The Tooth Tattoo(62)

‘Teaching and performing at the university,’ Ingeborg added.

‘I’m surprised you’re all looking so open-mouthed,’ Diamond said. ‘They’re world famous. This is the breakthrough, the reason the victim came here. Sergeant Smith will now give us her take on the quartet.’

Ingeborg unfurled a poster and pinned it to the board. ‘The Staccati have been performing all over the world for at least fifteen years and this could easily be one of the posters Mari had in her room. To be accurate, only three of these people are currently in the quartet. They changed their viola player recently. We’ll get a picture of the new guy soon.’

‘Are we treating professional musicians as murder suspects?’ John Leaman asked.

‘Because they can read music it doesn’t make them saints,’ Keith Halliwell said. The tension between these two never entirely went away.

‘Hold on,’ Diamond said. ‘All we can say for sure is that the string quartet looks like being the reason Mari came to Bath. She was a fan, so she must have known they were based here. Who killed her and why is another question.’

As if she hadn’t been interrupted, Ingeborg said, ‘I met the new viola player while I was doorstepping the colleges of music. He’s a Brit, thirtyish, friendly enough. We didn’t talk long, but he showed me where the quartet do their rehearsals out at the Michael Tippett Centre.’

‘Michael who?’ Halliwell said.

‘Only one of the greatest British composers of the twentieth century,’ Leaman said to the rest of the room.

‘He lived in Corsham and was a strong supporter of university music,’ Ingeborg said. ‘But I was telling you about the quartet. They teach a series of master classes and in return for a six-month residency give regular concerts.’

‘How regular?’ Diamond said.

‘Every two weeks.’

‘Not bad if you can get it,’ Gilbert said.

‘It’s not a cushy number,’ Ingeborg said. ‘There are hours and hours of rehearsing. They’ve got a reputation to keep up.’

‘Who are they?’

She tapped the poster. ‘The bald guy on the left is the first violinist, Ivan Bogdanov, a Ukrainian and one of the founder members. Lived in the west since he was a young man. Learned his music in the old Soviet union   and played with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra until he decided to defect.’

‘And the others?’

‘The second violin is Anthony Metcalf, from South Africa originally. There isn’t a lot on the internet about him, except he joined about seven years ago and fitted seamlessly into the quartet. A very gifted violinist apparently. Their website suggests he’s the quiet one. The guy to the right of him is Harry Cornell, the one they replaced, so we can forget him.’

‘When did he quit?’ Halliwell asked.

‘About four years ago, I gather,’ Ingeborg said. ‘He was their viola player. They tried a number of replacements, but none of them cut the mustard until Mel Farran came along this summer.’

‘The large woman with the cello?’

‘Cat Kinsella, said to be among the best in the world and with several recordings of cello concertos to her credit, but prefers ensemble playing to the life of a soloist. She’s the other original member of the quartet along with Bogdanov.’

‘Those are the players, then,’ Diamond summed up, wanting to move on. ‘A mix of talented people who make very good music. They’ve got a strong fan base, which is where Mari Hitomi comes in.’

‘You said they give concerts,’ Halliwell said. ‘Are we assuming Mari came to Bath to attend one of them?’

‘Good question,’ Ingeborg said. ‘These soirées, as they call them, are supposed to be for the university community. They’re held in big houses like Dyrham and Corsham Court, and the tickets are distributed among the staff, with some music students included as well. They’re not open to the public.’

‘So if Mari wanted to hear the quartet …?’

‘She’d need to be smart.’

‘How?’

‘Depends,’ Ingeborg said. ‘A groupie – if that’s what she really was – would find a way. If you were nuts on one of them you’d break any rules to get up close. Slipping through another entrance and posing as one of the music students. Nothing would stop you.’

‘Ever go through a phase like that?’ Leaman asked Ingeborg.

She gave him a glare that could have pinned him to the display board. ‘That’s got sod all to do with it.’

‘Just trying to understand the female psyche. You sounded as if you were speaking from experience.’