The guard mulled over her question for a few seconds and said, ‘Yes, yes, I remember. But that’s a very old incident. Since then that route has been out of bounds to everyone.’ He pointed to a narrow lane between the school building and the church.

‘What else do you remember?’

‘Not much. However, I do remember that some local villagers had reported finding the wheelchair dangling from a tree and the boy at the bottom of the hill. The students were not allowed to go there. At that time there were no cameras in the school,’ he said and smiled at her, ruefully.

‘That’s it? Anything else?’ she asked, slightly disappointed.

‘No, madam. I am just a guard. I do as I am told. I just remember that it was difficult to recover the body. Then the school was on lockdown for a few days.’

Radhika handed the register back to him and thanked him. She then walked towards the main building.

The school looked more like an ancient castle or an old British manor. The grey buildings were topped with red domes. There were children in winter uniforms playing in the basketball court. She tried picturing a young Madhav and Parth standing on the sidelines. A few kids sat in the park in front of the main building. The campus was peaceful and quiet. Radhika looked at her watch—it was 11 a.m., probably lunchtime.

She asked a cute little girl who was sipping water from her Pokemon bottle, ‘Where is the reception, dear?’

The girl smiled at her and pointed to a small door. Radhika pulled her cheeks playfully and walked towards the reception, looking at the children and reminiscing about her childhood. She stepped inside a huge room, full of trophies, and walked up to a desk where there sat a pretty woman.

‘Hi! I would like to meet the principal,’ Radhika said to the receptionist.

The girl looked up at her with a vibrant smile. ‘May I know the purpose of your visit?’ she asked.

‘My name is Radhika Kapoor and I am from Delhi. I wish to speak to the principal about conducting workshops for children,’ Radhika lied to the girl, knowing that her real reason would sound very odd.

‘Okay, madam. Let me just check with his secretary.’ After a short conversation on the phone, she said, ‘Father Nelson has gone to the church. Please wait for a few minutes.’

Radhika walked around the room, looking at the photographs and trophies. She wandered into a small alcove where she found pictures of students who had won scholar medals in the past. She slowly scanned the wall for the batch of 2000–01. She stared at the picture of a young boy with a bright smile and thick spectacles—Parth Aggarwal. There were no pictures of Madhav. Radhika connected the dots: Madhav had taken on Parth’s scholarly ambition after leaving school.

‘Father Nelson is here, madam,’ said the receptionist, bringing Radhika to the present. She turned around to see an old man walking towards her.