Ronnie scrolled down, his pulse steady. He remembered the skewer. The way the Tailor had clutched the metal rod through his own chest, a look of profound confusion on his face. The vendor, a boy of seventeen, had been in the wrong frame of the kebab shop window.
ENTRY 89: OPERATION MIRRORHOUSE – DISHOOM PENDING. TARGET: [REDACTED – AGENT: KHANNA, ROHAN "RONNIE"]. METHOD: [REDACTED]. OUTCOME: PENDING. NOTE: AGENT HAS BECOME THE LOOSE THREAD. DISHOOM TO BE EXECUTED BY EXTERNAL ASSET.
ENTRY 47: OPERATION SILENT VULTURE – ACTIVATED DISHOOM. TARGET: HAFIZ “THE TAILOR” SIDDIQUI. METHOD: HIGH-VELOCITY KABAB SKEWER. OUTCOME: SUCCESS. CASUALTIES: 1 VENDOR (COLLATERAL). Index Of Dishoom
In the Index of Dishoom, there was no distinction between a villain and a hero. There was only the target. The method. And the cold, necessary sound of impact.
He read it three times. Loose thread. He had spent a lifetime sewing the Agency's enemies into body bags. But last week, he had done something unforgivable: he had asked a question. He had wanted to know who ordered the hit on the boy in the kebab shop. He had filed a memo. Ronnie scrolled down, his pulse steady
And Ronnie would put on his knuckle-dusters.
ENTRY 62: OPERATION LAL BAIT – ACTIVATED DISHOOM. TARGET: DOUBLE AGENT “RANGOON.” METHOD: DEFENESTRATION FROM TRIDENT HOTEL, 17TH FLOOR. OUTCOME: SUCCESS. CASUALTIES: NONE (RUG CLEANER). The vendor, a boy of seventeen, had been
Agent Rohan "Ronnie" Khanna knew this sound intimately. He had been the hammer for twelve years. Now, he was the ghost reading the index.