returns with a short, corpulent man dressed in the uniform of a top-level police officer. Godbole beams at Johnson, displaying his yellow teeth. 'Mr Johnson, Commissioner Sahib has arrived.'
Johnson rises to his feet. 'Thank you for coming, Mr Commissioner. I think you already know Billy here.'
The Commissioner nods. 'I came as soon as I got the message from the Home Minister.'
'Ah yes . . . He is an old friend of Mr Mikhailov's.'
'Well, what can I do for you?'
'Commissioner, I need your help on W3B.'
'W3B?'
'Short for Who Will Win A Billion?'
'And what's that?'
'It's a quiz show that has just been launched – in thirty-five countries – by our company. You may have seen our advertisements all over Mumbai.'
'I must have missed them. But why a billion?'
'Why not? Did you watch Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'
'Kaun Banega Crorepati? That show was a national obsession. It was mandatory viewing in my family.'
'Why did you watch it?'
'Well . . . because it was so interesting.'
'Would it have been half as interesting if the top prize had been ten thousand instead of a million?'
'Well . . . I suppose not.'
'Exactly. You see, the biggest tease in the world is not sex. It's money. And the greater the sum of money,
the bigger the tease.'
'I see. So who's the quiz master on your show?'
'We have Prem Kumar fronting it.'
'Prem Kumar? That B-grade actor? But he's not half as famous as Amitabh Bachchan, who
presented Crorepati.'
'Don't worry, he will be. Of course, we were partly obliged to choose him because he has a 29
per cent stake in the Indian subsidiary of New Age Telemedia.'
'OK. I get the picture. Now how does this guy, what's his name, Ram Mohammad Thomas, fit
into all this? 'He was a participant in our fifteenth episode last week.'
'And?'
'And answered all twelve questions correctly to win a billion rupees.'
'What? You must be joking!'
'No, it's no joke. We were as amazed as you are. This boy is the winner of the biggest jackpot in history. The episode has not been aired yet, so not many people know about it.'
'OK. If you say he won a billion, he won a billion. So what's the problem?'
Johnson pauses. 'Can Billy and I talk to you in private?'
The Commissioner motions Godbole to leave. The Inspector glowers at me and exits. I remain in the room, but no one takes any notice. I am just a waiter. And waiters don't understand English.
'OK. Now tell me,' says the Commissioner.
'You see, Commissioner, Mr Mikhailov is not in a position to pay a billion rupees right now,'
says Johnson.
'Then why did he offer it in the first place?'
'Well . . . it was a commercial gimmick.'
'Look, I still don't understand. Even if it was a gimmick, won't your show do even better now that someone has won the top prize? I remember that whenever a contestant won a million on
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, viewing figures doubled.'
'It's the timing, Commissioner, the timing. Shows like W3B cannot be dictated by chance, by a roll of the dice. They have to follow a script. And according to our script, a winner was not due for at least eight months, by which time we would have recouped most of our investment through ad revenues. But now this fellow Thomas has wrecked all our plans.'
The Commissioner nods. 'OK, so what do you want me to do?'
'I want your help to prove that Thomas cheated on the show. That he couldn't have known the answers to all twelve questions without an accomplice. Just think. He's never been to school.
He's never even read a newspaper. There's no way he could have won the top prize.'
'Well . . . I'm not so sure.' The Commissioner scratches his head. 'There have been cases of boys from poor backgrounds turning out to be geniuses in later life. Wasn't Einstein himself a high-school drop-out?'
'Look, Mr Commissioner, we can prove right now that this guy is no Einstein,' says Johnson. He gestures to Nanda.
Nanda approaches me, running his fingers through his luxuriant hair. He addresses me in
Johnson rises to his feet. 'Thank you for coming, Mr Commissioner. I think you already know Billy here.'
The Commissioner nods. 'I came as soon as I got the message from the Home Minister.'
'Ah yes . . . He is an old friend of Mr Mikhailov's.'
'Well, what can I do for you?'
'Commissioner, I need your help on W3B.'
'W3B?'
'Short for Who Will Win A Billion?'
'And what's that?'
'It's a quiz show that has just been launched – in thirty-five countries – by our company. You may have seen our advertisements all over Mumbai.'
'I must have missed them. But why a billion?'
'Why not? Did you watch Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'
'Kaun Banega Crorepati? That show was a national obsession. It was mandatory viewing in my family.'
'Why did you watch it?'
'Well . . . because it was so interesting.'
'Would it have been half as interesting if the top prize had been ten thousand instead of a million?'
'Well . . . I suppose not.'
'Exactly. You see, the biggest tease in the world is not sex. It's money. And the greater the sum of money,
the bigger the tease.'
'I see. So who's the quiz master on your show?'
'We have Prem Kumar fronting it.'
'Prem Kumar? That B-grade actor? But he's not half as famous as Amitabh Bachchan, who
presented Crorepati.'
'Don't worry, he will be. Of course, we were partly obliged to choose him because he has a 29
per cent stake in the Indian subsidiary of New Age Telemedia.'
'OK. I get the picture. Now how does this guy, what's his name, Ram Mohammad Thomas, fit
into all this? 'He was a participant in our fifteenth episode last week.'
'And?'
'And answered all twelve questions correctly to win a billion rupees.'
'What? You must be joking!'
'No, it's no joke. We were as amazed as you are. This boy is the winner of the biggest jackpot in history. The episode has not been aired yet, so not many people know about it.'
'OK. If you say he won a billion, he won a billion. So what's the problem?'
Johnson pauses. 'Can Billy and I talk to you in private?'
The Commissioner motions Godbole to leave. The Inspector glowers at me and exits. I remain in the room, but no one takes any notice. I am just a waiter. And waiters don't understand English.
'OK. Now tell me,' says the Commissioner.
'You see, Commissioner, Mr Mikhailov is not in a position to pay a billion rupees right now,'
says Johnson.
'Then why did he offer it in the first place?'
'Well . . . it was a commercial gimmick.'
'Look, I still don't understand. Even if it was a gimmick, won't your show do even better now that someone has won the top prize? I remember that whenever a contestant won a million on
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, viewing figures doubled.'
'It's the timing, Commissioner, the timing. Shows like W3B cannot be dictated by chance, by a roll of the dice. They have to follow a script. And according to our script, a winner was not due for at least eight months, by which time we would have recouped most of our investment through ad revenues. But now this fellow Thomas has wrecked all our plans.'
The Commissioner nods. 'OK, so what do you want me to do?'
'I want your help to prove that Thomas cheated on the show. That he couldn't have known the answers to all twelve questions without an accomplice. Just think. He's never been to school.
He's never even read a newspaper. There's no way he could have won the top prize.'
'Well . . . I'm not so sure.' The Commissioner scratches his head. 'There have been cases of boys from poor backgrounds turning out to be geniuses in later life. Wasn't Einstein himself a high-school drop-out?'
'Look, Mr Commissioner, we can prove right now that this guy is no Einstein,' says Johnson. He gestures to Nanda.
Nanda approaches me, running his fingers through his luxuriant hair. He addresses me in
Similar Books
Under Their Protection
J.A. Bailey
Troubled range
John Thomas Edson
Complete Plays, The
William Shakespeare
Copper Beach: A Dark Legacy Novel
Jayne Ann Krentz
My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend
Eleanor Wood
A String in the Harp
Nancy Bond
Forced Handfasting
Rebecca Lorino Pond
Elfcharm
Leila Bryce Sin
Waiting for Sunrise
William Boyd