The room smelled of clean linen and a trace of his cologne. The bed was made with the same precision it always had been. Pillows aligned.
She went to his closet and searched the drawers.
Her breath caught.
Her favorite silk scarf was in the drawer, folded neatly, tucked beneath his cufflinks.
At some point in the past three weeks, he had taken it off the chair where she had left it, then folded it and placed it carefully beneath his cufflinks, as though it belonged there.
Her jaw tightened.
Focus.
She moved to the dresser. Opened the top drawer. Empty.
The second. Empty.
She checked the desk. The wardrobe. The safe.
The emerald fish pendant wasn't there.
A flicker of irritation rose in her.
Why hadn't he sent it back? Why was he keeping it?
Was he doing it on purpose?
Annoyed, she left the bedroom and walked toward his office.
Using the code, which he had given her earlier, she unlocked it and stepped inside. She was surprised that he didn’t change any of the codes.
She looked around the office. Files were aligned. A pen was placed exactly at a right angle on the desk. And the leather chair was centered behind the desk.
She searched the office desk drawers, then the bookshelves. The pendant wasn’t found anywhere.
Where the hell did he keep it?
Her eyes fell on the wooden wall next to the bookshelves. It was heavily carved, but she noticed a small handle. It was a door. It blended into the wall so well that it could be easily mistaken for a decoration.
Rani Suchitra's words came back to her.
You photograph. Bharat paints.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She knew there must be a room behind the door.
Biting her lip, she held the handle of the door and twisted.
It didn't move. It was locked.
She knew she should step away and not care what was inside. But something stopped her.
Slowly, she reached out and pulled a hairpin from her hair.
With her fingers trembling slightly, she knelt and slid the pin carefully into the lock.
The palace was so quiet she could hear her own breathing.
