Naresh Prasad was talking to several other uniformed police officers standing near the body.

“He must be some kind of plainclothes detective or something.”

“You really think I shouldn’t talk to them?” Jennifer asked.

“Put it this way: What do you know? Nothing. You don’t even know if this guy followed you from the Amal Palace, or just saw you here and said there’s a millionaire Westerner.”

“Get out of here!” Jennifer said.

“There’s no way for you to know. That’s the point. They don’t know, either. If you insist on getting involved, you’re not going to learn anything and you’re not going to add anything, and it will possibly cost you some money. Besides, if you change your mind, you can tell them tomorrow, or this afternoon for that matter. No one is going to fault you for getting the hell out of here under the circumstances.”

“Alright,” Jennifer snapped. “You’ve talked me out of it, at least for now. Let’s get back to the hotel. I think I need a drink or something. I’m still shaking.”

“Good choice!” Neil commented. “What we can do is head over to the American embassy at some point either today or tomorrow and get their take. If they think you should file an FIR, we’ll do it, because then they will be involved and there won’t be any screwing around.”

“Fair enough,” Jennifer said.

The crowd near the killing blocked most of the galis. On one side, several policemen were keeping a narrow right-of-way open against the far wall. To create it, the police had required the local merchants to clear the street of merchandise. Jennifer and Neil again had to walk in single file.

As Jennifer passed, she looked back at the cycle rickshaw still lying on its side. She could see where in the street she’d fallen. She glanced briefly again at the driver. He’d not been allowed to move, which tended to give further credence to Neil’s point about not getting involved unless there was some compelling reason. Her eyes also briefly passed over the short plainclothes policeman as they came abreast of where he was standing, causing her to do a double take. The officer was looking at her.

For several beats Jennifer and Inspector Naresh Prasad’s eyes locked together before Jennifer self-consciously looked away.

“Don’t look now,” Jennifer said in a low voice over her shoulder at Neil, “but that short policeman was staring at me.”

“Let’s not get paranoid.”

“Really, he was. Do you think he recognizes me from being in the cycle rickshaw?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea. Stop and turn around. Let’s see what he does. I mean, if he recognizes you from being involved, \we don’t have a lot of choice. We have to talk to him.”

Jennifer stopped but didn’t immediately turn around. “I feel nervous,” she said.