Chupplejeep looked at Roshni, whose lips were pressed tightly together. ‘Can I ask who it was that you met by the lake the day after your father’s body was found?’ He noticed her body tense. She walked back to the chair she had been sitting on and retrieved her book from the floor.
‘I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.’
‘You met someone by the lake the evening you arrived at Toem Place. The day after your father’s body was found. I heard you.’
‘You heard me?’
‘I saw a figure.’
‘But you didn’t see me.’
‘No,’ Chupplejeep said.
‘I can assure you then that you heard wrong. I was at home all evening. Ask my mother,’ she said. Chupplejeep looked at Talika, who gave the briefest nod of her head in agreement, but he noticed she narrowed her eyes at her daughter ever so slightly.
Roshni’s face did not betray her words, but he was no fool. She had been at the lake that evening, he was sure of it. Yet she had adamantly denied it. Who had Roshni met and why was it such a secret?
‘You should speak to Sneha Dhanjwant,’ Roshni said. ‘My father trusted her,’ she added, emphasising the word trusted. She pursed her lips and stared at the detective.
Chupplejeep left the villa certain in his assumption that Roshni had been at the lake that evening, and that both women had known about the inheritance before Jackpot was murdered. The two women seemed to be putting up a united front today. Roshni was keen to point the finger at Sneha because she was fast becoming his number-one suspect. As he walked towards the retreat, he looked in the direction that Roshni and Talika had been fixated on. He saw the writer, Arjun Chopra, doing press-ups on the old wooden jetty, his wet skin glistening in the sunlight. Dilip was right: there were many women keeping an eye on him. Dilip knew that Roshni had a soft spot for Arjun, but did he know that Talika had one too?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Christabel took her position on her purple yoga mat and crossed her legs. After only a week of classes, she felt supple. Putting one leg over the other didn’t seem such an effort as it had done at her first lesson. She was certain that her trousers had a little room in them too.
Clasping her hands behind her back, she stretched out her arms in preparation for her class. She watched as Tim shuffled in, his head hanging low. He looked up briefly and gave her a warm smile before placing his mat in his usual spot in front of hers and sitting down. He fiddled with the pendant tied with a black cord around his neck and looked at the empty spot next to him.
She felt sorry for him, but his friend was missing, not dead. Erik was alive. He had only been presumed dead by Sofia. It wouldn’t have surprised Christabel if Sofia had purposely made a scene because that Erik fellow broke things off with her. From what she heard, Erik was a lothario, having flings with most of the ladies at the retreat, and Sofia was obviously a drama queen, judging by her performance last night.
Last night, by the time the staff at the retreat had gone down to the lakeshore to help Erik back to his room, he had disappeared. If it hadn’t been Arthur who had taken Erik’s pulse, Christabel would have had her doubts as to whether the Scandinavian hippy had really just picked himself up and wandered off in a drunken state, as Sneha had put it. But Arthur didn’t cut corners. If he said Erik was alive, then he was alive. Although she had noticed a concerned look in her boyfriend’s eyes when he found out Erik was missing. She was glad she could allay his fears by telling him what Tim had told her: that Erik had a propensity to occasionally wander off with no explanation, and he had done so a few times during their months of travelling together. Probably avoiding scorned women, thought Christabel. She was certain Erik was the kind of fellow that did what was best for him. Arthur was worried about the missing man, but there was nothing to worry about – she knew that. Arthur was always suspicious. That was his job.
Yesterday, Tim had cried after Sofia’s outburst, and Christabel had calmed him while Arthur and Sneha went to investigate. Now she congratulated herself on being such a comfort to him. Tim didn’t seem too concerned about his missing friend. She could see he was looking towards the front of the class, smiling and laughing at something she was unaware of. His smug smile irked her, and she was immediately glad that she had a boyfriend like Arthur and not someone as irritating as Tim. Thinking of how magnificently Arthur had handled the situation last night, reassuring everyone when he had returned to the retreat, she blushed. She had to forgive him for not being angry or jealous at her having dinner with another man.
