by Jisha Rajesh
‘Let her take her own time,’ he thought as he took a sip of his drink and relished its taste at leisure.
He invited her for a dinner on the pretext of celebrating his success in solving the mystery of the intricate Shanaya murder case. He was sure Ayana would readily accept his offer as Shanaya meant the world to her and she was indebted to him for nabbing her culprit.
‘But that was merely an excuse,’ he thought as he smirked at his glass with a tilt of his head.
He had something else on his mind for tonight, though his subordinate and best friend Inspector Kashyap has warned him against it.
“You guys have known each other for only six months.” Kashyap said as his dubious eyes screened Varun from head to toe, “how can you be so sure that she is the one for you?”
Varun replied with only a pleasant smile as he knew Kashyap will never understand him. He had never felt for anyone what Varun felt for Ayana, right from the day he had seen her. Within just six months, he’d come so close to her as if they had spent six decades together. And now he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
“Yes!” He placed a hand on his chest to reign the waves of soft emotions that churned like a tempest within him. “I am going to propose marriage to her.”
His eyes twinkled at the sight of his lady love who came rushing through the glass doors of the restaurant. He sprang up from his chair as he saw her avid eyes trying to search him among the people in the restaurant.
“You look beautiful!” he said as he somehow managed to release her from the arrest of his longing arms after a formal hug.
“Sorry I am late,” she flashed a sheepish smile as she settled herself and her long flowing gown on a chair opposite to him. “So what is it?”
“What?”
“You told me over the phone that you had something really important to tell me.”
“Oh yes!” Varun smiled. “But before that, let’s order the food. The waiters have been waiting for a long time for our order.”
“Good idea!” Ayana flashed a charming smile. “I am starving.”
As Varun was about to signal one of the waiters, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Kashyap’s number flashing on the screen.
“A final warning from him,” Varun muttered under his breath staring at the wailing phone, “before I take the final plunge.”
“The DCP wants to meet you immediately,” Kashyap said in an agitated tone immediately when Varun picked up.
“Fine, schedule a meeting with him tomorrow.” Though Varun was badly irked by a summon at the wrong time, he managed to flash a smile at Ayana to reassure her.
“No, it’s really urgent and this thing can’t be postponed till tomorrow.” Kashyap’s voice trembled as terror took him in his grip.
“What happened, Kashyap?” Varun sensed something was terribly wrong that has led the men of his department to the end of their wits.
“There is some…err…problem with the investigation of the Shanaya murder case,” Kashyap said at the end of a long dolorous sigh, “and as you are the chief of the investigating team, the DCP wants an explanation from you.”
“Okay, I am coming.” Varun hung up and sat shell shocked on his chair for a while.
“Are you okay, Varun?” Ayana placed a hand over his.
“I have to go, Ayana,” he said as her touch brought him back to his senses, “I am really sorry but there is an emergency.”
“I understand Varun.” Ayana smiled sweetly. “I know how hectic your work is.”
“Thank you so much, baby.” Her words relieved him and he made a hurried exit after planting a quick peck on her cheek.
* *
“Welcome home sweetheart,” Ayana hugged Varun with a wide smile as he stepped into her apartment, “I am so proud of you.”
Ayana was on cloud nine as all the newspapers were flooded with articles applauding ACP Varun Patel’s intellect and heroism in solving the sensational Shanaya murder case. She too was indebted to Varun for bringing her Godmother’s murderer to book. She held him tightly to her and planted a fervent kiss on his lips but was instantly taken aback as she realized that he lacked his usual enthusiasm. She let go of him slowly and looked into his eyes. His eyes were dull and lifeless in place of being exuberant. He flashed a rueful smile at her to assure her and promptly turned his dejected face away. He pulled himself out her arms and sat down on the sofa.
‘What is wrong with him?’ Ayana thought as her eyes watched him slide back on the sofa and place a hand over his eyes.
Ayana sighed and decided that it must be the stress of work and she should allow him to rest for a while. With one quick glance of concern at him, she quietly made her way to the kitchen to make him a cup of coffee that she believed may aid in relieving his exhaustion.
“Hey Varun,” she said as she returned from the kitchen with the coffee and saw him still sitting with his eyes closed, “are you alright?”
“Hmm…” He nodded as he slowly opened his weary eyes and turned them thoughtfully to the far end of the living room.
“Have some coffee,” she held out the coffee mug to him, “you will feel better.”
He sipped the coffee, still lost in a world of his own. She waited for some more time expecting him to open up to her at his own. But then her patience gave way and she decided to break into the shield of silence he had built around him.
“Is something bothering you, Varun?” Ayana asked as softly as possible, “you should be happy that you have succeeded in adding another feather to your already crowned hat by solving such an intricate murder case. But in place of celebrating your success why are you wearing the look of a mourner?”
“Because, I have actually lost the battle in spite of my apparent claims of being victorious.” Varun said as he turned his poignant eyes towards her.
“What does that mean?” Ayana’s baffled eyes returned his gaze.
“We have got the wrong man, Ayana,” Varun said calmly and turned his face away from her.
