report to his office the next day so that the graphic experts could draw a fairly accurate sketch of the three remaining people.
Siddhartha went back to the office of the GM and asked him to get the video footage captured by roof-mounted cameras at: the Lalit Luxury Lounge, near the Presidential Suite, elevators, along with any other place from where the guests might have entered or left the hotel between nine pm and midnight on that day.
Siddhartha once again called the butler and asked him to go through each of the images and try to recognize the people. The Butler concentrated on each footage, frame by frame, while Siddhartha wondered if he should have caught a flight to New York, instead of solving a murder mystery and dwelling upon some unknown Project Karachi.
He turned to the GM, "Who booked the Presidential Suite?"
The GM extracted the details from his computer terminal, "Hussein Pharma Ltd. of Dubai."
"Who are they?"
"They are our corporate clients."
"Any telephone number or business card of the company?"
"Oh yes,"the GM printed out the details and handed it over to Siddhartha.
"Can I use your computer?"
"My pleasure, sir."
Siddhartha typed the web address of the company. The site mentioned that it was an export company that specialized in bulk drugs. Siddhartha visited the 'contact us' web-link and found telephone numbers, names of executives and email ids and a Post Box Number in Dubai. There were links for placing export orders. Nothing looked unusual.
Siddhartha Rana rang up the registered number of the company. "Sir, I'm calling from Lalit Intercontinental Hotel, Delhi. There is excess payment of bill by your company. Please let me know where the hotel management should send you the cheque."
"That's not needed. Please charge it to your staff welfare fund."
"We don't do such a thing, sir. It's against the policy of our company."
"Let it remain as a credit in our company's ledger account."The line went dead.
Siddhartha seemed to have hit a dead end. Except the AIG of the CISF, who had been captured by the camera, the butler could not find any of the other three persons in the video footage.
Siddhartha asked the GM, "Are there any other exit points, where you don't have any video camera?"
"No, sir. As per the new government guidelines we have to monitor every visitor and guard each point."
"Oh!"Siddhartha sighed.
The Butler cut in, "If someone uses the fire exit, we don't have cameras there."
"Isn't the exit guarded?"
"It is. But an inferno doesn't strike every day. So, that is an excellent place for the security guys to doze off."
"Who knows,"thought Siddhartha, "India may have to pay a big price because someone chose to snooze!"
Miram Shah, North Waziristan
Sundaram Iyer received a telephone call from Miram Shah in North Waziristan, Pakistan. "We received a message from the Director of Hussein Pharma. He says that his company received a late night call from the Lalit Intercontinental Hotel in New Delhi. We crosschecked with our Indian Agent, who confirmed that IB officer Siddhartha Rana is snooping around. The AIG officer's murder seems to be his area of interest."
"This is surprising since a murder normally interests the police and not the IB."
"Then try to find out why he is poking his nose around."
"I will. However, you should also convey this to the Shura members of Tupac-II."
"Right."
"Have you told Aban's parents about his arrest?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I talked to Saeed al-Masri. He says we are not supposed to mention the arrest since Imran may hit the panic button."
"Do you still have access to 65th Street?"
"Do you mean the office of Consulate General of Pakistan in New York?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Sundaram, you should know that we have access to every place on this planet."
"Did your man approach the top?"
"For what?"
"Aban."
"We are not interested in him."
"Why did the FBI arrest Aban Malik?"
"We know only a little bit."
"Tell me."
"See tomorrow's newsflash."
"Why can't you
Siddhartha went back to the office of the GM and asked him to get the video footage captured by roof-mounted cameras at: the Lalit Luxury Lounge, near the Presidential Suite, elevators, along with any other place from where the guests might have entered or left the hotel between nine pm and midnight on that day.
Siddhartha once again called the butler and asked him to go through each of the images and try to recognize the people. The Butler concentrated on each footage, frame by frame, while Siddhartha wondered if he should have caught a flight to New York, instead of solving a murder mystery and dwelling upon some unknown Project Karachi.
He turned to the GM, "Who booked the Presidential Suite?"
The GM extracted the details from his computer terminal, "Hussein Pharma Ltd. of Dubai."
"Who are they?"
"They are our corporate clients."
"Any telephone number or business card of the company?"
"Oh yes,"the GM printed out the details and handed it over to Siddhartha.
"Can I use your computer?"
"My pleasure, sir."
Siddhartha typed the web address of the company. The site mentioned that it was an export company that specialized in bulk drugs. Siddhartha visited the 'contact us' web-link and found telephone numbers, names of executives and email ids and a Post Box Number in Dubai. There were links for placing export orders. Nothing looked unusual.
Siddhartha Rana rang up the registered number of the company. "Sir, I'm calling from Lalit Intercontinental Hotel, Delhi. There is excess payment of bill by your company. Please let me know where the hotel management should send you the cheque."
"That's not needed. Please charge it to your staff welfare fund."
"We don't do such a thing, sir. It's against the policy of our company."
"Let it remain as a credit in our company's ledger account."The line went dead.
Siddhartha seemed to have hit a dead end. Except the AIG of the CISF, who had been captured by the camera, the butler could not find any of the other three persons in the video footage.
Siddhartha asked the GM, "Are there any other exit points, where you don't have any video camera?"
"No, sir. As per the new government guidelines we have to monitor every visitor and guard each point."
"Oh!"Siddhartha sighed.
The Butler cut in, "If someone uses the fire exit, we don't have cameras there."
"Isn't the exit guarded?"
"It is. But an inferno doesn't strike every day. So, that is an excellent place for the security guys to doze off."
"Who knows,"thought Siddhartha, "India may have to pay a big price because someone chose to snooze!"
Miram Shah, North Waziristan
Sundaram Iyer received a telephone call from Miram Shah in North Waziristan, Pakistan. "We received a message from the Director of Hussein Pharma. He says that his company received a late night call from the Lalit Intercontinental Hotel in New Delhi. We crosschecked with our Indian Agent, who confirmed that IB officer Siddhartha Rana is snooping around. The AIG officer's murder seems to be his area of interest."
"This is surprising since a murder normally interests the police and not the IB."
"Then try to find out why he is poking his nose around."
"I will. However, you should also convey this to the Shura members of Tupac-II."
"Right."
"Have you told Aban's parents about his arrest?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I talked to Saeed al-Masri. He says we are not supposed to mention the arrest since Imran may hit the panic button."
"Do you still have access to 65th Street?"
"Do you mean the office of Consulate General of Pakistan in New York?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Sundaram, you should know that we have access to every place on this planet."
"Did your man approach the top?"
"For what?"
"Aban."
"We are not interested in him."
"Why did the FBI arrest Aban Malik?"
"We know only a little bit."
"Tell me."
"See tomorrow's newsflash."
"Why can't you
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