Solved: the baffling case of the bloody head, the artist and his live-in TV cook

There may not be blood on the carpet after all. Reports of the demise of a £1m bust made from nine pints of the artist Marc Quinn's frozen blood may well have been greatly exaggerated.

An Independent on Sunday investigation that Sherlock Holmes would have been proud of indicates Mr Quinn's bust called Self did not leak all over the floor of millionaire Charles Saatchi's home when builders accidentally disconnected its refrigeration unit. The chances are the builders never even pulled the plug.

This newspaper has tracked down sources close to the artist and also the designer employed to refurbish Mr Saatchi's kitchen. When Mr Quinn visits Mr Saatchi's apartment in Eaton Square, central London, tomorrow to view the damage for himself he may well find ... no damage.

According to news stories last week, the accidental defrosting had caused the statue to "gradually ebb away into ... a pool of blood".

But a source close to Mr Quinn has told The Independent on Sunday the artist is not unduly worried about what he will find at Mr Saatchi's home.

"If the bust has melted it would be a terrible tragedy. But Mr Quinn thinks that is very unlikely. It has a back-up power supply and the artist is not particularly worried about it. He would be if it has gone completely. Read into that what you like."

Mr Saatchi had ordered major improvements to the flat he now shares with Nigella Lawson, the television cook, so that the kitchen came up to her specifications.

Yesterday, the kitchen designer involved in last February's refit, when the refrigerated plinth that houses the bust was allegedly unplugged, said reports that he was to blame were "highly defamatory".

"This is absolutely nothing to do with me," said Laurence Pidgeon, who runs Alternative Plans design company. "You spend a long time building up your name – years and years and years – and it doesn't take very much to rock that."

Reports that the statue had melted first began to circulate in the Peterborough column of the Daily Telegraph. The story was seized upon by the rest of the media. Mr Saatchi's refusal to comment – he is a notoriously private man – helped to fuel speculation.

The fact that the paper mistakenly printed a photograph of Mr Saatchi's brother Maurice to accompany the story – it published an apology the next day – failed to quell enthusiasm for the rumour.

Mr Pidgeon is not convinced any damage was done to the bust, which sits on a plinth in a corridor between Mr Saatchi's new kitchen and dining room. Mr Pidgeon said rumours had spread of some accidental damage to the bust at the time the work was being carried out, but he was baffled why they should have re-emerged months later.

Mr Quinn's visit to the Saatchi household tomorrow should help to solve the mystery and quash the fervent speculation. As the source said: "If you owned a scuplture like that worth a £1m, would you leave it plugged in with builders around? I don't think Charles Saatchi is an idiot."