Arabesk

by Barbara Nadel

  Td like you to leave my house now,' Tansu said, her voice small and almost strangled by the control she was having to exert over it

  Not taking his eyes from hers for a moment, Çöktin replied, 'But you need medical attention.'

  'If I wish to die, that's my choice.'

  'But—'

  'Your report, should that happen, would make interesting reading, wouldn't it?'

  Stung, Çöktin overreacted. 'Don't be so ridiculous! Dying in order to spite me would be—'

  'Just perfect!' the woman screamed. And then hurling herself onto the floor in a flood of enraged tears she yelled, 'Without Erol I am dead anyway!'

  Galip and the until now silent Yilmaz raced towards their sister.

  'I th-think you'd b-better go now!' Yilmaz man said to the two policemen as he eased Tansu's head out from underneath the coffee table.

  'Yes, but—'

  'Come on, let's go,' Tepe said and placed one determined hand on Çöktin's shoulder. 'There's no point.'

  With a sigh Çöktin turned and then almost as quickly turned back again. 'But—'

  'Come on!’

  Tepe took hold of Çöktin's arm and, despite some reluctance on the Kurd's part, led him out into the large rose and gold-coloured hall beyond. Once out of the Emin family's orbit, Qloktin allowed himself to be taken towards the front door without resistance. And although Tepe was tempted to ask him at this point just what he thought he'd been trying to prove with Tansu and the others, he resisted in favour of a quiet life,

  But as he opened the front door of Tansu's house, two things happened to change that Suleyman, together with two other figures Tepe couldn't quite make out in the gathering darkness, were getting out of the former's distinctive white BMW and Latife Emin stepped out of one of the bathrooms and into the hall.

  'Y-you r-really m-must try to be c-calm now, Tansu,' Yilmaz said as he wiped the edge of his handkerchief across his sister's heavily perspiring features.

  'Have those dogs gone yet or—'

  'Yes, yes yes!' an exasperated Galip said as he sat down next to Tansu and took her hand.

  'They'll be back though, won't they?' the singer said darkly, reaching forward to take a cigarette from one of the boxes on the table. 'I mean why were they out there if they didn't know!’ 'I have no idea.'

  'You never do!' she snapped at the now exhausted figure of her brother. 'You're useless!'

  'Yes.' It was said with what, to an outsider, sounded like a practised lack of either resistance or hope.

  'W-we d-do t-try, you know, Tansu.' Yilmaz for once seemed to be expressing his true feelings on the matter. 'W-we d-do—'

  'If you have to try then you're no fucking use to me, are you!' the singer roared. And then in emulation, as was her custom, of her brother's infirmity, she added, 'If you c-can g-get Erol's t-telephone n-number for me -men you won't be q-quite so u-useless, Y-Yilmaz!' And then she laughed at him, which was also her custom.

  'The sound of happy laughter,' an unfamiliar voice suddenly said, 'leads me, my dear Tansu Hanim, to hope that perhaps you are not badly injured after all.'

  As one, Tansu, Galip and Yilmaz all turned towards the source of the unknown voice which had, apparently, come from the throat of a small, rather dishevelled-looking individual who was standing over by the recently opened door.

  'Such a charming house,' Ìkmen lied, 'such a wonderful example of the Bauhaus style,' and then moving to one side to admit Suleyman, he said, 'Of course I don't have to introduce Inspector Suleyman, do I?'

  'Who are you?' Galip, his eyes narrowed against the appearance of this stranger in their midst, inquired.

  Ìkmen pulled an innocent grin. 'Oh, did I not introduce myself? How remiss of me. I am Inspector Ìkmen, a colleague of Inspector Suleyman.' He held his hand out to Galip in a friendly manner. 'And you are?'

  'Galip Em—'

  'I thought I made it clear I didn't want any more policemen!' an enraged Tansu cried. 'I've just thrown two of your men out of this house and—'

  'Yes,' Ìkmen said as he moved towards the prone woman on the settee and took her hand in his, 'Sergeants Çöktin and Tepe. I am so sorry if they caused you pain. However, Inspector Suleyman and myself are here to alleviate your agonies, my dear Tansu Hanim.' He kissed her hand, feeling the revulsion that swept through her body as he did so. But her voice was calmer when next she spoke.

