Once he had the operator, Naresh asked to speak to Jennifer Hernandez. It took only a few rings. A sleepy voice answered.

“I’m sorry,” Naresh said. “I think I have a wrong number.”

“That’s okay,” Jennifer said, and hung up.

Naresh did likewise. She was in her room sleeping, and he wondered what to do.

Sachin Gupta had his driver, Suresh, enter through the employee entrance. There was a gate and a gatehouse. Sachin rolled down the passenger-side window. He could tell the gatekeeper was impressed with the scrupulously clean black Mercedes.

“We’re here to see Bhupen Chaturvedi,” Sachin said. “He’s in maintenance. He forgot his medicine this morning, and we’re bringing it to him.”

The gatekeeper closed his door. Sachin watched him make a call. A few moments later, he reopened the door. “You can park over against that wall,” he said. “Bhupen will meet you on the loading dock.”

Sachin thanked the man but then directed Suresh to drive directly to the loading dock. As they pulled up, Bhupen was already there waiting. He directed them to back the car into the neighboring garage that was reserved for maintenance. The identification card he was holding got tossed on the dash. As one of the maintenance supervisors, he was dressed in a crisp dark blue uniform, including a baseball-style cap. He was a medium-complected stocky man with a thick neck. He and Sachin had been friends through high school.

“Are you okay with this?” Sachin asked. “It’s going to result in a big blowup and an investigation: American tourist snatched from five-star hotel!”

“What I want to know is whether you brought the money,” Bhupen asked.

Sachin produced a sizable roll of rupees and tossed it up to Bhupen, who hastily pocketed it.

“I would think you would be the one worried, driving in here with this fancy car,” Bhupen said.

“There are thousands of these black E-Class Mercedes in Delhi, and the plates are fake. By the way, what’s the medicine I am supposed to have brought you?”

“My asthma inhaler.”

“So what’s the situation with the girl? Is she here at the hotel now?”

“Right after you called this morning, I checked. She’d remained in her room. The security chain was still in place. Her jet lag must have caught up with her.”

“That’s a bit of luck. So I guess we’ll do it like we did the last time.”

“That’s right. I already have the dolly with the big tool chest on the floor. Her room is close to the service elevators. Did you bring your own duct tape?”

Sachin held up a new roll. He also pulled out vinyl gloves, which he handed out to his two minions. Bhupen had his own.

“Are we ready?” Bhupen asked.

“Let’s go,” Sachin said.