The Avatari Read Free Page A

for the high ground there.’ The inspector turned and pointed back up the hill. ‘The cabbie tried braking to avoid ramming into the vehicle ahead and swerved off the road instead. He says the next thing he saw, once he had got a grip on himself, was that his passenger had reached the top of this mound and was near that clump of bushes. The next moment, there was this big fireball.’
    ‘How can you be sure the men chasing him didn’t set him on fire?’ Ashton asked, knowing what the answer would be.
    ‘Thought about that,’ the inspector replied, ‘but no, that wasn’t the case, because the cabbie reported that none of the men were close to halfway up the mound when his passenger burst into flames. Also, the dead man’s body shows no signs of a struggle.’ The inspector stopped and looked keenly at Ashton before continuing, ‘It makes you wonder why Mr Liu Than didn’t try to make for the woods when he was ahead, eh?’
    Ashton refrained from comment, merely nodding in response.
    As the two men climbed further up, a man in a lab coat approached, nodding to the inspector before stepping aside to give them an unimpeded view of the body. The head and upper chest were so badly burnt, the skin so charred and mottled, that it was hard to believe they had once belonged to a human being. The figure, although it had toppled over to one side from its seated position, was still cross-legged. Part of the lips had burnt away, exposing teeth and gums in a way that gave the corpse a frighteningly feral expression. Bits of charred cloth clung to the body. One hand lay in the corpse’s lap; the other rested over its left breast, as if the man it had belonged to had been taking a pledge with his dying breath. The burns were concentrated on the head and upper torso; from the waist downwards, the body was almost intact, suggesting that the man had emptied the bottle of inflammable fluid over his head. A light breeze brought a disturbing whiff of burnt flesh their way.
    The constable whom Ashton had seen in his driveway had followed them up. She gagged at the sight and turned away.
    ‘Not a pretty sight, sir,’ the inspector said grimly. ‘Any chance you can place him?’
    ‘I’m afraid not,’ Ashton managed to reply, his voice hoarse, as the memories threatened to flood back. But in the present circumstances, that’s okay , he thought, my reaction will seem natural .
    ‘Thought not. No identification on the body either. The cabbie says all the man was carrying was a cloth satchel; what’s left of it is on his lap. The lab boys will go over it as a matter of course, but I wouldn’t bet on them finding anything worthwhile. I had someone go through his things back at the village, but again I’m afraid there’s nothing that could offer us a lead.’
    The inspector looked back and summoned the paramedic with a wave of his hand. The man came up and knelt by the corpse. Ashton knelt alongside and watched as the paramedic pulled the corpse’s right hand off its chest with some difficulty; rigor mortis was setting in. The skin on the chest covered by the hand was pale and unmarred, Ashton noticed, marked only by a tattoo of the Buddha. The colours of the figure changing from red to blue and to many, many more hues. A series of images flashed in his mind and he felt he was tumbling into an abyss. Ashton’s head whirled and he stepped back, pointing and muttering incoherently. I have seen that image before – in the book at the monastery!
    The inspector held him by the shoulders and asked urgently, ‘What colours?’ Then realizing that Ashton was in no state to respond, he shook him and said soothingly, ‘It’s all right, sir.’
    Ashton felt his head clear slowly and realized that both the inspector and the paramedic, who had dropped the corpse’s hand and risen to his feet, were staring at him. His eyes strayed back to the dead man’s tattoo, which was now partly obscured from view. He saw no images this time.
    ‘I’m