“In the rain?” asked Willy. “You must have got soaked.”

Sushmita took charge of the story.

“Yes, we did,” she said. “Especially since our Danny Boy couldn’t loosen the bolts. Or raise the jack.” She turned to me, stroked my arm as a sister might, and said I was useless in an emergency.

“Sorry,” I said. “Those bolts were tight.”

“Where did you spend the night?” asked Willy.

“Right there,” she answered, indicating the car. “It was late by the time Danny managed to change the tire, and I wasn’t about to climb the ghats at that hour. Not with a blinding headache. And Danny doesn’t know how to drive a right-hand stick, so we slept in the car.” She put a hand up to her face to feign a whisper. “He snores.”

“You poor dears,” said Willy, slapping me on the shoulder. “Come inside and explain to me what this urgent visit is all about.”

A servant arrived and took our bags. Sushmita made a point of telling him to remove the wet, soiled clothes from the boot.

“See if Pooja can get the grease stains out,” she said. “I’m afraid they’re beyond rescue. And send Shankar to get a new spare.”

The house’s décor resembled that of the Lonavala bungalow, as if they’d been born of the same mother. Old rugs everywhere, heavy wooden rosewood and mahogany colonial furniture, and shrines. I noticed a garland of marigolds wrapped around the shoulders of a chicken-sized Ganesh carved out of pink stone. Before him, a diya was burning. I wondered if Willy had been praying for our safe return, and I felt like a traitor. I was a traitor.

“Mita wired me that you were in danger, Danny. Tell me what happened.”

“Do you remember that bomber I said I’d interviewed? The one I took pictures of? Well, he’s had a change of heart. He wants the photos back. He demanded I meet him at Sassoon Docks last night or else.”

“Or else what?”

“Or else I was a dead man.”

“And you refuse to give him the film because of your journalistic principles, is that it?”

“Yes.”

Willy nodded. “Well, you’re safe here. Good God, your fingernails are black with grease. Go have your bath.”