The Masala Murder: Reema Ray Mysteries

by Madhumita Bhattacharyya

  ‘He couldn’t live without that vile snuff. I loaded the dispenser with care, so the first dose was already measured out with the poison to ensure it was inhaled at one go.’

  ‘And then he got sick.’

  ‘I went to visit him when he was ill, the afternoon of the day before he was taken to hospital. I still wasn’t sure if he’d die. I took the samples when he went to the bathroom.’

  ‘Even if he had gone to the hospital earlier, there is no antidote. And no hospital in Calcutta would run a test for ricin as a matter of course, even if poisoning had been suspected.’

  She nodded.

  ‘Did you know Mallika was intending to confront Agarwal that night?’ I asked.

  Vineeta looked confused for the first time that morning. ‘No. I never meant for her to take the blame.’

  ‘But it didn’t hurt when she came under suspicion.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that. I didn’t want it to happen that way. But what was I to say without confessing the truth?’

  Vineeta sat increasingly listlessly in her seat. ‘What was it that made you suspect me?’ she asked.

  ‘Those saffron jars had no business being in your pantry. Agarwal had shown them to me only weeks before he died and made no mention of your involvement in the project. But it was also a series of other things. Mrs Agarwal had told me her husband was having an affair. By all accounts you both were friendly—perhaps a little too much so. And then I had been told that your husband worked with castor beans, so when I saw Agarwal’s symptoms in the doctor’s report, it seemed like a strong contender for the mystery poison. And then I think it was the way you told me what happened between Mallika and Agarwal. It was decidedly without sympathy, and your apparent willingness to pin the blame on your friend was surprising.’

  Her expression turned stony. It seemed I hadn’t yet been able to fathom the extent of her resentment for Mallika. Vineeta said nothing more.

  The police arrived at last, led by Sharma. He did not look pleased to see Shayak or me there, but he saved it till after Vineeta was taken away.

  ‘I’m sure the two of you are feeling very pleased with yourselves,’ he said.

  ‘I think I can say we are,’ said Shayak with a smile.

  ‘Care to enlighten me about this evidence that you claim to have against Vineeta Solanki?’

  I showed him the crate of fake saffron.

  ‘What is this?’

  I explained about the stolen idea for the business venture.

  ‘She could have taken them at any time.’

  ‘But this is part of the motive. She confessed the rest.’

  ‘So now I have two cases in which our leading evidence is confession to Reema Ray.’

  ‘Only fitting since the two cases were solved by her,’ said Shayak.

  ‘As if the police needed her help. We knew all along that Amit was guilty.’

  I didn’t point out afresh that so was Aloka—that the kidnapping wasn’t a kidnapping at all, and they hadn’t been able to find her on their own. None of that really mattered anymore. Except to an angry Sharma.

  ‘Lucky for you your friend here came along otherwise you would have been in jail as well after I found you snooping around in Middle Kingdom. Don’t forget that private detectives aren’t above the law.’

  ‘Coming back to the case,’ Shayak said, ‘you don’t have to rely on Vineeta’s confession alone. If you look at her financials, you will find that she was deep in debt and was receiving large amounts of money till quite recently. I think you will also find evidence that a quantity of ricin was stolen from Vineeta’s husband’s factory.’

  ‘And you will find traces of it in a snuff bullet that is currently sitting on Mr Agarwal’s desk. It was a present from Vineeta Solanki, to which Mrs Agarwal can testify,’ I added.

  Sharma, apparently out of other accusations to hurl at us, gave a brusque nod. ‘Then I’ll need to see you in my office for a full debrief,’ he said before he strode away.

  ‘Why is he so angry all of a sudden?’ I asked Shayak.

  ‘Probably something to do with the fact that he got less face time on TV than he expected.’

  ‘I understand his irritation with me, but why is he upset with you?’

  ‘Because I may be responsible for his sound bite being shortened even further.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘After I dropped you home, I paid Sharma a visit to try and get him to tell the channel to axe the footage where he ambushed you. I tried to be nice but when he refused to hear reason, I threatened to tell his boss that he had leaked information to the media about an ongoing case, putting a number of people at risk. He made the call.’

