by UD Yasha
Had something similar happened four times before, that the police planted the evidence? It was a big accusation to make, but I had to consider it. I was also surprised that the judge found no reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case against Dhar. Being a lawyer with less than ten years of experience, I could confidently say that I was not convinced, especially given Dhar’s past.
I decided to speak to the judge and the medical examiner to get more insight into what led them to arrest Dhar.
With that thought in mind, I picked up my phone. It had been an hour and a half since Rathod had left for the crime scene. I reckoned he would have gotten free by now. I called him.
‘My guys just finished going through the CCTV footage of the residential complex where the Jathars lived,’ Rathod said as soon as he answered the call. ‘You wouldn’t believe what we found.’
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I put the phone on speaker and made sure the door of my room was locked.
‘Go on,’ I said.
I could sense the excitement in Rathod’s voice. He said, ‘Only the camera at the main gate of the complex was working well. We started off by checking all cars that exited the complex between ten and three in the morning. Out of all, three piqued our suspicion as their drivers did not have an alibi for the murders. One more interested us because we could not locate or contact its driver. The CCTV is not at the best angle to see how the driver looked while exiting either,’ Rathod said and inhaled sharply. ‘Now it’s getting interesting. We also checked when Niyati Jathar’s car entered the complex the previous evening to know when John Doe could have gotten into their house. She had driven in at about six in the evening. Niyati was driving and Malhar was on the seat next to her. The fourth car, whose driver we could not locate, went in at the same time as Niyati Jathar’s car. In fact, Niyati signed her in by asking the security guards to not bother with the fourth car’s entry. And guess what?’
‘The fourth car had Jane Doe in it,’ Rathod and I said in unison.
‘Exactly,’ Rathod said. ‘That means that Jane Doe knew the Jathars and even possibly John Doe. They spent about four to six hours with each other in the Jathar house. Then somehow, Jane Doe killed them. What does this tell you?’
I thought that Jane Doe went in for the kill, did her job and then got out of there. Then possibly went to Stan Mills to kill me,’ I said.
‘But now we don’t know what her plan was. She could have still gone to the Jathars with an intention to kill them. Now, there’s also a chance that the conversation they were having went sour and Jane Doe decided to kill them. I don’t know why else she would have waited so long before murdering them.’
‘What time did her car exit the complex?’ I said.
‘Two fifty AM.’
‘She called me half an hour later.’
‘That gives her enough time to go to Stan Mills, hide and wait for you. There’s a new temporary forensic staff here, in place of all the people we’re missing since yesterday,’ Rathod said. ‘In corroboration with the video footage from the gate, one of them analysed the tire tracks Jane Doe’s car would have made. He then cross-referenced it with the samples and pictures that Rahul had taken. Without a mold of the tracks from Stan Mills, it’s not possible to say with one hundred percent certainty, but the new technician here says that the two are a ninety percent match. It’s as high as you can go with just a photograph.’
‘The gunshot residue itself nailed Jane Doe as the shooter,’ I said. ‘What’s the update on our meeting with Motilal Ahuja and my permission to meet Mukund Dhar in prison?’
‘I spoke to Ahuja’s secretary. She said she’ll get back soon after speaking to her boss directly. Your pass is in process and should be here any minute,’ Rathod said. ‘I’ll call you once we get it.’
After Rathod told me about Jane Doe spending time at the Jathar house, I began to realize how important it was to know her identity. That she spent time with the Jathars told me they trusted her. That’s why we had not seen any sign of a break in. Niyati and Malhar had invited the killer into their house.
I called Radha and Rahul to my room and brought them up to date with the proceedings. While telling them everything, a new idea struck me.
I thought out loud. ‘All the key people associated with the case are being killed. Perhaps because they know something. I was called to Stan Mills by Jane Doe, mostly to be killed. Why did she then tell me that she had called me when she was dying? It makes no sense. And secondly, if you think about it, there have been lots of opportunities to kill me since yesterday.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Radha said.
