‘Yes, sir.’
‘Were you ever with him in a place called Ranchi?’
‘Yes, Reid-sah’b.’
‘Was he a lieutenant then?’
‘Yes.’
‘And was Mrs Burnham there too?’
Kesri’s face hardened and the muscles in his jaw began to twitch. ‘Why you want to know, Reid-sah’b?’
‘Listen, Sarjeant,’ said Zachary sharply, ‘when you asked me questions about your sister I answered. You told me then to come to you if I ever needed anything. Well I’ve come to you now with a question, a very simple one, and if you’re a man of your word you’ll answer it. Let me ask again: was Mrs Burnham in Ranchi at the same time as Captain Mee?’
Kesri nodded reluctantly. ‘Yes, Mr Reid,’ he said. ‘She was there.’
‘Thank you, Sarjeant. That’s all I need.’
Now that he had received confirmation, Zachary felt vastly more calm than he had been when the idea was just a suspicion in his head. It was as if Mrs Burnham had given him yet another gift; it was up to him now to use her secret to his own advantage.
*
Tu kahan jaich? Kai? Where are you going? Why?
As her eyes flew open Shireen experienced a moment of pure terror: she had no idea of where she was or how she had got there.
Then she heard Zadig Bey’s voice, somewhere close by: ‘It’s all right, Bibiji — I am here, with you.’
She sat up with a start and a cold towel flew off her forehead. ‘Where am I?’
Holding up a lamp, Zadig Bey turned up the wick: ‘You are in Mrs Burnham’s cabin, Bibiji, on her bed. After you fainted she suggested that we bring you here. I’ve been sitting with you all this while. Paulette and Freddie just looked in on you; seeing that you were still unconscious they stepped out.’
Casting her eyes around the panelled cabin, Shireen fell back against the pillows. Her heart was beating wildly, erratically, and she pressed a hand against her chest, as if to slow it down.
‘What’s the matter, Bibiji?’
Zadig Bey took hold of her other hand and pressed her feverishly hot palm between his own cool fingers. ‘What is it, Bibiji? Tell me.’
Shireen closed her eyes. ‘I had a dream, Zadig Bey; it was very strange — like the dreams that Freddie talks about.’
‘How do you mean, Bibiji?’
‘I saw my husband: he was standing beside me. He had come to see me; there was something he wanted to say.’
She began to cough, choking on her words. Zadig Bey handed her a glass of water. ‘Go on, Bibiji.’
‘He asked my forgiveness and said that I should put the past behind me. He said I should look to the future and make the best of my remaining years. Then he took his leave, saying jauch, and that was all. He was gone. That was when I woke up.’
Snatching up the end of her sari, Shireen began to dab her eyes.
‘Why are you crying, Bibiji?’ said Zadig. ‘There was nothing bad in what you heard.’
Shireen swallowed a sob. ‘It’s just that I don’t understand — why was he asking my forgiveness, Zadig Bey? What for?’
There was no answer, so she turned to look him in the eye. ‘Tell me the truth, Zadig Bey — did Bahram … did he die by his own hand?’
Zadig pursed his lips. ‘I don’t think it was as simple as that, Bibiji,’ he said. ‘If anything, it probably happened as Freddie says: he must have thought that he had heard Chi-mei’s voice. Bahrambhai told me once that he had had a vision of her, on this very ship, the Anahita.’
‘A vision?’ scoffed Shireen. ‘Impossible! Bahram never believed in such things!’
‘But he told me so himself, Bibiji: it happened on his last voyage, long after Chi-mei’s death. The Anahita was hit by a storm, in the Bay of Bengal. Bahram-bhai’s cargo of opium was knocked loose so he went down to secure the chests. That was when he heard her voice and saw her face. He said the hold was filled with the smell of raw opium — the fumes could have conjured up all kinds of things in his mind. Maybe that’s how it happened on the night of his death as well. Opium probably had something to do with it.’
‘I don’t follow,’ said Shireen. ‘Are you saying that my husband was taking opium?’
Zadig shifted uncomfortably in his chair: ‘I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, Bibiji, but the truth is that Bahram was smoking a lot of opium in his final days. After the crisis in Canton he was in a very downcast state of mind.’
‘Because of his financial losses?’
‘Yes, but it wasn’t just that, Bibiji. He had other things on his mind as well.’
‘Tell me, Zadig Bey.’
‘Bibiji, the opium crisis was a great trial for Bahram-bhai — he was torn between his two families, between Canton and Bombay, between China and Hindustan. There he was in Canton, with a huge cargo of opium; to lose it would bring ruin, not just on him but also on you and your daughters. On the other hand he knew very well what opium had done to Freddie; he was aware of what it was doing to China; he knew that it was slowly corroding families, clans, monasteries, the army; every chest that came in was creating more addicts …’
Zadig stopped to scratch his chin.
‘Bibiji, one thing about Bahram-bhai, he was not a moralizer; he was not a man to hold forth about religion, or good and evil. His emotions, his thoughts, they followed his flesh, his blood, his heart. He was above all a family man — but it so happened that fate gave him two families, one in China and one in India. He knew that his actions in Canton, as an opium-trader, would haunt both his families, for generations, and it was more than he could bear. I think that was why he began to smoke so much: it wasn’t just that he was seeking escape; it was as if he were sacrificing himself, in expiation for what he had done.’
Shireen crumpled the wet end of her sari between her hands. ‘Did he talk to you about these things, Zadig Bey? Did he talk about Chi-mei? Did he say he loved her?’
‘No, Bibiji!’ said Zadig emphatically. ‘Bahram-bhai was not a romantic man. He thought love and romance were not for practical men like himself.’
Zadig stopped to clear his throat. ‘In this, Bibiji, he and I were completely different.’
‘What do you mean, Zadig Bey?’
‘When I first fell in love, as a young man, I knew I had no choice in the matter: I was helpless.’
He swallowed a couple of times, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Then, in a low, hoarse voice, he said: ‘And with you too, I knew — since that day in the church.’
The words sent a shiver through Shireen. When he placed his hands on hers she did not pull them back.
*
Hearing a drum-roll in the distance Paulette pulled Raju into her arms and kissed the boy on the cheek. Onek katha holo, she said. ‘We’ve been talking a long time now. Your friends in the band will be wondering where you went.’
‘Yes, I’d better go,’ said Raju. ‘Goodbye, Miss Paulette.’
‘Goodbye.’
Then Freddie’s hand fell on his shoulder: ‘Good thing we saw you, eh? Coming out of that suite?’
‘Yes, sir, Mr Lee.’
‘Why were you there anyway? What were you doing in that suite?’
‘The door was open so I went in,’ said Raju. ‘I didn’t know anyone was inside.’
‘There was someone inside?’
‘Yes, a gentleman.’
‘Gentleman, eh?’ Freddie dropped into a squat and looked him straight in the face. ‘Who was he?’
‘I don’t know who he was,’ said Raju. ‘I had never seen him before.’
‘What did he look like?’
‘He had a beard and he was wearing a white turban.’
‘Oh?’
Reaching for Raju’s shoulder, Freddie pulled him to his chest and gave him a hug. ‘Don’t worry, lah. Everything will be all right. I will get a message to your father. It may take a little time, but he will know that you are here.’