Sheetal Mafatlal missing in action

The modesty of the Mumbai police after cracking the city's biggest art heist is such that you almost have to pry open their mouths for any updates at all. Ever since paintings worth nearly Rs100 crore – which Sheetal Mafalal had claimed were stolen and replaced with fakes - were recovered from the possession of her own staff, the cops have been spending their times finalising a long list of questions they plan to ask the controversial socialite.

Apparently, one of the questions is whether or not she was aware that the paintings were in an apartment leased by her own manager. But there are better ones as well. "We want to find out where the forgery took place place. As soon as Sheetal Mafatlal makes herself available for questioning, we'll get clarity about certain things we want to know," said Sadanand Date, the new Jt commissioner of police (Crime).

While she's really got a lot of answering to do - starting with the "mismatch" between what she claimed in her FIR and what the cops unearthed eventually - but all that's on conveniently on hold since she has parked herself in London with little indication of when she plans to return. Absconding may be too premature a word, so let's just say it's a waiting game.