Diamond Solitaire

everywhere. Are you a family man?'

'Yeah, we've got a grandchild.'

'So the photographer has to print dozens, maybe hundreds of photos to order, right? And he has to have some way of identifying them. He can't get each kid to hold up a board with his name on it like a mugshot. So what does he do? He pencils some kind of serial number on the reverse. If we're lucky, one of those torn scraps may have the number that identifies the child.'

The senior man was sufficiently interested to send someone down to the van.

Diamond, pink with the effort, said casually, 'We may be unlucky, of course.'

Presently the pieces of the photo were tipped onto a table. No number was visible at once, but they started turning pieces over.

'How about that?'

It was not unlike a conjuring trick, except that this was no illusion. Just as Diamond had predicted, the number 212 was penciled on a corner piece. His luck seemed to have changed at last.

'That was just a hunch?'

'Yes.'

'Cool,' the senior man conceded.

Thanks.'

'Now you have a number.'

'Yes.'

'So next you have to find the photographer, out of all the school photographers in all the world.'

'Right,' said Diamond without stopping to explain that there was a way of narrowing down the hunt. He was going to have inquiries made in Japan, and in particular, in Yokohama, where Mrs. Tanaka had lived and worked. Of course there were plenty of schools in Yokohama, but fewer junior schools and even fewer children given the number 212.

Buoyant with his discovery, he returned to the station house and told Sergeant Stein. In a matter of minutes they typed and faxed a memorandum to police headquarters in Yokohama. Unfortunately, it was already past midnight in Japan. Policemen might be on duty; school photographers probably not

London, he knew, was awake. He asked Stein if he could make an international call connected with the case.

'You want to make a local call,' said Stein with a stage wink. 'No problem. We can make local calls whenever we want' Evidently the NYPD, like the rest of the city, paid lip service to economy measures.

Diamond tapped out the international code for Great Britain, took a card from his pocket and referred to the number handwritten on the reverse, realizing that he still didn't know the woman's name.

'Yes?' It was a man's voice.

'Could I speak to the lady who works as a Japanese interpreter?'

'One moment'

She came on the line, still guarding her identity. 'Yes?'

'This is Peter Diamond, from New York.'

'I remember.'

'The sumo wrestler, Mr. Yamagata, kindly agreed to underwrite my expenses.'

'That is so.'

'I thought I should let him know what is happening. I'm working with the New York Police. The little girl is still, un-fortunately-'

She interrupted. 'Mr. Diamond, before you say any more, I should tell you that I am no longer employed by Mr. Yamagata. The London Basho finished on Sunday. The entire party of wrestlers and officials has returned to Japan.'

'Oh.'

'If you remember, I handed you a card with his Tokyo address.'

'Yes, I have it right here in front of me.'

'Then I suggest you make contact with him in Tokyo later tonight.'

'With Yamagata himself?'

'He lives in the heya, the stable of wrestlers. They have someone who will interpret.'

'You think he'll stand by his promise? I'm running up some hefty expenses.'

'Of that there is no doubt.'

Without inquiring whether she was referring to the promise or the expenses, he thanked her and hung up.

The rest of the morning and afternoon were notable only for the fact that he moved out of the Firbank to a better class of hotel, on Broadway, a place with phones in the rooms and a bar downstairs. It was still only a short walk from the station house, where he returned at regular intervals, only to be told each time that no reports had come in of the missing child. Plenty of progress was being made on the shooting gallery murders.

'Has Lundin been put through the grinder to find out who hired him?' he asked Stein.

'Lundin knows nothing. The only thing he cared about was the money, and we think he was paid most of that in advance.'

'How much?'

'Probably twenty grand.'

About five, a fax arrived from Yokohama stating formally that inquiries would be pursued as requested. Further information would be dispatched if and when it became available.

'If and when. Doesn't sound too positive,' Stein commented. 'It sounds to me like computer-speak,' said Diamond, 'but I'm willing to wait around until late.'

'You can go back to your hotel. We'll call you right away if anything comes through.'

Diamond cast a glance around the office, still teeming with drug addicts, detectives, and patrolmen, and had more man a flicker of doubt 'Thanks, but I'll stick around.'

Soon after nine P.M., he tried making a call to Yamagata in Tokyo. Over there it was eleven a.m. next day. Someone explained in English that the sekitori were at lunch, and could not be disturbed. He should call back in two hours. He was sympathetic. For these big fellows, lunch, he imagined, was more than a coffee and a quick sandwich.

He got through later, and talked to the same person, whose English was impeccable. Apparently Yamagata was somewhere close to the phone this time, because the interpreting was fast and to the point Diamond reported on what had happened in the hunt for Naomi, ending by admitting that he was making some hefty use of the Gold Card number. This was not a problem, he was told. Yamagata wished to do everything in his power to assist the investigation. In fact he would immediately contact the Yokohama Police Department to see what progress there was in checking with the school photographers.

The result was impressive. Just under twenty minutes later, a fax came through from Yokohama. All school photographers had been told to check their records. Another fax would be transmitted as soon as more information was supplied.

'I like that better man ‘if and when,' ' Diamond remarked to no one in particular. Sergeant Stein had long since gone off duty.

Just before two A.M., the first positive news came humming through the fax machine:

Police Headquarters, Yokohama

To: Detective Superintendent Diamond, NYPD

Reference your fax, PD/2, inquiries among Yokohama photographers reveal that thirty-five children, nineteen male, sixteen female, at nine different junior schools, were issued with school photographs, serial number 212, during the last two years. Kindly advise if further information is required.

'You bet it is,' he said, reaching for a pen.

26th Precinct, NYPD