  ‘You did that? Why?’

  ‘Because I understand your need to remain low profile.’

  ‘Thank you,’ I said softly.

  ‘You’ll soon discover that almost everything I do is entirely selfish. Anyhow, how did you recognize the symptoms of ricin? It is hardly a commonly seen poison,’ asked Shayak.

  ‘College sometimes does pay. I was an espionage enthusiast.’

  He nodded. ‘Georgi Markov.’

  ‘Assassinated by the KGB using an umbrella rigged as a gun with a tiny pellet containing a minuscule amount of ricin. London, 1978. Similar symptoms. Notoriously difficult to detect. But you seem to know all about it without my help.’

  ‘I was missing the critical piece of the puzzle—how the poison was administered. And also, why.’

  ‘How did you figure it all out?’

  ‘There is a lot you can piece together from boring things like financials and security-camera footage. Didn’t I say working within the system has its upside?’

  twenty-two

  It was dusk by the time we emerged from Sharma’s office. He had seen me first—a gruelling session in which he wanted me to reveal every detail of how I had got involved in the case, what had led me to the discovery of the link between Mallika and Agarwal, how I had focused on Vineeta as the suspect.

  ‘I still don’t know how you ruled out Mallika. She had the strongest motive,’ said Sharma.

  ‘Did she? A molestation that occurred twenty-five years ago? If that was it, why now? Why not when she had just returned to Calcutta from China? It just didn’t make sense.’

  ‘She went to his house to confront him.’

  Which had confused me, and I still couldn’t understand what had pushed her to it. ‘And yet, when Agarwal went to the hospital, he had already been ill for a few days. That means the poison had to be administered well before Mallika’s unexpected visit. She was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

  Sharma grudgingly let me go, and then called in Shayak. While I waited for him to finish, I saw Mallika herself walking in.

  ‘Mallika!’ I cried.

  She gave me a tight, sad little smile. ‘Hello Reema. I was told I would find you here.’

  ‘I’ve been so worried about you.’

  ‘I know. I have to tell you how sorry I am for all the trouble I’ve caused by disappearing.’

  ‘No apology required, Mallika. If anyone should apologize it should be me, for raking up the past.’

  ‘You were just trying to figure this all out. I should have stayed and explained what I was doing there that night. But it all felt like it was terribly, terribly out of control.’ Mallika took the seat beside me. ‘I was so afraid, and then I felt so relieved that he was dead,’ she said, voice cracking.

  ‘But why did you go to Agarwal’s house in the first place?’

  ‘For years I have wanted to confront him. To have my say. I could never forget his breath on my face, in that tiny dressing room in the New Market shop. He had come in to take my measurement for a pair of trousers that needed alteration. My mother had just stepped into another section of the store to take a look at something. He stopped an inch short of raping me, and then left the dressing room and thoroughly charmed my mother. ‘Such a nice man,’ she said as we left. If it were not for
those words, I may have found a way to put it behind me. But I remember that moment, that feeling of complete and utter humiliation. That no one, not even my mother, could be trusted to protect me.’

  ‘Why did you withdraw your complaint?’

  ‘The police did their best to be difficult at every stage. There was no evidence, they said. My word against his. That he’d at best receive a slap on the wrist for eve teasing.’ She shook her head. ‘Eve teasing,’ she repeated. ‘What a cruel joke. So we gave up. I regret that decision even now. But when I learned that Vineeta’s daughter may be at risk, I had to say something. I never thought Vineeta would use that information against me.’

  ‘I don’t think she did either. Though I can’t understand how Vineeta could have been so blinded by Agarwal.’

  ‘I think she wanted an escape. You’ve seen how her husband treats her. Attention, even from someone so beastly, was better than Manish’s contempt.’

  ‘She’s a completely different woman when he’s not around.’

  ‘Yes, and I think she just wanted to be loved. But of course, Agarwal didn’t know the meaning of the word. He was doing his best to ruin Vineeta. And she was too enamoured of him and too resentful of me to see that. I thought I could give him a little push in the right direction, to get him to spare her some self-respect.’

