The Tooth Tattoo(85)

‘Because we know he can do better.’ Ivan turned on Mel again. ‘Are you a drinker? If you are, we have a right to be told.’

With the musicians almost squaring up to each other, Douglas tried his old-school best to calm the situation. ‘Steady on, old man.’

Mel decided the others deserved an explanation. More than anyone, he knew his playing hadn’t been up to standard. ‘Ivan is right. I was rubbish. I had a fall today. Well, to be honest, I was knocked down by a car.’

Douglas said, ‘Stone the crows!’

‘And it wasn’t due to drink, not on my part, anyway.’

‘Where did this happen?’ Cat asked.

‘In the street outside my lodgings. My landlady spotted this stationary car with someone seated inside staring at the house. He’d been there a long time and she thought we had a stalker. She has a rather attractive daughter. I went over to speak to the guy. When he saw me coming he drove off fast. I don’t think he meant to hit me. He just wanted to be away, but the side of the car brushed against me and sent me flying.’

‘So he was a stalker?’ Cat said.

‘He wasn’t staying to talk about it, whoever he was.’

‘That’s how you did your hand?’

‘It was grazed and bled a bit. My arm is the problem. It’s stiff today and I bashed my head on the road as well.’

‘And still turned up tonight and gave a performance?’

Cat said. ‘Played your solo pieces and the duet as well as the Beethoven and the Sibelius? That’s heroic.’ To Ivan, she said, ‘I hope you’re about to apologise for the snide remarks you made.’

‘I do.’

‘In all humility?’ Cat said with a stare worthy of a headmistress.

Humility was an alien concept to Ivan, but he mumbled something that wasn’t a denial.

‘Your left hand is the one you use for fingering, isn’t it?’ Douglas said to Mel. ‘I don’t know how you got through the evening.’

‘All those vibratos,’ Cat said, her face creasing in sympathy.

‘The fingers weren’t damaged, I’m glad to say. I’d have let you know if I thought I was going to mess up. More than anything, my state of mind was the problem.’

‘Listen, darling, you weren’t pathetic, as Joe Stalin over there so unkindly put it. I don’t suppose any of the audience noticed.’

Douglas said, ‘I certainly didn’t. And from the reception you were given there’s no doubt Cat is right. Nobody was any the wiser.’

‘I wouldn’t count on it,’ Mel said.

‘Get a grip, people,’ Cat said. ‘This was one evening in front of twenty or thirty rich punters who think the only good note is a banknote. The bigger picture is that Mel’s playing has raised our game. We’re better now than at any time since we formed. Isn’t that a fact, Anthony?’

The laconic second violin gave a nod.

‘He says bang on, back of the net, hole in one,’ Cat said.

Douglas shifted the focus back to the accident. ‘Didn’t the driver stop?’

Mel shook his head.

‘Hit and run, the bastard,’ Cat said.

‘Did you get a look at him?’ Douglas asked.

‘My landlady did. She said he was in his forties, going grey and quite good looking. Not much of a description, I know, but she’d probably know him if she saw him again.’

‘Did you call the police?’

Mel shook his head. ‘Didn’t get the number. And I don’t think he meant to knock me over.’

‘It was dangerous driving, whatever you may think.’

‘Aside from the fact that the man’s a menace to women,’ Cat said.

‘We can’t be certain he was a stalker,’ Douglas went on. ‘Has it occurred to you, Mel, that this may have nothing to do with your landlady’s daughter – that he was spying on you?’

‘What for?’ Ivan said.

‘It crossed my mind, I have to say,’ Mel said. ‘I’ve been over it a few times. I wondered if he was interested in the Amati, waiting for a chance to break in and steal it.’

Cat was frowning. ‘How would he know about the Amati? You’ve only had it a couple of days.’

‘I’ve no idea.’

‘It’s not as if it was written up in lights. Only a handful of people know and most of them are in this room.’

‘Well, it’s news to me,’ Douglas said. ‘An Amati viola? That’s a rare beast, isn’t it? Where did you get it?’

‘He’s not at liberty to say,’ Cat said. ‘A secret millionaire. They never come my way.’

Ivan was still brooding over the mystery. ‘There’s some other explanation. Must be.’