Chapter 30
Bradshaw had found the lighting shots Chance Ryzcek had mentioned.
They were superb quality. Crystal clear.
Unsurprising, given that Toby Knight had qualifications in photography.
Whereas the stills from the video had been blurred and out of focus, two of the nine photographs Knight had taken had captured the sole of the woman’s foot.
She was on her hands and knees with Ryzcek kneeling behind her.
They weren’t touching each other. Knight had been testing the light prior to them performing.
Where the shadows were, where he would need light reflectors.
The photographs that had captured the woman’s foot tattoo were in full colour and incredibly sharp.
Bradshaw was able to zoom in without losing any definition.
The tattoo was monochrome. A thousand shades of blue.
It was a face. A woman’s face. It was no one Poe recognised.
The portrait – because although it was a tattoo, that was what it was – was incredibly detailed.
The tattooist had managed to make the woman appear enigmatic.
Beautiful, but enigmatic. She was smiling, only a slight tilt of the lips, but enough for you to know she was in on the joke and you weren’t.
Poe had seen the Mona Lisa on a school trip to France, and the woman’s smile reminded him of that.
He realised he’d just compared the smile on a porn star’s tattoo to a smile painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and decided he didn’t care.
The comparison fitted. Poe didn’t know much about tattoos and he didn’t know much about portrait art, but he knew he was looking at something special.
‘This is incredible, Tilly,’ he said. ‘I’ve never seen anything quite like it.’
‘I agree, Poe. I’ll pixelate the rude bits and send the photographs to Estelle. She can show Esmerée. Then we’ll know for sure if the woman is her mother.’
Poe nodded. ‘And if you send me the unpixelated pictures, I’ll send them to Mark Buckby. He seems to know everyone in the porn world. Maybe one of his contacts can bring us a step closer. Did any of the photographs catch her shoulder tattoo?’
Bradshaw shook her head. ‘Just the one on her foot. Her hair covers her shoulder most of the time.’
Two minutes after Bradshaw had sent the photographs to Estelle in Northumberland, and Poe had sent them to Mark Buckby in Elephant and Castle, their platform was announced.
Poe and Bradshaw waited for the stampede to subside, then made their way to first class.
As soon as they were seated, an Avanti man put down a cutlery pack and handed them the menu.
Poe, who was still eating his satay chicken, said, ‘The cheese and ham toastie, please.’