Dead in a Mumbai Minute (14 page)

We bypassed the gaggle. I followed Shayak’s lead, amidst shouts to the security personnel.

‘Why are you letting them onto the island and not us?’

‘What business do you have here?’

‘Are you with the police?’

‘Get us an interview with Kimaaya and we’ll go away!’

Once we hit the ground, two Titanium guards came to our side. ‘No,’ said Shayak, ‘stay here.’

‘Sir,’ they said, falling back.

I had a hard time keeping up with Shayak till we found the golf cart, which Shayak drove way too fast to the house.

The party mood finally seemed to have been dampened somewhat, but that didn’t mean the same thing to me as it did to the gang marooned at Maaya Island. The living area was deserted. We were met by Mrs Pereira. Shayak asked the housekeeper where everyone was, and we were told that Pratap and Afreen were at the swimming pool, Nimisha was giving Kimaaya a massage, and Raj Rathore was at the tennis court playing mixed doubles with Carol, Shiv and Sandhya.

Shayak looked at me. ‘You want to head out?’

I nodded.

We walked through the swimming pool deck to the lawns at the back, at the far end of which was the court. The sea was visible in the distance.

‘Why isn’t the house on the beach?’ I asked.

‘Security. Can you imagine holding those hacks at bay if we had been right on the water?’

‘You don’t approve of the house.’

‘It’s a very beautiful nightmare. We are sticking with the same design sensibility for the hotel, and that will actually be on the beach.’

‘Won’t it be a bigger threat to have strangers on the island?’

‘They will be very elite strangers. And most guests will only be permitted when Kimaaya is not here.’

‘That is often?’

‘When she’s shooting in Mumbai, it’s just not practical for her to live here. And so much of the year she is out of town anyway.’

We reached the hard court and waited on the sidelines. Raj and his partner Carol seemed to be in the lead. The foursome continued till the end of the game, when Carol came up to greet Shayak.

‘Carol, it’s been far too long,’ he said, giving her a hug.

‘The last time I saw you, you were still in uniform.’

Shayak nodded. ‘We went for lunch.’

‘Before you disappeared for god knows how long. And now to meet under circumstances like these. Kimaaya told me you are helping out with this nasty business.’

‘Yes, and this is my colleague Reema.’

Carol looked at me with appraising, though not unkind, eyes. If she was Kimaaya’s school friend, she might be one of the chosen few who had known about the marriage. Dressed in a fashionable tennis dress, she was petite and pretty, with cheeks flushed from the exercise and almost auburn hair. Raj had walked away, but she introduced us to the guests we had not met earlier: Shiv, who looked to be around his early thirties and his sister Sandhya, a couple of years younger.

‘We’d like to ask all of you some questions, starting with Carol. Could the two of you come to the house in about half an hour?’ said Shayak.

I followed Carol and Shayak inside, giving them space to catch up. Carol was saying how she was now a party planner, and her husband an investment banker. Their two daughters were in school. Shayak responded with polite answers to her questions, revealing little, murmuring something about working ‘in security’.

Seated in the lounge, Shayak got down to business. ‘Carol, we are trying to create a timeline for what happened here last night,’ began Shayak. ‘What do you remember?’

‘I have run through it all so many times, and all I can say is that I really wish I hadn’t had so many martinis! I got here with Viraat – Kimaaya arranged it – and some of the other guests,’ she said. ‘I have tried to remember anything that might help but for the life of me, I can’t.’ She repeated details of the party by the pool we had heard from the others, but could add little else.

‘What about after you went to bed?’ asked Shayak.

‘I can’t be sure.’ The hesitation in her voice was unmistakable.

‘Whatever you saw, or think you saw, you can tell us,’ he said.

Carol hesitated. ‘But what if I am wrong?’

‘Without more evidence than your account, we won’t be able to do anything. It will only serve as a starting point.’

She gave a little nod. ‘I went upstairs and I wasn’t feeling so great with all the alcohol in my system, so I decided to sit up for a while. When everything stopped spinning a little and I was getting into bed, I heard a noise. I went over to the window and saw Viraat leaving the house.’

‘In which direction was he going?’

‘He was crossing the lawn, which I thought was strange at that time of the night.’

‘What time would this have been?’

‘Around 3 am, maybe?’

‘Was he alone?’

‘As far as I could see.’

