How Holmes Managed "The Maharaja Matter"

Dearest Detectives,

The Maharaja Matter could not have been brought to a close without your astute observations. Thank you again, for the kind assistance provided to Holmes and his recent client, the Maharaja of Corvencar. Although His Highness’ household had to endure a frighteningly tense week, the mysterious Bhagya, and indeed, our runaway criminal, now rests behind bars.

Until the next case,

The Dear Holmes Team

——

29 April 1887

Dear Captain Cumming,

I am writing to you so that you may put a swift end to this delicate matter involving His Highness, The Maharaja of Corvencar. I am pleased to inform you that, using the clues provided by your letters, I have determined with certainty who murdered Dhanpat Rai Yadav, and why they did so. In this case, that was no easy feat.

The case of the murdered surrogate, as you presented it in your 23 April letter, was a perplexing one. First, we could not truly say who the intended victim was. The Maharaja might have been the target, or the body double; it also could have been a crime of opportunity, aiming to eliminate the witness to an ongoing crime. But even if we could determine the actual victim, our list of potential motives proved to be an embarrassment of riches. Mr Yadav's murder could have been a message to the Maharaja from Indian Revolutionaries, or an act of vengeance for some personal or official misdeed. The locked windows and lack of tracks indicated that the killer came from within the house, but this still left an enormous pool of suspects to consider.

The murderer could have been the Maharaja's footman, butler, housekeeper, gardener, groundskeeper, houseman, cook, servant, or even one of his maids. It also could have been the Maharaja's nephew, or of course, the mysterious woman he had reported seeing. I did also allow for the possibility that Yadav had orchestrated the murder of the Maharaja's himself, hiding away the fake ring, and assuming both the Maharaja’s identity and signet ring. Thankfully, the evidence provided in your subsequent letters allowed me to systematically eliminate the innocent from this list and solve the crime. Allow me to elaborate.

As mentioned, there were more than several motives to consider from the start: If it was truly Yadav executing a masterful swap, then the motive could have been as simple as lust for power, or a grudge against the Maharaja. If Yadav was truly the victim, however, then there were a greater number of possibilities. The fact that Yadav’s false signet ring had been taken seemed to suggest that politics, if not simply greed, could have been a motivating force; and this theory was bolstered in light of both the Maharaja’s support of the British Raj, and his penchant for valuable rarities.

Your second letter then arrived but two days later, providing substantial information and illuminating several new avenues of investigation. First of all, this letter made the Maharaja’s nephew, Rama, into a troublesome new suspect. He might have been compelled to murder in hopes of ascension, I first suspected, but that same letter then explained that the Padmanabhaswamy Temple would ultimately select any new heirs to the throne. Still, this did not eliminate the possibility of His Highness being targeted because of his nephew’s political views, which according to your reports, appeared to be ruffling more than a few feathers.

On the other hand, your interviews with the Maharaja’s staff ascertained that it was highly unlikely for any of them to have committed the crime, unless a number of them had been in on the scheme together. This, in turn, also made it easier to dispel the theory that Yadav had arranged his own murder and replaced the Maharaja.

His Highness’ houseman, Rasch, claimed to have been busy at work throughout the morning of the crime, as were the housekeeper and maid, though he did witness Yadav eating toast in the kitchen before the discovery of the body. He also briefly saw the strange visitor, Bhagya, after she was let in by the Maharaja’s domestic servant. Riya, the maid, confirmed Rasch’s work claims, while also establishing that she had been occupied cleaning the mansion with Mrs Hira Sheth. She also verified the claims that His Highness was out in the city during that day, and that the other maid, Arushi, had been tidying the guest chamber and its surrounding hallways.

Arushi was able to corroborate this, for as you noted she acknowledged that she was scrubbing the hallways until later cleaning Yadav’s chamber. Mrs Sinha was not able to speak to this fact, but she did establish that she had been out at the market that morning with Danish, the hall boy. The housekeeper Mrs Sheth, in turn, assured you that she had been cleaning His Highness’ quarters while Mrs Sinha had been out with Danish, confirming both Riya’s statement and that of Mrs Sinha. The housekeeper also established that hall boy Ezhil had been hard at work with the groundskeeper and gardener.

The Maharaja’s butler, Mr Pandey, provided a reasonable excuse for himself and further substantiated Mrs Sheth and the maids’ alibis; he had seen them working about the mansion as they claimed to have been. Moreover, he also saw Rama studying in his quarters, as the young man had claimed to be doing. Kesavan, Iyer, and Ezhil, affirmed that they were busy outdoors tending to the Maharaja’s hedges, as had been reported. Meanwhile, Mr Dev Pillai, the footman, made it clear that he was out with the Maharaja himself on that day. Finally, the Maharaja’s servant, Lobani, reported that she had allowed entry to one veiled woman, Bhagya, who had then disappeared close to eleven in the morning.

So in summary, all of those who were away from the residence during the day of the murder shared reasonable excuses, none of which contradicted each other. Likewise, those who were at the Maharaja’s mansion during the incident were all reasonably preoccupied on the day in question. Thus, your second missive helped discredit some of my earlier hypotheses while leaving me with several theories in hand.

