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help the police, without putting me, or anyone else, in danger. Do you understand?"
    "Yes."
    "So, what can you tell me about Jaynee? Was she popular?"
    "Oh yes. Everyone liked her. She got on well with everybody."
    "Including her producer?"
    Holly's viewpoint certainly didn't tally with what I'd heard from Candy Clark.
    "Yes. I remember once in the canteen, somebody spilt vinegar and it went on Candida's dress. JayJay was really sympathetic and said how disfiguring the acid could be, but then she looked at the mark and said it would all come out in the wash."
    I wasn't as sure as Holly seemed to be that this was a mere girl-to-girl chat about laundry but I let it pass.
    "And what about her co-star?"
    "Mr Ferrari? He's gorgeous, really nice." Her eyes looked wistful for a moment though I hadn't missed the formality. "My friend Lauren, in make-up, says he hardly needs to spend any time in her chair before recording the show."
    "Did he and JayJay get on?"
    "Oh yes. They got on really well together. She always said that as a presenter he made an excellent dancer."
    My head shot up from my notebook. That hardly tallied with what Candida had told me. The producer had reckoned the two stars had had a romance.
    "Really? Were they seeing each other?"
    Fleetingly, a pinched look crossed Holly's face, though whether in distaste or disapproval, I couldn't tell.
    "I think they might have gone out on a date a couple of times but I don't think it was serious." She dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand. "JayJay had lots of admirers."
    Hmmm. Holly was either too young or too innocent to be a good observer of human nature and the people around her, by the sound of it. Time to change tack.
    "Did anyone ever threaten her?"
    "What, here?" She sounded aghast. "Oh no."
    "She didn't, for example, receive threatening letters or hate mail?"
    Holly shook her head.
    "No, just loads of fan mail. She was really popular."
    I began to think I was wasting my time. Holly's sunshine view of the world offered no clues to the dead woman's real personality, what she truly thought about others - or what her colleagues felt about her. Once again I moved on.
    "Can you tell me more about the show, Holly? I got the general gist of things from Candida but it would help if I had more details."
    At least, I hoped it would help. Just at the moment I felt totally in the dark, floundering around in unknown names and an unfamiliar subject.
    "Sure. What do you want to know?"
    "I understand that the series lasted eighteen weeks? When did they start?"
    She flicked through a large upright calendar on her desk.
    "The programmes were recorded every Monday afternoon and the first one of this series was on..."
    I waited while she found the right place.
    " ... Monday 22nd February."
    I wrote this down before asking, "What about rehearsals?"
    "There was a meeting here every Tuesday morning when the new contestants would be paired with the professionals," Holly explained clearly. "They then rehearsed for three hours every weekday morning. There would then be a full rehearsal, including the presenters and the judges, the following Monday morning before recording, in front of a studio audience, later that afternoon."
    Tempting though it was to ask if that was 'a live studio audience' - you don't, after all, get dead ones - I refrained. I didn't think Holly would get the joke so I merely nodded.
    "What about the first week's recording? Did they meet the Tuesday before that?"
    Holly looked at me witheringly.
    "Of course. The very first contestants would need a week to practice, too."
    "Did JayJay and Greg rehearse this often?"
    "Oh no," Holly laughed at the idea, "they're professionals. The contestants wouldn't get to meet the stars until the full rehearsal on Monday morning, prior to the recording which could go on until late in the evening. JayJay and Greg practiced their routine for the next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before returning the following Monday. They were