<p>Bombay, 1896. A handsome Indian Prince loses his heart to a European</p><p>woman of striking beauty. She is staying at the only hotel fit for Europeans-</p><p>Watson's, in the elite Kala Ghoda area of the city. The Prince gifts his lady</p><p>love a necklace of gold set with a beautiful sapphire of so deep a blue that it</p><p>is known as the Kala Ghoda. But then Fate intervenes. An epidemic of the</p><p>plague sweeps the city and the lady sets sail for Paris without even bidding</p><p>goodbye. Before her ship sails, she returns the Prince's gift through his groom,</p><p>Madan. When the jewel case is opened, the necklace is there, but the sapphire</p><p>is not. Madan is accused of the theft, and hanged. The Prince loses his lady</p><p>and, in years to come, his fortune.</p><p>The sapphire appears to have fulfilled its prophecy-that it will bring</p><p>misfortune to anyone who possesses it. The groom is forever known as 'Madan</p><p>Chor', and the scandal follows his family for four generations.</p><p>To find a jewel that has gone missing for 125 years seems an impossible</p><p>task-even for Lalli. She finds unexpected help in Jean Claude, the retired</p><p>Chief of Police from Paris, who is here to investigate l'affaire du cheval noir-</p><p>an investigation begun more than a century ago by Edmund Locard, the</p><p>legendary detective. It was Locard who was originally engaged to find the</p><p>sapphire.</p><p>It is up to Lalli and Jean Claude to finish the task Locard began. And, despite</p><p>the re-emergence of Lalli's old enemy, Rassiwala, and his evil designs-this is</p><p>what they achieve. Not for nothing is Lalli, long retired, still the Last Resort</p><p>for the Mumbai Police.</p>