The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai #1)(69)

He’d called Tara in his sleep? Arnav filed that away for later and focused on the right words for Nandini.

“You deserve a better man. Not me.”

“I agree.” She smiled, a rueful grin. He’d only ever taken from her, giving back little in return. Why was she so good to him? Arnav had never claimed to fathom women, but even so, Nandini was far beyond his understanding.

“I’ll be around to help, but . . .” He gripped Nandini’s hand, like a friend would. He meant it.

“I’m counting on it.” She withdrew her hand after a while. “Do better for her, all right?”

He nodded. Silence lingered between them, but he could find no words to break it.

“What are those pictures? I seem to recognize some of them.”

She was giving him an out. He took it.

He told her about Shinde’s involvement with Neha Chaubey, and how he’d tracked down the file and the diary.

“Shinde. Our Shinde?” Nandini looked as devastated as he felt.

Shinde was Arnav’s friend, but he and his family had become Nandini’s friends, too, over the years of shared meals and festivals.

“This can’t be easy for you,” Nandini said after a pause.

“You are thinking about what’s easy for me right now? Only you.”

Any man would be fortunate to have Nandini in his life. She did deserve someone miles better.

“I knew him,” Nandini said, “or thought I did. You can talk to me about him if it will help.”

Arnav didn’t want to go there, release the mixture of rage and grief, of disappointment and devastation. It was one thing to lose your friend, quite another to have him give his life for you, and more complicated still when you found out you didn’t know him at all, despite more than two decades of friendship. He picked up Shinde’s diary.

“This mentions Moringa Consultants.” He pointed to a page. “You said Joshi’s sister-in-law owns it. Any updates on the firm?”

Given his situation, he couldn’t dig too closely around Joshi’s relatives.

“Not so far, but I’ve found sources I’m trying to persuade.” She examined the pictures as he spoke. “This is Rehaan Virani, and his family—Shinde had this?”

“Yes. And that’s—”

“Vijayan,” she said. “And Home Minister Namit Gokhale. And isn’t this Commissioner Joshi?”

It was. Rehaan and his family, with Vijayan, all dressed in Sunday casual. Maharashtra State Home Minister Namit Gokhale with them, in a pair of blue shorts and a white T-shirt, standing with his arm around Joshi’s shoulder. The pictures seemed to be from a poolside party, taken surreptitiously from a distance.

“The Viranis campaigned for the Ektawadi party during last year’s elections,” Nandini said. “Remember their family video with Namit Gokhale? It went viral, helped Gokhale win his seat and become a minister.”

Mumbai Police reported to the state of Maharashtra’s Home Minister, to Gokhale. He held the power to fire or transfer anyone in Mumbai Police, regardless of designation.

“Rehaan’s mother is related to Namit Gokhale’s wife. Cousins.” Nandini checked her phone as she spoke. “The two are said to be close. Mrs. Gokhale turns up for all of Kittu Virani’s events.”

Kittu Virani. Arnav remembered Taneja’s fiancée’s visit to the dojo, when she’d warned him to stay in his lane and let others worry about making the rules. Here was the connection he’d been looking for. Taneja’s fiancée knew all of these people.

“What do you know about Rehaan Virani?” Arnav said. Rehaan wasn’t happy with his family. More information on him could help Arnav dig up dirt on Kittu and Taneja.

“Blue is his favorite color. I was watching his interviews.” They both turned at Tara’s voice.

Arnav caught a whiff of her jasmine fragrance, and yearned to rise and hug her.

“He gave a blue car to his latest girlfriend,” Tara said. “Kittu was upset about it, I think. She’s quite controlling—even shows up on his sets.”

Nandini shifted, making space for Tara. Freshly scrubbed, Tara seemed a girl playing dress-up in Nandini’s kurta, its neckline too wide for her slender neck, the sleeves hiding her wrists. Arnav made a mental note to arrange for proper clothes for her.

“I’ll try to get this analyzed later,” Arnav said as he handed the diary to Nandini, “but in the meanwhile, could you take a look? It mentions payments from Taneja Estate Holdings and Moringa Consultants to this Fat Beauty Company.”

“Fat Beauty creates designs for plus-size women,” Tara piped up. “It is a brand by Rehaan and Karan Virani. I watched their ramp walk videos yesterday.”

“That’s the kind of information we need more of,” Arnav said.

“If we can verify all this, it might establish proof of transactions between Vijayan, the Virani family, and Taneja.” Nandini took the files and began flipping the pages. “This could be a scoop.”

“Make a copy of all the papers,” he said to Nandini. “Don’t keep the originals with you.”

“Where, then?” She looked up from the file. “I’ll need these for my story.”

“In a safety-deposit box. Don’t publish any stories unless I tell you it’s OK.”