April 2016. The study room, Vaikunth Niwas, Ranikhet Estate, Shimla.

"Jasmine, there is a call for you from Delhi. A girl called Sandhya Sharma is on the line." Inderavadhan informed me.

I wrenched the receiver from his hands.

"Sandy! I miss you so much. I am so thankful that you called me!" I spoke into the phone.

"Jassu! I miss you too! I feel so incomplete without you. Listen, is the person who answered the phone Inderavadhan? His voice is so velvety. Your letters about this man has done no justice to him. I wonder if his voice is silky, how beautiful the rest of him would be! You have to send me a photograph of this godlike boy. I know photographs are expensive. I'll pay for them!" She said exuberantly.

Inderavadhan, who was sending right beside me, heard my friend's chatter and smirked at me. I blushed.

"Sandhya! You monkey!" I reprimanded her.

"Jassu! I can't seem to focus on anything but your letters. I long to hear your voice. Come back! But bring the handsome Inderavadhan and that powerhouse Shanta with you!" She sobbed into the phone.

"Oh Sandy! You know why I can't come back. I love you. How are Sister Agnes and Sarita Madam? I miss your mother as well!" I told her.

"Jazzopaedia, I love you too. Sister Agnes is as hoary as ever. Sarita Madam misses her best intern and my mother loves you more than me. Now, tell me more about that dreamboat, Inderavadhan. If I can't see him, I can imagine him!" She said.

"Did you just call me to ask about Inderavadhan? I thought you missed me. If you like him so much, why don't you talk to him yourself?" I told her handing the phone to a dazed Inderavadhan.

"Go talk to her! My friend loves you more than me!" I sniffed.

"Hello Sandhya!" He drawled.

"Oh my God! I can die and go to heaven now! Jazzopaedia told me that you are betrothed to that pig, Gayatri. I think you should leave her and marry my Jazzy. Isn't she a beauty? Tell me Inderavadhan do you like her? I blushed and snatched the phone from him before he could answer.

"Sandy! When I see you, I'm going to tell Sister Agnes to confine you in the convent and make a nun out of you! Bye!" I banged the phone down.

Inderavadhan took one look at my red face and started laughing merrily.

"I do like pretty pink girls with blue eyes and a wild mane!" He winked at me.

I turned all the pink.

"I like handsome ogres too! Now, Sandy's dreamboat let's get back to work!" I said.

We took our seats and started studying the transactions. I studied them and copiously took notes.

When I had been bedridden, Inderavadhan had not been idle. He had meticulously compiled the crop reports. He had interviewed the farmers and had made notes about the quality of the crop produced in the past ten years. He had concluded that the quality was top-notch. At my request, he had provided me with the list of the crops sold along with their respective market prices for the past ten years.

After the Holi celebrations, I had started the work of organizing the accounting transactions. Surya Uncle, who had been the estate manager at that time, had not itemized the sales, purchases and wages distributed properly. I organized the accounting transactions and derived the right balances.

Now, Inderavadhan and I were studying the reorganized records compiled by me.

"Inderavadhan, I am sensing a pattern here. The crops were top notch and were sold at a price less than the market prices prevailing in the 1950s. I am wondering why that would happen. My calculations show that they have tried to adjust the deficit in the wages column. We have to talk to the workers about the amount of wages given to them to verify this point." I said.

"Jasmine, I think you are right. I am going to fetch Kamal Kaka and talk to him. He is very old and has been working on this land since Pratap Uncle's time." He said.

He goes down and comes up with a very old man. The poor farmer looks malnourished and scared.

"She is a witch! Sir, I will not talk to her! She has bewitched Ma Sahib!" He says.

"Kamal Kaka, this girl is not a witch. She is not Rosalie Watson. Her name is Jasmine Singh. She is my assistant. Please answer her questions!" He requests the old man.

"I just want to know how much you earn Kamal Kaka and how much were you paid by Ma Sahib's oldest son?" I ask him kindly.

"All of us were paid five rupees by Surya Sahib after every harvest. He had told us that he was cutting our pay as we had to repay the loans our ancestors had taken from the family. On the other hand, Pratap Sahib was very kind..." He broke down into tears.

"Let me go Sahib. I cannot say anything. They will torture my little granddaughter if I say anything." He pleads.

"Who will torture your little one? Give me a name" Inderavadhan asked him.

"I am sorry. I cannot say anything!" He said hysterically and rushed out of the room.

"Kaka! Wait!" He called after the retreating old man.

"Inderavadhan, let him go. I have got the information that I wanted. In your reports, you have stated that you have two hundred farmers tilling the land. Kaka's words and my calculations prove that the deficit was adjusted in the wages column. They have tampered with the records by falsifying the figures. But we have to find out everything about the person who has these poor farmers under his thumb." I said.

"Jasmine, you are a genius. We can show Ma Saheb what you have found out. I think that person is Surya Uncle! He is the culprit that has embezzled all the money. I am going to..."

"Inder, all this is circumstantial evidence. We'll need witnesses to testify against him. The farmers and the wholesalers who have bought the crops are our salvation. We'll have to convince them to speak up!" I said.

"The farmers will not speak up Jasmine. You saw Kamal Kaka. We can try interviewing the wholesalers. I have the list." He said.

"We'll nail it Inderavadhan! Don't worry!" I told him fervently hoping that I was right.