‘It may take a few minutes,’ he said, pocketing the letter. ‘I will have to locate her and . . . she may be at prayer or . . .’ The sentence petered out. ‘If you wouldn’t mind waiting; I shall return having made the arrangements.’
He pressed his palms together.
‘Mr Ali,’ I said, ‘may I have the letter back?’
The eunuch hesitated.
‘If I may,’ he replied, ‘I shall return it to you once I have organised the meeting.’
With that, he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.
‘Odd, don’t you think?’ I said once he’d gone.
‘What?’ asked Annie.
‘Why would he want to keep hold of the letter?’
‘I suppose he wants to show it to someone,’ she replied.
‘Yes, but who?’ I asked. ‘It’s an order from the Maharaja. He’s the chief of the zenana. Why would he need to show it to anyone?’
‘You’re the sleuth,’ she replied. ‘You tell me.’
‘Actions are better than words,’ I said, making for the door. ‘Come on.’
‘Where are we going?’ she whispered, as she followed me out of the antechamber.
‘We’re going to see where Mr Ali’s off to,’ I said.
The corridor with the frescos of cavorting couples on its walls was blessedly empty and we walked quickly along it, heading towards the interior of the zenana. We stopped at a door at the far end which opened on to the courtyard with the old banyan tree.
‘Maybe you should go first,’ I said to Annie. ‘If there’s anyone out there, they’re less likely to be alarmed at the sight of a woman.’
‘Are you throwing me to the wolves, Sam?’ she asked under her breath.
‘Let’s hope not.’
She took a breath. ‘Very well, Captain. Here goes.’
She inched open the door. I waited as she looked out.
‘Well?’ I whispered.
‘Sayeed Ali’s just gone through the arch at the far end. I think he’s making for the stairs.’
‘Is there anyone out there?’ I asked.
‘In the courtyard?’ She opened the door further and peered out. ‘Two women. Sitting by the tree. I expect they’re concubines, judging by the jewellery round their wrists.’
It didn’t seem we’d be able to go much further.
‘I can see Sayeed All,’ she said suddenly. ‘He’s at a window on the first floor. At least, I think it’s him – it’s hard to tell through the latticework. He seems to be talking to someone — a woman, I think. Yes, definitely a woman – she’s wearing a sari. The concubine, Rupali, I expect.’
‘Over a hundred and twenty women in there and the first one he meets is the one were looking for? It’s unlikely,’ I said.
‘Well, you take a look then,’ she whispered forcefully.
We swapped places and I peered through the gap into the courtyard and across at the windows high in the wall opposite. It took me a moment to find the correct one, but sure enough, there was the eunuch, his back to us, in conversation with a woman. She was facing him, and partially obscured so that it was impossible to make out much more than the colour of her sari and her hair.
Somewhere behind us, a door opened. I spun around.
‘I think someone’s coming,’ said Annie.
‘Go and see if you can stall them,’ I said.
‘What? How?’
‘I don’t know. Use that legendary charm of yours. It seems to work on everyone from Charlie Peel to Prince Punit. Lead them back to the anteroom.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘Good question,’ I replied.
Annie ran back along the corridor.
I looked outside. The two concubines were still seated under the banyan tree. There was no escape in that direction. Behind me I heard voices. By the sound of it, Annie had run into a man coming the other way. For a moment I thought it might have been one of the mountainous Rajput guards. Then I remembered that they were stationed outside the main entrance, and that it was more likely that she’d instead come across a eunuch. It suddenly hit me that if there was one group of men impervious to her feminine wiles, it was probably eunuchs. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
I looked back up at the window. Sayeed Ali was no longer there. But the woman was. She stood there, still, as though thinking of something. Then she walked up to the window and stared out, as though straight at me. Despite being shielded by the door, I stepped back instinctively.
‘Sir!’ came a voice behind me. ‘You cannot be here!’
