‘Never left it?’
‘Why should I?’
‘Just asking. If you wish to change your testimony, do let me know.’
‘That leaves only me,’ Bhaskar rumbled slowly. ‘I probably have the least to tell you, despite the fact that my room is the closest to the chapel. As you know, I was the first to retire, and once I got off the wheelchair, I was more or less bound to the bed. It had been a tiring day for me. I’m afraid I have little to offer.’
‘That’s fine. Did you happen to hear anything during the night?’
‘I hear things every night, Mr Athreya, real and imagined. I don’t know which is which. After the intruder’s attack, I seldom sleep deeply. I keep my automatic under my pillow, you know. The slightest sound disturbs my sleep. Sometimes, I find that the sound was only inside my head.’
‘Did you hear anything last night?’
‘Yes … people walking … laughter … voices in the mist … doors closing and opening … Murugan locking up for the night … Sebastian retiring … many things. But now that I think about it, I think I did hear the whir of my wheelchair sometime during the night. I can’t say when. I thought I had imagined it, and decided that the whir was only inside my head.’
‘Why did you think you had imagined it, Mr Fernandez?’
‘Who would touch my wheelchair, Mr Athreya? It’s been around for a while, and it gets charged every night. It’s never been touched before. But it turns out that I was wrong. Somebody did take it.’
Athreya sat back and considered the facts. Everyone had returned to his or her room by 1 a.m. Each one of them had claimed that they had not left their room after that. By 2 a.m., they would have all been fast asleep. Yet, the murder took place between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
Was someone lying?
11
‘The next thing I’d like to do,’ Athreya said, ‘is to understand the deceased. Please tell me what you know about Phillip. What kind of a person was he? What work did he do? What were his interests? Does he have any relatives nearby? Who is the next of kin? Anything that can help me understand him.
‘Some of you would have personal views on him, both positive and negative. I recognize that you may not want to air some of them in such a gathering. Please feel free to hold those back and tell me later. Let’s start with his age. Dora told me this morning that he was going to be sixty next year. Is that right?’
Bhaskar nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘What work did he do?’
‘He painted for a living. You’ve seen some of his work.’
‘When did he come to the valley? Where was he before he came here?’
‘He came about seven years ago and wanted to rent that cottage. I don’t know where he came from.’
‘Any relatives nearby?’
‘Not to my knowledge. I think there is a sister somewhere in Pune or Nagpur, or some such place.’
‘He has a sister in Pune,’ Jilsy confirmed. ‘He mentioned her to me a few times. But where in Pune, and what her name is, I don’t know.’
‘I recall him saying that his sister was a few years older than him,’ Abbas added. ‘And that she was involved in some sort of social work in Maharashtra.’
‘Name? Address? Phone number?’
Abbas shook his head.
‘Won’t it be on his mobile phone?’ Manu asked. ‘Do you know where it is?’
‘In his pocket,’ Athreya said. ‘Whatever evidence it carries will keep till the police arrive. I would rather let the police deal with it. They are touchy about such matters.’
‘But we retrieved the dagger,’ Manu countered.
‘If we hadn’t, it would have been covered by sand by the time the police arrived. Estimating the time of death was similarly an urgent task. We had to do it.’ He turned to Jilsy. ‘Phillip was your neighbour. What can you tell me about the kind of person he was?’
‘A very nice man.’ Jilsy’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘Soft-spoken and courteous. He never raised his voice. He was always willing to help Ganesh or me with a chore. He used to come over for dinner sometimes.’
‘What did he talk about when he visited you?’
‘That’s the funny thing about him. He spoke very little, but was always willing to listen to my ramblings. A brief word here and a one-liner there would keep me going. I have so few people in the valley to talk to, Mr Athreya. I get so bored. I ended up talking to him quite often. He could listen for hours without getting bored. I’m going to miss him terribly.’
She fished out a tiny kerchief from her handbag and dabbed her eyes.
‘Did he have any … enemies? That’s perhaps a strong word, but you know what I mean. Was there anyone who might have wished him ill?’
‘I can’t imagine it. He kept to himself and had very few friends. He said nothing controversial, and he was not the kind of man to pick fights. Abbas, you want to add anything?’
‘He used to come to the resort and play carom with the guests and the staff. He occasionally would drop by for a drink with me or with my father. He had a standing invitation to join us for any meal, any day. The resort kitchen anyway cooks for so many people. One more makes no difference. And Phillip didn’t eat much.’
‘Let me add to what Varadan had earlier said about Phillip the painter,’ Bhaskar said. ‘A painter with zero creativity, Phillip had called himself. That is even truer than I have suggested. Remember the large painting of the mountain scene on the wall near the front door? The one that was painted by Phillip?’
‘Yes, I remember.’ Athreya nodded. ‘The one showing the hills at the far side of the vale.’
‘I had let you assume that Phillip had sat on a hill and painted the scene before his eyes. That is not true. That painting
