consciousness, whereupon he'd made the call to inform her. He had gone on, he told her, to bring in two uniformed constables to stand guard at Matsumoto's doorway. Now he was heading to the incident room to get back to the checks he and his constables had been making on -
"Inspector Hale," Isabelle interrupted him. "I tell you what you'll be doing. You do not tell me. Are we clear on that?"
Hale frowned. "What?"
"What do you mean by „what'? You're not a stupid man, are you? You certainly don't look stupid. Are you stupid?"
"Look, guv, I was - "
"You were at this hospital, and here at this hospital you shall remain until ordered otherwise. You'll be at the doorway to Matsumoto's room - seated or standing and I don't care which. You'll be holding the patient's hand if necessary. But what you won't be doing is going off on your own and ringing up constables to take your place. Until you're directed otherwise, you're here. Is that clear?"
"Due respect, guv, this isn't the best use of my time."
"Let me point something out to you, Philip. We're where we are at this precise moment because of your earlier decision to confront Matsumoto when you were told to keep your distance from the man."
"That's not what happened."
"And now," she went on, "despite being told to remain here at the hospital, you've taken it upon yourself to arrange for your own replacement. Is this not true, Philip?"
He shifted his weight. "It is, in part."
"And which part isn't?"
"I didn't confront him at Covent Garden, guv. I didn't say a word to the bloke. I may have got too close to him, I may have ...whatever. But I didn't - "
"Were you told to approach him? To get close to the man? To breathe the same air in his vicinity? I think not. You were told to find him, report back, and keep him in sight. In other words, you were told to keep your distance, which you did not do. And now here we are, where we are, because you took a decision you weren't meant to take. Just as you're doing now. So get back into that hospital, get back to Matsumoto's doorway, and until you hear otherwise from me, remain there. Am I being clear?"
As she'd been speaking, she'd watched the muscle in Hale's jaw jumping. He didn't reply and she barked, "Inspector! I'm asking you a question."
To which he finally said, "As you wish, guv."
At that she went towards the hospital entrance and he followed as she preferred him to follow: several paces behind her. She wondered at the fact of these detectives under her command all wanting to go their own way in the investigation and what this said about the leadership provided first by the former superintendent, Malcolm Webberly, and by everyone subsequent to him, including Thomas Lynley. Discipline was called for, but having to administer that in the midst of everything else going on was particularly maddening. Changes were going to have to be made with this lot. There was no question about that.
As she reached the door with Hale as her shadow, a taxi arrived. Hiro Matsumoto stepped out, a woman in his company. This was, thank God, not his solicitor but a Japanese woman close to his own age. The third Matsumoto sibling, Isabelle concluded, Miyoshi Matsumoto, the Philadelphia flautist.
She was correct. She paused, jerking her thumb at the door for Hale to go ahead into the hospital. She waited till Matsumoto had paid for the taxi, whereupon he introduced her to his sister. She had arrived from America on the previous evening, he said. She had not yet seen Yukio. But they'd had word this morning from Yukio's doctors -
"Yes," Isabelle said. "He's conscious. And I must speak with him, Mr. Matsumoto."
"Not without his attorney." It was Miyoshi Matsumoto who replied, and her tone was nothing like her brother's. Obviously, she'd been in big city America long enough to know that lawyer-up was rule number one when dealing with the police force. "Hiro, call Mrs. Bourne right now." And to Isabelle, "Keep away. I don't want you near Yukio."
Isabelle wasn't unaware of the irony of being told exactly what she herself had told Philip Hale in the moments leading up to Yukio Matsumoto's flight. She said, "Ms. Matsumoto, I know you're upset - "