The Solicitor · The Cartographer's Daughter · Pulse Beat
Mr Pillai was a small man with a cold, and he wanted to be somewhere else. "The office is yours," he said, sneezing into a handkerchief. "The boat, the Nandini, is yours. The debts are…
Mr Pillai was a small man with a cold, and he wanted to be somewhere else.
"The office is yours," he said, sneezing into a handkerchief. "The boat, the Nandini, is yours. The debts are... considerable. Your father took on very few commissions in the last two years."
"Why?"
"He didn't say." Mr Pillai looked at the ceiling. "There was, I believe, one client. A shipping company. They paid in advance and asked for a chart of Maravanthe. Your father worked on it for eighteen months and never delivered."
"Who was the client?"
"Marlow and Krish. A Mumbai firm." He shuffled a file. "They have written four times since his death asking for the chart. Quite insistent. I replied that it was unfinished."
"Did they say why they wanted it?"
"A new port, I understand." He blew his nose. "Miss Varma. If I may. The sensible thing is to sell the equipment and the boat, and pay the debts, and be done. This is not a business for a young woman alone."
Isha looked at the chart on the table. "How long do I have?"