Fatal Finds in Nuala by Harriet Steel

Author:Harriet Steel [Steel, Harriet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-10T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The rain came again just as he and Jane sat down to dinner. It lasted through the night, and at first, de Silva couldn’t sleep. When he did manage to doze off, he dreamt that elephants were using the bungalow’s tin roof as a dance floor. Rudi Chockalingham added to the commotion, roaring round the house on his motorbike, but when de Silva woke, he realised it was only the rain falling, and the wind buffeting the windows.

He slept again then woke a final time to find a servant placing a tray of tea on the table by the bed. The rain was over, and sunshine flooded into the room, making the silver teapot gleam.

‘The memsahib sent this up for you, sahib. She is already downstairs.’

De Silva pushed a hand through his hair. ‘I’ll be down soon. Tell her to start breakfast without me.’

The servant poured a thin, golden stream of tea into the bone china cup. ‘Very well, sahib.’

De Silva drank his tea then washed and shaved quickly. His face stared back at him from the bathroom mirror. There were traceries of lines at the corners of his eyes and on his forehead, and an increasing number of grey streaks in his hair. Age was catching up on him, but at least the drawn look he remembered from his Colombo days wasn’t apparent. He had Jane and the healthier air of Nuala to thank for that.

Five years since he had left the Colombo force. Apart from a brief visit there three years ago, most of which he’d spent on the Black Lotus case in the High Court, he hadn’t been back. He rinsed his razor and patted his face dry with a towel then reached for his comb. He wondered how the years had treated Rudi Chockalingham. He’d sounded on good form, but then he always was a gregarious fellow and fond of a joke.

His ankle was less painful this morning; it must have benefitted from the overnight rest. He left the bandage in place, pulled on underpants, socks, and uniform shirt and trousers then padded downstairs. He’d finish dressing after breakfast: his stomach called.

‘Good morning, dear,’ said Jane with a smile. ‘I thought I’d let you sleep for a while. You had a restless night.’

He shrugged. ‘I’m not sure why. The case is progressing according to plan for the moment.’

‘How’s your ankle?’

‘A little better, I’m glad to say.’

‘Excellent. I telephoned the Galle Face. They have rooms available this week and next.’

‘Good; all we need now is a call from Rudi.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.