BULBUL KANODIA COMES CLEAN

‘The door is open, sir. You may go inside.’

Chopra gave the guard a stern look. It was the same man that he had threatened when he had come here in a rage, certain that Garewal had lied to him. The guard grinned queasily. Word had obviously been passed down from on high that he should extend every courtesy to his visitor. The guard was probably wondering if Chopra would use his newfound influence to have him removed from his post.

It was, after all, his third visit to Mumbai Central Prison in the space of a few days.

Bulbul Kanodia did not rise from the hard contours of his bunk to greet him. Dark-circled eyes looked out from a slack face at the bare ceiling above. His arms lay flat by the sides of his large belly. In his white prison suit, he looked like a corpse laid out for holy cremation.

‘What do you want?’ he finally asked.

‘I need to ask you a question,’ replied Chopra.

‘Haven’t you done enough? Because of you I am ruined.’

Chopra had heard this lament many times during his career. A captured criminal laying the blame for his predicament on the men who had brought him to justice.

‘Why did you do it?’ asked Chopra. ‘You are a wealthy man. You are not chasing excitement like Kartik and his friends. So why?’

‘You could not possibly understand.’

Chopra fell silent, waiting. He sensed that Kanodia had a wish to talk, a wish to confide in someone, even the man who had brought him down.

Kanodia shifted his vacant stare to his feet. ‘It was the diamond. I wanted to touch the diamond. To hold it in my hand. Since before I could walk I have worked with precious stones. My family come from a long line of gemworkers. The Koh-i-Noor is a legend to us. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to see it with my own eyes, let alone touch it.’

Chopra’s mouth lifted in the tightest of smiles. ‘Is that why you stole it?’

A heartbeat of time ticked away.

‘I did not steal it. Sunny Kartik stole it.’

‘And then you stole it from him.’

Finally, Kanodia looked at Chopra. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I have come for the diamond, Bulbul. I know that you have it.’

Kanodia’s eyes narrowed. ‘You are mistaken. The Koh-i-Noor is lying at the bottom of Mumbai harbour. It may never be found again.’

‘You are right, Bulbul. That Koh-i-Noor will never be found. Even if it is, it will be worthless. Because you and I both know that it is a fake.’

‘I believe you were present when it was authenticated by an expert.’

‘I was,’ agreed Chopra. ‘Which is why I saw you reach into your pocket for a handkerchief to clean it after he had touched it. That was when you made the switch. You never had any intention of letting Kartik sell the diamond. From the moment he brought you into his plan, you knew what you were going to do.’

Kanodia swung his legs down from the bunk and heaved himself to his feet. His eyes seemed to glitter in the dim light of the cell. ‘You are fantasising, Chopra. You caught the thieves, but lost the diamond. Be content with that.’

‘I cannot. Not while I know you have it.’ Chopra stepped forward until he was standing only inches from Kanodia. ‘You have a child. You have a wife. You have a life that you can return to. If you give back the diamond and testify against Kartik you will receive a very light sentence. If you do not they will lock you up and throw away the key.’

Kanodia was silent. Chopra could see conflicting emotions warring in the jeweller’s haggard face.

‘It is just a diamond.’

‘It is the Koh-i-Noor,’ whispered Kanodia.

‘Is it worth the rest of your life?’

Kanodia stared at Chopra and then he turned away. He paced the cell in agitation, and then stood with his back to Chopra, staring at the bleak wall. Finally, he spoke: ‘I hid the diamond on the yacht.’

‘Then it must still be there,’ said Chopra. ‘The yacht has been impounded since we arrested you. It is moored in the Indira dock, strictly off limits.’

Kanodia unleashed a bray of laughter. ‘That does not mean it is inaccessible. The guards you have placed on the yacht are no more honest than the next man.’

‘Are you saying that you have had the diamond removed from The King’s Ransom?’ Chopra grimaced. ‘Did you give it to the Chauhan gang?’

Kanodia bared his teeth. ‘You have no idea, do you?’ He shook his head. ‘Have you ever met Chauhan? He is no fool. His men befriended me in prison – on his orders. He saved my life. Why do you think he did that? It was because he saw potential in me.’