I turned to find a boyish-looking eunuch coming down the corridor, with Annie a few paces behind.
‘Sorry,’ I said, heading back towards him, ‘I must have taken a wrong turn.’
As I followed him back to the anteroom, I thought of the woman who’d been speaking to Sayeed Ali. I knew she couldn’t have seen me, but in that split second, I’d caught a glimpse of her face. She was young and pretty and I’d sat next to her at dinner the previous evening.
Ten minutes later, Sayeed Ali returned.
‘It has been arranged,’ he said, brusquely handing me back the order. ‘Please follow me.’
‘Mr Ali,’ I said, ‘do you speak the local language?’
He stopped and turned. ‘Yes.’
‘In that case,’ I said, ‘would you be prepared to interpret for us?’
The eunuch thought it over. ‘That should not pose a problem.’
We followed him, this time to a smaller, plainer room, though again split by a latticework screen. The woman we had come to see was already seated. Through the holes, I made out a gold sari and dark-skinned, bangle-adorned arms.
Sayeed Ali sat down on the rug beside us.
I took a pen and a sheet of paper from my pocket, then passed them to the eunuch.
‘Please give them to Miss Rupali and ask her to write her name and those of her parents.’
Through an aperture in the screen, he passed the instruments to the girl and duly translated the instructions. She asked him something in return, he nodded, and she wrote the details on the pad, then passed it and the pen back to him. Ali then passed it to me.
The writing was in the same script as that of the notes found in Adhir’s bedchamber. Whether it was the same handwriting, though, I had no idea.
‘Please ask her if she knows anything about notes that were left for Prince Adhir in his chambers about a fortnight ago.’
The eunuch put the question to her.
Her reply was hesitant.
‘She says she has no knowledge of such things.’
I didn’t need to see her face or speak the language to know it was a lie. It was laid bare in the tone of her voice.
‘Please tell her it is vital that she responds truthfully to our questions and that if she does so, she will not be in any trouble.’
Sayeed Ali translated. Rupali’s tone changed. She was pleading.
‘She maintains she knows nothing of the notes,’ said Ali, deadpan.
‘Tell her that we know she wrote them and that she gave them to a maidservant to place in Adhir’s quarters. Tell her the maid has identified her and that her handwriting matches that in the notes.’
This time, the hesitation was longer.
‘Ask her again,’ I said. ‘Did she write those notes?’
‘Sam,’ whispered Annie, ‘you’re frightening her.’
The girl began to weep. But between the sobs came words.
‘She admits she wrote the notes,’ said the eunuch. ‘She says she meant no harm.’
‘Tell her I believe her,’ I said. I shot Annie a look. ‘Tell her that what she did was commendable.’
Sayeed Ali translated. His tone was gentle and the words seemed to act like balm, calming the girl somewhat.
‘Ask her how she came to write them,’ I asked.
Her answer went on for several minutes, breaking now and again, to allow the eunuch to translate.
&n
bsp; ‘She liked Prince Adhir,’ he said. ‘He had been kind to her and she hoped her own position would be improved once he became maharaja. She overheard whispers in the zenana. Rumours of a plot to harm the prince. She says at first she thought nothing of it, that there is always gossip of many kinds swirling around, but the rumours persisted.’
‘Can she tell us where these rumours originated?’ asked Annie.
‘She says she doesn’t know. The zenana is a hierarchy. She was generally restricted to mixing with girls of the same level as herself. No one knew where it started.’
‘Did she tell anyone?’
The girl was sobbing once again. The eunuch seemed genuinely moved by her distress. He rubbed a hand across his cheek.
‘Captain Wyndham,’ he said, ‘if I may make an observation, the girl is very young and not well educated. She says she did not know to whom she could turn without getting into trouble. She felt the only thing she could do was to write those notes and entrust them to the maid in the hope that the Yuvraj would see them.’
‘Did the rumours say who was behind the plot?’