‘But it’s true. I went to Stan Mills. Granted I was with Rahul and Rathod’s SWAT team guy, but it doesn’t take much for a professional hitman to hide and kill me, or all three of us. Similarly, I was alone last evening when I drove Rathod—’
‘That was a bad idea,’ Radha said. ‘You’re not going alone anywhere.’
Before I could say anything, Radha leaned forward and kept her head on my lap and started crying. I stroked her head. I realized I had been too honest about the idea of me dying. Just like I couldn’t bear Radha getting hurt, neither could she.
‘Hey, I’m still here, right?’ I said, lifting her head up.
Radha wiped her tears. ‘I know. But don’t talk like that. And be careful. Don’t go anywhere alone. Have Rathod next to you,’ she said. ‘Always remember the last part. I’ve seen the way he goes out of his way to protect you.’
I knew that feeling myself. I felt safer with him around me. Just thinking about it made me calmer. ‘Alright,’ I said and gave Radha a kiss on her forehead.
‘I’m sorry to be a buzzkill,’ Rahul said. ‘But what Siya said about us not being targeted yet has to mean something.’
‘Why are we being spared? Are we immune?’ I said.
‘If we are, then what has given us that immunity?’ Radha said.
‘Another reason could be that we’re immune for the time being. We may not be a direct threat with how much we know for now,’ Rahul said.
‘I have also been thinking that we’re focusing on trying to know who Jane Doe was. But John Doe is equally important,’ I said. ‘He seems random right now. But there has to be a reason why he was hidden and brought to their house by Niyati and Malhar. They didn’t want to take a chance and raise any suspicion by having their building’s security see him. He was clearly important.’
‘Let’s try and figure out who he was then,’ Rahul said.
As I was about to call Rathod, my phone buzzed. It was a message from Rathod. It had the permission that I needed to see Mukund Dhar in prison.
I punched the air in excitement.
Just then, my phone started ringing. It was Rathod again.
He said, ‘Just got through to Motilal Ahuja. He is eager to meet us.’
‘Am I allowed to meet him?’ I said.
‘Yes, I told him I’ll be accompanied by a private detective who’s working with us.’
‘Does ACP Shukla know?’
‘I haven’t told him.’
Silence.
Rathod said, ‘Motilal Ahuja is in Delhi right now, but he said he will clear his schedule and meet us in Mumbai in five hours if that’s okay with us. I told him we’ll start for his house right away.’
That meant I wouldn’t be able to meet Dhar right away. I checked the time. It was almost two. We would take at least four hours to reach Mumbai, another four to come back. Plus, some more time to speak to Ahuja. I would have to push meeting Dhar to the next day. ‘If I don’t meet Dhar right now, I wouldn’t be able to meet him before tomorrow. I was thinking I could go to Yerwada Jail and talk to him right now.’
Rathod waited before answering, probably working out the dynamics in his head. ‘Sure, but make it quick and leave right now. Otherwise, we’ll be cutting it too close. Call me before leaving Yerwada,’ he said and hung up.
I told Radha and Rahul about my plan. Radha was concern
ed about me going to Yerwada alone, but there was no other choice. Rathod was busy at work and the two of them would not be allowed inside the Jail.
I dug through my purse and gave Rahul the pendrive that Rathod had given me. It had high definition pictures of the triple murders, which included John Doe’s shots from the crime scene.
I changed into a fresh dark green salwaar kameez, took my dupatta and the car keys, and walked out into the warm afternoon air, wondering what Dhar would have to tell me.
Chapter Thirty
Going back to Yerwada Jail brought back the memories of visiting Kishore Zakkal. I hated myself for it. Zakkal seemed to have me on some kind of a leash. Every time I wanted to get away from him, he pulled me in closer. The thought of being close to him made me want to puke. The feeling passed when my mind was taken over by what I wanted to know from Dhar.
