‘What now?’ Paloma asked.
‘We get on to the Ukrainian Embassy in London and see if they have any reports of missing women from that period.’
‘What I meant was do you have time to take Marcia and me for a cream tea?’
Wrongfooted again. Paloma was right. You don’t treat friends like staff. Marcia had saved him hours of research. The least he could do was show gratitude. ‘What a nice idea. May I borrow your phone?’
‘Where’s yours?’ She’d bought him one as a present last year.
‘I always forget to have it with me. I’d like to call Ingeborg.’
‘To invite her to join us?’
He blushed. ‘Actually, to get this process under way.’
Thoughtfully, Paloma had already reserved a table in the Pump Room. She’d planned to take Marcia there whether Diamond joined them or not. The old lady showed her appreciation by putting away her share of the assorted sandwiches, two scones and three of the fancy pastries. ‘Aren’t you going to eat your second scone?’ she said to Paloma. ‘Perhaps Mr Diamond would like it?’
‘I’m defeated,’ he said.
‘In that case…’ She reached for it.
‘More cream?’ he said.
‘I’d better not,’ she said. ‘My nephew is taking me for a fish meal at Loch Fyne tonight. Good thing we don’t wear corsets any more. Now that’s a fascinating topic. Would you like to hear about the history of the corset?’
When Diamond eventually got back to Manvers Street, Ingeborg had contacted the embassy. They’d promised to look at their records and call back. ‘Knowing how embassies work, we’ll have to put it in writing as well,’ she said, ‘and that’s what I’ve been doing. The woman I spoke to sounded as if she’d like to help, but wasn’t all that confident. With all the upheaval going on in 1991, I wonder if they kept track of missing people.’
‘What do embassies exist for, if isn’t it helping their citizens in trouble?’ he said.
‘I’m saying it must have been a chaotic time.’
‘Her family would surely make enquiries if they didn’t hear from her.’
‘It was nearly twenty years ago, guv.’
He shook his head and turned away. ‘I keep hearing that from everyone.’
Keith Halliwell looked up as Diamond approached his desk. ‘Ukrainian, then? Your friend had the answer.’
‘Some of the answer. We’ve discovered where the jeans came from and now we need to find out if the woman wearing them came from the same place.’
‘It looks certain, doesn’t it?’
‘Nothing is ever certain in this game, Keith.’
‘They were made for the home market. That’s what you told Inge.’
‘That’s true, but I can think of ways someone from outside the Ukraine could get hold of a pair.’
‘Okay, we can’t be a hundred per cent on this, but I reckon ninety-five, ninety six. As SIO, I say we should go with this.’
‘Leaving the door slightly open.’
‘As you wish.’ Halliwell played an imaginary piano scale on the edge of the desk. ‘You said nothing is certain. There’s one thing we can be a hundred per cent sure of. This murder couldn’t have happened prior to 1991, when the Honta zip company started up.’
‘I can’t argue with that.’
‘The time frame Lofty Peake gave us was 1984 to 1999. We knocked three years off that by working out when the tree was blown down and now we’ve knocked off another four.’ The start of a smile formed. ‘This is where my events chart comes into its own.’
‘Yes?’ Diamond said, suppressing a yawn.
‘Yes. Inge listed every mention of Lansdown in the Bath Chronicle from 1987 to 1999. Now we can erase a whole lot of it.’
‘She won’t thank you.’
‘We’re homing in, guv. 1991 to 1993 looks the best bet.’
‘What sort of events are these?’
‘Take a look.’
The chart had been converted from a visual aid into a computer file that Halliwell opened on his screen.
‘This is 1991.’
Diamond peered over Halliwell’s shoulder and could only marvel at Ingeborg’s staying powers. ‘Let’s cut to the chase and look at 1993.’
‘All action, then. Does it go on like this?’
Halliwell took him at his word and brought up February.
‘Skip it. I was being ironic.’
‘Some would call it sarcastic.’
‘Well, I don’t need to look at your chart to tell you something of interest to me that happened in1993 and that was the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Lansdown. July fifth.’
‘Yes, but they did the re-enactment over two days at the beginning of August.’
‘Why was that?’
‘Not sure. Bank holiday?’
‘Wrong. August bank holidays come at the end of the month.’ ‘I don’t know, then. Anything else I can tell you?’
‘Did anyone have her head blown off?’
‘In the re-enactment? Give me a break. According to the Chronicle it all took place without a hitch in nice weather in front of a big crowd.’
‘Nice weather, big crowd.’ Diamond rolled his eyes. ‘Did that actually make the paper?’
‘It’s a local paper. They did a picture feature.’
He yawned at the thought and moved on mentally. ‘Another thing about 1993. The Lansdown Society was formed that year. Did Inge find a report of that?’
Halliwell frowned. ‘I don’t remember seeing it.’
‘I’m not surprised. They’re a cagy lot. Don’t go in for press releases.’
‘Are you trying to tell me my events chart is a waste of time?’ He put a hand on Halliwell’s shoulder. ‘Keith, you’re so right about me. I can be a pain. But I say this in complete sincerity.
You’re in charge of the skeleton enquiry. Be your own man and run it your way.’
The next morning was a low point. The Ukrainian Embassy phoned. They were unable to supply information on any of their nationals who may have gone missing in Britain since 1991. Halliwell’s mood swung back to almost suicidal. ‘We’ve hit the buffers again. I really believed we were getting somewhere yesterday,’ he told Diamond.
‘We were – and we did.’
‘And see where it led us.’
Diamond knew what it felt like to be moving on with optimism and then have a door slammed in your face. As team leader you took it personally – an experience new to Halliwell. Sympathy alone wouldn’t help.
‘There are no short cuts, Keith.’
‘I’m not asking for a short cut. I just want some movement. Bloody diplomats. Is it political, do you think? Don’t they want it made public that some of their people disappeared?’
‘It could be sheer numbers. You and I know about human trafficking from East Europe. It’s huge – an industry.’
‘You think trafficking is behind this?’
‘It accounts for a lot of missing people, young women in particular.’
‘Sex slaves?’
‘There’s also the black economy. East Europeans as a source of cheap labour, working long hours without work permits for cash in hand. You’ve seen it going on. Either way, no one in an embassy is going to have an accurate record of who is here, let alone who is missing.’
‘These are illegals you’re talking about?’
‘Some are for sure, using false travel documents or smuggled in. And some are lured here on false pretences. They come expecting jobs as waitresses or models and find their passports are taken away from them by gangmasters or pimps.’
Halliwell sighed. ‘For Christ’s sake, if we can’t go to the embassy for help on this, we’re screwed.’
‘No we’re not.’
‘You just said it’s a huge industry.’
‘And there’s always someone who knows. We have to get to the right person, that’s all.’