Christabel closed her eyes and touched the pendant around her neck. Rose quartz was said to bring unconditional love and release negative emotions, or so Sneha had said, and in that moment a thought occurred to her. Arthur wasn’t angry about her dinner with Tim because he trusted her. She had been foolish to try and make him jealous. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the rose quartz into her chest and decided it was time that she put their failed attempt at marriage behind them. They could just live together without getting married. It would be the modern thing to do. She might even be the envy of many of her girlfriends. Her mother would have something to say, of course, but her mother always had something to say. After having to listen to Tim drone on – about what she couldn’t quite remember – Christabel realised that there was no one she’d rather be with than Arthur. If that meant not having a ring on her finger, so be it. The realisation gave her a warm feeling in her chest.
She looked up as Sneha started giving them instructions. They were told to start with a short meditation. Christabel closed her eyes, but after a couple of minutes she slowly opened them. Her mind was wandering to terrible places, places that involved her mother giving her a talking to for the decision she had just made. As her eyes fully opened, she noticed that Sneha too was not meditating. Her eyes were fixed elsewhere and she was smiling. She was about to look towards her instructor’s line of vision, but Sneha turned and looked directly at her, silently reminding her to close her eyes again.
Christabel did as she was told, but this time, instead of thinking of her mother, she thought about telling Arthur of her decision. They were having dinner with Bhumika and her husband tonight. Arthur wasn’t looking forward to the dinner; she could tell by the way he was trying to come up with all sorts of excuses, each of which she successfully managed to deflect. Now she could make the dinner worth his while. After dinner, she would tell him that she did not care for marriage anymore if that was what it would take to make their relationship work. Where was Arthur though, she wondered. He was supposed to be attending this class with her; Sneha had invited him.
Sneha shouted an instruction to her class and Christabel obeyed, suddenly wishing she was having a picnic with Arthur rather than sitting in a stuffy classroom, listening to an overbearing yoga instructor. She laughed at this last thought; the crystal was certainly giving her some clarity of mind today, and she had avoided having a muffin from the on-site café also. Those sugary muffins seemed to confuse her thoughts.
She moved clumsily from cow pose into the downward-facing dog posture and looked around her. Bhumika was as elegant as ever in her asanas. Bhumika was becoming a good friend, and she was looking forward to meeting her husband. She hoped Arthur wouldn’t spoil the date by talking about murder. Christabel was just thinking about what she was going to order for dinner when she heard some laboured breathing. She looked up, which wasn’t easy to do from her downward dog position, and noticed than Tim was the one making the sound. His breathing sounded difficult, and he was perspiring profusely.
‘And now move into Tri pada adho mukha svanasana, three-legged dog,’ Sneha said.
Tim started to raise his right leg. She noticed then that something was protruding under Tim’s tight leggings. The sight made her blush, and she quickly turned back to concentrate on lifting her own leg, but as she was doing so, she heard a loud thud. She stifled a laugh. At least she hadn’t been the first to fall over. But following an eerie silence, stud
ents began talking loudly and moving about. A woman shrieked. Christabel immediately looked up and saw Tim lying on the ground, people gathering around him.
A shiver ran down Christabel’s spine – he looked a little too lifeless merely to be lying in corpse pose.
~
Chupplejeep looked at his watch. He had missed Sneha’s first class, the one he had been invited to, but he knew she would be taking another because Christabel had told him their special class was convening at ten for a one-hour yoga session. As he walked through the sliding doors towards the reception desk of the retreat, he realised that something wasn’t quite right. In all corners of the lobby, people were huddled, talking and looking anxiously around them.
