‘Christ, you don’t ask for much; that’s going to take for ever. We’ve got fifty-nine people here, and we’ve got to have rehearsals, as well as do the shows. How long is all this going to take?’

‘It will take as long as we need it to. As you said, we have a lot of people to talk to, so if you work with us, we can get on with it and interview everyone down here. If we get any grief from anyone, then we’ll take the whole show down to the station. Do you understand me?’

‘Perfectly.’ His chest had caved somewhat, and shoulders slumped. DI Johns’ posture had puffed up as Terry Bennett’s had deflated.

‘Do your overseas acts speak English? Do you have interpreters?’

‘They all have at least one whose English is good.’

‘We’re also going to need fingerprint and DNA samples from everyone.’

‘Bloody hell. Do you want a pound of flesh too?’ Mr Bennett did sarcasm with polished expertise.

DI Johns shot him a look that would have withered a concrete fencepost. ‘You have the right to have a lawyer present for all of the interviews. Can you nominate one, or would you like me to provide a list of local lawyers in Dunedin?’

‘I’m not paying money to any blood-sucking lawyer. No one here has done anything wrong. I can assure you, you’re wasting your time, and ruining us in the process. No, no lawyers. I’ll sit in with each of my people – make sure you lot don’t talk them into a corner.’ It was so comforting to see the regard with which he held the police.

‘I’m afraid you can’t do that. You are a potential suspect yourself, so you will not be able to be present at the interviews with your crew.’

‘Oh, fucking hell, you bastard.’ Terry Bennett spat the insult out. ‘You think I killed all those people, do you?’

I waited for the explosion from DI Johns but was disappointed. The DI showed great restraint and didn’t take umbrage at the querying of his parentage. ‘No,’ he said with exaggerated calm, ‘it is a conflict of interest to have you present at the interviews, so to protect everyone’s right to proper counsel and a fair interview, you cannot be present, and I’d recommend very strongly they have a lawyer. Especially if some of them do not speak good English. You wouldn’t want any of your people to unwittingly incriminate themselves because they didn’t understand the questions, would you?’

‘Well, no.’

‘And in the event that one of them, or some of them were brought to trial, we have to ensure that procedures have been properly followed.’