The Inspector de Silva Mysteries

by Harriet Steel

  ‘Ah, him. So much has happened since then, I almost forgot.’ He sat silent for a few moments, hands clasped and thumbs slowly rolling round each other. ‘Are you certain there’s a connection?’ he asked eventually.

  ‘The finds near his body, and the timing, so close to Coryat’s murder, convince me of it.’

  Clutterbuck shrugged. ‘Very well; you’d better pursue that line of inquiry.’

  Walking back to the Morris, de Silva’s step was lighter than it had been on arrival at the Residence. He had considerable cause for satisfaction. But he would have felt even better if Clutterbuck’s reaction to the mention of Velu had been less grudging. The man hadn’t been the most upstanding member of society, but he still deserved justice. And, de Silva vowed, although at present it’s not entirely clear how, I’m going to see that he gets it.

  **

  ‘Good news,’ he said when he got home.

  ‘I’m so glad, dear. Tell me all about it.’

  ‘I think Rudi’s in the clear; Archie’s on our side. The Colombo boys are still looking for Edelman though.’

  ‘Will you be needed again?’

  ‘Only if Edelman refuses to confess once he’s arrested. If that’s the case, although I can’t swear to it he killed Coryat personally, I can testify that he ordered him to be killed. It should be enough to put him away for a few years.’

  ‘Well, you can relax now.’

  ‘I plan to, and I promise to forget about work for the moment. What about going out tonight? Would you like to see a film?’

  ‘Lovely. They’re showing a Charlie Chaplin this week.’

  ‘Then let’s go.’

  **

  De Silva was surprised to see Sergeant Prasanna and his wife Kuveni leaving the cinema after the film. He thought they preferred Indian films with their lavish costumes and singing and dancing.

  ‘I wanted to see the famous Mr Chaplin,’ Kuveni said when Jane and de Silva caught up with them.

  ‘I hope you enjoyed the film,’ said Jane.

  ‘We laughed, but it was also sad.’

  ‘Yes, when you stop to think about it, Modern Times is sad as well as funny. Two sides of the same coin.’

  ‘I may not be in until Monday, Prasanna,’ said de Silva. ‘I’ll bring you and Nadar up to date then. Have you anything to report in the meantime?’

  ‘No, sir. It’s been quiet.’

  ‘Good. Enjoy the rest of your evening.’

  **

  Inspector Singh’s call interrupted the quiet Monday morning.

  ‘How’s the investigation going?’ asked de Silva. ‘Do you need my help?’

  ‘It’s good of you to offer, but that’s all settled. It was a domestic affair. The man had decided to do away with his wife and mother-in-law.’

  ‘Nasty.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘We must meet for a drink sometime. Compare notes.’

  ‘An excellent idea. Maybe sooner than you think. I promised to let you know if that village headman’s grandson turned up. One of my men caught him stealing in the bazaar a few days ago. I’m holding him until the magistrate sits later this week.’

  De Silva felt a jolt of excitement. This was better luck than he’d anticipated. ‘I’ll come this afternoon if it’s alright with you.’

  ‘Of course; I look forward to it.’

  **

  The grandson eyed de Silva and Singh warily when they walked into the interview room. He was girlishly handsome with black hair that curled to his shoulders. The whisper of a moustache darkened his upper lip.

  ‘This is Inspector de Silva of the Nuala Police,’ said Singh. ‘He has some questions. It will go better for you if you answer them truthfully.’

  The young man’s expression was sulky, but de Silva saw there was also fear. He decided to start with a kindly approach that was probably far gentler than the treatment the lad’s grandfather would have meted out to him.

  Reluctantly at first, but becoming more forthcoming with de Silva’s judicious prompting, the grandson admitted he had been present when Velu was murdered.

  ‘Who were you working for?’ asked de Silva.

  The young man shivered and cast a longing glance at the barred window where a meagre ray of sunshine struggled to penetrate the shadowy room. ‘I never knew their names.’

  ‘Were they white men?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Describe them to me.’

  When he finished, de Silva nodded. ‘It sounds like Edelman and Coryat.’