  ‘You brought yourself to face him for her?’

  ‘Well, finally I couldn’t see it through. I waited at the house but when he didn’t show up, I lost my nerve.’

  ‘But that was the plan.’

  She nodded. ‘I thought he might respond to a threat of fresh exposure. If nothing else, maybe he would have agreed to write off some of her debt, and she could have kept the restaurant. But then I ran.’

  ‘And on the way you dropped an earring.’

  Round-eyed, she raised her hand to her breast, still horrified at the memory. ‘I was sure that would be the death of me. After everything, I couldn’t imagine going to jail for that man! I still don’t know how it escaped the notice of the police.’

  ‘Because Mrs Agarwal moved it before they got there.’

  ‘Oh my. That poor woman.’

  ‘Is that why you went into hiding?’

  ‘That, and because you started asking so many questions, my dear! You scared both my husband and me with your interview.’

  Mallika stopped me before I could apologize. ‘When Agarwal was taken in for treatment,’ she continued, ‘Siddhartha realized he had been poisoned, which is what he reported. But when I told him that the Prakash Agarwal in question was the same man who had assaulted me, he told the police he had been mistaken. He knew that I had been to visit Agarwal, and I’m not entirely sure he believed I was innocent!’

  ‘Why did you come back?’

  ‘I suppose some part of me wanted the story to be out—at last. And when I heard the police were looking for me, I thought it best to come forward. I hadn’t intended to run from the police.’

  ‘Only from me?’

  Mallika laughed. ‘Perhaps. But that just means you were doing your job right.’

  ‘Her PI job, not her food-writer job,’ Shayak interjected, stepping out of Sharma’s room. ‘An important distinction that has caused me much grief.’

  ‘Mr Gupta, you look like you can handle it.’

  ‘You know each other too?’ I asked.

  ‘Not really,’ she said. ‘We’ve spoken, though.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Yesterday morning. Mr Gupta called to encourage me to come back and clear my name.’

  ‘How did you find her?’ I asked.

  Shayak answered my question with a dark smile. ‘I’m famished,’ he said. ‘I haven’t eaten since last night.’

  ‘I won’t keep you,’ said Mallika.

  We walked out into the parking lot, and I saw Shayak’s car as well as a silver sedan with a familiar man in the driver’s seat. And there to the side stood Abhimanyu.

  ‘There you are!’ said Abhimanyu, coming forward to wrap his arms around Mallika.

  ‘I told you not to come!’

  ‘The restaurant won’t collapse without me there. Dinner isn’t for another couple of hours.’

  ‘Oh, you silly man,’ she said, holding his arm.

  ‘You had me worried there for a while.’

  ‘Did you honestly think I was capable of murder?’

  ‘Don’t even joke about it,’ he said.

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Abhi.’

  We walked toward the cars. ‘There’s Siddhartha,’ Mallika said softly. ‘Maybe you two can come to my place for dinner tomorrow?’

  We accepted the invitation and Mallika slid into the passenger seat beside her husband, who reached out to squeeze her hand before driving away.

  I felt drained of my last stores of energy, but Shayak, incredibly, seemed ready for more. ‘Hungry?’ he asked.

  ‘Never been hungrier,’ I said. ‘But can you give me a minute?’

  Shayak got into the car as I walked over to where Abhimanyu still stood. He gave me a wan smile.

  ‘The morning news said you are a detective. Unless I’ve got the wrong Reema Ray?’

  ‘I’m afraid not.’

  ‘I wish you had mentioned that while I was spilling my guts to you.’

  ‘I’m sorry I had to keep the truth from all of you.’

  ‘I guess it doesn’t matter. Mallika is safe,’ he said softly. ‘For now.’

  I saw the pain simmering under the surface. ‘How long have you felt this way?’ I asked.

  Abhimanyu leaned against the filthy, pan-stained wall of the police station. ‘For almost as long as I have known her. A dozen years now, maybe more.’

