He recognized the voice first and the face confirmed it and his greet-the-day optimism evaporated. ‘Sergeant Dawkins? What are you doing in here, dressed like that?’
‘Nothing yet, your eminence,’ Dawkins said, ‘but I expect to remedy that.’
He ignored the ‘your eminence’ in pursuit of an explanation. ‘I mean why aren’t you in uniform?’
‘In a sense, I am.’
‘Come off it, sergeant. I’m not getting into one of these obscure debates with you. That is not your uniform.’
‘Not the uniform you expected, I grant you.’
‘Are you off duty?’
‘Far from it.’ Dawkins gave a smile that lit up the room. ‘On which happy note, I can declare that in this, of all places, my present apparel passes for a uniform.’
‘It does not.’
‘No one wears regulation blues here.’
‘Yes, but we’re CID and you’re not.’
Dawkins chuckled at that. ‘Have you not heard from the Assistant Chief Constable? I was assigned to your command late yesterday.’
‘That can’t be right.’ Suddenly he knew what it meant to be staring down the barrel of a gun.
‘A reinforcement, ACC Dallymore calls me.’
‘We’ll see about that,’ Diamond said. He marched straight through to his office, slammed the door, snatched up the phone and asked to be put through to the ACC and was told she was at a policy meeting at Headquarters and wouldn’t be in all day. Even before he replaced the receiver he saw the memo on his desk from Georgina:
Peter, I have assigned Sergeant Dawkins to CID for a probationary period with immediate effect. As you know, he has made several applications for a transfer and I believe the time is now right to give him this opportunity. His individual qualities will, I am confident, strengthen the team. I may add that he comes with the recommendation of his senior officer.
‘I bet he does,’ Diamond muttered with all the bitterness of a man who has been shafted. With Georgina out all day he couldn’t overrule her. He sat for two minutes in stunned confusion. Finally he looked for a get-out in the word ‘probationary,’ telling himself he would make sure it was the shortest probation ever. The man would trip up before he’d taken two steps.
He opened the door and looked out. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Dawkins.’
‘I know that. Your first name.’
‘Horatio.’
It was all of a piece. ‘And is that suit your idea of plain clothes?’
‘Civilian wear.’
‘But it isn’t plain. You’re going to stand out in a crowd wearing that. Haven’t you noticed what the others wear, casual gear, like T-shirts and jeans and leather jackets?’
‘With all due et cetera, sir, T-shirts and jeans and leather jackets are not to be found in my wardrobe.’
‘You wear that suit around the house?’
‘In point of fact, no. This is my walking out wear.’
‘What do you wear indoors, then?’
‘When not in uniform, I favour my dance things.’
‘Say that again.’
‘Singlets and leggings. I’m often barefoot around the house.’
‘You’re a dancer?’
‘I do a certain amount, yes.’
There was a pause. ‘As in Swan Lake?’
‘I prefer flamenco.’
Diamond pictured him strutting around the office in Spanish costume and couldn’t see it going down well with the team. ‘That’s remarkable, but it doesn’t solve the problem of the suit.’
‘If I may be so bold…’ Dawkins started to say, and then amended it to, ‘If I may presume to comment…’
‘What do you want to say?’
‘I am not alone in wearing a suit.’
‘You mean I’m in one? I’m in charge here. Besides, mine is plain grey. I don’t know what colour you call yours but it hurts my eyes to look at it. Haven’t you anything more subdued at home?’
‘Dark blue overalls, for garden duties.’
He pictured that for a second. ‘I don’t think so. We’ll put up with this today and find some office work for you. The public isn’t ready for that suit. Take off the jacket and sit behind a desk. Other people will be in soon. Oh, and for your own salvation we’ll call you Fred.’
‘Fred?’
‘As in Astaire, but we needn’t say so.’
‘May I venture to ask why?’
‘The dancing. And because other people can be cruel, that’s why.’
A little later, after more quiet reflection and gnashing of teeth, Diamond emerged from his office again and addressed the troops, by now all present and ready for any other shocks the day might bring. They’d taken stock of the new arrival and were keeping their distance.
‘Some of you know Fred Dawkins already. He’s on secondment from uniform. No doubt he’ll make his own unique contribution to the team. And he comes at a critical moment, because we have a new line of enquiry. Keith and Inge went to the theatre last night.’
Some joker at the back made sounds suggesting unbridled sex. Ingeborg turned and gave a withering glare. Normal service had been restored.
‘Was the play any good?’ Diamond asked.
‘Not much,’ Keith Halliwell said. ‘It creaks a bit.’
‘We didn’t see the first half,’ Ingeborg said. ‘We went backstage.’
‘How did you manage that?’
‘By passing ourselves off as press. There was a security man on the stage door. The regular guy wasn’t on duty.’
‘And you collected the little item I requested?’ Diamond said.
Ingeborg turned to Halliwell, who produced his specs case and opened it like a jeweller displaying a precious stone.
The dead tortoiseshell hadn’t travelled well. Damaged at the edges and missing one of its antennae, it wouldn’t have been of much interest to a butterfly collector, but at least it was out of the theatre.
‘You may be wondering why I wanted this,’ Diamond said. ‘It isn’t my latest hobby. This turned up in the dressing room used by Clarion Calhoun the other night. A dead butterfly is a bad omen in the Theatre Royal. A live one would be good news. Don’t ask me why. It would take too long. All you need to know is that theatre people are deeply superstitious. There’s enough nervousness in that place already without this making it worse.’
‘Did Clarion see it?’ Paul Gilbert, the youngest DC, asked.
‘We don’t know. We’re not even sure if she knows about the butterfly jinx.’
‘Are you thinking someone placed it there to scare her?’
‘Let’s keep an open mind on that. This sad little critter may have been trapped in the room.’
‘How did you know it was there, guv?’ DI John Leaman asked.
‘I was given a tour yesterday lunchtime.’
‘So you’re not the only one who saw it?’
‘My guide saw it. He fainted and appears to have no memory of the incident.’
‘Fainted when he saw the butterfly?’
‘Right.’
‘Bit extreme.’
‘Titus is a bit extreme.’ He added in a tone that didn’t encourage a comeback from anyone, ‘And we were on a so-called ghost hunt at the time. But let’s get back to reality and Clarion’s injury. I called Frenchay Hospital just now and she’s still in the burns unit receiving treatment. There can be no question that the skin damage is real.’
‘Wounding with malicious intent?’ Leaman said.
‘That’s a possibility. Inge, tell the team.’
She nodded. ‘After we found the butterfly, we went backstage and met Kate, the wardrobe manager. She was on extra duties because Denise Pearsall called in earlier to say she was too upset to carry out her duties properly.’
There was a sound like a liner being launched: Dawkins clearing his throat.
‘You want to say something, Fred?’ Diamond had a sense of dread.
‘If you please, superintendent.’
‘“Guv” will do if you want to call me anything at all.’
‘Pardon me. Such an appellation smacks of over-familiarity on one’s first day.’