Death to the Landlords

judge up to now, it was taped under the engine. From the position of the bodies it would appear that Mr Bakhle was at the wheel himself when the explosion occurred, and Ghose was behind him, in the stern. The firing mechanism was a small clock, and we have found the dial and parts of the bomb. It would seem that it was timed for five o’clock.’

‘Then it fired in advance of the time,’ said Dominic.

‘So it seems. A faulty device, but it was effective, all the same. You see the force of the timing. If the boat was taken out during the afternoon watering period, it was likely to be wrecked somewhere at the extreme of its range, well away from any inhabited place, and therefore, in all probability, from all help. It was an entirely professional job, Mr Felse – well put together, and no bigger than a medium-sized torch. And an important land-owner – and let me be frank, one much disliked locally – has been wiped out.’

‘It seems,’ said Dominic carefully, ‘that Mr Bakhle preferred to stay somewhat nearer home than usual this afternoon. He had guests this morning, and perhaps he was tired, and didn’t feel like going far. If the boat had really been at the limit of its range for the usual time allotted, it would have been where we were, out in open water. And it would have sunk totally, probably without trace.’

‘That is indeed the probability. Though with explosives there is always an element of chance. In our country, as in yours, Mr Felse, there are certain categories of people, distinct even among terrorists, whose favourite tools are the gun and the bomb. I am interested in your attitude to this affair, and I feel it only right to suggest to you that you and your friends, merely by virtue of being the first arrivals on the scene, and close and intelligent witnesses at that, may be at some risk yourselves. The evidence, as you have said, was most probably meant to disappear into deep water. But it did not, and you have become closely involved with it. I don’t say there was much for you to deduce – I do say that the Naxalites would have preferred not to run that risk.’

‘Naxalites?’ Dominic looked up at him sharply. ‘You really think they could be in it? Here?’

‘Here and anywhere. They may have originated in Bengal, they certainly have not stayed there, though they are less organised elsewhere. One of their weaknesses, indeed, is that the strings have almost always to be pulled from Bengal. But they extend everywhere, from Darjeeling to the Cape. “Death to the landlords!” is as valid a rallying-cry in the south as in the north.’

There was more than that; Dominic could tell by something withdrawn and watchful in the deep-set grey eyes. They had recovered part of the mechanism – the strings were almost always being pulled from Bengal – there could be ways of identifying where that bomb had been manufactured, perhaps even by whom.

‘Then the probability,’ he said slowly, ‘is that we have an agent from the north working here – not necessarily a Bengali, but sent from there. And you, I think, were already looking for him before this happened.’

The inspector smiled. ‘Mr Felse, you will do well not to enlist in our police, and not to learn any more.’

Dominic smiled, too. ‘I’m halfway there, as luck will have it. My father is a detective-inspector in England, I grew up in the tradition, even if I didn’t join the force. I grudge it that the lunatic Left, in any country, should discredit the legitimate Left by trying to turn killing into an approved weapon, and I hate it when their phoney grievances alienate sympathy from the genuine grievances that are there all the time, and need to be noticed and taken seriously. I don’t say even Bakhle was expendable – but surely Ajit Ghose wasn’t. One more life, a perfectly innocent one, is all in the day’s work, it seems.’

‘One or a hundred, I assure you. It’s all right – in this room we are quite private, I have seen to that, and Sergeant Gokhale here, though an impudent and insubordinate young man, is perfectly discreet.’ Sergeant Gokhale cocked one dark eye at his superior and smiled faintly, undisturbed at being discussed in this manner; they had evidently worked together amicably for some time. ‘But I should not theorise outside this room, not even among your friends. Here you may.’

‘I was thinking of the bomb,’ Dominic said. ‘If it was set to go off at five, then it was planted – or at least activated – since five this morning. I don’t know if the boat was used yesterday…’

‘It was, both morning and evening. And in the evening it was refuelled and serviced by the head boat-boy here, who is absolutely reliable – a local man who has worked here for many years. No, I think we can ignore the possibility that someone affixed that device at one visit, and then came back today to set it. We can concentrate on the time since five this morning…’

‘Then who had access? Judging by the time when we met Bakhle’s boat this morning, it was rather late in leaving…’

‘You are right, it did not leave until well after seven, and it came back about eleven. So from five until seven- twenty-five it was at the landing-stage, and again from eleven until three-fifteen. During the first period access would be very easy for anyone connected with the boat service or the hotel. Possibly even for outsiders. During the second there would be quite a number of people around, and though access would be easily possible, it would also be risky, since anyone unauthorised might very well be challenged if he approached the boat, and would in any case run the risk of being noticed, remembered and identified afterwards. One would choose the early morning in preference, I think. And then there were the morning guests, Mr and Mrs Mani and their servant. I shall be seeing them, of course. They are from Bengal…’ He let that tail away gently into silence, one eye on Dominic. He didn’t believe in it very seriously, but he had an open mind.

‘They were very flattered and excited about having an introduction to Mr Bakhle,’ Dominic said. ‘But I suppose that would be the line to take if they wanted the introduction and the invitation for a special purpose. Not very likely Naxalites, on the face of it, they have a lot to lose, and nothing to gain, which is usually the determining factor. Though not always, I suppose. But more important, all the letters of introduction in the world couldn’t have guaranteed them an invitation to share his boat.’

‘That is true. Also terrorist agents do not commonly proceed in threes, and for one to be such an agent without the risk of being suspected by the others might be difficult. Still, there could be vital secrets even between husband and wife, much more between master and servant. And as for possessions – have you noticed that the tenets of a creed are sometimes religiously observed by the rank-and-file adherent, but do not seem to be binding on the leaders of the cult? There are Naxalite bosses who are themselves greedy and tenacious landlords. Well – and you cannot think of anyone else who had ample opportunity, and was also from Bengal?’

‘Yes,’ said Dominic, after a long pause during which they looked each other measuringly in the eye, with a degree of wonder and curiosity. ‘Only it makes no sense. Yes, I didn’t miss the connection. Nobody had more opportunity than Ajit Ghose, nobody could hop in and out of that boat with as obvious a right as he could. For him it would have been easy, he was taking out that boat today, nobody would think of questioning him. And he comes from Bengal, and he’s been here only a short time. Romesh told us. And he told us more – that originally he was down as Bakhle’s boat-boy for today, and Ghose contrived to have the duties changed, so that the job went to him instead. I haven’t forgotten. But it would be crazy! He stood to blow himself up, too. If he did it, he did blow himself up.’

‘He may not have intended any such development. Terrorists have died by their own bombs before now.’