Dick spent only one night at the club in Madras before flying on to Bangalore. But, soon after going to bed, he was disturbed by two telephone calls.

One was from Ramu. He had heard that the Visvanathans were planning something. He did not know what it was, bur it had to do with Dick's inquiries. Dick had obviously touched a raw nerve. Ramu advised him to be very careful. 'These guys are dangerous. They will stop at nothing to save themselves. Be very careful Dick. I will go on looking around and contact you as necessary. You will be at West End or Nagarajan's?' Dick told him to try either.

The other call was anonymous. When Dick picked up the phone a muffled voice simply said, 'You'd better get back to the UK where you belong. Remember your death threat? This time we're not playing games. Mind your own business - or else...'

He spent an uncomfortable night, tossing and turning in a half-sleep, before the dawn birdsong finally woke him.

* * *

The West End was, as always, a welcome oasis in the clouds of traffic pollution of Bangalore. Dick made a call to Devanahalli. The number did not answer. He decided to hire a car anyway and to leave early the next morning.

The driver turned out to be Shaukat, the same man who had driven him on the previous occasion. By half past seven they were again in the thick of the morning traffic, and by nine they were in Devanahalli. Neither Dick nor Shaukat had noticed the black Ambassador with dark windows which had left the West End just after them, and followed them at a safe distance all the way to Devanahalli.

As Shaukat drove the car into the dusty lane, Dick felt butterflies in his stomach. Would Lakshmi be there? What would he say to her? What would her reaction be? Did she have the same feelings for him as he had for her? After all, they had only spoken a few words on the phone. He was basing everything on the glances they had exchanged the last time, on the half-spoken hints on the telephone, on his own feelings. Perhaps he was imagining it all. Why should anyone as beautiful as Lakshmi be in the least interested in a man almost twice her age, with his career in ruins behind him, and from a completely different culture? He cursed himself for building up so many hopes on so little evidence. Yet his hands were trembling as he knocked on the street door.