‘Duty,’ said the subinspector pompously, ‘duty. Rain is nothing. Even if there was an earthquake, duty first! Is the head constable back?’

‘Yes, sir. He brought in Malli’s gang a few minutes ago and has gone to his quarters to have tea.’

‘Has he made any entry in the daily diary?’

‘No, sir, he said he would wait for you to do that.’

The subinspector was relieved. He went into the reporting room, hung his turban on a peg and sat down in a chair. The table was stacked with registers of all kinds. One large one with its yellow pages all divided into columns lay open before him. He glanced at the last entry. It was in his own hand, about his leaving Mano Majra rest house earlier that morning.

‘Good,’ he said aloud, rubbing his hands. He slapped his thighs and ran both his hands across his forehead and through his hair. ‘Right,’ he said loudly to himself. ‘Right.’

A constable brought him a cup of tea, stirring it all the time.

‘Your clothes must be wet!’ he said, putting the tea on the table and giving it a last violent stir.

The subinspector picked it up without looking at the constable. ‘Have you locked Malli’s gang in the same cell as Jugga?’

‘Toba! Toba!’ exclaimed the constable, holding his hands up to his shoulder. ‘Sir, there would have been a murder in the police station. You should have been here when we brought Malli in. As soon as Jugga saw him he went mad. I have never heard such abuse. Mother, sister, daughter—he did not leave one out. He shook the bars till they rattled. We thought the door would come off its hinges. There was no question of putting Malli in there. And Malli would not have gone in, any more than a lamb would into a lion’s cage.’

The subinspector smiled. ‘Didn’t Malli swear back?’

‘No. He really looked frightened and kept saying that he had nothing to do with the Mano Majra dacoity. Jugga yelled back saying that he had seen him with his own eyes and he would settle scores with all of them and their mothers, sisters and daughters, once he was out. Malli said he was not afraid of him any more since all Jugga could do now was to sleep with his weaver girl. You should really have seen Jugga then! He behaved like an animal. His eyes turned red; he put his hand on his mouth and yelled; he beat his chest and shook the iron bars; he swore that he would tear Malli limb from limb. I have never seen anyone in a rage like that. We could not take any chances, so we kept Malli in the reporting room till Jugga’s temper was down. Then we moved Jugga into the Babu’s cell and put Malli’s men in Jugga’s.’