“What’s your email address?” Allie asked.
Divya gave it to her and Allie sent the image as an attachment from her phone. The Indian woman confirmed that she had received it, and Allie stood, seeing nothing to be gained from lingering.
“Where exactly is Shiv Khori in Kashmir?”
“West of Salar Dam. Maybe… twenty or so kilometers. There is a village south of it: Ransoo. It has become more developed as more devotees make the pilgrimage. They estimate half a million will pass through the cave this year, maybe more, so it is not hard to find.”
“Then there are buses? That sort of thing?”
Divya frowned at the question. “Of course. It is rural, but getting more developed. However, as I said, there is a long stretch, perhaps three kilometers, that must be traveled on foot.”
Allie smiled. “Divya, let me give you my local phone number in case you find anything out about the mosaic. I would be extremely grateful if you would call me if you do.” She jotted the number down on a message slip and handed it to Divya. “I have a foundation that will soon be making grants to worthwhile causes. If you’re interested, I’d like you to stay in touch — I would love to provide some sort of support for you to help with concluding your studies.”
Divya’s attitude chilled, and Allie realized instantly she’d misstepped.
“Thank you, but I am adequately supported already. My family has been very fortunate — my father is CEO of a major technology company here.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I meant no offense… I just thought that, well, I wanted to show my appreciation.”
“It is easy to conclude that everyone in India is poor, but that is not the case. It is an understandable misconception.”
Allie nodded, chastened, and decided to cut her losses. “Thank you so much for all the help, and I’m sorry about the professor. He was very sweet. What a tragedy.”
Moisture welled again in Divya’s eyes. “Yes. It is.”
Drake was standing in the shade of one of the trees when Allie emerged from the building. She rushed to him and took his hand, surprising him, and they walked together to the main road while Allie described her meeting. Drake listened in silence and then stopped before they reached the boulevard.
“You said there’s another icon?” he asked.
“No, I said she believes the dagger is a miniature sword that was clutched in the hand of another icon — probably Kali, if she’s right.”
“Kali. Isn’t she the goddess of death?”
“No. She’s the Hindu deity of quite a few things, including destruction of evil.”
“Why do I keep thinking death?”
“Probably from bad B movies.”
They resumed walking and, when they reached the sidewalk, began the process of attracting the attention of a passing rickshaw or taxi. Drake glanced at Allie as they waited for the light to turn.
“So what’s the next step? We know there’s a cave mentioned, but the rest is nonsense — what’s your professional assessment, Dr. Allie?”
“If the dagger had script on it, maybe the other relic does, too.”
“The sword, you mean,” he said, patting her bag.
“Potato, potahto. We need to find the other relic.”
“Kali.”
“Missing a sword.”
“Uh-huh. That should be a piece of cake. Because we don’t have enough on our plate.”
She swatted his chest. “You wanted adventure. This is adventure.”
“I thought it would be easier. Maybe involve more eating and drinking. And air conditioning.”
“Whatever.”
“How are you planning to find it?”
“I haven’t figured that part out yet.” She waved at a cab streaking toward them from the light, and smiled back at Drake. “But maybe it won’t be that hard. Because if we can figure out where the dagger came from, that should lead us to Kali.”
“The sword,” Drake corrected.
“And there’s one person who probably knows.”
Drake’s eyes lit with understanding. “This sounds like a job for Indiana Singh!”
“Who seems to like his money well enough.”
“Root of all evil.”
She nodded. “The love of it, anyway.”
Chapter 32
Spencer’s new phone rang and vibrated on the hard surface of the computer station where he was working, and he snatched it up and held it to his ear, looking around the crowded Internet café as he did so. The place was filled with teenagers gaming or fiddling around on social media, and nobody seemed interested in a male twice their age doing historical research.
“How’d it go?” he asked, his voice low, ignoring the din in the background on Allie’s end of the line.
“Good.” Allie gave him the rundown on Divya’s revelations and their thinking. “What about you?”
“I’m about halfway through my list of mosaics and going cross-eyed from staring at them. They all start looking the same after a while.”
“Sorry to hear that. I’ve got another idea, though. Pull up all the information you can on the Shiv Khori cave. I want to understand the best way to get there, any legends surrounding it — photos, if you can find them, the works.”
“Will do. When you want to meet up?”
“Where are you? I just left a message for Indiana,” Allie said.
“About four blocks from the hotel.”
“Are we missing anything?”
“The pleasure of my company and some of the worst coffee this side of Zimbabwe.”
“Sounds charming. What’s the address?”
“I don’t know. But I can tell you how to get here from the hotel.”
“Shoot. We’re in a taxi.”
He described the route he’d taken and she repeated it to the driver, who sounded less than confident in his assurance he could find it.
“What’s the name of the place?” Allie asked.
“Lotus Lightning Café.”
“Catchy. Be there in a few.”
“Congratulations on getting the script translated, Allie. That’s a major win,” Spencer said.
“Thanks. But it only raises more questions.”
“Yeah, only now we know that the path starts at the cave.”
“Assuming she’s right. She qualified that it was her opinion, not that it was a lock.”
“It fits with what Carson told me.”
Allie’s voice lowered. “He had to know it was the Shiv Khori, Spencer. Why do you think he didn’t just tell you?”
“Maybe he enjoyed the suspense. Or maybe he was holding stuff back in case I flaked or couldn’t deliver. Who knows?”
“Not exactly reassuring, in any case.”
“Nothing we can do about it now but keep plugging away. I’ll see you when you get here.”
“Don’t hold your breath. You know what traffic’s like.”
Allie hung up and her phone immediately rang, catching her by surprise. She looked at the screen and frowned, the number a new one.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Why are you so interested in where it came from?” Singh asked, his voice tight.
“Just because. There’s a reward in it for you if you can tell me.”
“I’ll give you some free advice. Leave on the first flight out, and never look back. I’m serious. You don’t know what you’re mixed up with.”
“Right, you already said that. Curses. Spooky mystery bad guys. But I’m still willing to pay to know where you got it.” Allie paused. “If nothing else, for its historic value in the chain of possession.”
“That sounds like bullshit to me.”
Allie sighed. “All right. We know that it came from another statue. We’re trying to track it down.”
“You’re out of your minds. Really.”
“Crazy enough to pay you to tell us. From there, what do you care?” She hesitated. “Unless you can get us the other relic, in which case the payday could be much larger.”