  ‘And you’ve never told her how you feel?’

  ‘No, but I didn’t really need to. It’s plain enough, isn’t it?’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And what? She was married when I met her and whatever cracks appeared in the marriage weren’t deep enough to cause a split. And Mallika is hardly one for a tawdry affair. So now it is up to me to move on. I had myself fooled for a while in Shanghai that I had. But no relationship ever lasted and now I just sort of live with it. It doesn’t hurt much anymore, for the most part. It’s more like a bruise that never quite fades.’

  ‘If you ever need to talk, you have my number.’

  ‘Thanks, I will. I’ve liked talking to you a little too much, I would say. Particularly since it seems that the man waiting there for you in the car wouldn’t mind wringing my neck for keeping you here for so long.’

  ‘Who? Shayak? He’s just a—’

  ‘Yes, yes, I know the drill. Just remember, you’re not the only one who can see things that are meant to be secret.’

  ‘No, really, he’s just hungry.’

  ‘I’d say,’ Abhimanyu said with a naughty grin.

  I felt my face flush as I turned and walked towards the car.

  twenty-three

  I needed comfort food, but Shayak was headed in the direction of Strand Road where, apart from a tired old sundae shop, there was nothing to feed us famished souls. ‘I don’t think you’ll find much here,’ I said.

  ‘Patience isn’t one of your many virtues, is it?’

  ‘Dead on, detective!’

  He gave me a quick look, his smile lighting up the car. My stomach revolted again, this time not from hunger.

  He entered the underground parking of a complex I had never noticed before. He parked and I followed him out onto a road that ran along the river. My confusion mounted as he led me through a garden and onto a wooden gangway. Lining it was a row of yachts gently swaying to the rhythm of the Hooghly.

  ‘You’re joking, right?’

  Shayak had stopped before a small, beautiful boat. There was just enough light for me to see the name: Titania.

  ‘Don’t I strike you as a seaman?’ he grinned.

  ‘This is yours?’

  ‘I surely don’t intend to break into someone else’s.’

  �
��You have perfected the art of taking me by surprise.’

  Shayak climbed in, but I wasn’t ready to abandon land just yet.

  ‘That is a brave name,’ I said. ‘You aren’t afraid of history repeating itself?’

  He held a hand out to me. ‘I stay away from icebergs and Oscar-winning film directors.’

  I stared at him with some hesitation.

  ‘You aren’t afraid, are you?’

  ‘I might be. Never really been on one of these before.’

  ‘You aren’t daunted by a murderous restaurant owner, but a boat throws you off?’

  ‘Not the boat; the water underneath it.’

  ‘You can’t swim, can you? Well, don’t worry. I can. And we aren’t going anywhere tonight.’

  ‘I can swim.’

  ‘So what are you afraid of?’

  I took his hand at last and climbed in. It must have been the strain of the day or the lack of sleep, for I felt myself tense almost immediately. I gave Shayak a nervous little smile.

  ‘If you are free tomorrow, we can take her out for a spin, perhaps before dinner at Mallika’s place. Something tells me you will enjoy it.’

  We went inside the small cabin, and I sat down. The gentle rocking must have soothed my anxiety, because by the time Shayak pulled out a bottle of red wine and uncorked it, I was at ease.

  ‘Pizza, pasta or curry?’ he asked, handing me a glass.

  ‘Are you going to start cooking now?’ I asked incredulously.

  ‘Hell, no. Maybe on land, but not in this little thing.’ He opened the freezer that showed off an impressive array of frozen foods. There were labels from across the world. Not quite gourmet fare, but not too shabby either.

  ‘When you said you had been in the neighbourhood of Calcutta when your brother asked you to drop in, what did you mean exactly?’ I asked.

  He smiled into the freezer. ‘Pasta it is then.’ He grabbed a box and got it into the microwave before turning to face me. ‘I had sailed from India to Hong Kong on my annual boating holiday, making a number of stops on the way—Sri Lanka, the Andamans, Thailand, Malaysia. I was on my way back when my brother alerted me to the situation with Agarwal.’