‘Ah, you’re here,’ Sofia said, running up to him and putting her arms around him. She smelled of sun cream and, curiously, teak oil. Chupplejeep shook her off, remembering her outburst just last night when she believed Erik had been murdered and Sneha’s comments that she was unhinged. He delicately wriggled out of her embrace and touched her gently on the shoulder. No sooner had he done that than he saw Christabel striding towards him, dabbing a tissue under her eyes. Chupplejeep sidestepped Sofia and walked towards his girlfriend. She hugged him hard and then pulled away and began to hit his chest feebly with her fists.
‘What’s happened?’ he asked, gently taking her hand and holding her as her tears began to stain his t-shirt.
‘Where were you? You were supposed to be here. If you were here, then…’
‘What?’ Chupplejeep asked. ‘Then what?’
‘This would never have happened, I’m sure of it.’
‘What, Christu? Tell me what’s happened.’
‘This time,’ she said, in between deep sobs, ‘there really is a dead body.’
‘Who? What are you talking about?’
‘Tim,’ she said. ‘Tim. He’s dead.’
CHAPTER THIRTY
‘A heart attack,’ Detective Kumar had pronounced, giving Chupplejeep a stern look. Chupplejeep had pursed his lips. Another one, he wanted to say, but he held his tongue. Inspector General Gosht had already been on the telephone this morning, warning him not to implicate their department in anything that would go against his favour. ‘We don’t want to bring up the Panaji fiasco,’ he had barked down the telephone. He didn’t have to say any more. Not taking a bribe from a government official had been the worst career move of Chupplejeep’s life, and he was beginning to wonder if all his moral righteousness had been worth it. He had been demoted, in addition to becoming the laughing stock at the central police station.
He could drop his investigation into Jackpot’s murder and deal with his conscience later, or he could carry on and possibly curry favour with Gosht if he could provide the evidence that was required to lock up the murderer, and get the inspector his promotion. Gosht had pretty much agreed on that – provided that he didn’t screw up the whole investigation. A smile formed on his lips – it wasn’t as if they could demote him any further, could they? He watched a uniformed officer walk past and shuddered.
He could have left Tim’s death well alone, but something wasn’t right – young men didn’t just drop dead in a yoga class. This niggled him as he watched two technicians from the morgue lift the body onto a stretcher. The lifeless corpse reminded him of Erik, passed out on the beach, so inebriated that Chupplejeep was certain he couldn’t have just walked off moments later.
There was something going on at the retreat. Tim had also been wearing a rose quartz pendant, like both Jackpot and Erik. Sneha Dhanjwant stood in the corner of the room, pressing her fingers to her temples. He started to walk towards her.
‘What a terrible thing to have happened,’ Sneha said. ‘Tim was such a gentle soul, very kind and thoughtful.’
‘Christabel said so.’
‘Oh yes, your wife. You were supposed to attend the class before this, Detective.’
‘I got held up.’
Sneha turned to leave.
‘D’you mind if I walk with you?’ Chupplejeep asked, walking alongside her.
She touched his arm. ‘Now’s not a good time, Detective.’
‘Please, call me Arthur.’
‘Oh yes, you’re not on duty, and yet you’ve taken such a keen interest in the death of Jackpot, and now Tim, I suppose. Does death follow you around?’
Chupplejeep didn’t respond. She wasn’t happy that he was investigating Jackpot’s death, and there had to be a reason for that. That whole speech she had given him on Jackpot being a spiritual man didn’t wash with him. No one was that thoughtful. His experience as a detective had taught him that when people resisted any sort of investigation, it usually meant one thing – they were hiding something.
He looked at Sneha, wondering if it was just crocodile tears he had seen her shedding for Tim. He wanted to question her further about the death of Jackpot; it was his main reason for attending the class this morning. But now Jackpot’s death wasn’t the only suspicious one.
‘Did you know the deceased well?’ Chupplejeep tried.
‘You’re persistent. What is it you want to know about him?’
‘Did you know him?’
‘He was a resident at the retreat. I knew him as well as I know any of my other guests.’
