“One of your sources,” Adam echoed significantly.“That’s who told you Borthwick was coming.Not your local administrator?”
Vijay gave Adam a thoughtful look.“That’s right.”
“And is that usually how you find out high-ranking Raj officials are going to be in the neighborhood?”
“It is not,” Mr.Chowdhury replied significantly.
“The man’s on a secret mission to retrieve a priceless Indian artifact,” Vijay dismissed.“That’s not the sort of thing one formally announces one is doing.”
“Perhaps he’s trying to sneak past you,” Constance theorized.
“Or catch you getting involved,” Adam countered.
Adam felt the full royal weight of the maharaja’s disapproving glare, butrefused to back down.
“And what happens if Borthwick does find out you’re part of this?”he pressed.
Mr.Chowdhury answered.“He loses Nandapur.”
The words had weight.
Vijay turned an imperious glare on his solicitor.Mr.Chowdhury faced it steadily, his expression soft with unveiled sympathy.
“Damn you,” Vijay cursed—but Adam could already see that he had given in.
“Utilizing Nandapur’s resources must be a last resort.”Padma’s words had the air of a final ruling.
Ellie lifted her chin stoutly.“The four of us were already planning to see this through to the end.”
“I should like to see you try to leave me out of it,” Constance challenged.
Neil straightened.“Of course, I’ll help—not that I know what use I’ll really be.”
“You were plenty of use last time,” Adam pointed out.
Neil glanced over at him with an expression of quiet surprise.
“They will need a guide to the Adrija village—and an introduction,” Padma declared.“The Adrija will be especially cautious of strangers if Borthwick is involved.”
Adam’s hackles instinctively rose.“Why’s Borthwick a threat to this village?”
“The Criminal Tribes Act,” Mr.Chowdhury replied.“It empowers Borthwick, as head of the Thuggee and Dacoity Department, to declare any tribal community unlawful.”
“Unlawful,” Ellie echoed tensely.“And what does that mean, exactly?”
Mr.Chowdhury’s eyes flashed with an anger that belied his habitually cool manner.“It means that the movements of every man, woman, and child in the community can be proscribed.The whole group might be forcibly relocated and kept under police guard.No one can go anywhere without a pass.Sometimes the male children are removed from their families and sent to reformatory camps.”
Ellie’s knuckles whitened where she gripped the arm of the sofa.“How is that legal?”
The solicitor answered her tiredly.“The assumption is that criminality is a heritable trait.If one determines that a particular village includes a number of lawbreakers, one can reasonably prevent further crime by declaring the entire group criminals in advance.”
“Reasonably,” Ellie echoed tautly.
Adam shared the feeling he could hear in her voice, a low hum of anger rising at Mr.Chowdhury’s description.“And how many villages has Borthwick declared criminal?”
Mr.Chowdhury met his gaze.“Forty-three.”
“My God,” Neil said softly, his face drawn.
