The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

The following morning, Malik tries to reach Lakshmi but learns that she’s on her way to Jaipur. This news encourages him. When he gets to the office, he finds the young Maharani Latika in conference with Samir and Ravi. Malik stops to talk to Manu, who’s fretting about the incident. Mr. Reddy, the theater manager, sold more tickets than the maximum theater capacity. Too many people on the balcony may have caused the collapse. Malik mentions the oddly shaped bricks that he found, but Manu brushes aside his concern, saying that the official inquiry will investigate the matter. Manu adds, “I hate what this is going to do to Kanta. To Niki. They’ve been so proud of me. Now...everywhere they go...people will ask them about what happened. The shame” (214). Because Manu’s signature is on all the official paperwork, he’ll be held responsible.

Malik then goes to Hakeem’s accounting office to make subtle inquiries about new material suppliers. He learns that Chandigarh Ironworks supplied bricks and cement at a steep discount when they should have supplied iron rebar for structural stability. After Hakeem leaves, Malik goes over the records thoroughly and finds that the ledgers have been changed: “Someone has doctored the information to match what should have happened—that more cement concrete should have been used to shore up the balcony” (221).

Lakshmi arrives the next morning, and Malik goes to the station to pick her up. He confides his concerns about the ledger discrepancies and inferior materials. When he mentions the hollow bricks, Lakshmi’s attention is riveted. She says that she saw the brick manufacturing at Canara Enterprises and that the shipment was going to Chandigarh.

On the way home, they stop to watch one of Niki’s cricket matches, where Kanta meets them. Lakshmi takes stock of the 12-year-old, who’s really her sister’s son. She remembers the palace’s offer to adopt him. He might have been the next maharajah, but his mother refused to give him up. This deal was the reason that Lakshmi first became friendly with both the young maharani and the dowager maharani.

That evening, as a guest in Kanta’s house, Lakshmi learns how worried her friend is about Niki. Samir has been watching him at the cricket games and may suspect that Ravi is the boy’s real father. Lakshmi says that there’s nothing he can do because the adoption was legal. However, Kanta also mentions how concerned she is about Manu. People have begun to shun the family as rumors of his guilt spread. Lakshmi promises to talk to the maharani on his behalf.

The next day, Malik goes to the theater to watch the rubble being carted away. He pockets a few pieces of the porous brick and cement. Ravi sees him and becomes suspicious, but Malik gives such a plausible excuse that Ravi invites him to dinner that night. Later, when Malik arrives at the Singh home, Sheela greets him because Ravi hasn’t arrived yet. Samir comes in and asks Malik to have a chat with him in the study over drinks. The older man says that Malik should have come to him or Ravi for explanations about construction materials instead of going behind their backs. Malik thinks, “Samir and Ravi have no kinship to me. I’m the odd man out. Samir would like me to believe he has my back, but I know better” (245). Malik excuses himself and exits before dinner is served.

Lakshmi presents herself at the palace for a chat with the young Maharani Latika. Twelve years earlier, Lakshmi helped the royal through a bout of depression when her husband disinherited his son and sent him away, adopting a new heir on the advice of his astrologer. The maharani receives Lakshmi graciously but is skeptical that the former henna artist can find proof of Manu’s innocence. She gives Lakshmi three days to come up with evidence because everyone’s pressuring her to punish someone for the accident: “This may be a private palace project, but we are always beholden to the public for our reputation. We have to take swift action” (255).

Malik places a call to Chandigarh Ironworks to ask about the invoicing on the theater project. He says he needs the figures right away, and the clerk agrees to telegram him the information that day. Meanwhile, Lakshmi tries to persuade Manu to let her help clear his name. He says that she might be trying to implicate the Singh family simply because Ravi impregnated her sister, and his mother destroyed her henna business by spreading rumors that Lakshmi was a thief. Lakshmi counters that she has put the past behind her.

Later, when Malik gets the information from Chandigarh, he finds that class-four decorative bricks were supplied instead of class-one bricks for load-bearing construction. Lakshmi speculates that Ravi is behind the scam rather than Samir, who could lose his reputation. Malik speculates that Ravi may have wanted to branch out on his own and get out from under his father’s thumb.

That evening, Lakshmi goes to the house she built 12 years earlier in Jaipur. When she left town, Samir Singh bought the house. She has sent him a note requesting a meeting there because she wants to discuss the false construction receipts. To her surprise, however, Samir doesn’t arrive; his wife, Parvati, comes instead.

Parvati still thinks that she has the upper hand socially and that no one will believe the word of someone like Lakshmi: “Now you’ll leave my family alone, or you’ll have bigger things to deal with—more significant than whether Manu Agarwal is about to lose his job. And you won’t go spreading lies about my son” (271). Lakshmi leaves, discouraged by Parvati’s determination to hide behind her wealth and privilege. However, Lakshmi’s mood improves when she arrives back at Kanta’s house. The dowager maharani has written to invite Lakshmi to visit her at the palace.