  ‘I’ll check if Coryat’s body’s still at the undertakers,’ said Singh. ‘If so, the lad can identify it.’

  A queasy look clouded the young man’s face. Not a hardened villain then, thought de Silva.

  ‘What were you doing for them?’

  ‘Digging. They were looking for treasure. After all the rain, it was dangerous. We’d already had one mudslide, but they wouldn’t let us stop.’ Sweat beaded his brow. ‘I wanted to get away. I wouldn’t have been there at all if it hadn’t been for Velu. He owed money. The moneylender was going to have him beaten up if he didn’t pay.’

  ‘What about you? Did you owe money as well?’

  The young man’s gaze shifted away. ‘No,’ he muttered.

  ‘Perhaps you wanted to make a quick buck?’

  There was no answer, and de Silva didn’t press him.

  ‘Who killed Velu?’

  ‘The fat man.’

  ‘How did he sound?’

  ‘He spoke English, but he didn’t sound like a Britisher.’

  Edelman: de Silva was certain of it.

  ‘Why did he kill Velu?’

  ‘Velu was crazy. He argued about how much he was being paid. He said it wasn’t enough, and he wouldn’t go on. The fat man said he had to finish the job. Velu said no. The fat man raised his gun.’ He mimicked the action. ‘And pouf…’

  ‘What happened after that?’

  ‘I ran. They weren’t fast enough to catch me. It was getting dark, and I lost them in the jungle. I stayed there for a long time.’

  ‘What did you live on?’

  The young man pulled a face. ‘Grubs, lizards. Sometimes birds.’

  ‘I imagine such a life doesn’t appeal for long.’

  The young man shrugged.

  A thought came to de Silva. ‘You said the work was dangerous because of the rain. Was it raining when Velu was killed?’

  The question seemed to surprise the young man. ‘It was in the morning, but it stopped.’

  De Silva nodded. ‘Thank you, you’ve been a help. I’m sure Inspector Singh here will see to it that the magistrate’s made aware of that.’

  Singh went to the door and called a constable. ‘We’re done. Take him back to his cell.’

  So, de Silva reflected, as the young man was led away, Jane had been right. The scream he’d heard on that rainy evening on the old Hatton Road had been the wind playing a trick on his ears. But how lucky he had doubted her. If it hadn’t been for that, he and Prasanna and Nadar wouldn’t have gone back to search, and Velu’s body would probably never have been found.

  Chapter 31

  A few weeks later

  The great and the good of Colombo were gathered in the museum to celebrate the arrival of a new item for the collection: the statue recovered from Joseph Edelman along with the rest of the loot he had planned to smuggle to Europe. He had finally been tracked down trying to board a ship at Jaffna. It was likely de Silva would have to testify, but otherwise, all that was left for him to do was identify the man who had impersonated Professor Jayakody. After studying numerous files of photographs held at the Colombo station, he was able to tell them he was a man called Zamir Maheshwari.

  Fonseka had also been arrested. He denied having anything to do with Rudi Chockalingham’s accident. Hoping for lenience, he had turned King’s evidence against Edelman, but greed had undone him; his career in the police was over.

  The gold statue took pride of place in a large display
cabinet in the centre of the great hall, surrounded by the best of the other finds.

  ‘I feel out of place,’ de Silva said to Jane as they stood together nearby.

  ‘What nonsense! If it wasn’t for you, the case would never have been solved.’

  ‘A few other people helped.’

  ‘Your contribution was the most important.’

  She sipped her champagne and looked round the hall. ‘The Governor General and his wife are here. Look, they’re talking to the Petries. Archie’s with them too, and Florence, back from her holiday. We should go and say hello.’

  De Silva hesitated. His work had brought him into contact with the Petries several times and he liked them, but the Governor General and his lady were a more daunting prospect.

  Jane wasn’t to be resisted, however, and they joined the group.

  William Petrie made the introductions. Afterwards, de Silva couldn’t remember what the Governor General had said, but he was aware it was very complimentary. William congratulated him, and Lady Caroline gave him one of her sweet smiles. ‘Another victory for you, Inspector,’ she said. ‘Success is becoming a habit.’