‘And he was wearing one of these?’ Chupplejeep said, pulling out the threaded rose quartz crystal from his pocket. He had taken it from Christabel when he had seen her in a flood of tears outside the yoga studio. Just as a precaution, he had told her, when he asked if he could borrow it.
‘Ah, that.’
‘Two out of two dead bodies have been found with the same pendant.’ He waited for her to object, especially as Jackpot’s wasn’t actually around his neck when his body was found, but she seemed to accept what he was saying.
‘Coincidence,’ she said. ‘But let me guess, you’re going to say that there are no such things as coincidences.’ Sneha stopped walking and ran her hand through her cropped hair. The diamond-and-ruby studs in her ears sparkled. They caught his eye, and then he noted something else – a scar. It was faint, but it was certainly there along her hairline. He looked away before she caught him staring.
They started walking again. ‘Is it also a coincidence that the day you arrived at Toem Place a body was found at the jetty?’ Sneha laughed a deep laugh and touched his arm lightly. ‘I’m joking. The detective is never the murderer, is he?’ Sneha stopped outside the coffee shop and leaned against the glass window partition.
‘So you concede that Jackpot was murdered?’
Sneha didn’t answer. ‘Crystals have powers,’ she said instead. ‘They contain minerals and have vibrations. When you hold them, a subtle current passes between you and the crystal. They have the capacity to heal, to align and help open our chakras.’
‘Chakras?’
‘In simple terms, a chakra is an energy point in your body. You have seven of them, and they are linked to different organs of your body. Through them flows the energy of life. If they’re blocked, you can feel a physical malaise.’
‘So you can use crystals to release your inner prana.’
‘You know something.’
‘Christabel mentioned it. Is that why you gave her the pendant? Tim had one, and Erik too; I saw it on his body that night on the beach. The man has now mysteriously disappeared. But I noticed Sofia, the lady who came in shouting about the dead body, wasn’t wearing one. In fact, many guests at the retreat don’t seem to be wearing any crystals around their necks.’
‘You’re observant. But I suppose that’s your job. It’s a shame you missed the class this morning.’
Chupplejeep rolled his shoulders. There was no doubt that his body needed stretching out. He remembered now how he must look in his sweatpants and t-shirt and crossed his arms over his chest.
‘So why do only a few students have them?’
‘They’re in my class.’
‘Your special class?’
‘Yes, it’s special.’
‘And they were chosen? So you must know something about them. Why did you choose them?’
‘They all have stories, issues that need dealing with.’
‘Don’t we all?’ Chupplejeep asked.
‘We do,’ she said, her eyes looking into the distance. ‘Tim was kind and gentle, but he was lost, following Erik around instead of creating his own path in life. That’s the key to happiness. Well, one of the keys – being the master of your own destiny. So many people come to India to find themselves. I try and help people do that. Tim needed more guidance than others.’
‘And Erik? What were you helping him with?’
Sneha hesitated. ‘Erik’s smart. He knows what he wants in life.’
‘So why was he here?’
‘H-he needed to align his chakras and had problems doing this. He came to me for help because he has an addictive personality.’ She spoke quickly, as if her words had been rehearsed.
‘That explains his intoxicated state on the beach that day.’
Sneha shook her head. ‘That’s not his problem. He has other addictions.’ Her voice was curt.
She looked directly at Chupplejeep. ‘Sex. He was addicted to sex. He liked it though, his addiction; he just thought trying to get past it was the right thing to do. I also think he had his own agenda for coming here.’
‘Like what?’
‘Meeting people, socialising. It might be he led a lonely life back at home.’
‘Women?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘You say he was addicted?’ Chupplejeep asked, meeting her gaze.
‘I’m helping him, and he’s nearly through it.’
‘Don’t you find it odd that he walked off? You saw him on the beach that day. He was in no fit state to get up, let alone walk.’
Sneha shrugged.
‘What about the others?’
‘In my class? We have an infertile couple, anger issues. All sorts.’
Jackpot Jetty Page 15