Free Dead in a Mumbai Minute by Madhumita Bhattacharyya

here last night?’
    ‘I certainly hadn’t invited him and I have no idea why he was here.’
    ‘Are people typically allowed to roam on your private island?’
    ‘Of course not. He must have snuck on, or the guards would have seen him.’
    ‘How did you learn of his presence here?’
    ‘The supervisor at the construction site stumbled on the body. Quite literally, I am told.’
    ‘Did you go out to see for yourself?’
    ‘Why would I do something like that? The supervisor found Auntie Clementine – Mrs Pereira, my housekeeper – who informed me.’
    ‘What
did
you do when you found out?’
    ‘I called Shayak.’
    ‘Why not the police?’
    ‘As far as I am concerned, Shayak is the police.’
    I could see that this rankled. ‘Ms Kapoor, a murder had been committed. You did not think it was important to inform the authorities?’
    ‘I was not trying to hide anything. Shayak is in charge of my security. He also knows every policeman in town. I knew he would do what was right.’
    ‘As the man in charge,’ said Ajay, turning to Shayak, ‘do you have anything to add to this?’
    ‘We were understaffed due to a last-minute change of plans on the island. I will be questioning the guards at length later and you are welcome to join. They will be going through the security footage in the course of the day and we will have a report for you soon.’
    ‘Tell me about the party,’ said Ajay.
    ‘There were six guests: Viraat Khanna and his girlfriend Afreen, Pratap Puri, Shiv and his sister Sandhya and my old school friend Carol D’Roza.’
    My heart thumped rudely in my chest. ‘Pratap Puri? You mean the sustainable energy guy?’ I asked.
    ‘Yes,’ said Kimaaya.
    ‘He is setting up an off-grid energy solution here, to reduce dependence on generators,’ explained Shayak.
    ‘Currently the only source for power is the generator?’ asked Ajay.
    ‘Yes, seeing as how we are in the middle of the sea,’ said Kimaaya.
    So this is where Pratap had come last night when I followed him to the boat! But surely his wife should be here too, in that case? I remembered the guard mentioning the guest who left last night. Was that Poonam?
    And this also meant that I would meet him sooner or later. If he recognized me from the nightclub, I was screwed. I tried hard to think what I had actually told him. I had done my best to evade the truth, I remembered, but hadn’t actually lied.
    ‘How did they all get here?’ Ajay asked.
    ‘Shiv, Sandhya and Carol came with Viraat; Pratap arrived separately.’
    ‘We only saw one yacht, in addition to your speedboat,’ I said.
    Kimaaya nodded. ‘That is because Pratap’s wife Poonam had come – was supposed to be there for the party – but had to leave all of a sudden.’
    ‘What time was that?’
    ‘They were the first to arrive, around seven. She left at about nine thirty.’
    ‘Did she say why?’ asked Shayak.
    ‘Nothing to me, but you could try asking Pratap that,’ she said. ‘Anyway, they were all here by 9 pm. We were lounging by the pool, having a few drinks. At about 11.30, I sent the servants away. We continued till about 2 am. Then we – or I, at least – went to bed.’
    ‘Do you know what Viraat might have been doing outside after that?’ Shayak asked.
    ‘I didn’t even know he went outside.’
    ‘We found him by the gazebo, fast asleep.’
    ‘He was a little drunk. Who knows? Maybe he just needed some fresh air,’ Kimaaya said with a shrug.
    ‘Did he know the deceased?’ asked Ajay.
    ‘Not that I was aware of.’
    ‘Did any of the other guests?’
    ‘Again, I am not aware of any connection, but you really should ask them.’
    ‘Could you ask them to come here?’
    ‘All of them?’
    ‘Let’s start with Viraat’s girlfriend,’ said Ajay.
    ‘Sure,’ said Kimaaya, leaving the room.
    Shayak turned to Ajay. ‘There are between twenty and thirty people on this island at the moment, apart from the guests.’
    ‘So many?’
    ‘At least ten of