‘Like I said, we’d keep it loose. She was going to let me know by text when she was coming.’
‘Is it possible she called Mikio herself?’
‘I don’t know.’ Taki frowned. Then her eyes became huge behind the glasses as if an appalling scenario was surfacing in her brain. ‘I guess it’s possible.’
‘Did she have his mobile number?’
‘We all had contact numbers.’
‘We’ll ask him,’ Diamond said. ‘If you didn’t tell him Mari was coming, how else would he have known?’
She still looked deeply troubled. ‘What I said to you just now – about what happened to me last term – doesn’t have to go any further, does it? I’m not accusing him.’
Ingeborg said, ‘That’s not up for investigation and even if it was, proving anything happened would be impossible so long after.’
‘You won’t mention it when you interview him?’
Diamond had let the exchange between the two women run on for long enough. Sympathy could only go so far. ‘Mari was murdered. Nothing is off limits.’
Ingeborg softened the statement by adding, ‘If it comes up, we’ll be as discreet as possible.’
After Taki had left the room, Diamond said, ‘What did I tell you about the quiet ones?’
‘How do we know she’s the quiet one?’ Ingeborg said.
‘We’ll get his story presently. Did you believe her?’
‘Why shouldn’t I?’
‘She was quick to tell us she doesn’t drive and doesn’t speak to the guy. We came here to find out if they combined to murder Mari. Everything this one said absolved her from any part in a possible crime. She told us in effect that if Mikio killed Mari and drove her to Bath, he acted alone.’
Ingeborg’s eyes narrowed. ‘Are you saying she made all this up?’
‘I’m saying she’s well and truly stitched up her old school buddy Mikio. Could be true, though. If he’s a date rape specialist it’s not impossible he drugged Mari and things didn’t go to plan. Some of these drugs like ketamine are potentially lethal. He could have given her too much and had a body to dispose of.’
‘Manslaughter. I hadn’t thought of that.’
‘The question is, had Taki?’
The department secretary arrived with tea and biscuits. Switching quickly to his amiable self, Diamond told her he could get used to the academic life. Nobody ever brought tea and biscuits to his office in CID.
‘Perhaps you don’t treat them right,’ the secretary said with a smile.
‘I’m like a favourite uncle to them all,’ he said, ‘but it makes no difference.’
‘Try getting tough, then.’
‘Now there’s an idea.’
Ingeborg was open-mouthed.
‘Mr. Nambu is here now,’ the secretary said.
‘We’ll see him.’
By student standards, Mikio Nambu was improbably well-groomed, in a navy polo shirt and white jeans. He looked as if he couldn’t kill a fly, but so did many of the notorious rapists and killers in criminal history, Diamond reflected. As an investigator, you had to accept that wrongdoers aren’t necessarily uglier or larger or less presentable than the rest of humanity. Juries were always disarmed by the ordinariness of the people put up before them.
‘Sit down, Mr. Nambu. Sorry to take you from your studies. This shouldn’t be long. We’ll call you Mikio if you don’t mind. Is that the way you say it?’
‘Mickey will do.’
‘We won’t get too chummy.’ He introduced himself and Ingeborg by rank and surname. ‘Do you know why we’re here?’
‘It’s about Mari Hitomi.’ His English was at least the equal of Taki’s.
‘A friend from Yokohama, is that right?’
‘She was, yes. I saw the TV news. It’s difficult to believe.’
‘Always is for the nearest and dearest. Would you call yourself one of Mari’s nearest and dearest?’
He shifted in the chair. ‘I don’t know about that.’
‘I’m trying to get a sense of your relationship. You must have dated her. Did you ever sleep with her?’
‘We were schoolkids.’
‘Is that a no?’
‘A definite no.’ He leaned back in the chair and said, ‘I hope you’re not trying to connect me with her murder.’
‘You’re a witness – or I think you are. She arrived in London and stayed for a short time with her father, who thought she was coming directly here to catch up with old friends from Yokohama – you and Taki Kihara. Did you hear from her?’
He paused. ‘There was a text to say she was coming and would get in touch when she knew the date.’