Over the next few days, I visited the relic beach several times, but there were no new developments, only some additional statues. Wang Yan showed little interest in the site, and she lacked enthusiasm for the temples and extensive friezes along the coast. I could see she was still in a tourist mindset rather than vacationing. After ransacking the small goods market in Mahabalipuram, she started missing Madras, complaining about the short time we spent there. Our host Nikolai, who had been staying with us at the Quality Inn MGM Beach Resort, was very diligent. After discussing with me, we decided he would accompany Wang Yan back to Madras for a few days while I continued my holiday in Mahabalipuram.
There were few replies to my post on the BBS; a well-meaning person pointed out that just one image wasn’t enough to decode because there were too many possibilities, and I hadn’t explained the context clearly (although the internet was full of bizarre stories, I wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, and I was used to keeping supernatural events to myself, so my post only had the image and a request for decoding), failing to spark anyone’s curiosity. The post soon sank to the back pages.
On the second day after Wang Yan returned to Madras, which was also my fifth night in Mahabalipuram, I received a call from Wei Hou. “There’s a new discovery on the beach today; I think you’ll be interested. If you have time, come and have a look tomorrow,” he said.
“Thank you, have you found any clues?” I didn’t ask what the discovery was; international calls were expensive, and it wasn’t something that could be explained clearly over the phone. I would find out tomorrow.
“Yeah, when are you leaving?” I calculated my schedule: “The day after tomorrow, I suppose, back to Madras.”
