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Back Bombay Monsoon Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. PART ONE
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. PART TWO
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. PART THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. EPILOGUE
  61. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  62. BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE

After a couple of days of giving statements to the police and consulting with a lawyer recommended by Janice’s friend, Shirish, I took the train back to Bombay on the twenty-first, with orders not to leave India until the investigation was complete. The public prosecutor confiscated my passport to prevent any risk of flight. Ranjit remained behind in Poona. His superiors had twisted the Maharashtra CID’s arm to give him access to the bungalow for further investigation.

During my two-minute stop in Lonavala, I tried and failed to resist the temptation to scan the platform for signs of a beautiful woman coming to whisk me away to a secluded love nest. I looked hard and long, even after the train started moving and left the station behind.

Once we were speeding along again, I sulked. I couldn’t understand how she’d simply disappeared without a goodbye. Left me waiting for my murderers to arrive. Had she been aware of Willy’s plan to kill me? Hell, the attempt in Poona was certainly the second try. Now that I knew that Bikas was in Willy’s employ, I figured he’d intended to murder me in my flat in Cuffe Parade two days before. Maybe the parcel I’d picked up at the Mafco stall was stuffed with drugs. I’d be written off as a foreigner who got mixed up with the wrong people. Case closed.

But I kept asking myself, did Sushmita know? I couldn’t possibly be sure. But I wanted her anyway. And I knew that if she’d been there on the platform in Lonavala, I’d have jumped off the train and followed her anywhere.

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BOMBAY, INDIA

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 1975, 5:21 P.M.

I returned to the flat in Sagar Darshan, unsure of how much longer I’d be able to keep it. Frank Muller knew nothing of my decision to quit. But he’d be rubbing his hands together by now, eager to read the story I’d write about the undercover operation. Well, he wasn’t going to get it, and I’d be out on the street as soon as he realized it.

“Has Mr. Smets returned?” I asked the building manager. He said he hadn’t seen him in nearly three weeks, but the police had been there to search his flat.

I even rode the lift up to the penthouse and rang the bell. No one answered. His two servants and cook were gone. Maybe I should have climbed up the drainpipe and peered through the window to be sure they weren’t there.