A brilliant student and cadet, known for his "unconditional loyalty", he spent evenings watching Sansani at the naval base in Kochi, was earnest, orderly, polite but also had a temper. As Baghel goes in search of the real Maria to Mysore, we meet a girl who was secretive, had no friends, grew up surrounded with rumours of liaisons, and had now, at age 28, after some plastic surgery, pinned her hopes on two men: Neeraj, who had given her the impression that he was close to Ekta Kapoor, and Emile, whom she wanted to marry. But that would have meant sensationalising the story and Baghel, it is clear, didn’t set out to do that. Though Neeraj had helped her audition for Draupadi’s role for Balaji’s upcoming TV show, Mahabharat, they couldn’t quite figure her out. But I would have liked more details — of what transpired in the room on the morning of May 7; who made the first move; where was the knife lying when Emile grabbed it; what had it been used for the night before. Her writing is both neat and brilliant. Her honesty and humility are rare and humbling. Sharp and yet superstitious, the Gayatri Mantra plays continually in her office and home, and she won’t change her tattered platform slip-ons because she considers them lucky.

She sang well, but hardly spoke. Maria, shrewd, manipulative and of "ineffable sensuality", seemed confused to Neeraj’s friends. An extremely perceptive interviewer and eloquent raconteur, she gives us vivid sketches of people and places, pauses at poignant moments, like when Amaranth was sticking missing posters outside Maria’s house and she passed by without saying a word, beginning almost each paragraph with a fact and signing off with an insight. This world comes alive when Baghel goes to meet Ekta Kapoor, Moon Das and Ram Gopal Varma. Though we know that on May 6, when Emile called Maria, she asked him to call on Neeraj’s phone and then he heard Neeraj say, "What kind of a fiancé is he when his girlfriend needs another man to be with her " We also know that Emile immediately flew down to Mumbai and was soon making love to Maria next to Neeraj’s still and bloody body. The narrative here is full of delightful and disturbing anecdotes, of bizarre parties, tarot card readers, clairvoyants and Moon Das’ own tragic story — on November 22, 2007, her boyfriend Avinash killed her mother and uncle before turning the gun on himself.

But Baghel, like an Olympian diver, uses Neeraj’s murder as a springboard, to jump up for a quick but intense scan of what their Mumbai was about, and then takes a "perfect 10" dive into the lives and minds of Maria, Neeraj and Emile. She had taken dance and acting lessons, starred in Kannada films, done item numbers and participated in Kuniyona Baara, the Kannada version of Nach Baliye, and yet she was in Mumbai, living in her friend Deepak Singh’s flat, looking for a break. We enter this world at a time when 10 films inspired by Neeraj’s killing had already been announced. A gentle, unobtrusive reporter, she serves the story as it is, without putting a hair out of place, and leaving things as they were when she entered. Like Varma, I have a voracious appetite for gore and that is one thing I found missing in Death In Mumbai. "A polished guy, but one who could not bear to be fingered". And then there is Ram Gopal Varma who released the trailer of his film Not A Love Story on the day of the judgment in the Neeraj Grover case. The most fascinating character, obviously, is Ekta Kapoor, with whom Oshiwara has grown and prospered. But, like an ace diver, she does it without a splash.

Though Emile’s own voice is missing from the book, because he was, in Baghel’s words, "least forthcoming", the man she uncovers through interviews was, by reputation, a "stud". Divided into eight crisp chapters, the story of Neeraj, Maria and Jerome, is anchored in Oshiwara — Mumbai’s colony of dreams erected on reclaimed land. But Baghel doesn’t create the story, she just reports it. A "C-grade Casanova", he was, according to his Coffee House Nomads gang — Nishant Lal and Deepak Kumar, indiscriminate and desperate for women. But Emile’s family, protective and proud of their super-achiever son, disapproved of her.There’s Neeraj, "the lean and hungry hop-skip-jump man". Ekta Wholesale Custom Back-lit crystal letter Signs planned one, Ram Gopal Varma got access to Maria’s flat and quickly shot one, and Moon Das was waiting to star in another one. Capote didn’t just witness the hanging, but became a part of the story, embellishing it with his full participation.