It was no longer as plausible for Yadav to have replaced the Maharaja, for simply put, none of the staff seemed to bear a grudge against His Highness, and surely one of them would have noted the change in appearance. After reading your second letter, I was convinced of the fact that Yadav’s assassin was either the veiled visitor ‘Bhagya’, or somebody who was perhaps collaborating with her. Lobani could have helped Bhagya gain entry to the property, I briefly considered, but if she had, then she most likely would have avoided declaring that she saw the woman, and indeed let her in. If not Lobani, then Bhagya could have been in cahoots with His Highness’ maid, Riya, but still, there was no more evidence pointing towards Riya than there was pointing towards any of the house staff. I knew I would have to await further updates from you.

Once I had your third letter in hand, I was able to begin piecing together a theory with which I was growing all the more satisfied. From its start, this letter oriented me towards the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, and more specifically, towards its dedicated guardians. Based upon what you had relayed, there appeared to be at least two facts that might have motivated a temple guardian to pursue the Maharaja. First, if the temple guardians were meant to protect the sacred site from thievery and sacrilege, then perhaps the Maharaja might have committed an ‘offence’ at some point. Beyond this, the revelations you shared concerning His Highness’ promiscuity suggested that it was not out of the question, but rather likely, for the Temple to be home to one of his illegitimate children. Of course, all the temple guardians are men, I pondered, but perhaps this mysterious Bhagya had somehow allowed a guardian entry to the Maharaja’s home, once inside. I was unable to further refine this hypothesis until receiving your final letter, which thankfully arrived but a day later.

What the Professor taught you about the bronze casket indicated that it originated from none other than the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, meaning that our culprit was verily connected to the site in some manner. This became even more evident after reading of your interview at Garrard’s Jewellery House. Already knowing that His Highness had an affinity for precious stones, and that he had been at the recent Panguni Festival– where he was photographed with the Sarpech of Nazimis– your interview with Mr Wicks made it difficult not to suspect that he was being pursued by a temple guardian.

Although the details that Mr Wicks shared were meagre, they were more than sufficient to draw attention to His Highness’ unusual patterns of activity. Given his regular visits to Mappin Brothers’ and the like, and Wicks’ assertion that His Highness often sends envoys to Garrard’s, I surmise that the Maharaja has been attempting to make more than a small sum from a number of valuable items, at least some of which he ‘borrowed’ from the Padmanabhaswamy Temple vaults. The temple must have recently despatched one of its guardians to ameliorate the issue, and from there, things only soured. But how does this temple guardian relate to the mysterious ‘Bhagya’, and to Yadav’s murder, you ask?

I give full marks to Professor Stone, for perhaps reaching this conclusion before either of us, but in any case, I direct your attention back to Bhagya. In all likelihood, Bhagya, Yadav’s murderer, and the temple guardian in pursuit of the Maharaja, are all one and the same person– an illegitimate son of His Highness, The Maharaja of Corvencar. I have reached this conclusion after considering the paper, reading ‘father’, discovered in Yadav’s mouth, alongside what you witnessed when you confronted the veiled Bhagya.

I first realised our errors in observing Bhagya upon reading your account of the woman’s surprising strength, and her unusually hoarse ‘Leave me!’ I presume that Professor Stone, who on that same day, frantically pointed to his neck as he followed her, had arrived at a similar verdict himself after catching sight of the fellow’s Adam’s apple.

These revelations quickly shed light over your third letter, in which you mentioned discovering a man’s footprints; and then later, a soft-spoken beggar sitting just beside the white fabric worn by Bhagya. Needless to say, I theorise that the beggar with whom you spoke was Bhagya, Yadav’s killer. After learning that he had targeted the wrong person, the young guardian’s plan likely began to falter due to sheer guilt and panic. Recalling the mantra you heard him chanting, I would be more than willing to wager he did not intend to murder Mr Dhanpat Rai Yadav. Rather, he harboured resentment towards his father, the real Maharaja. I would be unsurprised if Bhagya was thus eager to avenge the desecration of the temple– something which only contributed to his terror upon realising he’d delivered his ‘message’ to the wrong person.

Captain Cumming, you should instruct your man Rafferty not to follow, but rather, apprehend Bhagya, posthaste. You have both done an admirable job protecting His Highness, and you could not have had a better ally than Professor Stone. Regrettably, however, my compliments are followed with the prognostication that His Highness is not entirely out of danger or legal jeopardy. As it appears he likely stole sacred offerings from the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, other assassins will soon follow, and they may be more formidable than his errant son. I suggest you will need more security than Rafferty can offer.

In addition to this, please do follow through with your plan to interview jewellers, for if your notes are accurate, the Sarpech of Nizamis may no longer be in one piece. I pray that that is untrue, but nevertheless, I am certain His Highness will be eager to provide relevant information once he learns the truth about Yadav’s murderer. In the case that His Highness fails to ‘recall’ where the gemstones might be, I urge you not to overlook some of the more notorious fences in the country. A chap named Kemmy Grizzard comes to mind. He handles most of the high-end stolen jewelry hereabouts. Inspector Walls at the Yard would be more than happy to assist you in locating the fellow. I suggest you act with haste, though, as he has a penchant for quickly disposing of his swag overseas.

It has been my pleasure to aid the Special Branch throughout this endeavour, and I trust you will arrive at an adequate course of action regarding the assailant and the Maharaja’s dubious activities alike. Should you ever find yourself in need of assistance again, please do not hesitate to send word.

Yours faithfully,