‘So I was right in thinking that Chauhan bankrolled your jewellery stores.’

‘He is an investor just like any other. Where his capital comes from is his business, not mine. I am a jeweller. That is what I do.’

‘Was Chauhan the real mastermind behind the theft of the Koh-i-Noor?’

‘Didn’t you hear what I said? The Koh-i-Noor is a poisoned chalice. Chauhan is too smart to drink from it. Why do you think he has yet to see the inside of a jail cell?’

Chopra’s brow furrowed in confusion. ‘Then how is the gang involved?’

‘Sunny Kartik has many friends in low places. He put the word out that he was looking for professional help, the sort of help that a man like Chauhan could provide. He made contact with Chauhan through an intermediary. He explained what he was planning. It wasn’t that Chauhan hadn’t dreamed of stealing the Koh-i-Noor; no doubt every criminal in the country has had delusions of grandeur since the exhibition was announced. But he was not so stupid as to throw in his lot with Sunny. Chauhan thought Kartik was a rich fool on a fool’s errand. And yet he didn’t refuse him, either. He wanted to see if Kartik would actually try to do what he had said he would. In some ways Sunny fascinates a man like Chauhan.’

‘So Chauhan had his eyes on the diamond all along. He just didn’t want to get his own hands dirty.’

‘You’re not getting me, Chopra,’ said Bulbul irritably. ‘Chauhan wanted nothing to do with the Koh-i-Noor. He knew that if the diamond was stolen, he would be one of the first people the authorities would look at. If a single rumour spread that he was holding the Koh-i-Noor his whole organisation would be in jeopardy. He couldn’t bribe or bully his way out of something like that. Kartik, on the other hand – by virtue of his father’s political connections – might just slip through the net. No, Chauhan never wanted the diamond.’

‘You expect me to believe Chauhan helped Kartik out of the goodness of his heart?’

‘Of course not. He is a practical man. He asked for his price. A “consultancy fee”, he called it. One million dollars, U.S. In return he helped source the things Kartik needed – from an appropriate distance, of course. The gas canisters, the explosives, the computer virus. He hired professionals from down south to plant the crown in Garewal’s home, moved funds into his account through the gang’s overseas hawala operation. And, of course, he provided me. Aside from authenticating the diamond, I was also to keep tabs on Kartik. To make sure he didn’t do something foolish that implicated Chauhan.’

‘Whose idea was the auction?’

‘Sunny’s. Chauhan was very unhappy about that. He never expected Kartik to actually pull off the robbery. Once he did, he wanted Sunny to return the diamond immediately. That way the heat would come off. There would be no chance of any of this coming back to him. Of course, as soon as Sunny told me about the auction I got the idea to take the Koh-i-Noor for myself.’

‘You intended to cheat both Kartik and Chauhan,’ said Chopra matter-of-factly. ‘A double double-cross.’

Bulbul shrugged. ‘Sunny deserved everything he got. As for Chauhan… Like I said, he wanted us to return the diamond.’

‘But you did not return it, did you?’

Another yawning silence. ‘It is the Koh-i-Noor,’ Kanodia said softly. ‘I could not.’

‘Tell me where it is, Bulbul. Let me help you.’

Kanodia turned and looked at Chopra, his eyes heavy with a strange sadness. It wasn’t greed, thought Chopra. It was something else; a madness, a crazed sort of love, for an idea. The idea of the Koh-i-Noor.

Then Kanodia reached out and gripped Chopra’s forearm. ‘Promise me! Promise me that you will get me out of here.’

‘I can make no promises.’

‘You have to promise me!’

Chopra hesitated. ‘I promise that I will do the best that I can. I will speak on your behalf. I will ask for clemency. That is all I can do.’

Kanodia turned away. He was silent for a long time. Finally, he said, ‘Before the police unit arrived on the yacht, I asked the English detective if I could use the facilities. There is a toilet at the rear of the ballroom. I hid the Koh-i-Noor inside the cistern. I knew they would not search the yacht, not once they discovered Kartik had already fled with the diamond.’

Chopra nodded grimly. ‘Thank you.’

‘Go,’ said Kanodia. ‘And may God go with you.’