Leaman and Halliwell shook their heads.
Ingeborg said, ‘Mel Farran reacted. He actually calmed down quite a lot when he saw it. Before that he was a different bunny from the one I met here before.’
‘Different in what way?’
‘Tense. He sat clutching his instrument case across his knees like a barrier. I’ve seen women hold their handbags like that. It’s unusual in a man.’
‘Not many blokes have handbags,’ Leaman said.
She looked at him as if he was something she’d trodden in. ‘I don’t know what Mel thought I was going to ask, but I got the impression it wasn’t about Mari.’
‘Does he have form?’
‘No, I ran a check. He’s clean.’
‘So what did he say when you gave him a sight of the picture?’
Ingeborg’s eyes rolled upwards. ‘Said he never forgets a pretty face. Then he smirked a bit. He sees himself as God’s gift to women.’
‘You’ve changed your tune,’ Leaman said. ‘He was nice-looking and friendly when we last spoke.’
‘He’s still nice looking and friendly – and he still thinks he’s God’s gift.’
‘So not one of them appears to have met the victim,’ Diamond said.
‘Mel did admit Mari could easily have been in the audience at one of the concerts and he wouldn’t have known.’
Diamond aired the small piece of expertise he’d learned from Cat. ‘Because they have a light on the music stand and they can’t see anything over it?’
‘No. Because they concentrate on the music.’
He tore open three strips of sugar for his coffee. ‘Disappointing, then. No apparent link to our victim. It’s only our assumption that she came here to listen to her favourite string quartet.’
‘I can’t be entirely sure how much Anthony knows, or how little,’ Leaman said, and for once he wasn’t trying to score points. ‘I showed him the picture and he hardly gave it a glance. Wasn’t interested.’
‘Did you ask him the question?’
‘Had he met her? He said he was a musician – as if that said it all.’
‘In his case, it probably does,’ Diamond said. ‘He has some form of autism. People don’t interest him.’
Ingeborg took a sharp breath. ‘So it’s entirely possible Mari spoke to Anthony and he paid no attention.’
Halliwell was some way ahead of her. ‘And he killed her and dumped her in the river and blanked it from his mind.’
‘I find that impossible to believe,’ Ingeborg said. ‘Anyway, why would he do such a thing if he’s only interested in music?’
Halliwell turned up his palms to show it was mainly guesswork. ‘Mari became a nuisance, got in his way.’
‘How?’
‘She was a groupie, like we said.’
‘I get you now.’ She nodded. ‘He’s the poster-boy, the one most likely to have attracted women.’
‘Okay,’ Diamond said. ‘I’d better have a try with Anthony.’
‘You won’t get anywhere,’ Leaman said, blunt, if not actually insubordinate.
Diamond carried on as if no one had spoken. ‘I’m not sure if he really can’t recall things, or if he just doesn’t want to talk about it.’
‘Using the autism as a get-out?’ Halliwell said.
‘That’s got to be considered.’
‘I said you’re on a loser,’ Leaman said
‘I expect you’re right, John, but I’m having a go.’ He turned to Halliwell. ‘You said Ivan Bogdanov was an obstacle course. What did you mean by that?’
‘Treated me as if I was the KGB. Kept talking about his rights and what a waste of his precious time it was and how we ought to be hunting the real killer instead of persecuting innocent musicians.’
Leaman smirked. ‘You mean he didn’t melt under the Halliwell charm?’
‘You slay me.’
Diamond asked, ‘Did he respond at all when you showed Mari’s picture?’
‘Claimed he hadn’t seen her. I asked him if the fans ever became a problem and he took the line that people who appreciate good music keep their distance. If he’s hiding anything, he’s well defended.’
‘Ivan is a chess player. I got that from Cat. She respects him. In fact, she spoke well of all of them. Sees herself as the mother hen. She wants the quartet to succeed.’
‘They all want that,’ Ingeborg said. ‘They’ve got a name, a reputation, a cosy little number here in Bath. It’s in their interest to stay together now they’ve got a good viola player. They’ll cover up for each other, I’m sure of that.’