‘I think we have met, sir,’ he said deferentially.
‘We have, Doctor. I remember it well. It was the double murder in Ooty three years ago, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, sir. I’m surprised that you remember me. What a memory!’
‘I just happen to be blessed with a good memory for faces. That’s all.’
‘Don’t mind the inspector, sir. He is always like that. He doesn’t know who you are. I’ll tell him later when we are alone.’
‘Don’t bother, Doctor. I’m sure he will discover it by himself within twenty-four hours. Has the landslide been cleared up?’
‘They have almost finished clearing one lane of the road. I think the police wagon will be here to collect the body in an hour or two.’
‘Excellent! There is something I need you to do.’
‘What?’
‘You need to perform an autopsy as soon as possible and examine the contents of the stomach.’
‘Any specific reason?’ the doctor asked.
Athreya told him.
Athreya sat alone on the stone bench outside the chapel door, sifting through what had been said in the drawing room in the morning, and what Dora and Manu had added on the walkway. While most of the testimonies had fitted with each other–like those of Michelle and Varadan–the overall picture was as murky as last night’s fog. The various accounts had offered no indication that any of the suspects were out and about at the time of the murder. Surely, someone–one person or more–had stayed out later than they had admitted. Or they had gone out again after retiring by 1 a.m.
While the people who were staying in the mansion would have run the risk of being seen by others in the main building, the people who were staying in the annex ran no such risk. They could have stepped out into the thick mist without anyone seeing them.
And what made the picture even murkier was the complete lack of knowledge about what Phillip had been up to from the time he and Varadan finished talking till the time he was killed. Of course, Athreya still had three potential suspects to talk to. Maybe one of them had a clue. As if on cue, footsteps sounded on the walkway, and he looked up to see Sebastian approaching.
‘I’m sorry about the way the inspector spoke, Mr Athreya,’ he began as he sat down on the stone bench beside Athreya. ‘I should have explained who you were before I told him about our searching the chapel.’
‘Don’t give it another thought, Sebastian. I don’t take offence so easily. I’ve dealt with even more hostile police officers before. I will be surprised if Muthu doesn’t back off in the next day or two. I made some calls earlier this morning, and the news will reach him sooner or later.
‘Instead, let’s turn to more useful things. I’ve spoken to most of the others about their movements last night and asked them if they saw or heard anything that was out of place. As we wait for the inspector to finish his examination of the chapel, why don’t you tell me about your movements and whatever you noticed?’
‘That’s what I came for. Mr Fernandez sent me.’
‘Excellent. Let’s start.’
‘I’m not sure if I have anything significant to say. You will remember that we entered the mansion together. It was a little short of midnight.’
‘11.50 p.m., to be precise,’ Athreya interjected .
‘That sounds right. I came in, checked if Mr Fernandez was asleep, and then retired at about midnight or a few minutes after.’
‘Was Mr Fernandez asleep?’
‘He was.’
‘Did you see anyone in the gallery?’
‘No.’ Sebastian turned a startled face towards him. ‘Was someone there?’
‘I don’t know. Had there been someone, would you have seen him or her?’
‘I think so … unless … he was flat against the wall, next to the suit of armour.’ He shook his head suddenly. ‘No, that’s not right. How stupid of me! I plugged in the wheelchair to charge. I would have seen if there was anyone in the gallery, even behind the suit of armour.’
‘Is that your routine every night?’
‘Yes. Once Mr Fernandez retires, I plug in the wheelchair.’
‘Okay. And was the back door closed?’
‘It was. I checked it.’
‘What did you do after that?’
‘Went to my room, changed into my pyjamas and went to bed.’
‘Did you hear anything in the night?’
‘I would be lying if I said I hadn’t. The fact is that I am a light sleeper; more so after the break-in happened. I heard some voices drift in through the window. I also heard a couple of doors opening and closing. One of them must have been Manu’s door, I guess. But I didn’t think much of it. Voices and sounds of doors were expected last night.’
‘Talking about doors, would you have heard the chapel door open?’
Sebastian sat bolt upright.
‘Yes!’ he said, his eyes flashing. ‘The door creaks, and creaks loudly! I would have heard it.’
‘Yet, you didn’t.’
Sebastian nodded. ‘I wonder why. Did I sleep sounder than usual? I didn’t drink much.’
‘The interesting thing is that none of us four who slept on the ground floor–you, Mr Fernandez, Manu and me–heard anything. Yet, the wheelchair was taken. Yet, the chapel door was opened. Yet, Phillip was killed.’
‘Are you trying to suggest something, Mr Athreya?’
‘I don’t know. It just seems to me that some prior planning was done for last night.’
‘You mean someone planned the murder?’
‘Either that, or someone had planned something else. And things went wrong.’
The conversation was interrupted by Muthu opening the chapel door and beckoning Athreya to come in. Sebastian followed Athreya to the chapel door and stopped there, looking at the hinges. From the aisle of the chapel, Athreya threw a glance over his shoulder and saw a perplexed look on Sebastian’s face.
A couple of hours later, after enduring a belligerent interrogation by Muthu, Athreya was back at the Misty Valley Resort. The inspector had chosen to grill Athreya first, making use of the study for his questioning. He had made Athreya repeat
