|
|
The report I received from Campsie aligned closely with my take on the matter of Fordun's lifestyle, based on my late-night excursions following her through the caverns and the details I had gleaned from the assorted gossips in the building. According to those sources, it seemed that Miss Machany Fordun very much preferred to keep herself to herself and did not associate with any of the other performers or even any of the management - other than Broxden himself, of course. Every night when the club was open, she would arrive at the stage door of the Stalactite Saloon an hour or two before her performance was scheduled to start, invariably accompanied by several assistants and minders. My informants said she was prepared for the stage by her own dresser and make-up artist with only a minimal interaction with Rhynd Deuchny and his wardrobe crew. Ten minutes before curtain-up, she would appear at the door of her private dressing room - not a room shared with anybody else, of course - to be greeted by Broxden clutching a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of excellent champagne, but at this stage she permitted him little more than a kiss on the cheek - we don't want to smudge the make-up, do we, Dahlink? - before graciously accepting his presents. Fordun would then perform a couple of sets on stage with just a short break in between - performances which no doubt justified her top billing, I would say - before returning directly to her dressing room. There she would change into - well, I was going to say, street clothes, but Machany Fordun could never be accused of wearing just ordinary street clothes - another outfit before being whisked off to a late dinner at whatever was considered to be today's most fashionable restaurant by Broxden. After dinner - where she ate and drank moderately, but with great appreciation and much gaiety and laughter, according to my sources - Fordun would make a short visit to Broxden's apartment - I'm sure I don't need to spell out exactly what went on there - and then returned to her own accommodation, without fail. She never stayed overnight at Broxden's place - not once - but always left after an hour or so to go home, as always accompanied by a minder. So, was this just the normal kind of stellar behaviour: the natural reticence or overweening pride of a grand star destined for much greater things than the little stage in a popular nightclub. Well, that could be so, but I did wonder whether there some other reason? There was also the little question of exactly who Fordun shared her apartment with. The accommodation itself was large and, I had been given to understand, tastefully decorated - the kind of tastefulness that strongly suggested that a professional interior decorator had been employed. But in that part of the caverns, the rental for such a place would surely be beyond the reach of even the most well-paid stage performer, although I grudgingly conceded that it might be just be affordable for two equally well-paid artistes. Besides, Broxden had told me that Fordun shared the apartment with a girlfriend, also in the theatrical business - presumably, this is why they retired to his apartment after dinner. I saw no reason why he should have lied to me about such a trivial thing, so I concluded that it was not Broxden himself who was picking up the tab. So who was the mystery flat-mate? Nobody that I had spoken to had seen or heard of another person entering or leaving the apartment, or heard anything like conversation from within, or seen movements at the drapes which could not be associated with Fordun herself. The obvious conclusion was that she actually lived alone, a conclusion which immediately led to the next question, which was: who was paying the rent on Fordun's apartment?
|
Part 51