Matters would be much simpler if he just told me who had paid him. At that point, I was also wondering if Dhar had killed Kabir Ahuja at all. The evidence seemed too convenient. Maybe it was as easy as it seemed, but it had definitely made me suspicious.
I wanted to know two things from Dhar. Firstly, if he was willing to cut a deal and give me the name of the person who paid him. Secondly, if he had any family outside. I was convinced that if he was guilty, his silence had been bought by making sure they were okay in all possible ways. I was prepared for Dhar to tell me he was innocent. I wasn’t too concerned about that.
Once I reached Yerwada, my car was searched and checked at the entrance. I was frisked by a female police officer too. Rathod had always been with me whenever I had met Zakkal, so the treatment had been different then. Going alone as just a lawyer, who wanted to speak to a convicted killer, meant that scrutiny was going to be harder.
I was prepared for it. Before I knew it, I was waiting in a small room for a hawaldar to take me to another room where I would meet Dhar. The room had nine other people, seven men and two women. I guessed there was a mix of lawyers and family members.
A middle-aged hawaldar, whom I had spoken to earlier, peeped into the waiting room and called out my name. I stood up and followed him down a narrow corridor. We hung a left at the end of it and entered a bigger room. Two female officers again patted me down. I had to keep all my personal belongings, including my phone, in a locker. Once the female officers were happy that I was clean, they waved me into another room.
Once I was inside, a balding male officer walked up to me. He said, ‘Ma’am, this way,’ and beckoned me into a room called the ‘Meeting Room’.
In a deadpan voice, the officer said, ‘You will be alone in the room with Mukund Dhar. The door will stay open. There are two video cameras, one for you and one for him inside. There are no listening devices. There’s a buzzer under the table. Press it if you feel threatened at any point or want to speak to someone outside. You can walk out any time you want. You have ten minutes with Dhar. I’m also required to tell you that Dhar last had visitors apart from his family six years back. He has had no female visitors, who were not his wife.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, not knowing what else to say.
I stepped into the Meeting Room at two forty-five. I texted Rathod that I was going to take longer. I reckoned he already knew I was going to be late because of the tight timeline. Realistically, I thought we were going to be able to leave by four. We would make it to Motilal Ahuja’s house just before eight, an hour late. But Motilal had cleared his schedule for us, so I guessed it wouldn't be a problem.
The waiting area was divided into many smaller rooms made from artificial walls. I was ushered to one of them. The room was maybe ten feet by ten feet and had two doors. One from where I came in and the other, I assumed, was for the person arrested. The setup inside was simple. Two chairs separated by a table. As promised, there were two security cameras and a button under the table, to my right. I hoped all of them were in working condition.
A minute later, the other door opened. A jail guard dragged in the man I had seen in the Ahuja murder’s case file. The man in front of me was the same but looked very different. Dhar had lost a lot of weight and now sported a stubble. The hair on his head was grey. His eyes were drawn in and it looked like he was ill. His hands and legs were cuffed.
Dhar smiled ever so little when he saw me.
The guard said to me, ‘You’ve ten minutes,’ and then left.
‘Who are you?’ Dhar said. His voice was coarse.
‘I am a criminal defense lawyer and private detective,’ I said. ‘Probably your only hope at this point.’
‘And why do you say that?’
‘I can get you out of here.’
Dhar’s eyes narrowed. ‘You said you are probably my only hope at this point. For some reason, I think it’s the other way around.’
I said nothing.
Dhar said, ‘How desperate are you to know what happened?’
I stayed silent again.
‘What’s in this for you?’ Dhar said.
‘Someone has gone off on a killing spree. They’re eliminating all the people connected to Kabir and Sheena Ahuja’s murders. I want to stop them.’
‘The police had stated that their murders weren’t connected.’
‘Your memory seems to be working fine. Forget what the police said. What do you think?’ I said.
