Shantaram

Madame Zhou only employs foreign women at the Palace. Legends about her include cannibalism, a fortune in gems, Russian heritage, and various drug addictions. She has information on everyone, and witnesses have been killed before they could testify against her.

Lin dresses at Karla’s house, which has clothes from two men in it. Karla says that one left quickly because he was breaking laws. Karla won’t talk about the other man. Lin heard that once she lived with a man named Ahmed, but he can’t imagine her in a domestic situation. Karla says people think the man who broke the laws was poisoned. Karla gives him a business card for Zhou, who collects them. His name is Gilbert Parker, a real man who works at an embassy, but who is leaving Mumbai that night.

Zhou lives on the Palace’s top floor. She can see everyone, but no one sees her. She has photos of herself taken every month, which is how people know what she looks like. No one knows why she hides. There are rumors that she was disfigured in an accident. Karla spoke to her through a screen.

Karla says her job is to get deal-making people together.