'I thought they had gone.. his more voluble brother exclaimed.
'Sergeants Coktin and Tepe will take care of you for the time being’ Ikmen 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’ Ikmen 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 Ikmen 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’ Ikmen 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’ Ikmen said as he watched her lower herself into her seat. 'Like Marilyn do you?'
'Yes.'
'A woman unrecognised for her true talents.' Ikmen 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.
Ikmen, 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?' Ikmen asked when, in his estimation, enough time had elapsed.
‘I didn't' It was quite bald, a statement of fact.
Ikmen 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' Ikmen 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!' Ikmen 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?' Ikmen 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.'
Ikmen 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,' Ikmen 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' Ikmen 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,' Ikmen 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.
Ikmen 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,' Ikmen said, 'which is why you know all about the significance of your unfortunate infirmity and its resultant awkward gait'
'What gait? What do you mean?'
'The gait Mr Temiz demonstrated in front of your sister.'
'Who,' Ikmen 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,' Ikmen 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.'
