The sister's name, from the school directory, was Lakshmi Rao. Naina called at eight-thirty PM, sitting in her flat in Baner with the photographs of the evidence open on her laptop and a cup of tea going cold beside her.
The call rang four times. Then:
"Hello." A woman's voice — cautious, the caution of someone who had been fielding unknown calls in a period of heightened alertness.
"Lakshmi? My name is Naina Sharma. I'm a teacher at Kavitha's school in Pune. I'm the substitute who replaced her. I want you to know before anything else that I'm not calling on behalf of the school. I'm calling because I've been investigating what happened to her and I have evidence that the school was engaged in mark manipulation and that Kavitha found out about it and that's why she's gone. I don't know where she is, but I'm trying to find her, and I think you might know more than I do."
