“I could tell you were not able to get permission to embalm or cremate, which was the major goal of the call. That’s unfortunate.”

“I tried my best,” Kashmira said, in her defense. “But the granddaughter is distinctively pertinacious in comparison with the son. Maybe we should have just gone ahead and cremated without asking her.”

“I don’t think we could have taken that risk. Ramesh Srivastava was very clear when he called me that he wanted this case to disappear. He specifically said he did not want any possible continued cause for media attention, and if the granddaughter is bullheaded, as you suspect, cremating the body without permission could have caused a blowup.”

“You mentioned Ramesh Srivastava earlier when you called me about Hernandez’s death and told me we had to deal with it tonight. Who is he? I’ve never heard the name.”

“I’m sorry. I thought you knew. He’s a top-level administrator who’s been placed in charge of the department of medical tourism in the health ministry.”

“Is he the one who called you about the death?”

“He is, which was shocking. I’ve never met the man, but he’s an important individual. His appointment shows how vital the government thinks medical tourism is becoming.”

“How did he hear about the death before we did?”

“That is a good question. One of his subordinates saw it on CNN International and felt it serious enough, considering its possible effect on the PR campaign the Ministry of Tourism and the Indian Healthcare Federation have been co-sponsoring, to inform Srivastava immediately despite the hour. What impressed me was that Srivastava then called me directly instead of delegating it to one of his underlings. It shows how serious he thinks it is, which is why he wants the case to disappear, which, of course, is why he wants rapid disposition of the body. To help, he said he’d call to have the death certificate signed without delay, which he did. He also ordered that no one from the hospital staff on any pretext should talk to the media. He said that on the air there was a hint of some kind of investigation. He does not want an investigation of any sort.”

“I got that message loud and clear, as did everyone else.”

“So,” Rajish said, letting his legs fall to the floor and slapping the table for emphasis, “let’s get the body cleared for cremation or embalming and out of here.”

Kashmira pushed back her chair, the legs of which screeched against the floor in protest. “I will get the process started immediately by making the travel arrangements for Ms. Hernandez. Are you planning on talking to Mr. Srivastava again tonight?”

“He asked me to call his home with an update. So, yes, I will be calling.”

“Mention to him we might need his support to get an emergency M visa for Ms. Hernandez.”

“Will do,” Rajish said, jotting down a quick note to himself. He watched Kashmira walk out the door. Returning his attention to the phone Kashmira had used to call Jennifer and taking out Joint Secretary Srivastava’s phone number, which Rajish had written on a piece of scratch paper, he made the call. It made him feel proud to be calling someone so high in the health bureaucracy, especially at such an unorthodox hour.