The eunuch shook his head. ‘They did not.’
I felt suddenly deflated. I’d hoped this girl’s testimony would unlock the whole affair, but all she had done was confirm the link to Sambalpore and the palace. As for who was responsible, I was still none the wiser.
‘She’s sure she didn’t hear any names mentioned?’
‘She is positive.’
‘Mr Ali,’ said Annie, ‘can you ask her how such a rumour might have started?’
The eunuch translated the question and waited for her reply.
‘She says that everything that happens in Sambalpore is known in the zenana. The news is carried here on the wind. She knows not from where the rumours start any more than she knows where the sun goes at night.’
‘And you, Sayeed Ali,’ I asked, ‘did you hear rumours of this plot?’
The eunuch looked towards the door, then set his lips in a thin smile. ‘There are so many rumours that swirl around this place. Over the years I have learned to become deaf to them.’
‘That’s not an answer.’
The eunuch paused for a moment, then replied.
‘It is all that I am willing to say on the matter, but I take it you are a Christian, Captain?’
‘Nominally,’ I said.
‘In that case, you may wish to recall the words of your own Messiah: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.’
It seemed I wasn’t going to get much out of the eunuch. I turned my attention back to the concubine.
‘Ask her what she thinks of the new Yuvraj, Prince Punit.’
Instead of translating the question, the eunuch turned to me.
‘What do you expect her to tell you, Captain?’ He sighed. ‘She is a mere village girl and you are asking her to comment on the future ruler of this kingdom. She will tell you what they would all tell you – that the prince is a descendent of heaven and will one day make a fine ruler.’
‘And you, Sayeed Ali?’ I asked. ‘What would you say of your future monarch?’
The eunuch stared impassively at the screen as dust motes danced in the shafts of light.
‘I would tell you, Captain, that if you want to know about His Highness Prince Punit, you should ask the woman whom he courted so assiduously for the last six months. The woman they have arrested for his brother’s murder.’
THIRTY-TWO
Surrender-not stared at me as I burst into the room, my shirt clinging to my back.
‘Get your jacket on, Sergeant,’ I said. ‘Were off to visit your friend Miss Bidika again.’
I’d left Annie at the steps of the Banyan Mahal and all but ran back to the Rose Building where Surrender-not was still going through Golding’s papers. In hindsight the running had probably been a mistake; the day was far too hot for that sort of nonsense, but I wasn’t exactly thinking rationally.
I’d asked Annie to come with me to the old fort to question Miss Bidika, but she’d demurred.
‘I’ve been invited on a tour of the palace,’ she’d said, then told me she’d meet me for the drive out to the tiger hunt. In my haste I’d left it at that. Now I wondered who’d invited her, not that I had time to dwell on it. The eunuch’s revelation had knocked me for six. At first I thought he might be joking: the idea that the new Yuvraj had been courting the woman arrested for Adhir’s murder seemed preposterous. But the man had a certain sincerity to him and he’d stuck to his story.
‘But why has no one else mentioned this to us?’ asked Surrender-not as the car sped through the palace gates. He held one hand to his hair against the wind. Even in our hurry to leave, he’d taken out his comb and run it quickly across his scalp.
‘The eunuch says it’s not common knowledge,’ I replied. ‘He says he only knows because as head of the zenana, he was the one tasked by Punit to arrange the gifts he lavished on her.’
‘You must have questioned him quite superbly, sir. I am only sorry I was not there to witness the interview.’
‘There was nothing to see,’ I said. ‘He all but volunteered the information.’
The sergeant was silent. He had that expression on his face again.
‘What?’
‘Sir?’
‘What’s troubling you this time?’ I asked.
His forehead creased. ‘I’m sure it’s nothing, sir. It’s simply that I can’t quite understand why?’
‘Why what?’
‘Why would the eunuch voluntarily tell you all this?’
