Arundhuti Basu Chapter 1: It was the kind of cold that crept under your skin and settled in the bones—a Lucknow winter that made the air brittle and the silence of Baraf Bagh Street even more unnerving. Saswata Mehta arrived at dusk, his suitcase in one hand and a stack of crumpled manuscript pages in the other. The mansion stood like a forgotten relic—its yellowing façade blotched with moss, tall arched windows sealed shut, and wooden eaves sagging under decades of neglect. The gate creaked in protest as he pushed it open, a cry so human it made him pause.…