Barbara Cleverly - The Palace Tiger

‘What have you done with him?’ asked Joe alarmed. ‘The chap’s American, you know, not English.’

‘I am aware of the man’s nationality but the legal aspects of this case are interesting. What are we to do if a foreign national commits a capital crime on Rajput soil? What would you do if this were London? Of course you would arrest the man and he would stand trial at the Old Bailey. If I can lay hands on this man he will spend some time in my dungeons before he is taken to Delhi to be held to account.’

‘What do you mean — if you can lay hands on him? Surely you have him in custody by now, Ajit?’ said Edgar.

Ajit stirred uncomfortably and the Dewan spoke up. ‘Unfortunately that is not the case. Devastated as he was by the death of the Yuvaraj, Ajit, on the return journey, failed to notice that one of the cars, the Hispano Suiza, had been taken by Captain Mercer and his sister. They had packed it with their effects and, unbeknown to us, several spare cans of petrol. At a bend in the road they veered off into the forest and the rest of the cavalcade continued without them.’

Joe fought down a quite reprehensible stab of exultation and managed to ask, ‘But where on earth. .?’

‘They had planned well. This car had been toughened for use on hunting trips. Nevertheless it will prove to have been an amazing vehicle if it does what they require of it.’

‘Bloody hell!’ Edgar exclaimed. ‘They’re making for the Grand Trunk Road. But over that country. . no roads, not even tracks out there. They’ll never make it!’

‘I confidently expect to hear from our foresters within the next month that vulture-picked remains have been discovered in a little-known corner of the kingdom,’ Zalim said with relish.

‘Then you don’t know Madeleine Mercer,’ said Joe but only to himself. Out loud he asked, ‘But why did the pair go along with the rest of us on the tiger hunt? I can’t understand why they didn’t just sail off in the Jenny. Why spend a few miserable days with people they didn’t like on an activity they despised when they could have been getting away to Delhi or Bombay while our attention was otherwise engaged?’

Zalim and Ajit shared a conspiratorial glance and Zalim waved a negligent hand to encourage Ajit to speak.

‘It took less effort for me to get to the truth of Prithvi’s death than you, Sandilands. I simply took Ahmed into custody. No notebooks, no fingerprints, no slanted questions were necessary.’ He smiled pityingly and paused.

‘I’m not going to ask what was necessary,’ Joe decided. ‘Not going to give him the satisfaction.’

Ajit went on, ‘As one Rajput to another, he confided that his brother had taken a large sum of money from Captain Mercer before the fatal flight and had made off in line with Mercer’s suggestion, to set himself up in business as a driver of taxi-cab vehicles in. . Delhi.’ He gave a rumbling laugh. ‘He really had gone to Delhi, you see! Not difficult to establish that the dashing air ace had set up the plane to crash with the heir apparent at the controls. A matter of honour, we are to assume. Revenge and loss of career prospects also come into the story along with the disappearance of a substantial amount of wealth in bearer bonds from the possession of the ruler. But the mystery is — why did he not simply kill Ali?’

Joe was angered by the look of genuine puzzlement on Ajit’s face. ‘You mentioned the word “honour”. Captain Mercer may be a killer but he is not an indiscriminate killer. Ali was his rigger and Mercer entrusted his life to him every time he took off. There is no way he would have broken that trust. Perhaps Ali saw something he shouldn’t have seen, perhaps Mercer needed a distraction, a bit of hocus-pocus to confuse anyone who might become suspicious. He planned meticulously, which makes it all the more odd that he should — ’

‘Ah, yes. You are right when you say they should have instantly taken flight but. . ah, me!’ He gave a theatrical sigh. ‘This had been rendered impossible.’

Joe and Edgar looked at him in surprise and he enjoyed this for a moment before going on, ‘With the assistance of Ahmed, I had all the planes drained of fuel and the reserves carried away. Captain Mercer is nothing if not careful. He constantly checked the planes and it did not escape his attention that all was not well with them. He and his sister had little alternative but, like antelopes, to seek the safety of the herd when danger threatened. By mingling with the other Europeans they felt themselves more secure than they would have been if they had remained behind at the palace. They were not wrong,’ he finished baldly.

‘Ajit, may I ask you,’ said Edgar tentatively, ‘to share with us your thoughts on the death of Bahadur?’

‘The prince was killed in a manner I have yet to establish, by the Resident,’ said Ajit firmly.

‘Well, here we can trade information for information,’ said Edgar. ‘Tell us why you suspected Vyvyan and we’ll tell you how he managed it.’

‘For some weeks my men had been following Bahadur around the palace, as a means of protecting him. We were determined not to lose a third Yuvaraj. I think it was Ram who noticed. . Bahadur was observed to be observing! He spent many hours tracking Vyvyan around the palace, watching his bungalow when he worked late into the night. It was not long before Ram realized what his interest was and of course he brought his problem to me.’ For a moment, Ajit’s confidence seemed to glow less brightly. ‘A delicate situation,’ he said.

Zalim took up the tale. ‘Delicate is an understatement! Diplomatic dynamite! Policing Westerners with Vyvyan’s power and position is difficult and there was always the necessity to keep hidden the nature of his offence which even now I will not name. What could I do when Ajit came to me? Well, what would you have done?’ he asked with a disarming smile. ‘I telephoned Sir George.’

‘Sir George?’ The surprise was all Joe’s. Edgar was silent.

‘We discussed the matter and he said he would send someone to clear up the mess. I was advised to take no direct action which would sour relations between our countries.’ He looked at Joe and beamed again. ‘So, Sandilands, I fear the time has come for you to live up to your reputation. You must arrest Vyvyan and take him away and dispose of him as you will.’

‘Right now?’ Joe asked.

‘Yes. Time is, as you would say, of the essence. He is on the move. We had been expecting him to enjoy his new position of power, grow into his role, line his pockets, but his movements suggest this is not what he intends.’

‘Tell me what you have observed,’ said Joe.

‘His household stewards report that discreet preparations are under way. Nothing too obvious. It’s my theory he intends to go quickly and travel lightly. We have the motor cars and the stables under guard. He will not get away.’

‘But why now and why so hurriedly?’

‘He has already acquired the key of the khajina. He exercised his right to claim one immediately on the death of Udai Singh. It is my suspicion that he intends to remove treasure from the strong house and attempt an escape.’

‘Ah. Now look here. . I’m not sure how far I should reveal my knowledge of Ranipur’s economic affairs but, well, how certain can we be that it will avail him anything to attempt to ransack the coffers? Will he find anything of interest to him? Bit of an empty gesture perhaps, waving the key around?’

Again Zalim and Ajit exchanged a look which Joe was gratified to see.

‘Not quite empty,’ Zalim replied. ‘A significant amount of Ranipur’s resources have been traded for more portable modern representations of wealth but some remains. The state jewellery is still in the khajina. The people call these pieces “hamara” — “ours” — and they do indeed belong to the state and not to the ruler. Udai would never have contemplated disposing of the regalia that graces state weddings and durbars. Would your King George sell the Crown Jewels? I think not! They are still locked away and Claude is aware of this.’