‘But someone surprised him that night and slit his throat.
‘Meanwhile, a third development had taken place: the mongrel was caught. It didn’t take long to break him. Within half an hour of making him a proposal, I had his story.
‘He had been skulking around the chapel the night Phillip was killed, and had seen enough to confirm my suspicions. Some of you had been in the garden when you claimed to be in your rooms. Some of you had stayed out longer, and some had gone out after retiring.
‘The mongrel has given a complete confession in writing. He was hired by Ismail—one of the staff members of the Misty Valley Resort—to kill Mr Fernandez. But Ismail was only an agent. He was working on someone’s behalf. We have the name of the person Ismail was representing. Ismail is already in custody.’
Murthy, who had been growing paler by the minute, threw a terrified glance at Abbas. Abbas himself might have turned to stone. Dora was glaring at Abbas, while Bhaskar kept his eyes on Athreya.
‘The mongrel overheard several conversations that murky night,’ Athreya continued. ‘Hiding in the mist, he snuck up close to people as they talked. He narrated a particularly interesting discussion that took place between 1 and 1:45 a.m. that night at the rock garden. There is no doubt now as to who had commissioned the mongrel to kill Mr Fernandez.’
By now, Murthy was visibly trembling. He stole glances at his wife, who sat staring at the carpet with her lips compressed into a hard, straight line. Dora, sitting beside her, slipped a hand through Michelle’s, trying to comfort her.
‘That was not all,’ Athreya went on. ‘We also found out enough to crack a case that the anti-drug team had been working on for some time. There was a drug-trafficking network operating across here, Kodai and Coorg.’
Athreya paused and looked at his watch. It was 7:10 p.m. He glanced out of one of the French windows. Muthu was standing just outside. The inspector nodded.
‘This is the reason I waited till 7 p.m. to begin,’ Athreya said slowly. ‘As we speak, the anti-drug team is raiding several places, including the Misty Valley Resort. They have jammed mobiles, so no calls can go out or come in. Of particular interest is a hidden cellar at the resort.’
Abbas looked as if he was in a trance. He sat still and silent, hardly breathing. Bhaskar threw a quick glance at Michelle.
‘So,’ Athreya said, ‘there were three crimes playing out at Greybrooke Manor: the attempted murder of Mr Fernandez, Phillip’s murder and drug trafficking. Abbas is the mastermind behind the first and the third. Murthy is involved in the first. While he didn’t have the resources to hire the mongrel, he certainly was a part of the planning to kill Mr Fernandez. I believe he also actively abetted the mongrel, just as Phillip had. Whether that is indeed so is for the courts to decide.’
Michelle was now shuddering as she took deep breaths. Her world had just collapsed around her, but she was dry-eyed. Dora clutched one hand as Manu held the other. At least her cousins were with her.
‘When it came to drug trafficking,’ Athreya went on, ‘the police were in for a surprise. One of the main distributors was a man they had never suspected. He was the one who handled the distribution of drugs to the Coorg area, including Madikeri. He was none other than Jacob Lopez, operating under a different name.
‘Jacob had come to the valley in 2009 and had taken on the identity of a man who had died two years earlier. He took the name of the dead man, and claimed the dead man’s relatives to be his. Unfortunately, Jacob’s adopted vocation was such that nobody questioned him.
‘It was he, Jacob Lopez, who killed Sebastian last night.’
‘What!’ Bhaskar exclaimed. ‘That can’t be. Phillip was already dead; Jacob Lopez was already dead.’
‘No, Mr. Fernandez…that is the mistake you made. You assumed that Phillip was Jacob Lopez. He wasn’t. Jacob has been in front of you all this time under a different name, hidden in plain sight. In a garb that defies suspicion. He is in this room now.’
‘Who?’ Bhaskar thundered.
Athreya paused and slowly turned to the robed figure near the French windows.
‘Father Tobias.’
A stunned silence enveloped the room. All heads snapped to the priest, who sat motionless, staring into the distance.
‘The proof?’ Athreya continued. ‘His fingerprints. Under the pretext of getting him to identify some items, I got him to handle a silver cigar case and a glass paperweight. I took his prints from them and sent them to Vienna, where they matched with the police records. There is no doubt about his real identity.’
Inspector Muthu walked in through the French windows, carrying a black bag.
‘This is from Father Tobias’s room in the annex,’ the inspector said. ‘It has a false bottom. Inside, we found an Italian handgun.’
‘And I found this,’ Athreya added, pulling out the flat leather pouch that he had picked up in the chapel beside Sebastian’s body. ‘It is a set of lock picks that Sebastian’s murderer dropped when Sebastian ripped his jacket. I haven’t opened the pouch yet, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the picks will have Father Tobias’s fingerprints. Lock picks are notoriously difficult to use with gloved hands.
‘Phillip and Jacob Lopez knew each other from Vienna, where Phillip used to copy paintings for Jacob, which the latter then sold at a huge profit. They renewed their relationship here, after which Jacob must have told Phillip about the Balsano landscapes.
‘On Friday night, Phillip and Father Tobias were working together. Their original plan was that Phillip would steal the paintings and Father Tobias would take them away early in the morning,
