The Tooth Tattoo(25)

The student had the sense not to shout, ‘Told you so.’

The pathologist said, ‘I’d better get one of my colleagues from odontology to confirm this. Sorry, folks, but if you want to follow this autopsy all the way through to the land of the rising sun I must invite you to return next week.’


The following Monday, the remains were brought out again for the dental expert. She was expected to confirm the pathologist’s finding, but before starting she announced that she was not confident she could help. ‘I know what you’re talking about. Shovel teeth are typical of East Asians, but there are all sorts of exceptions and I wouldn’t say it’s reliable. Native Americans have them and I’ve seen many examples in Europeans.’

‘So you can’t tell us if she’s Japanese?’

‘Frankly, the knickers may be a better guide, but as I’m here, I might as well take a look. Oh dear, she is in a sorry state.’

The examination was painstaking, using a magnifier with a halogen light. The odontologist said at one point, ‘Plenty of dental work and of excellent quality.’ She straightened up and turned to the student. ‘Was it you who noticed the label?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘And you thought she might be Japanese? Well, you could be right. Have you heard of tooth tattoos?’

A frown said the student had not.

‘They’re the big thing in Japan, like nail art, but for teeth, and she seems to have the residue of one. Didn’t anyone spot this?’

Silence from the onlookers and a stony gaze from the pathologist.

‘They’re not really tattoos at all,’ the dental expert explained. ‘They’re attached. If you fancy yourself with a mouthful of bling you get them applied with a special glue using an LED light to fix them. They can be removed quite easily and there isn’t much left of this one, but take a look with my magnifier and tell me what you see.’

The student leaned over and looked through the lens at where the jaw was held apart. The tiny black symbol on one of the upper incisors was chipped in a couple of places, but clearly an embellishment. ‘I do see it. Is it a Japanese character? No, I don’t think it is.’

‘Agreed.’

‘It’s a music note, isn’t it? Looks to me like a quaver.’

‘I never even got to first grade, but I’m willing to take your word for it.’ The odontologist stood back. ‘This all proves nothing, but if you’re wanting to find out who she is, I would check for a missing Japanese woman with a possible interest in music.’

‘Not my job,’ the pathologist said.


At the request of the coroner, the job was passed to the police, but not yet to Diamond’s CID team. The Missing Persons Register was checked again. No obvious leads were found. The supposed Japanese connection yielded nothing. Of seventeen young women reported missing in Bath and Bristol since the start of the year, none were from Japan. Fourteen had already been eliminated from the enquiry because of their height and hair colour. The tooth tattoo was thought to be an unlikely decoration for the remaining three.

CID were brought in after a couple of days.

‘Any suggestion she was attacked?’ Diamond asked the uniformed inspector who had handed over the paperwork.

‘Impossible to say, but she did end up in the river Avon.’

‘No marks of violence?’

‘The body was too far gone to tell.’

‘Could be an accident, then, or suicide. Was she fully dressed?’

‘The shoes were missing.’

‘They could easily have come off in the water.’ He glanced through the post-mortem report. ‘I’ve heard of tattoos in weird parts of the anatomy, but a tooth?’

‘It’s the best clue we’ve got, apart from the Japanese knickers.’

‘Ah – the Japanese knickers.’ Diamond rolled his eyes.

‘We managed to confirm that the manufacturer doesn’t export them. Mind, someone from Britain could have travelled there and bought a few pairs.’

‘Someone from Britain or anywhere else on the globe.’

‘True. But the tooth tattooing is a Japanese thing. It’s popular there.’

‘And I’m supposed to work with that?’

‘Plus the music connection.’

‘One note.’

‘What do you expect – the Japanese National Anthem?’

Diamond raised his finger. ‘I do the jokes here.’


Back in the CID room, he told the team, ‘This is gainful employment, so we’re not knocking it. In fact, we’re going to make a big production of it. I want a display board with photos of the deceased and all the evidence, a map of the river and anything else you can think of. That’s your job, John.’