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I checked my watch—12:15.
What were you trying to hide, Kaavi?
ANDRE
Interview Transcript: Aumunupalage Asoka Dinesh Kumara (abbrev. AADK)
Date: January 25, 2020
Location: The Mount Lavinia Hotel
EP: I understand that this must be a difficult time for you, Mr. Dinesh Kumara, thank—
AADK: Andre.
EP: Sorry?
AADK: Please call me Andre. Everyone does.
EP: Yes. As I was saying, thank you for agreeing to speak to us. I understand that you must be in considerable shock and—
AADK: I am. In considerable shock. But the Fonsekas are like family to me, so it doesn’t matter if I still feel like fainting. I will do whatever it takes.
EP: Yes. Thank you. Could you please state your full name and address for the record?
AADK: My name, as you might already know, is Andre.
EP: Your full name, sir, if you don’t mind. We have on your National Identity Card, which you handed in to my colleague earlier, Mr. Amunupalage Asoka Dinesh Kuma—
AADK: I told you already, darling—must we keep going over this? I haven’t been called that since I dropped out of school many moons ago. Even my late mother, god bless her soul, called me Andre. For heaven’s sake, I’ve been traumatized enough as it is.
EP: Yes, Mr. . . . Andre. And your address is 26 Church Road, Moratuwa. Am I right?
AADK: That’s my registered address, yes. Though I mostly stay at the annex attached to my studio at 187/1A Ward Place, Colombo 07.
EP: Thank you. And you are the Fonseka family’s dressmaker, am I right?
AADK: I’m a designer. I’ve been designing wedding dresses for the cream of Colombo for many years now. If you need a reference, please feel free to call His Excellency, the president. I did his daughter’s bridal a few years back, and his nephews’ wives—yes, the ministers, their wives came to me for their bridals as well. I am regarded as a close family friend, after all. Anyone could probably tell you. I am certainly not just a dressmaker.
EP: I see. I was told that it was you who first reported the crime. Would you mind going over what happened this morning and how you came to know Miss Fonseka wasn’t there?
AADK: Of course. Like I told the security at the time, I arrived alone to the hotel. From the very moment that I knocked on the door, I knew something was very, very wrong. I could just feel it, you know, the energy was off. I knocked multiple times, but there was no answer. This wasn’t my first wedding, you know. I’ve seen many brides have one too many drinks the night before and struggle to wake up in the morning. I’ve had to drag quite a few of them into the shower myself.
I sweet-talked a housekeeping boy into opening the door for me. I didn’t want Mrs. Fonseka to catch her daughter in a hangover—she’d have really blown a gasket. So I got the boy to open the door, and I stuck my head in. I didn’t want to catch her in a compromising position, after all. Who knows what these young women got up to?
The blinds were drawn and the lights were off, so I stuck my arm in and flipped the switch.
That’s when I saw the mess. And the blood. The place was torn apart. Like there had been some sort of wild animal attack. Bless that poor girl.
EP: Could you please describe exactly what you saw in the room?
AADK: You’ve seen it, haven’t you? There was definitely some sort of struggle there. Her makeup pushed off the dresser. Things on the floor. The mirror broken like someone . . . like someone smashed something into it. And blood. Like I said. There was blood everywhere. The window to the balcony was open, and there were drag marks leading outside.
EP: And what did you do?
AADK: I immediately screamed for the housekeeping boy to call security, of course. And then I called Fiona, that’s the bride’s mother. Sorry, if you could please just give me a moment.
[Pause]
This was all very traumatic, you know. My hands are still shaking, you see?
EP: Yes. And Mrs. Fiona Fonseka also informed me that you had some information for us? Something that you hadn’t yet divulged to her?
AADK: Well, yes. I thought about it long and hard, you know. Whether I should come forward or not. You know, I prize my reputation above everything else, and the last thing I need is my clients worrying about my discretion. I don’t just dress brides, you know. I do saris and jackets for all occasions, and my clients, well, they’ve built a certain relationship with me. You can call me the keeper of Colombo’s secrets, if you like. My god, the things I overhear about cheating husbands and office affairs and who is sleeping with who. I would be dragged out of my studio and whipped if everything I knew got out.
[Giggles]
But of course, I always keep my lips sealed. Sealed with a kiss, I say. It’s important that my clients trust me, after all. I don’t just sew sari blouses for women, my dear. I capture her essence in nine yards of silk, cocooning her, helping her turn into a beautiful butterfly. I can’t do that if I don’t know her soul. If I don’t know where her heart lies.
Which is why I didn’t want to come forward, at first. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m giving away their secrets. But then I said to myself, “Andre, darling, that poor thing has been attacked under the most horrific of all circumstances, and you would never forgive yourself if you didn’t do everything in your power to help.”
And so, here I am.