“What?!” Ayana screamed as much out of astonishment as out of frustration. “How could that happen Varun? No, that’s not true.”
“That’s true Ayana,” Varun shook his head and closed his eyes, “We began re-investigating the case on DCP’s order as he demanded for a clarification of some dubious points. And this time, I have stumbled upon some facts during the interrogation that can’t be ignored. And they reinforce my belief that Mr Kumar has deliberately made us suspect him. We foolishly rejoiced after imprisoning the wrong man while he succeeded in shielding the real culprit from the eyes of justice.”
“May I know what makes you think so?” Ayana drew a deep breath and crossed her hands over her chest. “Tell me Varun, what are those facts?”
Varun remained silent, with his face still turned away as he tried to organize his thoughts. His silence became unbearable for her as minutes passed by. She cupped his face and made him look into her eyes.
“What are you hiding from me?” She tried to persuade him, almost on the verge of .tears herself, “Please tell me Varun. I want to know the truth. Tell me, who did this to my Shanaya Ma’am?”
“I don’t have any leads about the real culprit, right now,” Varun said as he held her against his chest and caressed her back to soothe her, “Everything around seems to be hazy. But one thing I can definitely vouch for is that Sujan Kumar didn’t do that. It is someone else. And he has taken the blame on himself only to protect that person.”
“Who is that person Varun and why is Mr Kumar doing so?” Ayana said as she ran her hand on his chest. “What have you found out during the interrogation?”
“His statement of confession and the circumstantial evidence doesn’t match at all.” Varun felt a little relief sweep in as he uncorked his suppressed doubts. “And there is a major discrepancy between the time of his presence at the scene of crime and the time when the crime was actually committed.”
“How come, Varun?” Ayana raised her
head and looked at him.
“According to the witness from his office staff, who was working overtime that night, he was in a conference call till 12.30 a.m. They are absolutely sure that he didn’t get out of his cabin even for once in between as two of his employees were with him right by his side till the end of the call. If he left office only after 12.30 a.m. there is no way he could reach home before 1 a.m. Then how can he commit a murder that took place between 11.30 p.m. to 12.30 a.m?”
Varun turned to Ayana to check her reaction but she sat staring at him with numb eyes.
“That was the fact that kindled sparks of suspicion for the first time within me and made me reconsider my assumptions,” Varun continued after waiting for a while for Ayana’s response, “I went back to the crime scene and scrutinized everything. And when I did all the calculations again, I found that the length of stride of the culprit was a little longer than Kumar’s, which means that it was a man who is taller than Kumar.”
“It was not him!” Ayana said almost in a whisper.
“Yes,” Varun’s voice rose and filled up the eerily silent room, “that made me doubt that he was deliberately misleading the police. He wanted us to suspect him and was making us fall for made up evidences. In order to clarify my doubts, I called upon a doctor to examine his limp. I was shocked when I read his medical examination reports. There were no organic lesions in his leg and he was simply enacting the limp.”
“What?!” Ayana gasped, “So it was not him who broke into my apartment the other day and attacked you? What about the mark of the star that you had burnt into his flesh during your struggle with him? It was there on his body. You saw that on his shoulder with your own eyes at the beach, isn’t it?”
“That was also a faked one, Ayana.” Varun cast a disgusted look at her. “The star on the statue of your house is smaller than the mark that was found on his body. He himself may have made the mark to befool us.”
“Why is he accepting the responsibility of the crime he hasn’t committed?” Ayana asked, “Don’t you find it strange?”
“I have dug out even stranger things that I had initially ignored during my investigation.” Varun’s face turned pale as he thought about the detailed re-examination reports of the samples obtained from Mrs Kumar’s dead body that he had been reading all evening.
“What are those things, Varun?” Ayana panicked as she watched his face ashen.
“Some skin debris was found under her nails, which is believed to be the murderer’s. She would have scratched him with her nails in order to escape from him. We ran a blood test on the sample of the murderer and found that his blood group is A positive. Both Mr and Mrs Kumar belong to the O positive blood group and this fact again proves him innocent of the crime.”
Varun fell silent as pictures of the medical reports danced in front of his eyes and made him feel dizzy. Ayana looked expectantly at him for some time till her patience gave way.
“Could you find out who that person is?” Ayana finally asked.
“No, not till now,” Varun said in a dreamy tone. “We did a DNA analysis of the sample and the result knocked us all down with a feather. The DNA that is believed to be of the culprit is a close match to that of Kumar’s as if he is an immediate family member of his. But the fact that freaked me out is that Kumar has no such kin alive. He is the only child of his parents who died long ago. And he is a childless man. Any other relative of his lineage will never have such a perfect match with him. Then who could be the culprit and how he is related to Kumar?”
Varun turned a ghastly pale face towards Ayana who was listening intently to the words dropping out of his mouth with a heavily pounding heart.
