Lizzie’s eyes were growing rounder by the second. ‘How extraordinary! No one here knew of that!’

‘I think at least one other person must have known. The main player so to speak. Madeleine. And if she knew, she’d have told Stuart. They would both have seen it as a betrayal. I think everything changed for Madeleine when the older son died. Her husband was certainly in line to be named Yuvaraj. He was growing ever closer to his father and they saw the economic future of Ranipur with the same eyes. You yourself wondered, Lizzie, why the ruler was delaying naming his heir. Could it have been that he was very prepared to ink in the name of Prithvi but with the proviso that he agreed to marry a princess of Mewar?’

‘Yes, I think so. And if your account of the dealings on the stock market is accurate, it would have made better sense for Prithvi to have succeeded. Bahadur was talented . . .’ Her voice wavered for a moment then she recovered her balance and went on, ‘but he would not have understood those dealings. Like his mother, he placed great store by wealth you can hold in your hand. He had, in fact, a very traditional approach to life. All those years in the zenana . . .There would have been a period of turmoil at the worst possible moment for the state. Zalim Singh would have been hard pressed to keep the ship of state on an even keel, I think. Poor Madeleine! She was battling the family, the court, the whole Ranipur way of life.’

‘And she was fighting for her own chosen style of life. She had anticipated glittering tours of European capitals on the arm of her rich and handsome young prince but had discovered that she could expect no more than a life in a city she hated, the unwanted foreigner who was proving an obstacle to his succession. And if she learned that a second, royal Indian princess was to become his wife she saw a bleak future living with people who resented her and a husband whose affections she must have begun to doubt.’

‘You’re saying that Madeleine sawed through the elevator cable?’ said Edgar in astonishment. ‘Well, I have to say – nothing that girl did would surprise me but . . . but . . . well, we both saw her reaction when she pulled the flying helmet off the dying pilot and saw it was her husband. Could anyone feign such shock?’

‘If anyone could, Madeleine could. She’s rather good at feigning.’ Joe cleared his throat and forced himself to continue. He wasn’t finding his theorizing easy. ‘But I agree with you, Edgar. She didn’t know Prithvi was about to die.’

In the silence that followed, Lizzie stirred uncomfortably then said, ‘Stuart did. Her brother did. He would have done anything for Madeleine. If he knew that her role in Prithvi’s life was going to be diminished and thereby his own, incidentally, I think he would have taken it upon himself to think and act on her behalf. Cut and run. And after all – who better placed? He could saw through the wires at any time that suited him. Perhaps Ali the fitter became aware and had to be got rid of? And who but Stuart would be able convincingly to send Prithvi up in his stead? We only have Stuart’s assertion that he was supposed to be the pilot – Prithvi could all along have expected to go up.’

‘Stuart’s a trained killer. He’s looked pilots in the eye, kids his own age, his mirror image if you like, and calmly pulled the trigger and shot them down in flames. Twenty notches or whatever they are on his fuselage, don’t forget. Another one seems insignificant,’ Edgar added.

‘Well, Stuart’s done the cutting,’ said Lizzie, ‘why didn’t they do the running as soon as they got their hands on a million dollars’ worth of bearer bonds? Why did they go out to the tiger hunt with everyone else? They could have stayed behind and taken off in the Jenny when you were all looking the other way.’

‘Ah. Yes. Good point, Lizzie,’ said Edgar helplessly. ‘Any ideas, Joe?’

Joe shook his head, thinking furiously.

To cover his colleague’s embarrassment, Edgar burbled on. ‘So, what comes next? We have no jurisdiction in the state, no power of arrest. Chap’s American, anyway. What a diplomatic tangle! Do we ring Sir George? Ask his advice? Do we drop the word to Ajit and wait for him to make an arrest? That’s two for the dungeons – Claude and Stuart.’

‘You’re forgetting Bishan,’ said Lizzie. ‘The first murder from which all this stems, it seems to me. Who arranged his death? Can we expect a third culprit to join them in the cells?’

‘No,’ said Joe, finding his voice. ‘The first murderer? Good Lord, it sounds like the cast list of a Shakespearian tragedy! No. There can be no expectation of the first murderer ever being arrested. He is well beyond even Ajit Singh’s reach!’

Chapter Twenty-Six

‘I hope you’re not still banging on with the idea that Udai had Bishan killed?’ Edgar’s voice had an edge of menace but he collected himself at once and added shamefacedly, ‘No, of course not. Sorry, Joe. Hardly likely to have whispered his own name into the ear of a chap as he lay dying.’

‘It was almost as difficult to give him the name he was seeking. The confirmation (because I’m sure he already knew) that his first son had been murdered by his second son was the last thing a dying prince wants to hear. Prithvi. I think he’d finally decided to behave in all things like a Rajput prince and use his skills for the benefit of the state. And his first task was to clear his own path forward. I think it was Prithvi who talked Bishan into taking the stronger than usual dose of opium and used his authority to order the replacement of the panther. He must have strongly believed in his ability to save the country from the economic disaster that is threatening it.’

‘A disaster that has already overtaken one or two princely states,’ said Lizzie. ‘But I don’t think anyone here has the faintest idea how near the brink we might be. What a mess . . .’ She sighed. ‘Suddenly my little tile-hung cottage begins to look very attractive.’

Her sigh was interrupted by a peremptory knock at the door. When Joe went to open it he was alarmed but not surprised to see the handsome and agitated features of Ajit Singh’s lieutenant, Ram.

‘Sahib, I am pleased to have tracked you down!’

Not the effort he was implying, Joe considered, as he was quite certain that their every move was shadowed.

‘Ram. Good to see you again though the circumstances are hardly auspicious,’ said Joe. ‘Won’t you join us?’ he added vaguely, doubtful that inviting him into the room of a memsahib was the right thing to do.

Ram shook his head. ‘Forgive me. I must ask you and Captain Troop to accompany me at once to the office of the Dewan where he and Major Ajit Singh await you. The memsahib’s presence is not required,’ he added with a polite nod to Lizzie who had appeared by Joe’s side.

The guard at the door of the Dewan’s office when they reached it appeared to have doubled, Joe noticed, but at the sight of them no challenges were rapped out. The doors were opened instantly and they were ushered inside.

No clerks on duty this time; the room was occupied only by the Dewan and Ajit Singh. With a gesture and polite formulae they were invited to take seats at a low table opposite the two Rajputs, and Ajit Singh began in what seemed to Joe to be the middle of the story. He spoke fast and bluntly. Time, apparently, was of some importance.

‘Were you tempted to lie, Sandilands, when the ruler asked you for names?’

‘Of course,’ said Joe without hesitation. ‘But it would have been impossible to get away with it. He would have known. He did know . . . I’d swear even before you gave him your opinion. He’d worked it out.’

‘And here we are in possession of the identities of two killers. One is outside our jurisdiction but the second, Captain Mercer, remains on our list so to speak.’