The ladies the inspector glossed over, appearing to consider them irrelevant. His eyes lingered over Athreya, whom he studied the longest.
‘You are the one who discovered the body?’ he asked belligerently.
‘I am,’ Athreya answered evenly.
‘How long were you alone with the body before you called the others?’
‘Fifteen minutes or so.’
‘Why didn’t you call them immediately?’
‘So that I could study the crime scene. I didn’t want people coming in and contaminating the evidence. In any case, Mr. Phillip was long dead.’
‘But you contaminated the evidence!’ Muthu snapped fiercely.
‘I didn’t touch anything after I discovered the body, except the body itself, which I touched to gauge its temperature.’
‘You touched something before you discovered it, then?’
‘Yes. I closed an open window that was banging in the wind. That’s what I had entered the chapel for. And, of course, I touched the chapel door.’
‘So, you left your fingerprints on the window and the door. That’s contamination. Then you studied the crime scene, you say? What did you find?’
‘I have made a list, which I will give to you. I have also spoken to everyone here and made a note of their movements during the night.’
‘You? Who gave you the authority to talk to the witnesses?’
‘I did,’ Bhaskar cut in sharply. ‘I asked him to investigate the crime.’
‘A suspect investigating the crime?’ Muthu demanded without taking his eyes off Athreya. ‘Are you a policeman?’
‘No,’ Athreya answered calmly.
‘Then?’
‘Let’s say I have a little experience in such matters. Would you like me to share my findings?’
‘A civilian’s findings?’ Muthu looked incredulous. ‘Let alone a suspect who discovered the body? I will make my own investigations. Now, Mr. Sebastian says that you have the murder weapon in your possession. Hand it over.’
‘Gladly.’ Athreya produced a key ring with two keys.
‘This is the key to the chapel. Two identical keys. The dagger is in a sealed plastic bag inside the chapel. Nobody has touched it.’
‘Why did you meddle with the evidence?’
‘For God’s sake, man,’ Bhaskar thundered. ‘If he hadn’t found it, it might have been buried under the brook’s sand and gravel by now. Can’t you see that he did you a service by recovering it?’
‘How did you know it was there?’ Muthu persisted, eyeing Athreya.
‘I thought there was a good chance that the killer might have thrown it there.’
‘You want me to believe that?’ Muthu attempted to thunder as Bhaskar just had, and failed miserably.
‘That’s your choice, Inspector.’
‘Lord in heaven, Inspector!’ Bhaskar exclaimed. ‘Do you know who he is?’
‘It wouldn’t matter if he was the prime minister. He is a civilian and a suspect. That’s all that matters. The law,’ he concluded loftily, ‘applies equally to everyone.’
Athreya gestured Bhaskar to back off.
‘Mr. Sebastian told me that one of you is a doctor,’ Muthu went on. ‘And that the person has estimated the time of death. Who was it?’
‘Me,’ Michelle said timidly. ‘I am only a GP, and I don’t know much about estimating the time of death. I did my best.’
‘That is fine, madam,’ Muthu conceded magnanimously. ‘It’s always a good thing to estimate the time of death as soon as the body is discovered. As time passes, the accuracy drops. So, thank you, madam. You have saved us one task.
‘Now, the police doctor and I will go see the body. I want everyone to remain here. You.’ he pointed to Athreya. ‘You come with me. I want you to tell me how exactly you discovered the body.’
Flashing a quick smile at a bristling Bhaskar and a horrified Manu, Athreya followed the inspector out through the French windows.
‘The chapel is at the end of the walkway,’ Sebastian called out after Muthu, who grunted in response and turned left.
The police doctor, a small quiet man, had been staring at Athreya during his exchange with the inspector. As Muthu strode forward on his long legs, pulling away from Athreya and the police doctor, the latter fell in step with Athreya.
‘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.’
‘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—or more than one person—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
