As Maya drove to her parents’ house, she reflected on her meeting with Toni. So, Tulsi had been doing research. This seemed to be a clue. Maybe she had found the story of the widow Thulasi’s murder or Achale’s story in the archives—how easily the names came to mind; it was almost as if she really knew them well! In a way, she did; they had been on her mind quite often since she’d been to the flat. Was Tulsi’s murder somehow connected to the story and Thulasi’s death in Middle Time? Toni had seemed reluctant to discuss the dance drama’s script. Had Tulsi reproduced something she had found in her research? Some instinct had warned her not to mention the book. Had Tulsi been killed because she had stumbled upon something? What bearing could a centuries’ old story have on modern secrets?
