by Vas, Mahita;
The driver left whilst the two men took Lavinia by her arms, one on each side, and directed her to a cargo lift which took them to the third floor, where she was then forced into a room which might have until recently been an office. There were grey metal partitions with glass which started halfway and went up to the ceiling. The floor was cement, which looked roughly applied and had strips of glue all over, presumably residual glue from carpet or linoleum flooring which had been ripped out.
Poor Lavinia—I saw the terror in her eyes and I heard her scream even though there wasn’t a sound from her taped mouth. “Mama, come! Mama!” I told her I was there. She knew when I put my hands around her face and kissed her. The two men made a few calls. They spoke in Chinese. They bound Lavinia’s hands and feet and told her to sit on the floor and wait. They left, locking the door behind them.
Lavinia dragged herself close to her handbag. I pushed her as much as I could. Together, we got the phone out but neither of us could make a call. By the time Lavinia managed to wriggle her hands and feet out of those ropes, her phone battery was dead. We tried to get out of the office, but the door was double locked and there was nothing with which to break it. Lavinia banged on the door and the walls. But it was Sunday and all the offices were closed.
It was nine o’clock before those two showed up—Shaun and her sidekick, the Chinese girl with blonde hair. The two men were now accompanied by a third fellow. When Shaun saw that Lavinia was neither tied nor gagged, she went ballistic and started kicking the two men. For a puny thing, she packed quite a punch. Lavinia turned to me and begged me not to let any of the bad people in the room touch her. I tried. Oh, how I tried! As hard as any mother, who would give her life for her child’s.
Then it began, first with kicking and beating. Shaun sat on top of her and whipped out a pen knife. No! No, don’t do that! I screamed. With one quick flick of her wrist, Shaun slashed the right side of Lavinia’s face, from just below her cheekbone to her chin. Lavinia’s mouth was taped but I could hear her piercing shriek, her pain shattering my heart. I swooshed around Shaun just enough to distract her before she tried to inflict the same, deep gash on the left side of Lavinia’s face. Except, even then, I was a little too late. Shaun still managed to make a small, superficial cut on Lavinia’s other cheek.
There were five of them; I could not shield my baby. The two women watched as two men raped Lavinia and the third tried but failed. He couldn’t. You know what I mean. He was probably too scared, because he ran away leaving the rest behind. Lavinia was in a daze when she tried to stand up after the third fellow ran away. I stood behind Lavinia to support her. Shaun pushed her with both her hands. Lavinia stumbled but quickly regained her balance. I got in front of Lavinia so Shaun wouldn’t be able to push her again, but I was too late. Shaun pushed her so hard this time that she fell and hit her head against the cement floor. Lavinia went still. Shaun made a few calls.
Two men carried Lavinia and dumped her in the back of a pick-up truck. One of the rapists drove to that food factory. Poor girl, all bruised and battered, lying unconscious in the back of a filthy, blue pick-up. I got in and lay next to Lavinia with my arms across her chest as I sang her a song. Bridge Over Troubled Water. When Lavinia was born a month premature, she was extremely fragile and needed constant care and attention for the first few weeks. Rather than a common lullaby, I wanted something which would express my commitment to her forever. Uday liked the song so much, he made it our family anthem.
Lavinia was bleeding from the back of her head. I placed my hand at the source of all that blood but could not stem the flow. I was so scared she would die. I spoke to her, sang to her. I even prayed with her, something I hadn’t done in years. I had no idea where we were going. We seemed to have been driving, mostly on highways, for a long time, at least an hour. I didn’t recognise the roads or the buildings. Uday and I used to joke about how if you drove for an hour in Singapore, you would land in the sea. Singapore’s not that tiny, though, is it? Not with the network of highways that seem to go on forever.
When we got to that factory, the whole place was deserted. Shaun called the man who was waiting inside and demanded he open the door quickly. The chubby fellow scowled as he let them in. I didn’t understand what they were saying but he kept pointing to his watch, so I think he was called specifically to be at the factory to wait for Shaun. The rapist sat in the car. Shaun’s girlfriend lit a cigarette while the man in the factory—his name was Ah Huat—and the other rapist lifted Lavinia out of the back of the pick-up truck. Ah Huat was gentle with her but he ranted all the way. After seeing that Lavinia was lying unconscious on the table, Shaun said something and took out a lot of money. I don’t know how much, but they were all fifty-dollar notes. Quite a few stacks. I’d guess at least five thousand dollars. Ah Huat waved them away, shaking his head and waving his hands in front of him. He didn’t want to take the money, but it also sounded like he didn’t want to do what Shaun asked him. Shaun probably threatened Ah Huat and offered him more money. Looked like a few thousand dollars. I realised then that she was telling Ah Huat to kill her.
I watched as Shaun walked to the two furnaces and shovelled in a bagful of charcoal in each. They were huge cylinders with a pitched roof on top, like a small grain tower with a chimney. The vents on the roof were attached to thick corrugated pipes which led outside. Shaun threw in some fire starters and set the furnace alight. He was going to burn Lavinia alive! I tried to extinguish the flames, but I just couldn’t. I tried to lock the furnace so no one could open it, but here too, I failed.
Shaun then walked towards Ah Huat, yelling. Sounded like he was asking for something. Ah Huat went towards a cupboard and removed two cleavers. Big, sharp things. I was petrified. Was he going to chop her into pieces before burning her? She’s not dead, I shrieked, and there must have been a sound because the two of them stared at each other and asked where that noise came from. I kept shrieking and pushed myself against Shaun. I used all the force I never even knew I had. I could feel Shaun’s resistance. She was trembling, her eyes searching for whatever it was that was forcing her back. She could not see my rage, my fear, but I made sure she felt both.
