The bedroom was larger than Dipti’s entire flat and the view was spectacular, to say the least. It looked out to the arterial Golf Course road and the Rapid Metro line. From the 21st floor, one really had the bird’s eye view and the chaos of the traffic below looked like a sensational picture of a throbbing metropolis. The bed, a kingsize, was pushed on one side of the room and one could see the view beyond while lying down. Why does a single guy, a bachelor, need such a huge bed? Dipti had grown up sharing with her two sisters a bed smaller than the one in front of her. The sheets were crumpled. Arjun had been asleep when she arrived. Facing the bed, was a glass partition; the wall had been knocked down and a thick glass had been erected in its place. It was the bathroom which didn’t have any door or wall.
“He lives alone and even if he has anyone…Myra or anyone else over; they enjoy the view both inside and outside.” Dipti found it difficult to look at her naked body, the jiggling folds and brown mottled skin, her thick cellulite laden thighs. She didn’t want to look at herself in the mirror so the thought of using a bathroom that had a mirror on three sides and a glass wall on the fourth wasn’t just an alien thought, it was nightmarish.
She walked over to the closet. It was more like a room. A window-less room that had open closets all around. It was where Arjun kept his clothes, his shirts - all of them colour coordinated, ironed, and then hung. The trousers, again hung in order of colour and fabric. There was order and precision all around.
‘How much money does this man have?’
She then looked at the open drawers. A drawer each for his vests, underwear, and socks. All of them folded and rolled into neat balls. Myra’s bra was found tucked behind his spotless white sports socks.
Dipti stood staring at the open closets, the drawers and the neat rows of shirts and trousers. “A man who maintains so much of order in his closet…he can’t be sloppy and stupid. It just doesn’t add up. This guy is too…too careful, well-planned and organized to rape his girlfriend, steal her bra, and then chuck it behind his vests.”
She didn’t like the thought that was creeping into her head. It made sense. She wanted Arjun to be guilty. It would mean quick closure of the case, accolades from the SP and it would surely shut up her mother-in-law and the sisters from making snide, hushed comments about her promotion.
But Dipti couldn’t silence the words of reason that was growing louder inside. He’s too smart to do something so stupid.
“Mukesh, was there any visitor in the past few days? Since Sunday morning.”
“No, madam. Just Sir and me.”
“Think carefully, Mukesh. Did anyone come in? Any friend, family member…someone from the office? Anyone.”
“No, madam.” Dipti looked around the closet space, the bedroom, and then began to walk out. She noticed a big sealed cardboard box that lay on one side of the room. She had missed seeing it. It looked like a delivery box that Arjun hadn’t yet opened.
“What is this?”
“Sir orders a lot from Amazon and many other online places. This package arrived a few days ago.”
“When?” Dipti turned to look at the servant.
“Oh! Yes, madam. I forgot. This came yesterday…or maybe the day before. No, it was yesterday, yes, yesterday. I’m sure of that. In the afternoon. Sir has been out for 2 days. For an event. He came home last night, very late.” Dipti stood looking at the sealed box for a while.
“So was the box left at the lobby and you got it here, or did the delivery guy come up?”
“No madam, the delivery guy came up.” He kept quiet for a while and then continued, “Madam, the man…the delivery man… he was feeling ill when he came to deliver. He looked unwell. I offered him water. He came inside the house.” Mukesh looked uncomfortable admitting that he had let a stranger enter the house; something that he never did.
“Tell me more, Mukesh. What happened? Tell me exactly.” Dipti spun around and looked him in the eye.
“He almost fell near the door. I caught him. He asked for some water. He kept standing near the door while I went inside to get it. As I handed him a glass of water, he said, he hadn’t eaten anything since the night before and was feeling dizzy. Madam, I never ever let anyone inside the house but the man…a young man. I felt bad. So, I offered to make some tea. He asked if he could sit at the dining table. Madam, please don’t tell Arjun Sir. He will be very angry. I never ever let anyone enter the house. I swear on my…”
“Mukesh, stop worrying. Tell me what happened after that. This man was alone near the dining table for a while, when you were inside the kitchen.”
