The Goddess Legacy

Chapter 34

Singh began walking through the market, his stride slow, his head down. Allie moved to his side.

“I’m so sorry, Indiana,” she said. “I know what it’s like to lose.”

When Singh spoke again, his voice was tight. “He practically raised me from the time I was ten. He was seven years older and stepped in when my parents were killed in a bus accident. He made sure I went to school, and did whatever he had to in order to see to it that we were provided for.” Singh stopped at a stand selling incense and religious icons and inspected the wares without interest. “Some of his activities were illegal, but he didn’t care — at seventeen, with two mouths to feed and no parents, he did what he could, and we got by. But I know that once I received a scholarship to university, he had a change of heart and decided to follow the swami to atone for his misdeeds.”

“You got a scholarship?” Allie repeated, trying unsuccessfully to quell the surprise in her voice.

“Yes, hard as that is to believe,” he said, his tone bitter. “Anyway, I rarely saw him once he became one of the devout, and then a week ago he appeared out of the blue, agitated, wearing street clothes instead of his usual robes, with the dagger. He cautioned me that it could be dangerous to handle it, but I ignored his warning — I owed him everything, and I think I’d read too many of my own advertising brochures. It sounded like an adventure, and who better to embark on one than Indiana Singh?” He laughed bitterly, the sound dry. “Little did I know that was the last time I’d ever see him alive.”

“And Carson? How did you meet him?” Drake asked.

“He answered an ad I placed the afternoon my brother gave me the dagger. It was dumb luck.”

“You advertised the dagger?”

“Not in so many words. I said I was a dealer in antiquities, specializing in relics. Carson probably was scouring every source he could find for information. I got that impression, anyway. We corresponded, and I sent him a photo of the dagger. He agreed to purchase it after stalling a few days, and the rest you know. He was dead within forty-eight hours.”

“Nobody else expressed interest?”

“Nobody I trusted, let me put it that way. One, I believe, was genuine, but the price stopped the discussion cold. The others I now believe were trying to track me down.”

“Sounds like we need to get into this ashram,” Drake said. “Can you help?”

“Absolutely not. My involvement ends here. I want no further part of this. I’ve already lost my brother. The risk is far too high.”

“If it’s a matter of money…” Allie began.

“No. A wise man knows his limitations, as well as when he has enough. I’m alive, and I plan to stay that way. More money won’t help me do so. You’re on your own.”

With that, Singh spun and hurried away, and was quickly enveloped by the swarm of shoppers, and his turban disappeared into a sea of ebony hair.

“Indiana Singh turns down money. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes,” Drake said.

“He lost his brother, you heartless beast.”

“Ninety percent chance that was all BS.”

Allie shook her head. “I believe him.”

They returned to the street, and Allie called Spencer to fill him in. “We’re headed back your way. Nothing more we can do here,” she explained. “Add this Swami Baba Raja to your research list. And anything you can learn about his ashram. That’s where this trail is leading.”

They caught a taxi, and Allie’s next call was to the professor’s office. An older woman answered the phone, and Allie asked for Divya.

“One moment, please.” The line clicked and buzzed, and Allie had the mental image of an old-fashioned switchboard with an operator making connections using cords and plugs, like in a film she’d seen from the forties.

“Professor Sharma’s office. This is Divya Kapoor.”

“Divya, it’s Allie, from this morning?”

“Oh, yes, Allie, I’m glad you called. I tried your number earlier, but it didn’t connect.”

“Yes, I had an accident with my phone. I have a new one.” Allie hesitated. “Why did you call?”

“I remembered where I’ve seen a mosaic like that, and a few things clicked into place. There’s a temple in Jaipur that I believe houses it. But that’s nowhere near Kashmir.”

“Maybe Kashmir is a red herring?”

“I don’t think so. The professor was so sure the script was from that region, and he was very learned about such things.”

“We all make mistakes.”

“Perhaps,” Divya allowed. “But I did some checking with a friend of mine in the archeology department and he told me something very interesting: that he believes the mosaic was transported from another temple, which was destroyed during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.”

“And that temple was in…?”

“Pathankot. Which is quite near the Kashmir border.”

Allie’s voice quickened. “So that’s our mosaic.”

“It’s possible. There are no photographs of it, though, in the new location, so we are relying on my memory, as well as my friend’s.”

“Why no pictures? Is that some sort of holy thing?”

Divya laughed. “Like stealing our souls with the camera? No. It’s because the mosaic was only recently relocated from the ruins of the destroyed temple, and the one in Jaipur is undergoing renovations, so the interior has been closed to the public for several years. I saw it before they shut the temple down.”

Allie thanked Divya and was preparing to hang up when a question occurred to her. “Divya, have you heard any rumors about relics in ashrams around here?”

“Rumors? There are always rumors, but nothing specific. No. Why?”

“Do you know of a holy man named Swami Baba Raja?”

“Oh, yes, of course. He’s famous. His ashram is called the Eternal Bliss. He is well known for materializing gold lingams from his mouth, as well as all manner of chains, rings, watches, and such.”

“Really?”

“Yes. There are many who wish to believe these conjuring tricks are real. It is sad, really, but these are odd times.”

“Not you, obviously.”

“No, I know sufficient science and physics to understand that such things are impossible, and I’ve seen magicians perform the same feats on the streets of Delhi. Are they also to be assumed to be living incarnations of God? Please. Having said that, he has done much good with his charities, so he is not a bad man. No different than your television holy men who ask for money all the time. It is simply business.”

“Yes, unfortunately, selling hope to the suffering and the frightened isn’t unique to any one culture.”

“It is the regrettable history of our species.”

“Let me give you my new number in case anything else occurs to you,” Allie said, and rattled off her digits.

“Very well. I hope I’ve been able to help.”

“You have. Any news on the professor’s passing?”

“No. It’s been quiet, other than many calling to express their condolences. He was well loved and quite respected. It is a tragedy.”

Allie ended the call and relayed her discussion to Drake.

“Sounds like we need to make a visit to the ashram and see if we can locate the other relic,” he said.

“My thoughts exactly. Maybe Spencer can go to Jaipur while we’re doing so and get a photo of the mosaic?”

“Fine, but how do we get into either place? She said the temple’s closed to the public, right?”

“Spencer will find a way.”

“And the ashram?”

Allie thought for several long beats before holding up her phone. “I think it’s time to make a call to our good friend Casey Reynolds. Maybe he can help.”