"Thank you," she said. She looked at the file of evidence in front of her. "The families involved will receive notice of the investigation. The adjusted marks will be suspended from submission to the board exams pending review. If the documentary evidence is supported by the audit — and based on what I have seen here today, I believe it will be — the original marks will be reinstated." She paused. "The students whose marks were adjusted will be informed that their examination records are being reviewed. The reasons given will be procedural — we don't identify individuals in investigation notices." She looked at Dev and Rohan. "Those two students you were trying to protect will not be publicly named."
Dev looked at his hands. Then at Mrs. Desai. "Thank you," he said.
She looked at him — the specific look of an adult who has been doing difficult work for a long time and has encountered a child who was trying to do the right thing and largely succeeded. "You did well," she said. "Both of you."
They left the Board building at one-thirty PM. On the steps outside, in the Pune afternoon — warm, the sound of traffic, a crow somewhere overhead — Kavitha Rao stood next to Naina and was very quiet for a moment.
Then she said: "I should go to the school."
"The reinstatement letter won't be ready until three," Karthik said.
"I know. I'm not going to the administration." She looked at Naina. "I'm going to see my class."
Naina looked at her. "They've been waiting," she said.
"I know," Kavitha said. "Three weeks. I know."
