“There are certain persons of interest here in India that Nawaz and I keep tabs on as a matter of course.”Vijay’s tone was careful.
“Persons of interest?”Adam echoed significantly.
Mr.Chowdhury answered him.“One does not survive as an autonomous state in a land ruled by a British imperial viceroy without constant vigilance.”
He punctuated the remark with a pointed look at Vijay.
For the last century, the Indian subcontinent had been dominated by the British—first under the East India Company, and then under the Raj, a form of direct rule by the government of the United Kingdom where a viceroy served as the queen’s royal representative.Within the Raj’s vast territory lay several hundred smaller kingdoms.Known as “princely states,” they possessed varying degrees of independence from the crown.
Nandapur was one such kingdom, technically owing fealty to the viceroy and the empire he represented while retaining some level of control over its own lands.
Ellie could imagine that such a position came with complications.
Vijay sobered.“One of the moretroublingindividuals that Nawaz and I have been monitoring is Colonel Charles Borthwick, the General Superintendent of the Thuggee and Dacoity Department.”
“Thuggee and Dacoity Department?”Constance pressed, hurrying along at her royal relative’s side.
“A prettier way of referring to the Raj’s secret police,” Padma explained flatly.
“What kind of secret police are we talking about?”Adam demanded.
“Legally, Borthwick can detain any Indian he chooses for questioning indefinitely,” Mr.Chowdhury elaborated.“Along with their families.”
Outrage snapped through Ellie.“Their families?Indefinitely?How is that legal?”
“Because it ensures the security of the empire, of course.”The solicitor’s words were edged with irony.
“Nor are Borthwick’s methods of interrogation known for being over-gentle,” Vijay added in what Ellie could already tell was an uncharacteristically grim tone.
“He uses every power he is granted,” Mr.Chowdhury elaborated.“Charles Borthwick is the sort of colonial administrator who looks around India and sees nothing but threat.”
The words sent a chill creeping over Ellie’s skin despite the sultry heat of the day.
“When one of Nawaz’s sources told us that Borthwick had shown an unusual interest in the temple of Lord Jagannath here in Puri…” Vijay began.
Mr.Chowdhury winced.“I do wish you wouldn’t go about casually mentioning mysources.”
Vijay flashed him a frankly unrepentant grin before continuing.“We looked into it—and learned that Borthwick’s agent had been asking questions about one of the temple’s well-kept secrets… a certain rare and important sixteenth century vernacular manuscript of Lord Rama’s story, said to have been written by the famous poet Tulsidas.”
“Why’s a secret policeman interested in a sixteenth-century version of the Ramayana?”Adam pressed.
“Because it has an extra chapter,” Vijay replied.
“An extra chapter?”Constance buzzed with excited curiosity—but then, a mystery chapter in a secret manuscript was just the sort of thing to fire up her prodigious imagination.
“It’s appended to the end of the book,” Vijay explained.“And was written in a script that hasn’t been used for over a thousand years.”
Ellie’s interest piqued.“What script might that be?”
Vijay’s look held a hint of challenge.“Brahmi.”
Knowledge from past readings popped to life in Ellie’s mind.“Brahmi was the script of ancient India, but knowledge of it was lost during the time of the Gupta empire.It was only deciphered again by British scholars fairly recently.”She frowned.“No one would have been able to write in Brahmi in the sixteenth century!”
“Maybe the extra chapter is just a transcription of an older document?”Neil offered, mulling over the puzzle.
Padma cut in, her tone testing.“Tulsidas claimed to be a reincarnation of Valmiki.”
“The original author of the Ramayana?”Ellie reeled from the suggestion.She had never thought too deeply about the Hindu doctrine of the reincarnation of souls—just as she’d never given much mind to the stories of magic rings and godly weapons that peppered historical documents.
