The Tooth Tattoo(106)

‘So the music is the pull, and not the young ladies?’

If looks could kill, Diamond would have been ashes ready for scattering. ‘Geisha is an aesthetic experience. This isn’t some catchpenny tourist attraction. I go to the genuine okiya in the geisha district in Kyoto.’

‘Don’t get me wrong, Ivan. I’m not accusing you of anything. It’s your advice I came for. The geishas wear traditional dress, I’m told, and this would surely include at least one netsuke on the sash.’

‘I’m not an expert on the costume.’

‘But it’s part of that aesthetic experience you mentioned.’

‘Correct.’

‘I was going to ask what you think of this particular example.’

‘I wouldn’t have a view. Anyway, it’s only a photograph. You can’t tell.’

‘I’ve held it in my hands,’ Diamond said, ‘and it’s a marvellous piece of carving. Would you happen to know where objects like this are created?’

‘In Japan, I should think.’

‘Of Siberian mammoth ivory?’

‘I expect it gets shipped there.’

‘Might there be craftsmen working in Eastern Europe?’

He gave a shrug. ‘Conceivably.’

‘But you wouldn’t know any? The man in Archangel who makes the chess sets doesn’t have a second line in Oriental objects?’

‘Not to my knowledge.’

‘Has anyone ever discussed this with you before?’

Ivan swayed back as if Diamond had thrown a punch. He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to.

‘One of the quartet?’ Diamond pressed him.

The conversation had hit the buffers.

‘I’m sure this is difficult for you,’ Diamond said. ‘They’re friends and fellow artists, but I’m investigating two suspicious deaths and I can’t allow your loyalty to obstruct me. They all know about your sideline selling the chess sets and one of them may have taken a particular interest in where they came from.’

‘Douglas Christmas knows more about my business than any of them,’ he said finally. ‘He assists with the finance.’

‘Providing you with the roubles. He told me.’

Ivan tensed. ‘That’s confidential. He had no right.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Diamond said. ‘Tax evasion isn’t my department. Leaving Douglas aside, which of the others has talked to you about the trade?’

‘I really think you should leave now.’

‘One of them saw an opportunity of branching out on his own. It’s Harry, isn’t it?’

Although Ivan didn’t speak a word, his face had turned deathly white.

‘I need to know, Ivan. You’re a frightened man. Anyone can see that. You could be in need of my protection. This isn’t chess, this is life and death.’

Frightened he certainly was. His lips gave an involuntary twitch before he got control. ‘I only learned about this through a mistake. Seven or eight years ago we were performing in Paris and I was stupid enough to invite a potential client to the hotel. There was some kind of mix-up at the desk and they sent him to Harry’s room instead of mine. Of course Harry wanted to know everything. He questioned me repeatedly until I told him the truth about the dealing I did. He was deeply in debt from his gambling.’

‘And saw this as a way out of his troubles?’ Diamond said.

‘Exactly.’

‘Except that he chose to deal in netsuke?’

‘It’s more profitable than chess sets.’

‘The Japanese woman who was found dead in Vienna had a netsuke in her T-shirt. They took it to be a suicide emblem. Convenient.’

Ivan shrugged and didn’t comment. He seemed to feel he’d said enough already.

‘One more thing,’ Diamond said. He took out the photo of Emi Kojima. ‘On the evening of your last concert in Vienna, did you see this woman?’

It was obvious from Ivan’s eyes that he recognised Emi at once. He made a performance of studying the photo to take time to prepare an answer. ‘She was in the audience.’

‘Did she speak to you afterwards?’

Another silence followed. This was being played like the serious chess match they could have had.

‘She spoke to us all,’ Ivan said. ‘You might as well know.’

‘And did she end the evening in Harry’s company?’

A nod. ‘We saw them in the hotel bar together.’

‘When you say “we” …’

‘Anthony, Cat, Douglas and me. After a time they walked to the elevator. The bar was on the ground floor. They could only have been going up to Harry’s room.’

Diamond gave a voice to the conclusion he’s been heading towards for days. ‘And now Harry is alive and here in Bath secretly watching you all.’