India, eight months later
As he walked into the courtyard of the Indian Museum of Kolkata, Nick couldn’t help but be impressed by the grandeur of the arched colonnades enclosing it. All the way round on two levels, these bright white columns gave the place a palatial feel. The courtyard was in quadrants, with a fountain at the centre. He’d taken a risk coming here. It was perilously close to the India Society, where he first met Alexander Marsh. There was no chance of running into him now, of course. He doubted that Inspector Shah would recognise him, either.
Since arriving in India, he’d let his hair grow and he now sported a beard. Initially he’d hated it, but once he got used to it he felt less self-conscious. He looked more like an ageing hippy than a DCI and right now that was just fine. This was his first visit to Kolkata in that time, he was living in Jodhpur, almost 1200 miles to the north west. He had a little house in the old city - the ‘blue city’ as it was known. An old Indian woman came in twice a week to clean the place, but there was no housekeeper. Nick preferred to do his own cooking and was almost a complete vegetarian. He’d lost a few kilos on it, as well. There’d been no further talk about cosmetic surgery, for which he was grateful. He didn’t fancy the idea of having his face rearranged.
Mashida wanted him out of circulation, but not going to seed. One room on the second floor of his house had been converted into a mini-dojo and twice a week a young Japanese woman named Kamiko would arrive, to practise with him. Where she came from, he didn’t know, the Japanese community in Jodhpur was almost non-existent. She didn’t talk much about herself and wouldn’t tell him where she lived. She carried a parasol with her everywhere, to protect her pale, flawless skin from the Indian sun. Kamiko was also teaching him Japanese and left weekly exercises to be completed before her next visit. She was polite, but reserved. He found the isolation somewhat trying at times, which she seemed to recognise. After practice one day she told him, in a matter of fact manner, that part of her job was to ensure certain other needs were met. If he was agreeable, she would begin today. He got the impression that she’d been told to make this offer, but he didn’t argue. She was a slow and sensual lover, but even when engaged in such an intimate act she always held a part of herself back, not wanting him to get too close to the woman inhabiting that smooth-skinned body. Lately though, there’d been signs in a smile or a gesture hinting at a melting of her reserve. He wondered if she’d thaw out and he’d find out what she was hiding before they took him out of this place.
He went inside and found the gallery he was looking for. In contrast to many other parts of the interior this room had been spruced up, with re-plastered walls and a new skylight. The sunlight streaming through it lit up the four lions of Ashoka, one at each corner of the room, in sharp, glittering relief. The astonishment he remembered from his last sighting in Japan was kindled anew. There were dozens of people taking in the sight, but the gallery was big enough to accommodate them without it feeling crowded. As he strolled from one lion to the other, he felt those emerald eyes following him.
There were plenty of Europeans in evidence, mostly tourists. He noticed something familiar about one of them. A woman in profile, with a baby propped on one hip. It was the wide purple streak in her long, black hair that had caught his attention. He went and stood beside her, just to make sure.
‘Hello, Rebecca.’
She looked up at him. ‘Do I know you?’
‘I would hope you remember me.’
The penny dropped. ‘DCI Severance! What are you doing here?’
‘Same as you, I guess. Came to see these amazing creatures.’
‘Aren’t they beautiful? I’m so glad they’re back where they belong.’
‘More to the point, what are you doing back in India?’
She laughed. ‘Actually, I had a stroke of good fortune. They gave me the 5,000,000 rupees reward money. So I’m taking a long holiday.’
The baby was peering at him with an enquiring expression.
‘Who’s this?’ he asked.
‘This is Amy, a whole four months old.’
‘Your daughter?’ He was confused. ‘When did you find time to get pregnant?’
Rebecca blushed. ‘I was pregnant when you met me, I just didn’t know it. Found out when I got back from Crete.’
‘Is the father here?’
She shook her head. ‘It was a short and sweet liaison. He’s not interested. But that’s fine, we’ll manage without him.’
Nick offered Amy his finger. She gurgled in the way all babies do and wrapped her hand around it. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
‘You should come and see us,’ said Rebecca. ‘I’ll give you my address.’
‘I’d like to. But it might be best if you hadn’t seen me.’
She looked at him, with a troubled expression. ‘Yes, I forgot. I’m so sorry about your girlfriend. But the men holding her were killed, too. By you, if what I read is true.’ She didn’t wait for confirmation. ‘It’s a pity they never found that bitch Sylvie Dajani.’
‘She was found. She’s dead, now.’
They exchanged looks. ‘Drop by, if you’re around,’ she said. ‘I won’t tell anyone.’ She extracted a little notebook from her bag and scrawled down the address and phone number for him.
‘I must go,’ he said. ‘Amy, I’d like my finger back, now.’
Amy seemed to understand. She looked at him with her wide blue eyes and opened her palm.
‘Jesus Christ,’ breathed Nick. He felt a sudden dizziness.
‘What is it?’ Rebecca looked astonished by this sudden outburst.
‘What’s that on her palm?’ he asked, already knowing the answer.
Rebecca couldn’t understand his sudden concern. ‘It’s a birthmark. Strange, isn’t it? Like a perfect crescent moon.’
An ivory crescent moon. The dream came back to him. He opened Amy’s unresisting fingers and looked at it, with wonder.
‘I’ll be damned,’ he said. A sudden weight of spirit he didn’t know he’d been carrying, suddenly lifted. ‘I’d love to come and see you. I’ll give you a call.’
He kissed Amy’s forehead and then followed up with a kiss on the cheek for a perplexed and happy Rebecca. He turned and walked out of the museum, into the sunshine of another bustling Kolkata day.