“Yes, madam he sat here. At the table.” Mukesh pointed to the large marble dining table with ornate wooden chairs. “But he didn’t wait for the tea. While I was still inside the kitchen, he called out to me saying, he was feeling better and needed to leave. By the time I came out of the kitchen, he was gone.”
“So let me get this straight Mukesh.” Dipti wanted to get the order of events right. “He asks for tea, you go inside. He is alone for a while and then he suddenly says he has to leave and goes away.” She walked into the kitchen and stood at the counter facing the gas stove.
“This is where you stood making tea. Right?”
“Yes, madam.”
Mukesh was standing here. There’s no way he could see the man at the dining table. Dipti rushed out to the table. She looked in the direction of the kitchen then took long strides towards the bedroom. She entered and turned her head towards the open closet.
He could have easily come here to the closet, chucked the bra in one of the drawers, and then left before Mukesh got the tea!
Mukesh nodded his head while Dipti thought about the sequence of events in her head.
“Mukesh, you must have received a notification on MyGate? Let’s see.”
“Madam, there wasn’t any notification on MyGate. He rang the bell. I remember because I was surprised. We always get a notification on MyGate but yesterday I didn’t. But sometimes it happens.”
“Mukesh, can you describe him?”
“He wore a cap, and had bushy hair and a beard. I didn’t see him well. He was wearing dark goggles and nowadays everyone wears a mask. So much pollution outside.”
“Where is the security office in the complex?”
Dipti rushed out of the flat, took the elevator down to the security office. There were CCTVs galore all over the condominium. In the lobby, outside, inside the elevator; everywhere. She needed to look at yesterday’s recording from 1 pm to 4 pm; the time band Mukesh had given her.
There wasn’t any recording of anyone resembling Mukesh’s description in the service elevator or main elevator. No one had come to the main gate or into the lobby.
At 4.30 pm, a bearded man wearing a brown jacket, a black beanie on his head and a mask that covered most of his face had stepped out of Arjun’s flat and headed for the service exit. He’d kept his head bent low. He was tall, reasonably tall, seemed bulky but that could be because of the layers of clothing he wore. It had been a very cold and damp day.
‘He took the stairs. The stairs don’t have any CCTV. He climbed 21 floors; up and then down, to avoid getting caught in the camera inside the elevator.
Could he be the one?
Chapter 12.
He was at the tower lobby to do a Swiggy delivery when Arjun walked out with the cops, cursing loudly and threatening dire consequences. No one paid any attention to him. Everyone – the lobby manager, the guards, some housekeeping staff – their eyes were on Arjun as he walked out and got into the police jeep. He was in disguise again wearing a faded, dull grey jacket, wavy hair that needed a cut, five-day-old stubble and a pair of glasses on his nose; no one paid him any attention.
The previous afternoon had been easy too. It hadn’t taken him long to understand that while security guards dotted the complex and CCTVs were stationed everywhere; there were blind spots. One didn’t need to enter from the main gate. There were hedges one could easily slink in throu
gh. He had worn a turban like a Sardar and a leather jacket. A cheap, faux leather and glossy one; he had purchased it from Lajpat Nagar. He had learnt another thing. In Gurgaon, if you were decently dressed and stared into your mobile purposefully looking busy and important; security guards didn’t stop to question.
He walked in through the basement car park and took the service entry to the staircase. Walking up 21 floors was tough but not impossible. He had been training himself to do it for a month. Walking up and down 21 floors. He carried a large plastic bag in it was the cardboard box to be delivered. His backpack carried the other essentials.
He stopped on 15th floor, no one took the elevators. It was there only for emergency evacuation. The housekeeping staff used the service elevators so no one would see him as he removed the turban and the jacket. He put them inside the bag, wore the large brown jacket, pulled the beanie on his head. It had curly hair stuck well and tight on the rim. He then proceeded to stick the moustache and thick beard. The glasses and muffler went last. He also put on gloves. It was a cold and damp day after all. Then he slipped the straps of the black anti-pollution mask.
