"Killed where?" he demanded; so they told him.
"Exactly when?"
It became evident to Ranjoor Singh that there had been some truth
after all in the babu's tale. The verbal precis of the only witness,
given from memory, about a man who galloped away on horseback, threw
no light at all on the case; so, because he could think of nothing
better to do at the moment, the risaldar-major sent for a _tikka-
gharri_ and drove down to the morgue to identify the body.
On the way back from the morgue he looked in at the police station,
but the babu had been gone some ten minutes when he arrived.
The police could tell him nothing. It was explained that the crowd
directly after the murder had been too great to allow any but those
nearest to see anything; and it was admitted that the crowd had been
suddenly panic-stricken and had scattered before the police could
secure witnesses. So he drove away, wondering, and ordered the driver
to follow the road taken by the murdered trooper.
It was just on the edge of evening, when the lighted street-lamps
were yet too pale to show distinctly, that he passed the disused
boarded shop and saw, on the side of the street opposite, the babu
who had brought him the story of riot that afternoon. He stopped his
carriage and stepped out. On second thought he ordered the carriage
away, for he was in plain clothes and not likely to attract notice;
and he had a suspicion in his mind that he might care to investigate
a little on his own account.
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