Stardust in Nuala by Harriet Steel

Author:Harriet Steel [Steel, Harriet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

***

Inside the hotel, de Silva was passing through the lobby on his way out to the Morris when he noticed that Sanjeewa was once more occupied with Mrs Patel. He wondered what had annoyed her this time. As she talked, she prodded his friend in the chest as if he was a stallholder in the bazaar who’d tried to palm her off with a piece of inferior meat. He would have liked a word with Sanjeewa but obviously now wasn’t the time. He’d call him when he got back to the station to ask if he’d get in touch when Ashok and Salman returned to the hotel. Salman’s absence in particular troubled him. Raj didn’t seem to find anything odd about it, but was there more to it than met the eye? If he didn’t turn up soon, he’d have to organise a search.

On the way out, he met Ashok coming up the steps.

‘Good afternoon, Inspector. Were you looking for me?’

‘There’s no hurry,’ said de Silva, not wanting to raise the young man’s suspicions, ‘but since you’re here, it would be helpful if you’d confirm a few details for my report to the coroner. As you may be aware, it’s customary for there to be an inquest in situations where no medical practitioner was present at the time of a death.’

‘Of course. I would have contacted you myself, but I’ve been out since breakfast, organising the shipment of the last of our equipment to Colombo.’

‘So the manager told me.’

‘I didn’t want to leave Sunita and Layla but there wasn’t much choice. Have you spoken with them today?’

‘I didn’t want to intrude.’

‘I see.’ Ashok gestured to the hotel entrance. ‘Would you like to go inside?’

De Silva thought of the lobby and Mrs Patel. Sanjeewa would probably still be too busy with her to find them a quiet room, and he preferred not to have a conversation in public.

‘Shall we take a walk instead?’ He pointed to the archway to one side of the drive that he knew led to a quiet part of the gardens.

Ashok looked slightly surprised, but he nodded.

Gravel crunched under their feet as they followed the path that led to the hotel’s Italian garden. It was enclosed by walls of weathered stone and filled with a maze created out of low box hedging. A fountain with a stone nymph holding an amphora stood in the centre. Water cascaded from it, sparkling in the sunshine. The style of the garden had never been to de Silva’s taste; he preferred colourful flowers, but he appreciated the amount of work that must be needed to preserve the elegant effect.

‘This inquest,’ said Ashok. ‘I hope the formalities can be completed quickly. It will only be a small step towards coming to terms with what’s happened, but I think it might help Sunita and Layla if they have the funeral behind them.’

De Silva noticed that he didn’t mention Raj or Salman.

‘Of course. I’ll do my best to expedite matters. Archie Clutterbuck acts as coroner in Nuala and I’m sure he too will do everything in his power to avoid unnecessary delay.

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