  'Alleviate my agonies?'

  Moving Galip a little roughly to one side, Ìkmen sat down. 'Sergeant Tepe informed us that you had refused hospital treatment'

  Tansu eyed him suspiciously. 'Yes?'

  'Well, as a responsible organisation, we could hardly countenance Turkey's brightest star taking such a risk,' he smiled. 'And so I have brought you one of our own doctors. As a devotee of everything you have ever done, madam, I could do no less.'

  Fearing that perhaps Ìkmen had gone just slightly over the top, Suleyman nervously cleared his throat

  Tansu's lizard-like gaze clung stonily to Ìkmen's face for several moments before it started to soften. 'You like my music?'

  'I love it’ Ìkmen said enthusiastically and leaned forward to light the cigarette that still dangled from Tansu's fingers.

  'What do you like about my music, then?' the singer asked suspiciously.

  'I adore your passion,' Ìkmen said as he closed his eyes in imitation of one rapt with pleasure.

  'My passion?'

  'Oh, songs like "I Want None of You", "Hate Is My Only Friend"

  "The Blue-green Bird Lies Bleeding" -I could go on and on!'

  'Could you?'

  'Yes.'

  'So where's this doctor you say you've brought?'

  All eyes now turned towards Galip who, resentful at having been pushed out of his place on the settee, was eyeing Ìkmen with some hostility.

  'The doctor is washing up in your bathroom,' Ìkmen answered with a smile.

  Galip's gaze narrowed into one of obvious suspicion. 'How does he know where our bathroom is?'

  'Your sister, Miss Latife, actually directed the doctor to it' Suleyman said and then added, 'Oh, and the doctor is a she, actually, Mr Emin. Dr Halman.'

  'We felt that a female doctor was far more appropriate for a lady patient, did we not, Inspector?' 'Oh, yes, absolutely.'

  'B-but w-where is the d-doctor?' Yilmaz said, his face panicked.

  Turning away briefly from Tansu's tear-ravaged face, Ìkmen said, smiling, 'As I said, Dr Halman is washing.'

  'Have you any idea how clean a doctor's hands have to be before he or she touches a patient?' Suleyman added.

  'I do,' Tansu snapped. 'I've had to have a lot of operations for, er, urn, problems, pain and bad things and ... But neither of these,' she said as she loosely indicated her brothers, 'have ever been in hospital in their lives.'

  'Yes, but—'

  'You are just an ignorant peasant, Galip!' she shouted harshly. 'Doctors take a long time to prepare. I know, I've suffered, I've lived!'

  'Indeed you have,' Ìkmen said as he mugged the falsest smile of his career, 'and as soon as the doctor has finished washing and has looked briefly at your sister she will attend to you.'

  Tansu's face flushed. 'My sister . . .'

  'Yes,' Ìkmen replied, 'she was, after all, also involved in the accident, wasn't she?'

  'Yes.'

  'Then a doctor is probably the best person for her to see at this point,' Ìkmen said with a smile. 'Nothing to worry about, I'm sure.'

  Just as Tansu turned to look at her brothers the door to the room opened and then closed on a small, plump woman with blonde hair. Everyone looked up in her direction, Ìkmen and Suleyman both rose to their feet.

  'Ah, Doctor!' the former said with enthusiasm, and then indicating Tansu, he added, 'Your exalted patient.' .

  'Ah.'

  The two men walked towards the doctor who, as Ìkmen passed her, murmured something into his ear. Although none of the Ernins could hear it, they eyed each other warily as they observed this
exchange.

  Ìkmen's face broke out into a broad smile.

  'Shall we go, gentlemen?' Suleyman said, looking pointedly at the rather nervous pair of brothers.

  'Well, it's only her leg,' Galip began.

  'You think,' Dr Halman said as she moved in a very business-like fashion towards her patient, 'but I will have to check Miss Emin for internal trauma too and that,' she said pointedly, 'will necessitate her having to remove her clothes.'

  Galip looked at Yilmaz and mouthed, 'I don't like this.' But his brother only shrugged as he rose slowly to his feet.

  With a smile, Suleyman said again, 'Gentlemen?' Yilmaz walked slowly across the room, followed at an even slower pace by his brother.

  'Now,' Dr Halman said as she sat down next to her patient, 'let me have a look at this leg.'