After all, one had to protect oneself from toxic air. Even when one was on his way to plant incriminating evidence against the cocky and dashing Arjun.
It had been easier than he had imagined. Mukesh was very gullible; falling for the I-am-feeling-weak act and offered to make chai. That gave him enough time to dash into the bedroom and hide the bra. He hadn’t wanted to give it away. It reminded him of the night…the night…which he played over in his mind again and again. But it needed to be done.
She needs to feel alone. To lose trust and faith. The instructions were very clear.
He left the flat while Mukesh was still in the kitchen, took the stairs again and stopped on the 15th floor where his backpack sat obediently tucked behind few pipes. He peeled off the beanie, moustache, beard, the brown jacket and wore the turban which had the heavy beard attached to it. He pressed the false beard to the sides of his face, then wore the dark glasses and finally the N95 mask and the leather jacket. He whistled an old tune as he walked down.
***
As the police jeep sped out of Sky Heights with Arjun in the back, seated with the cops, he finished the delivery; this time a genuine one and keyed in a message as he walked out.
The cops have taken him. It’s done.
Chapter 13. Dipti
Dipti didn’t sleep well; she usually didn’t when in the throes of a case. Myra’s case was getting on her nerves.
First, it seemed very evident that there was no case. No proof that she had been raped. Except for her word. No semen. No male DNA or any scratch marks on her. None at all. She’d had sex that night. Multiple times but there was simply no evidence of an assault. When Arjun’s picture was found, proving he was in the lobby around the time when the rape occurred, followed by the discovery of her bra in his sock drawer, it raised questions about his involvement but then Dipti stumbled upon the possibility of the courier guy who seemed to have planted the bra which led to Arjun’s immediate release.
Arjun was released on bail; faster than one could imagine but he had caused a very loud and angry commotion at the police station. His lawyer had arrived at the station with a release bail order. Even before Dipti reached after questioning Mukesh and watching the CCTV recording again and again, she knew Arjun had been framed. Someone had planted the bra in his sock drawer. She would have let him go but before she could do that, the SP who had received a curt and crisp call from the Police Commissioner, called. It was an order to release Arjun immediately. No explanation. No reason was offered or asked. Just to be done.
She had been summoned to the office of SP Aditi Patel and it wasn’t an invitation to sip chai and chat about how she was liking her new role as the SHO of the all-women police station. She knew why she had been called.
Dipti stood behind the chair while Aditi wrapped up a conversation. In their earlier interaction, Aditi would always throw a smile in her direction and signal with her hand to sit down. Today she didn’t. Dipti steadied her breath and silently gritted her teeth, shifting her weight from one foot to another. After Aditi finished her phone conversation, she looked at Dipti, didn’t say anything; just raised a quizzical eyebrow. A sigh escaped Dipti’s mouth. A reprimand was on its way.
The silence followed by the raised eyebrow was an indication that Dipti needed to offer an explanation as to why she had arrested the PC’s drinking buddy, tennis partner and card buddy.
“I found a picture on Instagram that he was there at the tower lobby in the night when he repeatedly said he was away. Then we found the bra in his closet.” She had incarcerated people for far less and kept them in holding for days but then Arjun wasn’t just a somebody. He didn’t just wine and dine with the big cop boss; he gifted him expensive scotch every now and then, bought branded bags for his wife and the latest PS 4 games for his children. Every good deed needs to be called on and the favour returned. Arjun had called his lawyer and his conversation had gone like this:
I’ve been arrested. Call Bhargava.
The PC had risen to the occasion and done the needful. Arjun was practically in and out of the station.
The SP still stayed silent. After a while, the eyebrow relaxed and a grunt kind of a sound escaped her, which really meant, “You should know better, Dipti. Get more solid proof. How did his picture show up if he said he wasn’t there?”
“We are working on that madam. I’ll have answers soon.”
