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further assistance while one of the constables fetched Assistant Police Superintendent
     Anstis Bewes from his nearby home in Karen.
    Bewes arrived at 4.50 a.m. He saw tyre marks
     leading away from the front of the car. When he opened the cardoor, as
     well as seeing the body on the floor he noticed blood on the front passenger seat and a
     strong smell of scent. He also saw white marks on the rear seat – possibly from pipeclay
     used to whiten gym shoes, he thought – and observed that both armstraps had been
     wrenched off the inside of the roof and were lying on the back seat. He went off to
     phone Nairobi, and by 6 a.m. five more police officers were on the scene.
    At 8 a.m. a government pathologist, passing
     by on his way to work, was flagged down. He ordered that the body be removed for
     examination. It was only when the body was pulled from its crouched position, and he
     could see the face, that he recognized the dead man as Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll.
     The body was taken to the mortuary and the car towed away. At the mortuary, Police
     Superintendent Arthur Poppy confirmed that the dead man had a bullet wound behind his
     ear surrounded by powder scorch marks. Further examination of the car revealed a spent
     .32 bullet, bloodstains on the inside of the passenger side window, a hairpin and a
     lipstick-stained Players cigarette.
    Mr Malik admitted to being no less
     intrigued by the Erroll murder than were his friends, but while part of him – the part
     that had made him read every book and article on the case that he came across (and
     recall every detail, clue and theory) – could not help but wonder who did it and why,
     another part of him thought that there are some questions to which we will never have an
     answer, and this was one of them. He was relieved to see Tiger Singh approach their
     table. Perhaps the Tiger would be able to turn the conversation on to another subject.
     Mr Malik was notquite so pleased, though, to see another figure behind
     him – a white-haired, brown-skinned man dressed in a pale linen jacket with slacks to
     match, below which were what looked suspiciously like a pair of white espadrilles.
    ‘Good evening, gentlemen,’ said
     the Tiger. ‘Look who I bumped into in the Hilton.’
    The man stepped forward. Mr Gopez stood and
     reached out a hand.
    ‘Harry Khan. Good to see you, old chap
     – Patel here told us you were back in the country.’
    ‘Hey, A.B., Patel,’ said Harry
     Khan with a white smile. ‘And if it isn’t my old pal Malik. What’s
     happening, Jack?’
    ‘Murder,’ said Mr Malik.
    ‘Murder?’
    ‘We were just talking about it,
     Tiger.’
    ‘He means the Lord Erroll
     murder,’ said Mr Patel.
    ‘Don’t worry, Harry,’ said
     the Tiger, ‘it was a very long time ago. No reason you should know anything about
     it.’
    ‘Trial made headlines all over the
     world,’ said Mr Patel. ‘But then he got off.’
    ‘I think the word you want, Patel, is
acquitted
,’ said Mr Gopez. ‘Broughton was acquitted – found not
     guilty by a jury of his peers.’ He turned to Harry Khan. ‘It was Diana –
     Broughton’s wife – who did it, you see.’
    ‘Khan, please forgive my friend. He
     knows not of what he speaks. Malik’ll tell you – he’s read the books.
     Broughton admitted it, didn’t he, Malik?’
    ‘Yes, Patel, but –’
    ‘And please forgive
my
friend, Khan,’ said Mr Gopez. ‘Whether his mental deficiency is hereditary
     or acquired, we can only feel the deepest sympathy for both him andhis
     family. No, as usual,
cherchez la femme
– and you don’t have to
cherche
very far to find all tracks leading to Diana. Wouldn’t you
     agree, Malik?’
    ‘Well, perhaps –’
    This time it was Mr Patel who
     interrupted.
    ‘Perhaps a third-hand account of a
     conversation twenty years after the event isn’t worth much? Couldn’t agree
     more, Malik old chap.’
    ‘Yes, but … no. I mean,
     can’t we just agree that