‘Did he have anything with him?’

Carol frowned again. ‘This is why I feel so bad – since I can’t be sure.’

‘What did you see, Carol?’ Shayak asked gently.

‘He was carrying a wine bottle.’

‘Which room were you staying in?’

‘One of the guest rooms on the first floor.’

‘How well do you know the others here?’

‘Oh, you know Kimaaya, always inviting a random assortment of people over. I had met Pratap and Poonam a few times, over at the Mumbai house, but no one else.’

‘Poonam left soon after arriving.’

‘I thought that was a little strange. She seemed a little distracted. Then she got a call and insisted she had to leave just then, that she had to be somewhere early in the morning.’

‘Do you know whom she spoke with?’ I asked.

‘She didn’t mention details. I got the feeling she wasn’t particularly upset to leave the party, though.’

Then Carol left to send in Shiv and Sandhya.

‘Do you know these two at all?’ I asked Shayak. He shook his head.

When the siblings walked in, I noticed how much alike they looked. Both baby-faced and with an amount of good cheer inappropriate for a murder investigation.

Shayak turned to me. ‘Reema?’

It was my turn to do the questioning. I felt more flustered than I liked, having never had an audience watch me work before.

‘How do you know Kimaaya?’ I began.

‘We actually don’t know her very well; we met her just a week ago,’ said Sandhya, ‘at my best friend’s house, who was also supposed to come to this do. Then she got sick, but Kimaaya is so sweet, na, that she said we should come anyway, and even made arrangements for us to get here.’

Shiv nodded his head, silly smile stuck to his face. It looked like we had another fanboy on our hands.

‘What do you do?’

‘We are hoteliers,’ said Shiv.

‘Both of you?’

‘It’s a family business,’ said Sandhya. ‘Shiv looks after the marketing and finance side of things, along with our father, and I manage the properties.’

‘Did you know Mr Dhingre?’

Brother and sister shook their heads. No.

‘Tell us what you remember about last night.’

Sandhya giggled. ‘I think I was the only one who would remember anything! Everyone else was so wasted!’

‘You were not?’

‘I am on meds, such a bummer. So I only had two, maybe three drinks over the evening. I would have stopped at one, but when Viraat brought out that insane bottle of wine, I had to try it!’

‘Around what time was that?’

‘It was late – must have been after 1 am. He came back drenched to the bone – said he decided to take a quick dip in the sea. Didn’t seem to have sobered him up any.’

‘What prompted him to get the wine?’

Shiv rolled his eyes. ‘He was trying to impress Kimaaya all evening. First, he went on about that watch of his. And then he decided to get the Scotch, and came back with what he said would be the wine experience of a lifetime.’

‘Did he mention how much it was worth?’

Sandhya giggled again. ‘Yeah, like, only about five times.’

‘Did everyone drink it?’

‘Yup. Viraat uncorked it himself and poured it out for us all.’

‘Did he decant it?’

‘Yes. I helped,’ said Sandhya.

‘Do you know what happened to the bottle afterwards?’

‘I think we just left it on the poolside bar.’

‘How was it?’ I had to ask.

‘I’ve never had a wine like that, you know? It really set me thinking about our wine cellars at the hotels. It’s like, I suddenly realized why some wines can be so frickin’ expensive. It’s because they are worth it. Not that anyone else noticed by that time. What a waste!’

‘Hey, that’s not true. I enjoyed that glass to the hilt,’ said Shiv.

‘Don’t know how after you cleaned out the whisky.’

‘Anything else that struck you as unusual through the evening?’

‘Not really. But we didn’t really know anyone there, so wouldn’t be able to say what “usual” is.’

‘Any tensions or arguments?’

‘Not that I noticed,’ said Sandhya.

‘As I mentioned, Viraat was a loudmouth showoff,’ said Shiv, ‘but I’m pretty sure that is standard operating procedure for him. He and Pratap seemed to be having a bit of a pissing competition.’

‘Did you hear or see anything after you went up to your rooms?’

‘We are downstairs, so we don’t have much of a view. And I, for one, was out like a light as soon as my head touched that pillow,’ said Shiv.

‘I may have heard something, but I don’t think it had anything to do with the murder,’ Sandhya said with a smirk.

‘What did you hear?’

‘It was nothing.’

‘Why don’t you let us be judge of that,’ said Shayak.

