The Tooth Tattoo(49)

Gilbert used his own phone to bring up the computer image and turn it through several angles. For all the work that had been done, it didn’t bear much resemblance apart from the hairstyle. Comparison with the genuine images they had just examined was a harsh test. The only test more harsh was showing it to her own father.

‘My Mari? You got to be joking,’ he said, shaking his head.

‘You see why your photos are so vital?’ Diamond said. ‘It’s okay to use them, I hope?’

‘Be my guest,’ Hitomi said.

‘In that case, we’ll email them to Bath.’

‘Sure. Go ahead.’

For all Diamond’s battles with modern technology, he couldn’t deny that it had simplified parts of his job – as long as someone else was there to press the right keys. Paul Gilbert made sure the complete set of digital images was sent to Bath. A text from Ingeborg with the one word Magic confirmed the transfer.

Hitomi’s account of his daughter had been priceless information. Up to now he was the only person in Britain known for certain to have seen her. Other witnesses might yet see the photos and come forward, but there was no guarantee that they would.

For all the clichéd tough talk, Diamond could sense the pain this father was suffering, and warmed to him for bearing up so bravely. No question about it: Hitomi had loved his daughter and felt guilty for failing to keep tabs on her.

‘I need to be clear about this. Did she know anyone in Britain apart from yourself and the Exeter friends?’

He shook his head.

‘Had she visited you before?’

‘Here in Britain? No.’

‘So we have to assume she was killed by someone she met here on this trip, or a total stranger. Difficult.’

‘But with her picture you find witness, no problem, yes?’

Hitomi said.

‘We can hope. It won’t be easy. But you’ve given us a chance we didn’t have before.’


For the drive back, Diamond bought pasties from a shop further up Lavender Hill, confiding to Paul Gilbert that the smell was so appetising he had to get some, even though he knew there wouldn’t be enough meat for his liking. ‘I get caught each time. Sniff the cooking and can’t pass the shop entrance. And then I regret it later.’ He picked up a six-pack of beer for himself and some bottled water for Gilbert, explaining that they couldn’t risk being breathalysed.

Not far along the M4, he opened the last tin and said, ‘I feel a lot of sympathy for Mr. Hitomi. He was bearing it well, but suffering inside.’

‘I expect his ex-wife is having a bad time, too,’ Gilbert said. ‘Must be worse, being so far away.’

‘Tough. Very tough. But Hitomi wasn’t just grieving. He felt responsible, guilty even.’

‘He wasn’t to know what was going to happen.’

‘He’ll always believe he should have stayed in touch, texting or phoning.’

‘She was over twenty, guv. She wasn’t a kid. And he was busy with his job. That sushi bar was really humming. It must take most of his time ordering supplies and checking on the kitchen and his waiting staff, taking reservations, being nice to his customers. All these things make a difference in the catering business.’

‘But when the job takes you over completely and your nearest and dearest get pushed to the margins, you have to watch out. That’s what I’m saying. A lesson for us all.’

Paul Gilbert drove on in silence as if doubtful what to say next.

He needn’t have worried. Diamond was deep in thoughts of his own, about Paloma and the conversation on the towpath concerning his bottled-up emotions. Her plea – ‘I thought I was a part of your private life’ – still pained him. And so did the bust-up that had followed.





13





In the incident room next morning, the whiteboard display was strikingly improved by Kenji Hitomi’s photographs of his daughter when alive. Everyone felt the investigation had moved on. The computer-generated images had been removed. Mari the victim didn’t much resemble the woman painstakingly assembled in Philadelphia.

‘Did they charge us yet?’ Halliwell asked John Leaman. ‘I don’t think we should pay up.’

‘Too late. It was fifty percent up front and the rest on receipt. Already went through the bank.’

‘Demand a refund.’

‘They had a clause to rule it out.’

‘You signed an agreement? They’ll have lawyers waiting to pounce.’

‘Exactly.’

‘So how much of our budget was wasted on this?’

‘Don’t ask. I haven’t even told the guv’nor yet.’

‘It’s Georgina we need to worry about. She’s looking for any excuse to downsize us.’