  Chapter16

  She was standing in the hallway as the party emerged from the drawing room, her eyes fixed upon the expressions on.the faces of Sergeants Çöktin and Tepe at the bottom of the staircase. Not that Ìkmen was looking at the eyes of Latife Emin. His gaze was firmly fixed upon her shoes which, he saw, were sturdy and 'sensible’. Given what'Dr Halman had just told him, he could clearly see that the left shoe had a thicker sole than the right' Yilmaz, who was standing, seemingly dumbstruck, to Ìkmen's right, gave a short gasp of surprise - or fear.

  'I thought they had gone . . his more voluble brother exclaimed.

  'Sergeants Çöktin and Tepe will take care of you for the time being’ Ìkmen said as he turned and smiled at the white-faced brothers.

  'No!' Galip began, until Suleyman took hold of his arm and then wound it painfully up behind his back.

  'Oh, I think yes,' he said with some force.

  'I suggest you find a nice comfortable room to share with these gentlemen’ Ìkmen said to the two sergeants who had now, in the face of Galip's outburst, made it quite plain to all concerned that they were armed. 'If of course you can find anything remotely pleasant in this ghastly pile of crap’ he added with a smile.

  Suleyman pushed the two brothers in front of him and handed them over to the two younger men.

  'Sir’

  And then Ìkmen turned to look at Latife Emin. Her face was as white as the thin linen of her blouse.

  ‘You know you really shouldn't be wearing such heavy shoes on a lovely parquet floor like this’ Ìkmen said taking her arm gently between his fingers. 'You could be doing it terrible damage. Why don't you take them off?'

  Latife Emin moved the biography of Marilyn Monroe, which was her current entertainment when she was seated on the veranda, from her chair onto the table.

  'Mmm’ Ìkmen said as he watched her lower herself into her seat. 'Like Marilyn do you?'

  'Yes.'

  'A woman unrecognised for her true talents.' Ìkmen picked the book up and turned it over. 'So you read English, do you, Miss Emin?'

  'I manage’ she said as she motioned for the two men to sit down.

  Ìkmen, as ever observant with regard to smoking requisites, viewed the numerous ashtrays with approval. 'I take it you don't mind if we smoke?' he said as he offered Suleyman a cigarette from his packet

  'No, that's all right,' the woman replied, absently brushing a stray platinum hair out of her eyes.

  The two men sat down and then lit up simultaneously. A few moments of silence, broken only by the barking of a distant dog, passed.

  'So why did you murder Ruya Urfa?' Ìkmen asked when, in his estimation, enough time had elapsed.

  ‘I didn't' It was quite bald, a statement of fact.

  Ìkmen smiled. ‘Oh? Did you not?'

  'No.'

  'So why did your sister shout at you to run after the car accident?' Suleyman asked, trying but without success to catch Latife Emin's elusive eyes.

  'Because she thought that the petrol tank might be about to explode.' She looked up, questioning, as if seeking approval for this perfectly sensible reason.

  'Yes, quite right' Ìkmen said, 'very wise. And your leg?' She frowned. 'What?'

  'The leg our doctor assures us is shorter than the other. The left one, if my observation of your shoes—'

  ‘I was born with that defect' she said, 'but I don't usually limp. I compensate using the ball of my foot. Only since this accident.'

  'Oh, come on now, Latife!' Ìkmen said, a deep chuckle rumbling at the back of his voice. 'I may be only a common Istanbul policeman but please do not insult my intelligence.' He leaned forward and studied Latife's shod feet hard. 'Even a fool can see that this one is built up to accommodate your infirmity,' he said, as indicating the large, if currently rather fashionable left-hand platform sole and wedge heel. 'A very professionally made shoe, Miss Emin, but please ...'

  'I always wear my shoes! Tansu hates people to see me without them! I would never, ever—'

  'Did I say that you have ever been without your shoes, Miss Emin?' Ìkmen asked, his eyes just briefly flicking across to Suleyman's face. 'I don't think so. And even if you have, quite what that would mean I really don't know. Do you?' He sank back slowly into the depths of his chair and concentrated on his cigarette for a few moments. Latife Emin, her eyes still downcast, studied the top of the small occasional table at her side with some intensity.

