Outside the chapel, the mist was gathering again, promising to be as dense as it had been on the day of the murder. At the end of the service, people melted away in groups, most of them going down the path towards the Misty Valley Resort. Not wanting him to risk passage in the thickening murk, Bhaskar asked Father Tobias to stay for the night.
When they sat down for dinner, it was a dozen of them–the same gathering as before, with the exception of Phillip. Bhaskar was back in his motorized wheelchair, which had been cleaned, with all its upholstery changed. It had been stripped down to its metal frame, and all the bloodied parts had been thrown away. All the replaceable sections–the seat, back and armrests–had been replaced with new ones.
‘How is your investigation coming along, Mr Athreya?’ Ganesh asked amidst a long, awkward silence, trying to spark conversation. ‘The revised estimate of the time of death has thrown a spanner in the works, hasn’t it?’
‘Not really,’ Athreya answered. ‘Earlier, nobody had an alibi. Now, with the revised time frame, some people seem to have one, at least on the face of it.’
‘Any idea of the motive yet? From what we heard at the service today, Phillip seemed to be a well-liked man.’
‘A case of mistaken identity may well have prompted the murder, Major. But, just as we have multiple suspects, we’re looking at a host of possible motives too, some quite esoteric. Did you know that Phillip spent many years in Austria as an artist, converting photographs to paintings and copying the works of others?’
‘Really?’
Several heads jerked up, as the diners transferred their gaze from their plates to Athreya’s face.
‘Austria?’ Manu asked. ‘Wow! I didn’t realize that he had lived overseas. Usually, that shows up in the way people speak and in their choice of words.’
‘He was a reserved man who spoke little,’ Dora said. ‘Taciturn, really. Maybe that’s why it didn’t show. In all the years I’ve known him, I don’t think I would have exchanged more than a few dozen sentences with him.’
‘That’s true, Dora. He was a quiet man. I wonder who would want to kill such a man. He kept largely to himself.’
‘It must have been someone from outside. I just can’t see anyone we know wanting to kill him.’
Father Tobias had been watching the exchange across the table as if he were watching a tennis match from the sidelines. His head turned this way and that, from one speaker to the other. With each utterance, he seemed to be getting more confused.
‘Pardon me,’ he interrupted, apologetically blinking his eyes. ‘I don’t understand. Why are we talking as if we don’t know who killed Phillip?’
‘What do you mean, Reverend?’ Bhaskar asked, his eyes drilling into the cleric’s. ‘Of course, we don’t know who killed Phillip. Do you?’
‘Oh dear!’ Father Tobias’s face flushed red. ‘I must have made a mistake then. I must have misheard the inspector.’
‘The inspector?’
By now, everyone at the table was staring at the priest, who was clearly feeling awkward under the combined scrutiny.
‘Oh dear!’ he mumbled again. ‘How stupid of me. I must have misheard.’
‘Tell us what you think you heard, Reverend.’
‘Well, Inspector Muthu was very pleased when he came to see me. He said that he had solved the case, and that he had done it without the help of any fancy specialist, whatever that meant.’
The meaning must have been obvious to everyone in the room other than Father Tobias.
‘Solved the case?’ Bhaskar echoed.
Father Tobias nodded vigorously and went on.
‘Apparently, he has already apprehended the man who had broken into this mansion three months ago and attacked you. The dagger that killed Phillip was his too. And he had been hiding among the staff of the Misty Valley Resort the night Phillip was killed.’
As a stunned silence engulfed the room, Athreya glanced at Abbas. This time, the suave resort owner faltered. He had stopped eating, and his face had begun to blanch. Athreya saw Michelle and Richie glance at Abbas too.
Into the shocked silence, Father Tobias threw another unwitting bomb.
‘Apparently, the arrested man is a well-known criminal, and has been recognized as the one who had tried to kill Bhaskar. He has a nickname too. I believe he is called “the mongrel”.’
Michelle’s eyes flew wide open, and her head snapped to Athreya. By contrast, Jilsy, frightened out of her wits, shut her eyes and fists tightly, as if she wanted to cut out the world. A second later, Ganesh’s mouth dropped open.
‘The mongrel?’ he echoed. ‘Phillip was heard talking about the mongrel.’
‘What!’ Manu exclaimed. ‘Phillip knew the mongrel? Are your sure, Major?’
‘Very sure!’ Ganesh’s head bobbed up and down, even as Jilsy kept her eyes shut. ‘I heard him talk about the mongrel. Clearly.’
Suddenly, it dawned upon the major that he might have erred seriously. His despairing eyes sought out Athreya. But it was too late. Ganesh shut his mouth with a snap and picked up his glass of rum and Coke. Fortunately, nobody asked him whom Phillip had been talking to when he mentioned the mongrel, and how it was that he had overheard him.
Abbas had paled further, and was looking ashen. With an unsteady hand, he picked up his wine glass and brought it to his lips, keeping his eyes on the table the entire time. Michelle was staring at Abbas, her lips compressed and her nostrils flaring. Her eyes were glistening with moisture. An expression of incredulity came over Richie’s face. Dora, Sebastian and Varadan were also staring at the resort owner.
When Athreya took his eyes off Abbas, he found Bhaskar staring at him. Athreya returned the gaze unflinchingly and nodded slightly, telling Bhaskar that he had known about the mongrel’s association with Phillip.
‘So!’ Manu hissed. ‘Phillip had known the mongrel, eh?’ He looked uncharacteristically angry. ‘That answers a few questions, doesn’t it?’
‘What questions?’ Dora asked. She was still stunned at the sudden turn of events.
‘First, how did the mongrel
