‘No. She no longer has it. It was sent to her mother by the member of the party who took it after they returned to Japan. It was later destroyed by Takenaga-san’s uncle because …’ Kodaka paused to assemble his thoughts, then continued. ‘Her mother gave her the photograph shortly before her death from cancer twenty-seven years ago. After her death, Takenaga-san, who was still unmarried then, arranged for a cropped portion of the photograph, with only Evans in it, to be printed in the personal advertisements page of the London evening newspaper, offering a reward of one thousand pounds to anyone who could identify him. The notice stated that this person had worked for her father in London in late August and early September of 1977. Anyone who could identify him was asked to write to her. This outraged her uncle, who was at that time supporting her financially and considered the matter of her father’s death, his brother, best forgotten. So, he destroyed the photograph and forbade her to reply to any letters she received.’

‘Did she receive any?’

‘It was not likely she would, was it? A blurred photograph. Fifteen years after the event. With scant information. And all on the chance that someone who might know something would read that particular newspaper.’

‘On that particular day.’

Kodaka smiled. ‘Actually, the notice ran twice a week for a month.’

‘But, still, she heard nothing?’

‘Not at the time.’

‘Nor since?’

Kodaka’s smile broadened. He couldn’t stop himself taking pleasure from such twists of fate as his clients sometimes brought him. And clearly there’d been such a twist in the matter of Mimori Takenaga. ‘She had a letter … last week.’

‘After twenty-seven years?’

‘Remarkable, no?’

‘Very.’

‘The letter was sent on to Takenaga-san at her current address by the occupant of the house the Masafumi family had lived in back then. It was from an Englishman called Martin Caldwell. He said he had only recently seen the advertisement and believed he knew who Peter Evans was. That was not his real name, apparently. Caldwell did not say who Evans really was, but he implied there was a mystery surrounding him. Caldwell was willing to meet Takenaga-san to discuss the matter. Could she come to London for the purpose? He was not interested in the reward, but he was interested in helping her discover the truth, if she still wanted to pursue the matter.’

‘As she does.’