Dhaval wandered out of the restaurant, mildly confused. It was only a little after eight, and Jennifer was not in her room and not in the breakfast area. Dhaval stopped near the center of the lobby and glanced around to see if anyone might fit the description given by the maître d’, but no one did. Then his eyes wandered out the large windows and he saw a half-dozen or so people swimming laps in the pool.

Exiting the hotel, Dhaval checked the swimmers. There were two youngish women. One had medium-brown hair but would not qualify as having a nice figure. The second swimmer was blond, so she was out as well. Returning to the hotel, Dhaval used the lower entrance to check out the spa and workout room. There were two people using the weight machines and exercise bikes, but they were both men.

Mildly discouraged, Dhaval returned upstairs to the lobby and went over to the transportation desk. The hotel employee who ran it was called Samarjit Rao. Sam, as he was known, was on Shashank Malhotra’s under-the-counter payroll. When Shashank brought businessmen to Delhi, he always put them up at the Amal, and often he found it important to know where these people went.

“Mr. Narang,” Sam said respectfully. “Namasté.” Sam knew who Dhaval was and was appropriately scared of him.

“There is a young woman, supposedly attractive, at least according to the maître d’, who is registered here at the hotel. Her name is Jennifer Hernandez. Do you know this person?”

“I do,” Sam said, nervously glancing about. There were several other hotel employees who knew who Dhaval was.

“I need someone to point her out for me. Think you could do that?”

“Of course, sir. When she comes back.”

“She is out of the hotel?”

“Yes, I saw her leave a little before eight.”

Dhaval sighed. He’d hoped to meet up with her early enough so that when she went out he could follow her.

“Well, I’ll wait around for a few hours,” Dhaval said. “I’ll get a paper and sit over against the wall.” He pointed to several free club chairs. “If and when she comes in, let me know.”

The WaKe-Up Call at 8:15 a.m. woke Neil from a deep sleep, and he answered in a panic, not quite knowing where he was. But his mind cleared rapidly, and he thanked the operator before bounding out of bed. The first thing he did was open the draperies and look out at the hazy sunshine. Directly below was the pool, with a handful of people swimming laps. Neil looked forward to doing the same sometime during the day. It would be good treatment for his anxiousness and jet lag.