Second Lives by Anish Sarkar Read Free Book Online Page A

Zuri, Shore Bar, Avalon and a number of the smaller ones, before ending up for a late lunch at the German Bakery, hungry and frustrated.
    The German Bakery was Sara’s suggestion. It’s a spacious, leafy restaurant away from the beach, and offers an eclectic menu with several health food options, a rarity in Goa. We settled into a cosy booth not far from a striking blue Shiva statue with golden hair. A young waiter came up and handed us the menus with a smile.
    After placing our order, I asked him if he knew a Grigor. We had all but given up on our search but I thought of taking one last chance.
    He said immediately, ‘Short, fat…Lot of tattoos?’
    ‘Yes, that’s him!’ I couldn’t keep the excitement out of my voice.
    ‘He comes here regularly, usually alone. In fact, he had dinner with us last night.’
    We looked at each other. Neel asked, ‘Do you know where we could find him?’
    He thought for a moment and said, ‘Try the last shack on the beach, on the northern side. The restaurant is closed but they’re open for lodging. I think Grigor’s taken up a room there.’
    We ate as fast as possible and headed for the shack, following the directions the waiter gave us. I remembered seeing it earlier in the morning but we had ignored it. There was a row of rooms on the first floor, and I led the way up a flight of uneven steps.
    It was a hot afternoon and I could feel the sweat trickling down my face. There was no one around. Two of the doors were locked but the third one was slightly ajar. I stopped outside it and said loudly, ‘Anyone there?’
    There was no reply, so I knocked hard on the door and it swung open. Hesitantly, I walked inside. It was a small room, with an unmade bed and a bare table. There was a man sitting on a chair facing the door. Sunlight streamed in through a window behind him.
    As I moved closer, I knew it was Grigor. He was quite dead.

    15
    Sara
    When I saw Omar stagger back, I realised something was dreadfully wrong!
    Neel and I rushed forward. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the light and then I saw the man on the chair. He was naked except for a pair of boxer shorts. His body was in a relaxed pose, arms loose by the sides and legs stretched out. He may well have been sleeping, except for the neat hole in the centre of his forehead.
    There was surprisingly little blood. A trickle ran down one side of his face and neck, ending in a congealed mass just above the matted chest hair. A fly buzzed around his tilted head. Bile rose in my throat and I guess I must have passed out momentarily because the next thing I remember was leaning against Neel, his arm tight around my shoulder.
    ‘Don’t touch anything,’ he was saying. ‘This is a crime scene.’
    He sounded like a detective in a Hollywood movie, except that this was no movie.
    Omar said nervously, ‘Neel, do you think whoever did this might…still be around?’ His face was white as chalk.
    The possibility had struck me as well.
    Neel looked around and replied, ‘I don’t think so.’ He seemed amazingly calm! I suppose it was the military training.
    I mumbled, ‘Let’s just get out of here.’
    We ran back through the open corridor and down the steps. Neel checked the small lobby on the ground floor but it was empty. I figured it must have been quite easy for the killer to go up to Grigor’s room, shoot him dead and walk away.
    We made our way towards the Innova, which was parked nearby. I had to control my urge to run. Neel held my arm firmly, whispering that we should act normally and not draw attention. Once we got inside the car though, Omar took off with a screech of tyres loud enough to have alarmed the entire neighbourhood!
    I knew we would have to go to the police immediately. Omar suggested we call in anonymously to report our gruesome discovery, to which Neel retorted, ‘After that racket you just made back there, you seriously think that’s a good idea? Our sketches will be on Wanted posters all