‘Wait, what? No. No, it’s not agreed. I’m sorry for your troubles and everything, and I certainly don’t want to make any more for you, but I told you this is a business trip. In two or three days, when our work is done, we’ll leave quietly.’

Ignatius Coutinho pointed a meaty finger at her. ‘You’re a brave girl. But it’s easy to be brave when you’re not locked up. Maybe your friend doesn’t feel the same way? Maybe I send a couple of my men down there to talk to him. And maybe my men are not so educated and maybe they talk with open palms instead of words. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t do that, hmm?’

‘Uh . . . the Geneva Convention?’ Gehna said, hiding the spike of fear she felt for Eram. She knew that police brutality, all over India, was a casual and everyday thing. ‘Don’t be that guy. Please.’

He stared at her without saying anything. Gehna could see the vein in his forehead pulsing. Even though she strongly felt that she was on the side of right in this argument, she knew about her parents’ connections and could sympathize with the difficult situation the inspector was in.

‘Would it help,’ she asked, ‘if I spoke to my parents?’

‘Under criminal law, once a complaint has officially been filed with the police, we are bound to investigate and close the matter. Even if the party that complained later changes their mind.’

‘Uh-huh. Sure. But,’ Gehna stage-whispered, ‘if a tree falls in a forest and no one’s there to hear it, amirite?’

‘Tree?’

‘I meant, has a complaint been filed? Like, officially.’

‘Well. There’s no paperwork yet, if that’s what you’re asking.’

Gehna looked at Inspector Coutinho. Inspector Coutinho looked at Gehna.

‘You have five minutes,’ he said. ‘Call your parents.’

Gehna did. The Rais were, as expected, out of their minds. They were so worried, how could she do such an irresponsible thing, Ajay was flying down to fetch her back right this minute, yada yada. Gehna was mad too, but she rolled with the punches until her parents ran out of steam. And then she launched a counterattack. She was a grown woman now, when would they stop treating her like a child, by what right did they have her best friend thrown in jail, and so forth. In the end she might have hinted that, what with the stress of her being manhandled by the police, they shouldn’t be surprised if their grandchild was born underweight or had Down’s or something.

Gehna felt a twinge of guilt at using her unborn baby as a tool of emotional manipulation, but she figured that since she was going to do the same thing to her kid as well, she should get some practice. Also, it worked—the Rais agreed to call off the dogs on two conditions. First, that Gehna would call them thrice every day and, second, that she promise to stay in a separate room for the duration of her time in Goa.