“But what makes you so sure I didn’t kill Badal?” Jehan asked Ruqaiya, pouring them both steaming cups of coffee.
It had been less than twenty-four hours since the news about Badal’s death broke. Ruqaiya had just returned from Weritlan, and the two of them were sharing a pot of coffee and comparing notes in Jehan’s office.
She shrugged, taking an appreciative sip of the beverage. “I’ve been investigating him for some time, you know. Even before I went to Weritlan myself. Ever since you told me Badal’s daughter and son-in-law owned the La Fantome club, in fact. It’s fascinating, really, how much he’s managed to get away with over all these years, right under our noses.”
“And?” Jehan raised an eyebrow.
“We managed to intercept some of his emails and phone calls. So I have a pretty clear idea about what he was doing the week before he died. That’s actually why I decided to go to Weritlan in the first place. Things were…escalating faster than I’d expected them to.”
“Things?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t play dumb, Fasih. You know as well as I do he wasn’t trying to ‘expose’ you. He wasn’t interested in you at all.”
“No. I’d wager he was far more interested in Maganti than in me.”
“That he was. For more than a month, he’d been having some…vehement disagreements with the Maralanese. And if he was threatening to expose anyone, it was Maganti.”
“About the metro blasts?”
Ruqaiya smirked. “And here I thought I came bearing earth-shattering revelations.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble. More coffee?” He poured some more of the beverage into her cup, then sat back in his chair. “I’ve known for a while now that Maralana had a hand in that attack. What I don’t understand is why Badal should use it to threaten Maganti now, after all this time?”
“’Cause you spooked him, of course. He’d been promised he’d sit on the prime minister’s chair before the year was out. Instead, you snuffed out his political career altogether and then took down the La Fantome club. And if that wasn’t enough, Abhijat arrested that electrician, Sajal–”
“So Badal did hire him to mess with the wiring in the balcony. That explains a lot.”
“He did. And he had every reason to expect some…dire repercussions if Sajal told the authorities everything he knew. Which is why he wanted out. He was demanding a large sum of money from Maralana. I guess he was planning to cut his losses and settle abroad. Somewhere that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Naijan.”
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“Good plan.”
“Would’ve been, if not for the fact that Maganti seemed to think Badal was asking for more money than he was worth. Plus, I daresay the threats didn’t endear him to the Maralanese either. Maganti doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who’d take kindly to being blackmailed.”
She tipped her head back and drained the cup. “In short, if anyone had an incentive to kill Badal at this time, it was Maganti.”
“And framing me for the murder was just a bonus,” Jehan said, vaguely impressed. “Two and a half birds with one stone.”
“Two and a half?” Ruqaiya repeated.
Jehan shrugged. “Take both me and Badal out of the picture in one fell swoop, then get Rito alone in Maralana so Rinisa can retrieve the drug samples from her with minimum interference.”
“What?”
“Ritadrija Shian. Abhijat’s little sister. You know the girl.”
“Stop messing with me Fasih,” Ruqaiya snapped. “What the fuck does she have to do with any of this?”
“I thought you knew, given your considerable sleuthing skills. Rinisa blackmailed her into stealing a prototype of Amven from the QRI.”
She frowned, her lips pressed into a thin line. “I see. So her arrest wasn’t just you being a paranoid ass after all.”
“Is that what you thought it was?” Jehan giggled. “Still more charitable than Abhijat’s interpretation of the situation. Anyway, I had nothing to do with it. Dileep found a woman trying to pilfer drugs from one of the QRI labs and called the police. He didn’t even recognize her. I had no idea any of this had happened until her brother came barging into my apartment with all the finesse of a rampaging gorilla.”
“Your apartment?”
“I stay there sometimes when I have work to do. There are things I’d rather the secretaries didn’t see, even by accident.”
She snorted. “Like I said, paranoid.”
“Never denied it.”
“Well, Rinisa’s dug her own grave this time. If she thinks she can get away with manipulating Rajat’s daughter...” She shook her head. “I’m surprised she’s still in one piece, considering Abhijat’s track record.”
“Oh, he doesn’t know. I asked Rito not to tell him anything, yet.”
“What? Why not?”
“’Cause I want her to keep Rinisa hanging. As long as she thinks Rito has those samples, she’ll believe she has a chance of getting them. That’ll keep her – and by extension, Maganti – in line until we get to Maralana.”
“You’re signing your own death warrant by messing with the Shian girl, you know that?”
“Messing with her?” he chuckled. “Gods, Ruqaiya, you make it sound downright sordid. She’s a full-grown woman, although none of you seem to have noticed that yet. I asked for her help. If she didn’t like it, she was free to refuse. It’s not like I had her chained in my dungeon, forced to do my evil bidding.”
“Tell that to Abhijat when he finds out you’ve been using his sister as bait for Rinisa and her Maralanese paramour. You’d be lucky if you don’t find yourself chained in a dungeon first.”
“Your concern is touching. Still, if I were you, I’d spend more time worrying about the actual murder than the hypothetical one. How did Maganti know enough about Badal’s routine to be able to corner him alone? Badal wasn’t exactly a careless guy. Last I checked, both his home and office were extremely secure, and he rarely went out alone.”
Ruqaiya’s scrutinizing gaze rested on him. “You think it was Rinisa, don’t you?”