* *
Varun’s words from last night rang again and again in Ayana’s ears. She covered her ears and closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them again, her eyes fell on Shanaya’s manuscript lying on the table by the side of her bed. She decided to make her way out of the mess she was entangled by taking refuge within the pages of the manuscript. Ayana perched upon her bed holding a mug of coffee in her hands as a wide smile played on her face. Her exultant eyes danced as she held the manuscript back in her hands again. After taking Kumar into custody, Varun had raided his house and recovered the manuscript from there. Her joy knew no bounds when Varun had stepped into her house and surprised her with her most prized possession. She had almost lost all her hopes of having it back ever again. And it seemed like a miracle as she opened it again and waited eagerly for the fragrance of the words printed on it to fill her soul with their aroma. She checked the manuscript for any damages and tallied the page numbers with the index to make sure that all the pages were still intact. A smile of relief floated in her eyes as she was assured that it was safe. She sat cross-ledged on the bed, placed the manuscript on her lap and hurriedly flipped the pages she had already read.
Chapter – 5- The Two Faces
Muskan smiled as the new recipe of brinjal roast that she had leant from the cookery show on the television turned out to be delicious. She stuffed the spread of dishes she had laid out for the lunch into lunch boxes and rushed to her room. Sandeep always remained jittered and anxious since he came to know about the grievous attack on her. He had even advised to apply for police protection or hire some bodyguards. But Muskan took his concern for her safety a little lightly and reverted with a big laugh. She dismissed the matter as a case of mistaken identity and didn’t even bother to file a complaint against the assailant, which added to his anxiety. Muskan wanted to cheer him up by a surprise lunch date at his office.
She changed into a violet chiffon saree and tied her hair into a bun. At the very instant, the twelve rings from the wall clock urged her to hurry up. She ran back to the kitchen, picked up the lunchbox and stepped out of the house. She looked at herself in the mirror of her car and bit her lips to hide the impish smile that threatened to flow out to her lips. She had planned to surprise Sandeep at his office with the mouth-watering dishes she prepared for lunch. It was a frequent event that was consequential to the success of her culinary experimentation. But on such occasions, the aroma of her delicacies used to draw the whole staff to his cabin and Sandeep had to satisfy his appetite by licking the remnants of the lunch box. But he never forgot to shower his wife with loads of praises. Muskan laughed out at the thought of the buzz that her homemade food created in his office as she stopped her car at a traffic signal. A lady who was sitting inside the car parked next to her gave her a weird look and then shook her head before she turned her face away.
‘She must be thinking I have screw loose somewhere,’ Muskan thought as she toned down her laughter to a naughty smile, ‘You don’t know lady that I am heading on for one of the most memorable moments of my life.’
Soon the signal turned green and as she drove a little ahead, she saw Sandeep’s car approaching from the opposite direction on the one-way road separated by a divider.
“Where is he going?” Muskan muttered under her breath as her face became flushed at the thought of cancelling the surprise lunch, which meant that all her tedious efforts would go in vain. But another thought flashed through her mind and a little ray of hope smiled at her. “Is it Sandy himself or someone else is in his car?”
Sandeep used to lend his car to his friends or send his peon in his car to fetch things for him. She strained her eyes to see through the speeding vehicle approaching from the opposite side. He saw a man’s face on the driver’s seat which seemed like Sandeep’s. She halted her car by the side of the road and pulled out her mobile phone.
“Sandy,” she said as soon as he picked up, “where are you go…?”
“I am in the office sweetheart,” he cut her off and she immediately recognized the lie as she heard the roar of the traffic in the background and the tinkling of the bells of a temple as he passed by it.
Muskan couldn’t make her mind as to how to revert and hence preferred to remain silent.
“I have a meeting to attend right now. I will ta
lk to you later, bye,” he said as he hurriedly hung upon her.
She knew her mind won’t be at peace until she finds the truth out and hence she turned her engine on again. She sped her car till she reached the U-turn. She kept following Sandeep’s car from a safe distance. After a drive of one and a half hour, he stopped his car outside a housing colony. Muskan slowed down her car behind a row of taxis. She ducked down as she saw him step out of his car and look around. She turned the engine off and followed him as he walked into the housing complex, which comprised of small cottages. There were stalls lined up on either side of the complex and people were roaming around them. Muskan kept herself hidden among the crowd while keeping a keen watch over Sandeep who was walking in an unperturbed way. He was sure that nobody was going to recognize him in a remote place like this. His pace halted in front of a cottage and he hesitated for a while before pressing the doorbell. Just to assure himself once more, he turned his head around and ran a check on the surroundings. Muskan hid behind a cottage and saw him heave a sigh of relief. He pressed the doorbell and the door sprung open at the first ring as if he was eagerly waited for. A woman, who seemed to be in her late thirties, appeared on the door and greeted him with a coy smile. Her hair was unruly and flowed down her back while her cotton saree was wrinkled. She had dark circles around her eyes and the wrinkles around the corners of her eyes became even more prominent as she smiled. The way her eyes twinkled on seeing Sandeep filled Muskan with jealousy.
“You are late,” she complained with a smile, “I have been waiting for so long.”
“Yes,” Sandeep turned his eyes away to avoid her gaze, “something urgent came up.”
“Don’t keep standing at the doorstep.” She tugged on Sandeep’s hand and dragged him inside. “Come in. Rahul has asked about you at least a thousand times since morning.”