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‘Stuart’s a trained killer. He’s looked pilots in the eye, kids his own age, his mirror image if you like, and calmly pulled the trigger and shot them down in flames. Twenty notches or whatever they are on his fuselage, don’t forget. Another one seems insignificant,’ Edgar added.

‘Well, Stuart’s done the cutting,’ said Lizzie, ‘why didn’t they do the running as soon as they got their hands on a million dollars’ worth of bearer bonds? Why did they go out to the tiger hunt with everyone else? They could have stayed behind and taken off in the Jenny when you were all looking the other way.’

‘Ah. Yes. Good point, Lizzie,’ said Edgar helplessly. ‘Any ideas, Joe?’

Joe shook his head, thinking furiously.

To cover his colleague’s embarrassment, Edgar burbled on. ‘So, what comes next? We have no jurisdiction in the state, no power of arrest. Chap’s American, anyway. What a diplomatic tangle! Do we ring Sir George? Ask his advice? Do we drop the word to Ajit and wait for him to make an arrest? That’s two for the dungeons — Claude and Stuart.’

‘You’re forgetting Bishan,’ said Lizzie. ‘The first murder from which all this stems, it seems to me. Who arranged his death? Can we expect a third culprit to join them in the cells?’

‘No,’ said Joe, finding his voice. ‘The first murderer? Good Lord, it sounds like the cast list of a Shakespearian tragedy! No. There can be no expectation of the first murderer ever being arrested. He is well beyond even Ajit Singh’s reach!’

Chapter Twenty-Six

‘I hope you’re not still banging on with the idea that Udai had Bishan killed?’ Edgar’s voice had an edge of menace but he collected himself at once and added shamefacedly, ‘No, of course not. Sorry, Joe. Hardly likely to have whispered his own name into the ear of a chap as he lay dying.’

‘It was almost as difficult to give him the name he was seeking. The confirmation (because I’m sure he already knew) that his first son had been murdered by his second son was the last thing a dying prince wants to hear. Prithvi. I think he’d finally decided to behave in all things like a Rajput prince and use his skills for the benefit of the state. And his first task was to clear his own path forward. I think it was Prithvi who talked Bishan into taking the stronger than usual dose of opium and used his authority to order the replacement of the panther. He must have strongly believed in his ability to save the country from the economic disaster that is threatening it.’

‘A disaster that has already overtaken one or two princely states,’ said Lizzie. ‘But I don’t think anyone here has the faintest idea how near the brink we might be. What a mess. .’ She sighed. ‘Suddenly my little tile-hung cottage begins to look very attractive.’

Her sigh was interrupted by a peremptory knock at the door. When Joe went to open it he was alarmed but not surprised to see the handsome and agitated features of Ajit Singh’s lieutenant, Ram.

‘Sahib, I am pleased to have tracked you down!’

Not the effort he was implying, Joe considered, as he was quite certain that their every move was shadowed.

‘Ram. Good to see you again though the circumstances are hardly auspicious,’ said Joe. ‘Won’t you join us?’ he added vaguely, doubtful that inviting him into the room of a memsahib was the right thing to do.

Ram shook his head. ‘Forgive me. I must ask you and Captain Troop to accompany me at once to the office of the Dewan where he and Major Ajit Singh await you. The memsahib’s presence is not required,’ he added with a polite nod to Lizzie who had appeared by Joe’s side.

The guard at the door of the Dewan’s office when they reached it appeared to have doubled, Joe noticed, but at the sight of them no challenges were rapped out. The doors were opened instantly and they were ushered inside.

No clerks on duty this time; the room was occupied only by the Dewan and Ajit Singh. With a gesture and polite formulae they were invited to take seats at a low table opposite the two Rajputs, and Ajit Singh began in what seemed to Joe to be the middle of the story. He spoke fast and bluntly. Time, apparently, was of some importance.

‘Were you tempted to lie, Sandilands, when the ruler asked you for names?’

‘Of course,’ said Joe without hesitation. ‘But it would have been impossible to get away with it. He would have known. He did know. . I’d swear even before you gave him your opinion. He’d worked it out.’

‘And here we are in possession of the identities of two killers. One is outside our jurisdiction but the second, Captain Mercer, remains on our list so to speak.’

‘What have you done with him?’ asked Joe alarmed. ‘The chap’s American, you know, not English.’

‘I am aware of the man’s nationality but the legal aspects of this case are interesting. What are we to do if a foreign national commits a capital crime on Rajput soil? What would you do if this were London? Of course you would arrest the man and he would stand trial at the Old Bailey. If I can lay hands on this man he will spend some time in my dungeons before he is taken to Delhi to be held to account.’

‘What do you mean — if you can lay hands on him? Surely you have him in custody by now, Ajit?’ said Edgar.

Ajit stirred uncomfortably and the Dewan spoke up. ‘Unfortunately that is not the case. Devastated as he was by the death of the Yuvaraj, Ajit, on the return journey, failed to notice that one of the cars, the Hispano Suiza, had been taken by Captain Mercer and his sister. They had packed it with their effects and, unbeknown to us, several spare cans of petrol. At a bend in the road they veered off into the forest and the rest of the cavalcade continued without them.’

Joe fought down a quite reprehensible stab of exultation and managed to ask, ‘But where on earth. .?’

‘They had planned well. This car had been toughened for use on hunting trips. Nevertheless it will prove to have been an amazing vehicle if it does what they require of it.’

‘Bloody hell!’ Edgar exclaimed. ‘They’re making for the Grand Trunk Road. But over that country. . no roads, not even tracks out there. They’ll never make it!’

‘I confidently expect to hear from our foresters within the next month that vulture-picked remains have been discovered in a little-known corner of the kingdom,’ Zalim said with relish.

‘Then you don’t know Madeleine Mercer,’ said Joe but only to himself. Out loud he asked, ‘But why did the pair go along with the rest of us on the tiger hunt? I can’t understand why they didn’t just sail off in the Jenny. Why spend a few miserable days with people they didn’t like on an activity they despised when they could have been getting away to Delhi or Bombay while our attention was otherwise engaged?’

Zalim and Ajit shared a conspiratorial glance and Zalim waved a negligent hand to encourage Ajit to speak.

‘It took less effort for me to get to the truth of Prithvi’s death than you, Sandilands. I simply took Ahmed into custody. No notebooks, no fingerprints, no slanted questions were necessary.’ He smiled pityingly and paused.

‘I’m not going to ask what was necessary,’ Joe decided. ‘Not going to give him the satisfaction.’

Ajit went on, ‘As one Rajput to another, he confided that his brother had taken a large sum of money from Captain Mercer before the fatal flight and had made off in line with Mercer’s suggestion, to set himself up in business as a driver of taxi-cab vehicles in. . Delhi.’ He gave a rumbling laugh. ‘He really had gone to Delhi, you see! Not difficult to establish that the dashing air ace had set up the plane to crash with the heir apparent at the controls. A matter of honour, we are to assume. Revenge and loss of career prospects also come into the story along with the disappearance of a substantial amount of wealth in bearer bonds from the possession of the ruler. But the mystery is — why did he not simply kill Ali?’