  De Silva feared he might flush like a schoolboy. He was saved by the Director of the Museum who came to claim the attention of the Governor General and his wife and the Petries. Florence started to engage Jane in a long conversation about her travels. De Silva found himself alone with Archie.

  ‘Excellent outcome, eh, de Silva?’ he remarked. He stared down into his champagne glass. ‘Do you like this stuff? Overrated to my way of thinking. Give me a decent whisky any day.’

  ‘I agree with you there.’

  Clutterbuck gestured to the statue. ‘Pretty piece, isn’t it? I’m told it’s worth a king’s ransom. Good to know it’s staying here where it belongs, not being spirited back to London.’

  ‘Two things still puzzle me, sir.’

  ‘Mm?’

  ‘Firstly, how did Joseph Edelman know that Henry Coryat was hiding something from him?’

  ‘I’m sorry, I thought you’d been told. Fonseka revealed it was due to the man you identified as Zamir Maheshwari. He may be a crook, but he knows his onions.’

  What on earth did onions have to do with it, wondered de Silva.

  ‘Edelman’s a canny customer. He decided he wanted another opinion apart from Coryat’s. Edelman knows about jewellery, but he’s not an expert on antiquities. Maybe he’s been cheated before. Maheshwari already knew quite a lot about the hoard from old tales in the antiquities’ world. Apparently, there are theories going back many years that it was hidden somewhere in the Hill Country. He was suspicious about Coryat’s assertion he’d handed over everything, especially as, in his view, Coryat had exaggerated the value of some pieces.’

  ‘Why would he do that?’

  ‘Edelman was paying him for his work. I imagine Coryat thought Edelman would be more generous if he believed Coryat had found him a fortune. When Fonseka tipped Edelman off that you were coming to Colombo, they thought you might have some good pieces. Hence the episode on the train.’

  ‘That’s the other thing I don’t understand. How did Edelman know who I was? It can’t just have been inspired guesswork, especially as he would have been looking for a man on his own and not a couple.’

  ‘It wasn’t. Fonseka purloined the photo from your old file at Colombo headquarters and sent it to him.’

  ‘So, Edelman set up the robbery?’

  ‘Indeed. The unfortunate thief was his servant. It’s not clear yet whether Edelman always intended to do away with him, or whether that was unplanned.’

  De Silva thought back to the moment on the train when the thief had fallen out of the door. In the confusion of the robbery, de Silva hadn’t seen his face very clearly, and it had been too dark to make out what was going on between him and Edelman at the train door. Edelman could easily have pushed him.

  He also remembered seeing Edelman leave the station concourse. Why hadn’t he noticed at the time? The driver had helped Edelman into the car, not the servant, although he’d been with him at the start of the journey, and Edelman had talked about him being on the train after the staged robbery. No servant would be so disrespectful as to take a seat in a car before his master. Clearly, the reason why the servant hadn’t held the door was that he was lying dead by the train track.

  ‘In any case,’ Clutterbuck continued, ‘Once Edelman heard you had nothing of great value to show, he came straight back to Nuala to confront Henry Coryat.’

  ‘Why would Coryat get involved in the first place? I thought he was highly respected in the academic world. He seemed to live frugally. Surely he wasn’t after money?’

  ‘Not money; although we believe the lure of owning a precious object may have swayed him. There was something else though. It was hushed up at the time, but several years ago, Coryat stole from the museum. When he was found out, he returned his loot, and was allowed to retire with his honour intact. He moved to Nuala, presumably hoping to put everything behind him and spend the rest of his life writing up his researches. He would have succeeded if Edelman hadn’t heard a rumour about him. He probed further and threatened to expose Coryat if he didn’t help him.’

  ‘Why not just use Zamir Maheshwari? Wouldn’t it have been less risky?’

  ‘Maheshwari likes to keep in the background. I’m surprised he agreed to meet you at Fonseka’s house. Probably Edelman insisted he did, anticipating you wouldn’t be parted from your treasures. I’m afraid he’s slipped through the net, but one day he’ll make a mistake.’

