Clifton Loses Out

Artifice versus real life.

CLIFTON LOSES OUT

 

The view from the helicopter was one of red brick buildings and streets that separated one area from another. Against the backdrop of blue sky it was hard to imagine what was going on down below. As the helicopter dropped lower the sounds of police cars and ambulances could be heard. As it dropped even lower, shouting was also in evidence. There was nothing strange going on just an ordinary day in a working district. The helicopter dropped down onto a special landing pad and the door opened and a couple of men, who happened to be police detectives, got out and ran to where more police and detectives were waiting for them.

“Good morning. I’m detective Keith Fowler, who had you rung so that you’d be in on the case from the start. The reason is, that the deceased is most probably from your district anyway.” The detective held out his hand to Detective Inspector Brandon Hawke, who took it and gave it a vigorous shake.

“Pleased to meet you. Let’s get on with the matter in hand.”

 

Detective Fowler led the way, followed by his own men, plus the two that Hawke had taken along with him to the television studios. The enormous doors were opened from inside and the police went in. The contrast between light from the street and the dull light from inside made the situation even more dismal.

“The dressing- rooms are over here,” Fowler said.

“Was the body found in the dressing-room?” Hawke asked his counterpart.

“Yes, it was. Unfortunately, it had been moved, and now we can’t say for sure where the crime took place.”

“Where is the body now?”

“It’s with the forensics, who should be able to tell us something quite soon. Shall we go and see what they have found so far?” Fowler said.

“Yes, come on, let’s go and have a good look at the remains of a star,” Hawke said with a wry smile.

 

The victim of the most severe battering anyone could remember, was lying on an examining table. Hawke was introduced to those already present and he gazed down at the inert body. Dynamite Donna, as she was commonly known, was a ventriloquist doll. She had her own show and was popular with young and old alike. Donna wore a curly red wig, and when on television appeared in any one of her fantastic nightdresses which were sold for a fair sum of money. Donna had a problem because her owner’s girl friend, Nancy, was jealous of Donna. Nancy was always complaining that Clifton was more interested in the dummy than he was in her. Nancy chose a lot of Donna’s clothes, and she felt that she was never given credit for her efforts. Now that Donna was not in a fit state to appear on television or do any kind of publicity, it was to be expected that Nancy would be happy with her rival for Clifton’s affections out of the way. But Nancy wasn’t so stupid as to plot and plan the horrendous attack on Donna. So who could have carried out the deadly deed?

Donna’s disappearance from the scene was not made public knowledge for reasons of the popularity of the show. The writers wrote out Donna, and said she had gone on holiday to visit her ailing mother, whereas in fact the dummy’s corpse was with both eyes missing, an arm wrenched off, and her legs all cut up. Her clothes had been almost shredded, so it was obvious that no members of the public or the others who were on the show with her, would want to see Donna in such a bad state. By keeping her out of the way for a good time, the effects staff saw the possibility of being able to put her to rights, and make her prettier and better dressed than before.

 

The television show where Donna stood out as the most important performer was created around the activities of children. Both boys and girls took part and were more than happy to do so. The problem was of course - the mothers, who didn’t quite approve of Donna, saying that, as she was a dummy she shouldn’t have so much attention. Sometimes the characters were wearing nightgowns as publicity for the show and for which, manufacturers were happy to pay a huge sum of money, due to the fact that all the children who saw the advert would beg their mothers for the desired garment.

Donna was out of the way, so Charlotte, Sally, and Dina, would have more starring parts till she returned. The little boys were not included in that event. Were the small girls up to the level of Donna’s humour and behaviour? The mothers of the three girl stars were nerve-ridden. They all thought that their little girl should have more to say or do. In the end, the producer banished them from the studio, and the girls were put into the care of child minders. It had been decided that for the moment only the girls would be used in the shows.

 

If the workers at the studios thought they had problems, the detectives had even more. Who on earth would want to destroy a ventriloquist’s dummy? The detectives called in to try and solve the case were as perplexed as those that were on the spot.

“What DNI is there on the dummy’s remains?” Hawke asked Fowler.

“I’ve already asked that question, and at the moment they are working on sweat marks and fingerprints on the hard parts of the dummy: like the face, arms and legs, as well as checking out the instruments that were used.”

Hawke gazed down at the damaged dummy and almost felt sorry for the inanimate creature. “Who are the people involved in the show?”

“There is a writer, dressmaker, music composer, children’s director, wardrobe mistress. Then there are cameramen, the carpenters, and others who make the sets.”

“Do you know of anyone who hated Donna or Clifton enough to destroy his money-maker?” Hawke asked Fowler.

Fowler thought for a minute and then, “That’s a pretty good direction to move towards. Find out if there are any frustrated ventriloquists in the studios.”