  'Where were you on the night of Ruya Urfa's death?' Suleyman asked.

  ‘I was here in my bed.'

  'While your sister was either here with you or out at a bar in the city, depending upon which story you decide to tell.'

  Ìkmen leaned forward towards Latife. 'You see, madam, when you tell us lies, we do get awfully confused.'

  She looked up, her eyes exhibiting the fear both policemen knew she must be experiencing. 'I was here,' she said. 'It was Tansu who was out, doing whatever.'

  'And can anyone confirm your whereabouts?'

  'Apart from, of course, either of your brothers,' Ìkmen said with a smile.

  'No.' Latife cast her eyes down once again at the table.

  Again the silence rolled in across the room like a long, thick carpet

  'We could go on like this all night' Ìkmen said as he ground his cigarette out in the ashtray and then lit another, 'with us putting points to you and you refuting them, but.

  'But?'

  'But I think that if Inspector Suleyman here gives you the whole story, that just might move things along a bit' Then looking across at Suleyman, he said, 'What do you think, Inspector?'

  'I think that is an excellent idea.' Suleyman turned to look at Latife Emin's profile and smiled. .'Ruya Urfa was poisoned with a piece of cyanide-laced almond halva. Cleverly, the sweet disguised the smell of the poison and, cleverly again, it was performed at a time when the whole of the city was engrossed in a game of football.'

  'The only person definitely placed at the scene,' Ìkmen interjected, 'a middle-aged man with Down's syndrome, could not I'm sure an intelligent woman like yourself will understand, have possibly planned and executed such a complex crime.'

  'Quite,' Suleyman agreed as he observed just the slightest greying of Latife's face. 'This man's prints were, however, found on the body of Mrs Urfa and he did remove the child, Merih Urfa, from the scene.' He leaned forward, again seeking to catch Latife Emin's eye. 'He said he did this because he feared the murderer, a woman answering your description, might return to harm the child at some time.'

  'And so the Istanbul police take the word of a congenital idiot' It was said more as a statement of fact than as a question.

  Ìkmen smiled. 'Although somewhat slow, Mr Temiz is no idiot, madam. He possesses two working eyes and he knows fear when he experiences it'

  'And the description he gave of the woman he saw in the Urfas' apartment was good,' Suleyman said. 'Blonde hair, fur coat, of which we have some fibres.'

  'You questioned my sister about this, my sister who was out all night.'

  'Yes, we did,' Ìkmen said, 'which is why you know all about the significance of your unfortunate infirmity and its resultant awkward gait'

&nbs
p; 'What gait? What do you mean?'

  'The gait Mr Temiz demonstrated in front of your sister.'

  'Who,' Ìkmen said quickly, 'he thought was the perpetrator until he saw her walk towards him. But then you know that already, don't you?’

  'But I don't have a gait, as you call it!' Latife cried, her face just a little flushed. 'I told you, if I go barefoot I always compensate using—'

  'The ball of your foot Yes,' Ìkmen said, 'that I understand. And I expect that under normal circumstances you do just that. In the heat of the moment, however, for instance if you were disturbed—'

  'But then if, as you are suggesting, I went to Ruya Urfa's home for some reason that night, why would I go without my shoes? As I've said, I always wear them.'

  Suleyman smiled. 'Except,' he said, 'if it would be foolish to do so. And, given the size and heaviness of your shoes they would make rather more noise than I imagine you would want to generate on the marble floors of the Izzet Pasa apartments. The football notwithstanding, someone might have heard you. You couldn't take that risk.'

  Latife Emin pushed herself back into her chair and observed the two men harshly. 'But I would look stupid and surely attract attention if I went somewhere without any shoes. And anyway, if my feet are so noisy, why have you not noticed it before?'

  'If one is not looking for a certain thing or if something appears irrelevant one does not always notice it,' Ìkmen said gravely. 'And, if on the night of the murder you were wearing one of your sister's nice long coats— Well, as you've said yourself, you do routinely compensate for your infirmity and so you would look quite normal, wouldn't you?'

  Briefly, as the silence of the night moved into the glass-bound room, Latife Emin looked sharply down at her feet before returning her gaze once again to the faces of her interrogators.

  'Your doctor is spending a great deal of time with my sister,' Latife Emin said as she tried to make herself more comfortable in her chair.