The Day Of The Scorpion (Raj Quartet 2) by Paul Scott

Author:Paul Scott [Scott, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781409037675
Publisher: Random House UK
Published: 2011-08-31T06:00:00+00:00

II

‘The examinee’s last statement, please.’

The clerk flicked back one page of his notebook.

‘“So it was obvious the inquiry was about a woman who’d been assaulted.”’

‘No – the whole of it.’

The clerk cleared his throat and recited in a monotone, ‘“When he’d finished he said – So you’ve been intelligent enough to wash, we almost caught you at it, didn’t we? Later he said: Well, she wasn’t a virgin, was she, and you were the first to ram her? So it was obvious the inquiry was about a woman who’d been assaulted.”’

‘Thank you. Mr Gopal – you were making a point.’

‘Yes. It is really a question of the order and time at which the detenu alleges certain things were done and certain things said.’ Gopal now spoke directly to Kumar. ‘I should like to go back to the moment when the police came to your house and took you into custody. According to the police report this was at approximately 21.40 hours. Is that correct?’

‘I expect so.’

‘I see – also from the report – that some three-quarters of an hour earlier the DSP called at your home to see if Miss Manners happened to be there. He spoke to your aunt. She said she had not seen Miss Manners for several weeks. She said you had not yet returned from the newspaper office. Is that correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘Later when you came in she told you of DSP’s visit and inquiry?’

‘Yes.’

‘At what time did you get home?’

‘I didn’t think to look.’

‘Did your aunt not say something like, The DSP came here asking if Miss Manners was with us, because Lady Chatterjee has reported her missing?’

‘She said the DSP had called wanting to speak to Miss Manners.’

‘And you then asked how long ago?’

‘Yes – I did. But she didn’t reply.’

‘Oh? Why was that?’

‘Her attention was taken.’

‘Taken by what?’

‘She had noticed the state I was in.’

She sensed the little wave of Gopal’s shock. Rowan’s voice cut in, ‘According to the police report that state was as follows: “An abrasion on his right cheek and a contusion on his left cheek, stains on shirt and trousers from contact with muddy ground or dirty floor.” Is that an accurate report?’

‘Yes.’

‘Is it also correct,’ Rowan continued, ‘that when the police, led by District Superintendent Merrick, entered a room on the first floor of number 12 Chillianwallah Bagh, the shirt and trousers in which you’d come home were found discarded, that you were wearing a clean pair of trousers, no other garment, and were bathing your face in a bowl of water?’

‘Yes.’

‘After reaching home and speaking briefly to your aunt who told you DSP had called looking for Miss Manners you went upstairs, changed and began to wash.’

‘Yes.’

‘You were still washing when the police arrived, so you can’t have been back home for longer than, say, ten minutes?’

‘It would have been about that.’

‘So if the police arrived at 21.40 you reached home about 21.30?’

‘Yes.’

‘According to the statement of Mr Laxminarayan, the editor of the Mayapore Gazette, you left the office

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