 

Back at the television studios the atmosphere was at boiling point. The dressing-room that Clifton and Donna had shared had been cordoned off and locked by the police. Clifton wasn’t to be seen, he was at home making an effort not to take to drink, and accept what had happened to Donna. Nancy was with him, doing her best to perk him up. She was as much in the dark about the attack on Donna as everyone else. A lot of her friends had laughed and made fun of her, when she had told them she was going out with a ventriloquist. “Tell him to get a proper job.” “Do you want to spend the rest of your life hanging about waiting for him to finish his act?” were the commonest jibes. Nancy liked Clifton’s profession, in spite of not being over-keen on Donna. But she put up with the dummy, because it had been in Clifton’s life long before she was.

 

The detectives arrived at the television studios to interview all those who worked there. They got no joy out of it, as nobody was saying anything. They all remained silent and totally ignorant of the attack. The four most interesting women were those who worked closely with Clifton and Donna. They were: Lauren Jones, who had always fancied Clifton; Jackie Brown, who designed the children’s and dummy’s outfits; Rosemary Shoesmith, who helped write the music; and Alice Baker, who had dreams of her own. The four ladies were heavily questioned by the police, but weren’t saying anything - like all the rest of the workers. No one knew anything!

 

Clifton was feeling utterly depressed and quite out of sorts. He said to Nancy, “I’d rather be alone right now. I can’t seem to get my head around Donna being attacked in such a way.”

Nancy felt offended, but limited her words to, “You know what’s best for you. Ring me when you change your mind and want company.”

Nancy let herself out, and Clifton sat alone staring into space. He knew he had to do something more positive than sit around thinking of Donna and what happened to her. He stood up and went into his bedroom, changed into sports gear and a track suit, grabbed his sports bag, and went down to his car. In fifteen minutes he had parked his car and was entering the fitness centre. Clifton knew many of the clients and was greeted by them as soon as he began his workout. He threw himself into the physical activity even harder than he would have done normally.

Unknown to Clifton he was being closely observed by Lauren Jones. She had guessed correctly where he could be found. They had met a couple of times at the fitness centre but Clifton had treated Lauren as a workmate and nothing more. She wondered where Nancy could be for just one minute, before she took it into her head to get into her own work out. The atmosphere in the television studio was too tense to bear, so she had gone to the fitness centre to work out and rid herself of any tension.

 

In the local police station the detectives were talking about their investigations into the television studio personnel. They hadn’t come up with anything relevant to the case.

“We need to know more about Donna herself. Why was she given that name, and why did Clifton choose a girl dummy instead of a boy?” Fowler suggested.

“Perhaps he had an ex-girlfriend called Donna,” Hawke said.

“That’s one of he most obvious reasons. What do we know about Nancy?” Cory Graham asked.

“They met when she went backstage at one of his shows for his autograph and a chat,” Mitch Little offered.

“They are friends and don’t live together. He lives with Donna,” Fowler added.

“Reason enough for trying to destroy Donna. I think the women around Clifton need looking into,” Hawke reckoned.

 

Charlotte, Sally and Dina were sitting in a cafe with their mothers. The girls were allowed a small milkshake, but their mothers stuffed their faces with large sugary cakes and lattes. The small girls were all victims of frustrated mothers who all wished they had been pushed onto the stage. The women were in permanent competition for their daughters’ success. Whenever they had tea out, they excused themselves for the sugary indulgence by saying they needed the boost. The three little girls looked very similar, they all had short red curly hair and bright blue eyes. They looked very much like Donna.

 

Damaged Donna had been sent back to her creators, who felt a great deal of distress on seeing her. Donna’s poor face displaying the large round eye-sockets were painful to gaze upon. The glass eye maker had already entered Donna’s web page, and had ordered another pair of bright blue eyes. A red curly wig caused no problems, because the wig maker usually had several similar ones in case of an accident. Donna’s new legs were ready and they were fitted to her body very easily. The missing arm was also replaced without causing any extra work. Donna was famous for wearing and popularising nightgowns. The nighties she wore were the traditional ones as seen in fairy tales - long sleeves and lace-edged collar. The little girls were dressed in similar models. At times the television viewers had difficulty in distinguishing Donna from Charlotte, Sally and Dina. The little boys wore red curly wigs too, and pyjamas. All of the characters including Donna carried an old- fashioned candlestick holding a candle.

 

The detectives were in an empty interview room watching one of Donna’s programmes. Clifton had modelled Donna’s character on his mother and some manipulative women he had known. The detectives had never seen the show before and found it rather disturbing.

“I don’t know if it’s just me, but I find the idea of Donna rather unpleasant,” Hawke said to Fowler.

“She really is quite awful - sinister in fact. However the sales of children’s nightgowns and pyjamas have rocketed. The manufacturers are very pleased.”

“Why are they holding candlesticks?” Mitch Little asked.

“It’s all part of a quasi-bedtime scene reminiscent of fairy tales,” Fowler said.

“Then it’s just sheer fantasy, but do the young viewers know that?” Cory Graham asked.

“Somehow I doubt it,” Fowler added.

