You're Invited(34)

EP: And the information?

AADK: Ah yes, you see, much like anyone of repute, Kaavindi Fonseka was . . . is my client. Her mother rang me up the very day after the engagement and insisted I cancel my entire afternoon to meet her. I couldn’t believe the timeline when she told me. I normally had an entire year, maybe a year and a half to plan a bridal, but she gave me a few weeks.

“My darling,” I said, “are you trying to give me a heart attack? I’m fully booked until next August, at least.”

But she just laughed and said I was the only designer her family would consider, so how could I say no after that? Besides, I could only imagine the look on that smug Stephan de Krester’s face if he got to dress her instead. I couldn’t stand for it.

And so I sourced the most beautiful lace—got it down all the way from Vietnam, you know. It’s handmade. Only the best of the best for the Fonseka princess. And I came up with a design that would—

EP: Mr. Kumara, would you mind stating the information you said you had for us?

AADK: The informa—ah, yes, yes. Of course. And again, please, call me Andre. The information I wanted to give you is that I think I know who did it. I know who had it in for Kaavindi Fonseka.

EP: And who would that be?

AADK: Look, I’m happy to go on record for this because I care about Kaavindi, you know. They were like family to me, the Fonsekas.

EP: Sir, who do you believe to have hurt Miss Fonseka?

AADK: Okay, okay. So listen. She brought this friend along with her, and I knew, from the moment I saw this girl, that something was off. She was jealous of Kaavindi, I could just tell. Always staring at her, buzzing around her like some sort of bee, or wasp. I just knew she was trouble. That’s why I came here. To tell you to investigate that girl.

EP: Are you referring to Miss Amaya Bloom?

AADK: Oh, that skittish thing? No, my god, no. That girl looked like she would faint if she saw her own shadow. No, I mean her friend Laura. The American. Gave me the worst vibes, that one. You know what she said to me? She actually told me that my designs were too colorful. I mean, she’s from Houston—what does she know about sari design?

EP: And why is it that you suspect Miss Laura?

AADK: Well, there was an instance where Laura took Kaavi’s phone without her permission or knowledge. It was at one of the earlier fittings, when it was just the two of them. Kaavi was quite glued to it, maybe more so than usual that particular day. I thought she looked a little upset. Maybe she was having an argument with Spencer—young couples do tend to bicker, you know, with the stress of the upcoming wedding and all. But when Kaavi went behind the screen to change, Laura swiped Kaavi’s phone and clicked on it. I have no idea how she managed to get the passcode. She turned bright red when she noticed that I saw her, and mumbled some excuse about trying to find the driver’s number. Unluckily for her, darling, I can smell bullshit from a mile away.

EP: Anything else you noticed about Miss Laura?

AADK: Well, I don’t know about you, but she seemed quite obsessed with Kaavi to me. She even asked me if we could do an off-the-shoulder style sari jacket for her. Well, guess who else was getting an off-the-shoulder jacket? That’s right, the bride. I couldn’t give Laura the same design as the bride, now could I? Mrs. Fonseka would have had my head on a platter. Especially given the rumors about Laura.

EP: And what rumors are these?

AADK: Surely, you must have heard? Now, this isn’t the reason why I think she had something to do with it. After all, I’m not one to judge. It’s just that, well, like I said, I service the cream of Colombo, and the cream of Colombo loves to talk. But I have it on good authority that Laura wasn’t just staying with Kaavi’s family—she was, oh, you know, doing the dirty, with Mr. Fonseka himself. You’ve heard the rumors about him, I’m sure. Especially about his youngest daughter, you know, the toddler—Nadia—that he has supposedly adopted out of the goodness of his heart. Like I said before, darling, I can smell bullshit from miles away. It was definitely not out of the goodness of his heart that he got some girl pregnant and decided to adopt the child. I’m just surprised that Fiona went along with it. But then, she’s known for putting up with his nonsense. Did you hear what he did on his fiftieth birthday? He apparently got down a whole case of Cristal—you know how hard it is to find in Colombo, right? Everyone is always clawing one another for a bottle. Anyway, he filled his entire king-size tub with Cristal and took a bath in it. Just to show he can. I heard from a very reliable friend of the family who has no reason to lie, you know.

But anyway, yes, back to Laura, maybe she was jealous of the attention Mr. Fonseka gave his eldest daughter; after all, we all knew she was the apple of his eye. Or maybe she felt she could never compete with the perfect Kaavindi Fonseka. Either way, that girl is trouble. I know it in my bones.

EP: Anything else you would like to tell us?

AADK: Hmm? No. No. That was it.

EP: Mr. Andre, thank you so much for sharing your suspicions. Would you mind if we asked you a few more questions, now that you are here?

AADK: Of course, darling. I have nothing to hide. I’m an open book.

EP: Mr. Andre, you dressed Miss Fonseka in her traditional Kandyan sari, yes?

AADK: Yes, I did. Ask anyone, they’ll tell you—she looked positively divine. Possibly the most beautiful bride I’ve ever dressed.

EP: And you were also set to dress Miss Fonseka in her going-away sari later on in the day, am I right?