Aditi stared at her junior but older-in-age subordinate whom she liked in spite of the latter’s reputation for having a short fuse and quick temper.
“Is it a rape or not? I thought we had closed the case, Dipti.” Aditi placed her palms on the table and leaned forward. She had been pretty sure that no rape happened. Myra had a wild night and was now crying rape.
“Nahin, madam. Kuch toh bawaal hai. There is someone else who is involved.” Dipti was determined to prove that something good had come out of the fracas of finding the bra at Arjun’s house and his subsequent arrest. That she wasn’t just a loose cannon as she seemed.
“Really? What is that?”
“Arjun had been adamant about not revealing where he was on the night of the party. But when the bra was found in his closet, he had to tell us. He was at an abortion clinic with a woman.”
The SP stopped what she was doing and looked up, the quizzical eyebrow shot up high on her forehead.
“Yes, madam. He got a woman pregnant. A married woman he has been having an affair with. She was at an abortion clinic in GK-2. There was some complication and she had to stay the night. He was with her all night. CCTV in the clinic and reports by nurses and attendants have been confirmed. Arjun was at the clinic all night.”
“Does Myra know?” the SP chuckled. Dipti shook her head, trying to conceal the smile that was rising to her lips. Myra had flown at Arjun, scratched his face and slapped him when she saw him touching a woman’s knee. When she would find out where Arjun really was that night, there was no telling what she could do.
“Make sure the rape case doesn’t become a murder case Dipti.” Aditi regretted immediately as the words left her mouth. She didn’t want to sound trite about the case.
“There’s more.” Dipti decided to wipe away amusing thoughts of an enraged Myra going for Arjun’s jugular and focus on the details of the case.
“There’s someone who entered Arjun’s house and planted the bra. The haramkhor is very smart. He walked up 21 floors to avoid getting caught in the CCTV. No one saw him. He cut the barbed wires on the compound wall with a cutter and got in. I found the spot but we can’t get any footprints. The suar threw a bagful of soil on the spot, ruining the prints completely.” She filled in all the details about the courier guy, the tea episode, etc.
“There are no fingerprints at all on the boundary wall. We are dealing with a shatir. He knows how to cover his tracks.”
“What about that other f
ellow… the one Myra sacked from work…what’s his name?” Aditi clicked her fingers in exasperation when her memory failed.
“Deepak.”
“Yes. That guy. He was insulted by Myra and had sworn to take revenge. How does he look for the crime?”
“His fingerprints are all over the living room. But nowhere else. Not even on the door of the bedroom. We have kept a watch on him since that night. He has done nothing suspicious. And Mukesh…Arjun’s servant said the courier guy was tall and lean. Deepak is short and stocky. Full pehelwaan type body shape hai, madam. It’s not him.” Dipti put her hands on the back of the chair. Aditi hadn’t asked her to sit.
“Dipti, who is the man making us look like a pack of idiots? Kaun hai yeh?” the SP banged her fist on the table. “Catch the fucker, Dipti.” It was looking pretty clear that Myra’s case wasn’t what she and the others had thought it to be. It was making her irritated; that she had been wrong.
“And for God’s sake Dipti, no more barging into anyone’s house on a flimsy reason. I don’t like getting calls from the big boss.” Aditi bent her head; another file had been opened and Dipti was dismissed.
“Jai Hind.” Dipti clicked her heels, saluted her senior officer as is the norm and left the SP’s office with mixed feelings. Happy that she had told her about the discovery of the courier guy but the fact that she had no clue about his identity and that she wasn’t even offered to sit during the conversation pissed her off.
As she drove back to her police station, grimacing and gritting within; anger burned inside her. It didn’t help that the previous night’s dinner of spicy rajma and kebab hadn’t digested. It was rising to her mouth, making her burp, leaving an acidic taste. That put her in a foul mood. It was not going to be a good day.
“Madam!” Chirpy, sunny Sonali clicked her heels, saluted her boss with a smile as Dipti stepped into the station.
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