  Florence and Jane joined them; Florence radiant from her cruise. ‘My dear Inspector,’ she trilled. ‘Such a wonderful experience. You and Jane simply must go.’

  ‘I feel as if I already have,’ Jane whispered as Archie and Florence moved away to talk to other friends and acquaintances. ‘Florence is so full of her tales of the sea.’

  Tucking her arm in his, he smiled. ‘If you’d like to, we’ll find a way.’

  He glanced around the hall. ‘There’s Charlie Frobisher over there. Shall we go and say hello?’

  ‘Do let’s. He’s such a delightful young man.’

  She contemplated Frobisher for a moment. ‘Florence tells me that Archie says he has a very promising career ahead of him. Does he have a wife?’

  ‘Not so far as I’m aware.’

  ‘You know how keen the Colonial service is for its staff to be married.’

  He looked at her with an expression that pantomimed despair. ‘Don’t tell me you’re plotting already.’

  She smiled. ‘As if I’d dream of it.’

  ****

  Many thanks for reading these books, I hope you enjoyed them. Like most writers, I value feedback for the insights it provides as well as the fact it helps to drive sales in an increasingly competitive market. If you have a few moments to leave a review (honest of course) on Amazon or Goodreads, even if it’s only a couple of lines, I’d be most grateful. I love to hear from readers too, so please do visit my blog and leave your comments. You can sign up there to receive my monthly email which gives news of promotions, events and new releases. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter

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  Other Books by Harriet Steel

  Christmas in Nuala

  The little town of Nuala is full of Christmas good cheer, until a brutal murder overshadows the festivities. The mystery he needs to solve baffles Inspector de Silva. It’s just as well he has his wife Jane to support him in his race both to unmask the villain and save an endangered romance. This colourful series set in Ceylon in the 1930s is perfect for fans of Golden Age mysteries, and Christmas in Nuala makes a great short read for the holiday season.

  Passage from Nuala

  Inspector de Silva and Jane embark on a cruise to Egypt to visit the pyramids, excited at the prospect of
two weeks of sun, sea and relaxation. With Nuala, and de Silva’s duties as a police officer, far behind them, what can possibly spoil their plans? Then a writer is found dead in his cabin, suffocated by newspaper thrust down his throat. Once again, de Silva must swing into action.

  The Inspector de Silva Mysteries is a colourful and absorbing series, spiced with humour. Set in Ceylon in the 1930s, it appeals to fans of the vintage mysteries of the Golden Age.

  Becoming Lola

  The true story of how Eliza Gilbert, the daughter of an obscure Ensign in the British Army and his cold Irish wife, became the nineteenth century’s most notorious adventuress, Lola Montez.

  “Throughout Becoming Lola, I kept having to remind myself that the story was based on historical fact. It is a fascinating journey following a woman’s single-minded determination to get the very best for herself at all costs.” Historical Novel Society

  “A fascinating read. Lola was such a gutsy character, and Harriet Steel has captured her times and adventures very vividly. It's a must read if you like wild women and strange adventures.” Beth Webb, Author of the Star Dancer trilogy.

  Available in Kindle or paperback.

  Salvation

  It is 1586, plagued by religious strife at home and with the Royal Treasury almost exhausted, England holds her breath. When will Philip of Spain launch his Armada?

  In this world of suspicion and fear, three people pursue their own struggles for happiness and salvation.

  When an enemy threatens to reveal his illicit affair with a married woman, young lawyer’s clerk, Tom Goodluck, is forced to leave his old life behind him. An aspiring playwright, for a while his future in the burgeoning world of Elizabethan theatre looks bright but then events take an unexpected turn that threatens his very existence. His mentor and friend, theatre manager Alexandre Lamotte, comes to his rescue but Lamotte’s past hides tragedy and a dark secret. In trying to save Tom, he puts everything he has achieved at risk. Meanwhile Tom’s lover, Meg, is forced to set out on a path that will test her mettle to the limit.