Page 34 of Go Now
‘Brandon Ashworth’s agent confirms you were standing watching her office in Williamsburg on two occasions,’ Marcus said.‘Were you outside Mr Ashworth’s apartment, too?’
Caldwell yawned.
‘Did you visit the Hauptman Gallery to disrupt the exhibition and intimidate the artist?’
No reply.
‘Do you actually know any of the artists you’ve been stalking?’
Caldwell didn’t answer.
‘When did you start doing it?What happened to make you so angry?Did they reject your sculptures, James?’
Kate and Marcus both thought they noticed something then, a tiny glint of anger in the man’s eyes, like sunlight on a rock.
‘That’s it, isn’t it?’Marcus pressed ahead quickly.‘You started out so promisingly, but after art school, you just couldn’t hack it.You didn’t make it.’
‘They wouldn’t give me a chance,’ he spat angrily.‘At my first show, they said my work was one-dimensional and inauthentic. Said I should throw in the towel, go and work for the family firm.’
‘That must have been hurtful,’ Kate said.
‘Nobody else’s background mattered.But because they had me down as this spoilt rich kid, they weren’t going to let me succeed.They turned their backs on me.’
‘Is it possible that your work just wasn’t good enough?’Marcus said, bluntly.
Caldwell pursed his lips, obviously not keen to go there.
‘People get rejected all the time, James,’ Marcus went on.‘Authors, artists, actors, singers… it’s a tough world.They either keep on trying, or they go and do something else.They don’t convert it into some kind of religious crusade against the establishment that’s rejected them.’
Caldwell frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment, Chen came in, carrying a note. She passed it to Kate, and she and Marcus read it.As Chen left, Kate put the note in her pocket.
‘Tell us about Ilford Park,’ Kate said.
‘Spent four weeks there,’ he mumbled.‘Back in ‘23.’
‘And why was that?’
‘Why are you asking?You obviously know.It was on that note the cop brought in.’
‘We want to hear your take on it.’
‘I conducted a legitimate protest at an exhibit by the Leopold Brothers.’
‘Tell us about that.’
'It was a roomful of copies of DaVinci's Vitruvian Man on a crucifix.Each one made from solid gold and precious stones, worth exactly 550,000 dollars, which is the exact market value of all the organs, substances, and minerals in the human body.'
‘And you damaged several of them?’
‘Two of them.But, yes, I did.And the judge sent me to Ilford Park for psychiatric evaluation.Which, incidentally, concluded that I’m entirely sane.Or no more crazy than the next guy.’
‘And that was all because you saw the art works as blasphemous?’
‘I did not.’
The comment was so unexpected that Kate asked him to repeat himself.
‘I said that the whole display would be deeply offensive to Christians, but that wasn’t the reason behind my attack.’