Sandhya did not look pleased at being told off. ‘Sex,’ she declared. ‘I heard someone having some pretty loud sex.’

‘Where?’

‘It sounded like it was coming from upstairs, but who knows?’

‘Anything else?’

‘No. With all the grunting and moaning, I got up to close my window.’

‘I have one last question for you both,’ continued Shayak. ‘Before you came here, did you know that a hotel was being built on the island?’

Shiv and Sandhya exchanged a look. ‘No,’ said Shiv. ‘No we didn’t.’

But their expressions told a different story altogether.

After they left, I turned to Shayak. ‘You think Shiv and Sandhya have designs on the hotel here?’

‘It’s possible. We are looking at a managing partner with experience in hospitality. Perhaps they heard that.’

‘As for the sex, do you know whose room is above Sandhya’s?’

‘Yup,’ he said. ‘Kimaaya’s.’

As I let this sink in, Shayak didn’t miss a beat.

‘That leaves Pratap,’ he continued. ‘We’ll approach that a little differently – I know him quite well, and we may learn more by keeping the chat a friendly one.’

I really didn’t want to face Pratap – not in front of Shayak – and this seemed the best escape route. ‘In that case, wouldn’t it go better if you were alone?’

‘No need.’

‘It’s just that …’ I began.

‘What?’

But it was too late. Pratap had already found us. I turned away and began to inspect a potted geranium as though my life depended on it.

‘Shayak,’ he said warmly, following it up with one of those one-armed hugs men specialize in.

‘How have you been?’

‘Frantic, man. I have to get to work and the cops have all but ordered us to stay here. I can’t afford to lose any more time.’

‘I’ve been hearing whispers about some deal you’ve been working on.’

‘We hope to be announcing a big project sometime soon.’

‘The power solution?’

‘Yup, a much more ambitious version of the one we’re setting up here. We’ve got a lot riding on it.’

‘I’m sure it’ll just be a little longer.’

‘Can’t you do something? Aren’t you in charge here?’

‘I am in charge of security, but the police have their own way of doing things, and I can’t interfere with that. This is a murder investigation, after all.’

‘Isn’t it obvious that Viraat did it?’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘He was found under the shrubbery, for crying out loud, within shouting distance of where the guy was killed.’

‘I’m afraid more than that is needed to make an arrest,’ Shayak said. ‘Why don’t we go in and get a cup of tea or something. Reema?’

I was forced to turn to face them. My eyes went from a quizzical Shayak to a confused Pratap.

‘Pratap, this is my newest recruit, Reema. She’s an investigator.’

‘Haven’t we met before?’ he said.

I could feel Shayak’s gaze on me, but I stayed focused on Pratap. There was no avoiding it now. ‘At the club the other night.’

‘That’s right! You didn’t mention you were working with Titanium.’

‘It’s not the sort of thing we are supposed to advertise.’ Logic I knew Shayak could not fault.

‘A detective, eh?’ he said with a smile. It didn’t seem as though he suspected anything. But as we walked towards the house, Shayak shot me a look that warned me I hadn’t heard the last of it.

‘So why are you so convinced it was Viraat?’ asked Shayak as we seated ourselves. As always, someone was at hand to take our order right on cue. Beer for Pratap, nimbu paani for Shayak and me.

‘He was acting strange all evening, man. He arrived with this chick Afreen, but didn’t seem to be interested in keeping her company at all. Poor thing didn’t know anyone else there, and was obviously feeling like a fish out of water. Then he kept talking about money, and that stupid watch. Guess I can’t blame him; he’s from Delhi, right?’ He laughed. ‘But if he was trying to get into Kimaaya’s pants, it didn’t look like he was making much progress.’

‘She wasn’t impressed?’

‘By that clown? Please. When he pulled out that bottle of wine, I was like, dude, it’s your funeral. But now that I think of it, he disappeared for quite a while before reappearing with it. Couldn’t he have bumped Dhingre off then?’

I knew the timeline was off on that one, but Shayak wasn’t about to reveal more than necessary. ‘We aren’t ruling out any scenario at this point,’ he said evasively. ‘Do you remember anything else that might be useful?’

‘For the most part, it was a pretty chilled out evening. I grilled some meat, Carol helped. Great girl, that Carol. We had dinner and probably a few too many drinks, but what’s new about that?’