The Tooth Tattoo(39)

‘Did you tell him she was in the water for weeks? It doesn’t do much for a girl’s hair.’

‘Can we say anything about the cut?’

‘Okay. It’s thick, dark hair with a fringe and cut sheer at the back. You can tell him that.’

‘I’d be happier if you did.’

She began to laugh ‘Aren’t you comfortable discussing hairstyles with another guy? I’ll speak to them if you like.’


Keith Halliwell was back from the autopsy looking pleased with himself.

Diamond soon altered that. ‘Now we know it’s murder, we must pull out all the stops. That’s a musical expression, in case you weren’t aware of it. Try the embassy again for names. They promised to get back to us.’

‘Be good if we could send them the computer picture. What’s the latest from Philadelphia?’

‘Inge was talking to them about hair. They must be close to sending an image.’

‘They know she’s Japanese, do they? Japanese in our opinion, anyway.’

‘They can tell from the shape of the skull, can’t they?’

‘I was told it isn’t obvious.’

Halliwell did his best to reassure. ‘I expect they’ll give her the almond-shaped eyes.’

‘Christ, I hope so.’ Diamond had a fleeting vision of a Betty Boop cartoon. ‘You’re making me worried. I’m less confident now than I was.’

‘About the whole case?’

‘The picture they’re sending.’ Diamond vibrated his lips. ‘And the whole case, if I’m honest.’

‘But the case is keeping everyone busy. Georgina was gobsmacked.’

He raised a smile. ‘Yes, that was a nice moment.’

A knock on the door interrupted them. It was Ingeborg. ‘Guv, I’m sorry to butt in, but you ought to hear this. The people at forensics found that the iPod was working okay and I asked them to play it for us. Hold on a mo and I’ll put it through to your hands-free.’ She touched the amplifying phone on his desk and music filled the room – music of an unexpected kind. She stood with arms folded.

Glances were exchanged. This was the first time Beethoven had been heard in Diamond’s office, an event about as likely as finding the Judgement of Paris on his wall.

‘Bit highbrow for me,’ he said. ‘I was expecting something Japanese. What is it?’

Halliwell shook his head.

‘John Leaman says it’s a string quartet,’ Ingeborg said. ‘At times it sounds like a full orchestra, but four instruments can make a big sound.’

‘This is on the iPod?’ he said.

‘This and a whole lot more. Whoever she was, she was into classical music.’

The heavy notes from the cello were starting to rattle the framed photo of his late wife, Steph. ‘Turn it down, will you? I can’t think with that row going on.’

She did so. ‘The point is that it ties in neatly with the tooth tattoo.’

‘Any kind of music would have tied in with that,’ he said. ‘The Stones, the Beatles.’

‘Duke Ellington,’ Halliwell said.

Ingeborg smiled. She had to admit that they were right. ‘And now we know she had better taste than any of us.’


The computer image from Philadelphia appeared on Leaman’s screen towards the end of the afternoon. Everyone got up for a look. Leaman rotated the face through several angles. This was definitely a young woman of Eastern appearance, with high cheekbones, a small cupid-bow mouth and widely spaced eyes topped by well-defined eyebrows. She had the fringe and fine head of hair Ingeborg had described.

‘How do they know she wore lipstick?’ one of the civilian computer operators said.

‘They don’t. It’s a balance of probabilities,’ Leaman said. ‘Most Japanese women I’ve seen use make-up.’

‘Wouldn’t it be more useful to show her without any?’

‘I don’t see why. We’re issuing this to help people recognise her.’

‘The eyebrows are a bit thick.’

‘They have to give her some, don’t they? We told them she had a good growth of hair.’

Halliwell said, ‘It seems to me a lot of this is guesswork.’

Leaman wasn’t having that. ‘Only the superficial stuff. The bone structure is entirely real.’

‘But the fleshy bits can’t be. How do we know her nose looked like that?’

‘They choose from a bank of features. She’s what’s known as a Mongoloid type and that means small, flat noses. The Japanese were ahead of most other countries in making a data bank of soft tissues.’

‘One thing we can all agree on,’ Diamond said. ‘This is easier on the eye than the photos taken at the autopsy. Back to work, people. I want a copy emailed to the Japanese embassy now and we’ll go public with a press release tomorrow morning.’ After the first buzz of interest was over, he said to Halliwell, ‘What do you think, Keith? Will it help?’