A thought.’
Everyone waited. They were getting used to the slower delivery of this new man. He sometimes made sense, given a hearing.
‘The box of talcum powder in Denise’s bag was harmless.’
Diamond nodded.
‘But the fact remains that Clarion’s face was damaged by caustic soda.’
‘Correct.’
Ingeborg drummed her fingers on the desk in impatience.
Dawkins was not to be put off. He was into his stride now.
‘What if there was a second box?’ Diamond frowned. ‘There wasn’t, not in her bag.’ ‘A box she used for last- minute powdering, when Clarion was waiting to go on, one she kept in the wings on some ledge where she could reach for it when needed? It could still be there.’
‘Possible, I suppose,’ Diamond said, weighing the suggestion. He and Ingeborg had watched the young girl Belinda brushing the actors’ faces and she’d said Denise had been there the first night. ‘Yes, definitely worth checking. Inge, you can take this on.’
