‘It’s getting dark. Bring everybody indoors. Use the wedding hall to gather the guests, the caterers, your staff and members of the family. Kindly arrange for chairs and keep them occupied with drinks and snacks if that’s possible.’
‘We’ll take care of that, Inspector.’
‘Please inform the guests that DNA samples will be taken from all present here by the Coroners as standard police procedure. Anyone with strenuous objections to providing their samples can discuss it with me. As far as possible, make it sound routine, Mr.Suraj.’
‘Everyone, Inspector?’
‘Yes, samples are to be obtained from everyone. That includes the guests, the caterers and your household staff. Everyone on the premises. Thank you, Mr. Suraj.’
Regalia, having set the ball rolling for the De Cruzes final duties on-site, had a passing thought,
‘Is there a band on site?’
‘A band, Inspector?’
‘The musical kind. To provide entertainment.’
Suraj the major-domo looked perplexed, a professional butler asked to provide something that he was well beyond his scope of work. But he steadied himself and responded to Regalia’s request with his customary coolness.
‘I’m afraid that I was not in charge of entertainment for today’s event, Sir. That was the responsibility of Miss Filo, who’d somehow convinced Master Aarav that a cello performance was needed to elevate his wedding celebrations to greater heights. The performance took place and everyone moved on.’
‘Moved on to…?’
‘Part way through the performance, the guests began getting up and walking out. You might say that they moved on, to just about anything else Sir, so long as there were no stringed instruments involved.’
‘Who’s Filo?’
‘It’s the young lady who’d accosted you earlier today.’
Regalia let his mind roll back to the faces he’d seen that day. All the way back to pastry.
‘You mean it’s the girl you said had a name like pastry? Filo something.’
‘Exactly, Sir. Now I remember, it’s Miss Filo Pankajam.’
‘That’s a very Indian name.’
‘Indeed Sir. You’d never guess that from her mannerisms or speech.’
‘She organised the cello performance?’
‘She gave the cello performance. I’d strongly advise against subjecting the guests to another session of that Inspector.’
Regalia considered Suraj’s words. Personally, the Inspector was fond of music of the classical variety, particularly if a cello was involved. On the other hand, he could imagine being subjected to genres of music that one considered distasteful and the ire that would raise. Play it safe, he thought to himself.
‘Very well. Give them refreshments and keep the girl and her cello locked down as well.’
‘Gladly Sir.’
Suraj strode off while waving with the tip of his finger to one of the servants on one side and with the other hand, to another fellow who’d seen him pass. Both servants fell in line behind him, like soldiers summoned for on an ad-hoc mission. Regalia was impressed with how the major-domo ran the place with the efficiency of an elite military unit.
Back in the study, the De Cruzes and the policeman who’d gone to get the security footage, were waiting. Regalia shut the door and looked at his man, as defeated-looking a policemen as one could ever come across.
‘The person I handed the glass to was a senior staff, Inspector. You can see her fill the glass up from a water dispenser that’s in plain sight and hand the glass back to me. The water sample has been taken accordingly and handed to our Coroners here. But there is no one seen adding anything into the dispenser earlier. The dispenser can’t have been filled with whatever killed the witness.’
‘We’ll confirm that once the results arrive. There’s plenty for us to go through as things stand. I hope there will be no more surprises tonight, Inspector,’ George De Cruz said from his seat.
‘There are a lot of strands to follow-up on George. For your final act this evening, everything is being organized by Suraj outside. You can begin as soon as you are both ready. Make sure everyone is sampled including the caterers and staff, plus Suraj and Mrs. Pall of the fork-attack.’
Regalia suddenly felt hungry and realized he’d not had a proper meal since lunch that afternoon, when he’d taken the Goddess for Italian at a cosy old place run by a Bosnian family near his home. But he was now at a place where even a drink of water was a cause for trepidation.
‘How soon can I expect to hear from you?’
George looked at Jan, who nodded her head confidently, and answered on her husband’s behalf,
‘We’ve got a team waiting that can run the tests overnight and have a report ready by morning. We can get the results to you by 10am the latest, except for the DNA tests. How many people do we have here? Fifty? Forty-seven. All in? No earlier than noon then for the DNA results.
‘Ok. Have it all emailed to me at one go and let me know when it’s done, just in case I miss it on my phone.’
‘No problem.’
‘Can we just recap. So I need your input on the causes of the deaths of Groom, Bride and Dickinson, Also the toxicology reports for the wedding cake and drinking water from the dispenser as well as any traces you got from the glass itself. And DNA test results for all present at this this wedding. Is that all?’
Jan remained silent, eyes open, but the orbs were flickering side to side. She was ticking off all the evidence gathered and tests to be run as a result of the wedding gone wrong. George was watching her patiently, knowing exactly what she was doing. Presently, Jan snapped out of her train of thought.
‘We’re also taking the bulletproof vests and embedded bullets with us. We can give you the type of weapon they were fired from.’
‘Great. I’ll look forward to hearing from you both tomorrow.’
‘Good night Inspector. Good luck with the rest of the evening. And our regards to the Missus please.’
Regalia nodded and wondered what the rest of the evening would bring. He felt like a tired fox that had yet to find its way back to its hole. First he needed to contain any mutinies and ensure that no one forces their way out of the premises until they had given their DNA samples. His people were already taking down personal identifications and contact details from everyone.
Then, he would talk with the living family members, who consisted – from his queries thus far – of only Aarav’s mum and sister. At least that was the official count, for now, of living family members. That might change. Regalia allowed a smirk to appear on his face.
And finally, tomorrow, with the arrival of the lab results, it would be time to gather the interested parties, lay the cards on the table and wrap everything up. After that he might, hopefully, be able to head home to his foxhole.
photo from Unsplash.com by Zac Ong