‘Thanks. I’ll remember I’m not alone when I put in some hours tonight.’
Ivan became the abbot again. ‘Don’t get distracted by women.’
Mel felt himself blush, as much in annoyance as embarrassment. ‘You’re reading too much into a few glances at girls.’
‘Some of whom come to one-to-one tutorials.’
‘You’re out of order now. I can honestly say there’s nothing going on with any of my students.’
‘Keep it that way, then.’ Ivan hesitated, realising, possibly, that he needed to justify interfering. ‘We don’t know for sure if women were Harry’s undoing, but they could have been.’
‘In Budapest?’
‘Budapest, New York, Tokyo. He was always getting out of contact with the rest of us.’
‘But you’ve often said you respect each other’s space.’
‘Too much, in the case of Harry. He disappeared into a space none of us were aware of.’
‘From all I’ve heard about Harry, he comes across as a likeable guy.’
‘He was – or is, I suppose I’d better say. We valued his company as well as his playing.’
But not the playing away, Mel thought. ‘As his replacement, I often find myself wondering what he was like. I don’t even know his age. I may be wrong, but I get the impression he was one of my generation.’
‘A few years your senior.’
‘What was his musical background?’
‘He started as a violinist, as most viola players do. Went to the Guildhall School of Music and found he preferred the darker tones of the viola. He was with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for a short time before joining a talented quartet based in Dublin. There were personality clashes, I believe. The Irish are an excitable nation. They broke up at about the time Cat and I were looking for an experienced violist.’
‘Lucky you,’ Mel said.
‘It wasn’t luck.’
‘Nice timing, then.’
‘As a musician, you should know that timing is ordered and I always make sure it is.’
‘Like when you defected?’
‘A perfect example. I planned my escape. You don’t leave anything to luck when your freedom depends on it. And when it came to forming the Staccati, we were very deliberate.’
‘It wouldn’t surprise me if you triggered the break-up of the Irish quartet just to get Harry on board.’
Ivan lifted an eyebrow and said nothing. Mel had spoken in jest, but now he was in two minds. This man with his deep-set, unblinking gaze was starting to come across as willing to stop at nothing to get what he wanted from music.
Soon after, Ivan said he needed some time alone. He was giving a master class in the afternoon.
Mel had no students to teach for the rest of the day, so he phoned for a taxi. He rather hoped Tippi would be at the house. After all that pious stuff from Ivan about not letting women distract him he felt like a damn good screw.
He was in the glass-walled foyer looking out for his cab when a small private car came up the drive. A young blonde woman he didn’t recognise got out and came inside. She was about ten years older than most students and didn’t look as if she was arriving for a lunchtime concert.
She spoke first. ‘Are you on the staff, by any chance?’
‘Sort of,’ Mel said. ‘Can I help?’
‘I’m police,’ she said. ‘Ingeborg Smith, Detective Sergeant.’
12
The dead woman was Mari Hitomi, a twenty-year-old from Yokohama. Her father, Kenji, the owner of a sushi bar on Lavender Hill, Clapham, had informed the embassy three days ago that she was missing, having believed for some weeks she was with friends. She should have come back to London at the weekend prior to catch a return flight to Japan. Mr. Hitomi’s account of her movements and the tooth tattoo and the interest in classical music had made the identification convincing and a DNA test had confirmed it.
Peter Diamond took Paul Gilbert with him to South London, or, rather, ordered young Gilbert to drive him. Not much was said until they were a few minutes from Clapham. A potential problem was nagging at the big man’s confidence. ‘Do you eat Japanese food?’ he finally asked.
‘Why, guv? Do you think we’ll be offered some?’
‘They’re polite people. It’s an eating place, a good one, going by the reports.’
‘Sushi’s okay. I like it.’
‘All of it?’
‘I can’t say I’ve tried everything.’
‘The raw fish?’
‘That’s all right.’
‘Good.’ Diamond relaxed. ‘If it’s offered, I’ll pass mine to you when he isn’t looking. Between you and me, I prefer my fish cooked in batter.’