Arabesk

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,' Ikmen 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.

Ikmen pulled an innocent grin. 'Oh, did I not introduce myself? How remiss of me. I am Inspector Ikmen, 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,' Ikmen said as he moved towards the prone woman on the settee and took her hand in his, 'Sergeants Coktin 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, Ikmen 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 Ikmen had gone just slightly over the top, Suleyman nervously cleared his throat

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

'I love it’ Ikmen 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,' Ikmen 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 Ikmen with some hostility.

'The doctor is washing up in your bathroom,' Ikmen 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, Ikmen 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,' Ikmen 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,' Ikmen 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,' Ikmen 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, Ikmen 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 Ikmen 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.

Ikmen'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 Coktin and Tepe at the bottom of the staircase. Not that Ikmen 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 Ikmen's right, gave a short gasp of surprise – or fear.