It was a good question. Only the previous evening, Colonel Arora had told me that the eunuchs were prized for their secrecy. Why then would Sayeed Ali share such a thing? With my questioning of the concubine, was I getting close to something he didn’t want me to know? Or was it because someone had told him to tell me?
‘I don’t know,’ I said, frustrated with myself for not thinking it through sooner.
The old fort loomed large, shimmering in the heat.
I decided to change the subject. ‘Did you find anything useful among Golding’s papers?’
He shook his head. ‘Nothing. The report certainly isn’t there.’
The driver stopped the car in the courtyard of the fort and Surrender-not and I jumped out and headed for Major Bhardwaj’s office.
We were shown in by a tall officer with a jaw like the prow of a ship. The major sat behind his desk with a sour expression on his face. If he’d been less than happy to see us previously, this time he was positively hostile.
‘Orders,’ he spat, rising to his feet. ‘I’ve received no orders granting you access to the prisoner. Who are you that you should come marching into my office and expect me to jump at your command? This is not your Raj, Captain..’
‘No, but the man whose raj it is has asked me to investigate and that’s what I intend to do. It has come to my attention that Miss Bidika may not have been quite as forthright in her answers as I had hoped. So either you can offer me some cooperation or we can telephone the palace and see what His Highness has to say about it.’
For a moment we both stood staring at each other like a couple of bulls in a pen.
‘If I may, sir,’ interjected Surrender-not behind me, ‘I’m sure the major would be as anxious as we are to hear what Miss Bidika might have to say. We are all rowing for the same team, so to speak.’
I wasn’t overly keen on Bhardwaj eavesdropping, but I’d take Surrender-not’s compromise if it helped gain us access.
‘I’ve no objections,’ I said. ‘What about you, Major?’
Bhardwaj considered it, then slowly nodded his assent.
We followed him out of the office and back towards the tower where Shreya Bidika was kept prisoner.
‘Rowing for the same team?’ I said to Surrender-not quietly as we rounded a corner. ‘You’re not at Cambridge any more, Bunty.’
‘No, sir. It just seemed an expedient way to break the impasse.’
Miss Bidik
a was lying on her bed reading a tired-looking book. Dog-eared pages hung loosely from a frayed and ragged binding. She put down the book and stood up.
‘Mr Wyndham and his Bengali sergeant,’ she said drily. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’
‘Prince Punit,’ I said.
She blinked.
‘What about him?’
‘Last time I was here, I rather went away with the impression that you detested the man.’
This time there was no reply.
‘You failed to mention your relationship with him.’
Beside me, Bhardwaj let out a gasp. ‘What is this nonsense, Captain? You led me to believe—’
I cut him off, focusing on the woman. ‘Well, Miss Bidika?’
She walked over to the desk, pulled out the chair but made no attempt to sit. ‘There was no relationship,’ she said.
‘No?’ I said. ‘I’m told the prince courted you most assiduously.’
‘He took a fancy to me. Like he did so many other women. He thought he could buy me.’
‘But he couldn’t?’
‘If he could, I would be sitting in the zenana right now rather than in here.’
That much was true, but there was something she wasn’t telling me.
‘And yet I’m informed that you met him secretly several times.’
‘Initially, the family sent him to sweet-talk me. To convince me to cease the agitation against their rule. He offered me a position of influence in the zenana. He told me it was a chance to make a difference.’
‘He wanted you to marry him?’ I asked.
‘No.’ She gave a short, bitter laugh. ‘Not at first, anyway. At first he simply wanted to make me his concubine.
‘I, of course, declined and told him a few home truths.’
‘But you continued to meet him?’
She walked over to the window and looked out towards the temple across the river.
‘He asked me to. It was too good an opportunity to turn down. He told me that no woman had spoken to him like that before and that he wanted to change things in the kingdom. That’s when the gifts started. A month later he offered to make me his wife. He said he needed an intelligent woman by his side.’
A Necessary Evil Page 23
