FORTY-TWO
The drive back was hardly pleasant. The sun was still hidden behind a wall of grey clouds but the heat was stupefying. Every so often there came a low rolling growl, the rumble of thunder somewhere far off.
The Rose Building was in a state of animation. Harried-looking men armed with files and chitties ran along the corridors from one office to another. Fighting my way past them, I walked upstairs to the still-deserted corridor outside Golding’s office and opened the door.
Surrender-not was seated at Golding’s desk, his head buried in a sheaf of papers.
‘Found anything?’ I asked.
‘Yes, sir,’ he said, looking up. ‘I came across these documents when we were in here the other day. They didn’t mean an awful lot to me then, but having examined the two versions of the report, I’m quite sure I can now determine which one is genuine.’
‘How long?’
He looked up. ‘Five more minutes. If I’m not interrupted, sir.’
I left him to it and wandered over to the window. It offered a view of the palace gardens and the Surya Mahal in the distance. The flag above it still flew at full-mast. That was a relief: whatever his condition, the Maharaja was still alive.
With nothing better to do, I turned my attention to the map on the wall, the one marked with the crosses. I’d not paid it much attention the last time we’d been in here, mainly because I hadn’t known what I was looking for. Now, however, it intrigued me: not so much the cluster of red ‘X’s to the north of town, but rather the solitary black ‘X’ down to the south-west. I looked more closely. It was situated near a settlement, a town or a village of some sort, called Remunda. I walked over to the desk and dialled Colonel Arora’s office. It was answered on the third ring.
Arora.’
‘It’s me, Wyndham.’
‘What can I do for you, Captain?’ He sounded wary.
‘Are there any diamond mines near Remunda?’ I asked.
‘Why do you want to know? You’ve been ordered back to Calcutta. You’ve no more business here.’
He was correct, of course. But still.
‘I’ve never been particularly keen on orders, Colonel,’ I replied. ‘And there’s still the small matter of Golding’s disappearance.’
‘Go on.’
We’re close to proving the link to the Dewan,’ I lied.
There was silence from the other end. I could hear him breathing.
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Remunda,’ I said. ‘Golding marked a spot near it on a map. Are there any mines there?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘The only seam of diamonds in the entire area is in the north, in the plain between the Mahanadi and Brahmani rivers. Whatever you’re looking for near Remunda, it’s not a diamond mine.’
‘I’d like to head out there,’ I said, ‘find out exactly what it was that made Golding mark it on his map.’
‘Remunda is more than twenty miles from here,’ he said.
‘On a wild-goose chase? Very well,’ he said abruptly, ‘I won’t stop you. I’ll even organise you a car. When will you need it?’ ‘We’ll head off as soon as we’re done here.’
I replaced the receiver.
‘What can you tell me, Sergeant?’
He laid a document down on the desk, took off his spectacles and leaned back. ‘The report with the lower figures ties in with Golding’s papers, sir. It appears to be the real report.’
‘Good work,’ I said. ‘If I were a betting man, I’d wager a tidy sum that the Dewan intends to present the other one to the Maharaja and Anglo-Indian Diamond.’