This time, Dhar stayed silent.
‘I know they never truly found who killed Kabir Ahuja. You were just the messenger. I am here to catch the person who told you to deliver the message.’
Dhar’s eyes narrowed again and he leaned forward, keeping his cuffed hands on the table between us. ‘What did you say your name was?’ he said.
His glare penetrated my eyes. I had not told him my name on purpose. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t feel like it. ‘Siya Rajput,’ I said with new found confidence.
Dhar smiled. ‘Like father, like daughter, I think,’ he said.
My arms went cold and a current passed through my body. ‘How do you know my father?’
Dhar’s smile got wider. ‘You see what I told you about me being your last hope. Isn’t that true now? How the mighty fall and the tables turn!’
‘How do you know my father?’ I said, in a firmer tone this time. I was sure that Dhar could see the goosebumps that had crawled up all over my body.
Dhar’s smile waned off. ‘He had come to see me a long time back.’
‘When?’ I said, hoping with all my heart that it was after dad went missing. If that was the case, dad was alive for longer than we knew. Maybe he is alive even now.
‘You know, he asked me the same questions,’ Dhar said. ‘He also wanted to know who paid me to kill Kabir Ahuja.’
My teeth were chattering. I needed him to tell me when he saw dad. ‘So, that means you’re admitting to killing Kabir Ahuja,’ I said instead.
‘I never said that.’
‘When did my father come to see you?’
‘I’ll tell you that much,’ he said and his face curled again. ‘A few months after I had been arrested.’
A few months was not good enough. ‘Can you be more specific?’ I said, thinking if I could get my hands on the register that tracked visitors. It was possible but hard. It happened almost seventeen years ago.
‘Probably soon after New Year’s Eve.’
‘The one immediately after your arrest?’
Dhar nodded. ‘Yeah, if I remember correctly.’
‘What did he want from you?’
‘The same thing you want from me,’ Dhar said and paused. ‘Has anyone told you that you’re tall like him?’
‘What did you tell him?’ I said.
‘The same thing I told you.’
‘Which is not much.’
‘Exactly. That’s the point.’
I leaned in. ‘What did they promise you to keep your mouth shut?’
‘No one promised me anything.’
‘You’re lying. Why aren’t you ratting out who ordered the hit on Kabir Ahuja?’
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The smirk on Dhar’s face went away for the first time. He shook his head. ‘You don’t get it, do you? No one wants to go near that person.’
‘Why?’
Dhar started laughing. ‘You will find out soon I guess.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Anyone who has crossed them has ended up dead or even worse. No one dares to wrong them.’
‘Them? Are there multiple people? An organisation?’
‘Why don’t you ask your father?’ Dhar said.
‘He…,’ I stuttered, not knowing what to say.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘He went missing soon after meeting you.’
‘So, you do know what it means to interfere in their business. It’s cute that you think he’s still alive. You’re quite the romantic.’
I put my hands under the table to not let Dhar know that they had started shivering. I said, ‘They never found his body.’
Dhar went silent but his eyes wandered. I could make out that he was thinking about something. His gaze returned on me. Right then, I noticed a shift in his energy. He shook his head and said, ‘It’s probably nothing.’
‘What do you mean? What were you thinking about?’
‘The idea of your father or anyone else being alive.’
‘Do you believe he could be?’
‘The thought of it made me think about something.’
‘Why are you being so vague?’ I said, feeling frustrated.
‘Because the person you’re up against is a demon. He stays in the shadows and very few people know who he is. They call him the Viper. It's like the snake that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. Before you know it, you’re gone. How do you think so many people are ending up dead? They’ve come in the path of the Viper. In the snake world, the Viper kills more people than all other snake species combined. There’s a reason this person is called the Viper. Because it kills and has no mercy.’
‘Do you know who the Viper is?’ I said, thinking it was worth the shot of asking him directly.
‘No, I don’t. But I know how dangerous he is.’