“Why does Donna wear a red curly wig?” Hawke asked.

“Now that’s something we’ll have to ask Clifton about. When the programme was still in the rehearsing stage he insisted on everyone wearing red curly wigs,” Fowler said.

“Perhaps he has a relative in the business,” Hawke commented.

 

Clifton went to the doll factory to pick up Donna after the treatment. She was handed over to him by one of the technicians.

“You’ve done a wonderful job in restoring Donna to her original beauty,” Clifton said emotionally.

“Everyone involved did their best,” the young technician said. “When can we hope to see you and Donna on television again?”

“We’ll all appear in public when the perpetrator of the fiendish act is apprehended. She’ll stay in a safe place till then.”

“Are there any clues as to who did it?” the technician asked.

“The police haven’t told me anything yet. So far, the case is still under wraps. Thank you very much for Donna’s restoration. Bye,” Clifton said.

“Bye. And bye to you, Donna.”

“Bye,” Donna said, as she and Clifton left the building.

 

Nancy was fed up, and feeling rather abandoned with Clifton having left her to go and see Donna in the ‘hospital’, as she called it. She had always believed in having more than one iron in the fire, and had accepted a dinner invitation with a man from the television company. Nancy had no qualms about going out with another man, due to Clifton’s obsession with Donna. She realized that her friends who had ridiculed her when they knew she was going out with a ventriloquist, had been right about some things.

“Nancy, what do you know about Donna’s present state?” Bill, her date, asked her.

“Is this the reason you’ve asked me out to dinner, to pump me for information about Clifton and Donna?”

“No, of course not. What a suggestion! I like you, Nancy, for yourself, and I’m sorry you’re offended.”

I accept your apology, but I’m as much in the dark as you are. Let’s change the subject, and talk about something more agreeable.”

“Like what for instance?” Bill asked.

“Like us for instance,” Nancy said, smiling at him.

 

The little girls’ mothers didn’t like each other very much, but they all agreed that something had to be done about their daughters’ futures. Charlotte’s mother, Margaret, was of the opinion that they needed to see the publicity agency that had employed Donna and their daughters. “We’re not going to help our girls by hanging around here waiting for Donna to show her face again, so we should be looking at another job with the agency.”

Sally’s mother, Jennifer, said, “Do you think that’ll be easy?”

“It’s nothing to do with being easy, but being practical. None of us are in the know about Donna’s present situation. We might be sitting here for ages and not earning any money at all,” Carol, Dina’s mother added.

“Our first attempt to get Donna out of the way hasn’t worked, and now we have to find a more permanent solution. Well, Ladies, either of you with any idea?” Margaret asked.

Jennifer and Carol sat in silence for a few minutes, then Carol said, “We had a chat the other evening, and thought that maybe we could go and see the publicity agency, and get it to set up another advert with just the boys and girls, and leaving Donna’s part out of it.”

Jennifer said, “It was just a thought.”

“I like it. So let’s get going and see the agency,” Margaret said.

 

Nobody in the studio had a clue about Donna and Clifton’s whereabouts, and not even Nancy knew she had been repaired. The mothers weren’t worried about the police, they could suspect them all they wanted, but it wouldn’t get them anywhere.

 

The visit to the publicity agency by the trio of mothers was not bad, as they had a lot going for them. Donna’s continuing absence and the lack of footage of the children during the time she was being repaired, had sent the ratings right down.

“Have any of you ideas what might be done to push up the ratings?” the agency man asked.

“We think Donna should be written out, and a new story set up,” Margaret said.

 

That day the writer was sent for, and the directors of the studio and the agency and everyone came to an agreement that something had to be done about Donna’s continuing absence. Clifton was still out of touch and therefore so was Donna, which helped the others to put new ideas forward. Before the advent of Donna and the nightdresses and the girls, there had been children’s clothing companies after a slot on the television showing their outfits being worn by boys and girls. The grand opportunity was upon them to do it, and they did.

 

Filming began a few days later in the studio. It didn’t occur to anyone to tell Clifton that he and Donna were no longer wanted.

“Suppose he tries to sue us because his contract has been broken?” Jennifer asked the publicity agent.

“There are ways of getting out of contracts. Whoever damaged Donna did us all a favour. The general public was becoming rather tired of Donna and her nightdresses,” replied the publicity agent.

 

The news broke that Donna was finished, and a new type of publicity was in the works. Nobody gave a thought to Clifton and his dummy. Some of his old cohorts thought that he was rather a ‘dummy’ himself.

 

Nancy was doing well with her new boyfriend, and got on all right with his mother, who was an easier prospect than the ‘dummy’.

 

Lauren never saw Clifton again at the fitness centre, and when she tried to find him, she found herself facing a wall of silence.

 

The helicopter hovered above the city before it soared higher and higher on its way back home. The detectives were sitting inside.

 

Detective Inspector Brandon Hawke turned to the others, and said, “Would one of you mind telling me what all that was about?”