Shaun stammered as she spoke to Ah Huat, who remained silent and stared at Lavinia. I saw so much sadness in Ah Huat’s eyes that I felt sure he would not hurt her. I turned around, just in time to see Shaun sprinting towards the back door. Within minutes, she came back inside and chucked Lavinia’s handbag across the floor, without saying a word. I suppose she wanted that burnt along with her cut-up pieces.
I sat up, next to Lavinia’s inert body. Ah Huat kept staring at her. He looked at the stash of fifty-dollar notes lying at the end of the cold, steel table. He shook his head. He put his hands around her neck. I must have been mistaken! Those sad eyes must have meant something else. Such big hands on the slender neck of an unconscious young woman would mean a quick death, but I wasn’t about to let Lavinia die. Not at the hands of this low- life butcher.
I swirled around him, rapidly, left to right and right to left. He released his grip and stumbled backwards. He looked dizzy. He breathed in deeply as he looked around. He picked up the cleaver. I whirled and twirled like a dervish dancing in a trance, churning the air around him. He dropped the cleaver, jumped back and looked around again. He spoke in English, “Who you? Who?” He felt someone was watching him and wasn’t about to let him chop up the beautiful young woman.
His eyes scanned every square inch of the factory, stopping when he saw the bag. He walked towards it and searched the contents. He looked inside her wallet, closed it and shoved it into his back pocket. He sat on the floor, leaning against the fridge, and scrolled through Lavinia’s phone. I stood next to him. He must have felt something because he got up and waved his arms, as if pushing me away.
He stared at the money in front of him. He went back to scrolling on Lavinia’s phone. He found “Home” and called Uday, and then hung up before it rang. He hesitated for a good ten minutes,
sobbing in between. He poured water into the furnace and covered the smouldering charcoal with a metal dome.
Sayana was wrong—Ah Huat was not the good guy. There wasn’t one in that horror show. Ah Huat would have killed her and chopped her up if I had not stopped him. Fear, not goodness, kept him away from her. Greed led him to ransom what was left of her young, precious life.
I saw what happened. I want to see those wretched creatures dead. Everyone involved in Lavinia being in this condition must pay for this. I know Uday and the boys are angry enough to want the same. Ashwin is rogue enough to make it happen and Sayana is clever enough to ensure no one gets caught.
15
A Few Hours Later
Uday checked his phone when he returned from the hospital. In his haste, he had left it charging by his bedside, after several long calls to his office in Singapore and Mumbai. Six missed calls and twelve messages from Tamara.
Tamara answered even before the phone could start ringing. “Uday! Where have you been?”
Uday let out a huge sigh. “I’ve just experienced the worst two days of my life. Lavi is in hospital. A terrible thing happened last night. I meant to call this morning, but things happened so quickly, and next, I collapsed from exhaustion. When I woke up, I rushed to the hospital, leaving my phone at home. I’m so sorry for not calling sooner.”
“Oh no! What happened, Uday? Is she going to be alright?”
“She was attacked last night. She’s in a coma. No idea how long it’ll be before she recovers.”
“Attacked? By whom?”
Uday was about to mention Shaun when he remembered his pact with the boys about saying as little as possible to their wives. “No idea. The boys and I are looking into it.”
“Did you call the police?”
“No. The hospital did that. They are supposed to if they suspect a patient was the victim of a crime.”
“What did you tell them?”
“Whatever we knew, which was nothing much. The boys and I are working on it.”
“Working on what? Are you doing the job of the police?” Tamara’s tone was antagonistic. She was probably worried about him getting into trouble, especially as he could be dealing with hardened criminals.
“No, Tamara. We are just trying to find out who did this to Lavi. The police have nothing to go with right now. We’ll be okay, don’t worry. How are you? How is your mother?”
“I’m alright. Worried about you, that’s all. My mother is still very sick, but she won’t get better with me staying here longer. Also, I miss Charlie. Maybe I should get on the next flight.”
Uday realised Lavinia would hate the thought of Tamara visiting her in hospital. “We’ve got everything under control. There’s always someone by Lavinia’s side during visiting hours. Angela insists on sleeping at the hospital tonight. She’s safe. Stay with your mother as long as you need to.”
“Let’s not pretend, Uday. Lavinia hates me. I’m flying back for you. This must be so hard. I want to be by your side.”
Uday was struck by Tamara’s voice. It was as icy as the winter air gets in Shanghai. He wasn’t sure her presence would be a source of comfort. “She doesn’t hate you. With so much going on, and with new projects coming up, I’m going to be too distracted over the next few days to focus on anything or anyone except Lavinia.”
“Lavinia this, Lavinia that … Sorry about what happened. Let me know if you want me back earlier. If not, I’ll see you in a week.”
Uday’s head throbbed. “Alright, then. I’ll call you tomorrow evening.” Uday crawled under his sheets, hoping to get some sleep before going over to Sayana’s for dinner, and, more importantly, a discussion, in complete privacy.
There was a knock on the door. Uday was not quite asleep, his mind still racing.
“It’s us, Dad,” said Ashwin. “I dug up some info. Sayana’s with me.”
“Come in.” Uday drew the curtain aside and sat up in his bed.
Ashwin whizzed past Sayana and ran towards Uday, clutching his laptop. “I think I’ve made a breakthrough, Dad! With the information Sayana gave us this afternoon, I Googled Shaun Lin. Listen to this …” Ashwin switched on the television screen and plugged the cable into his laptop. His hands danced across the keyboard as page after page was pulled up.
“What’s all this? They look like random websites and conversations on forum pages,” said Sayana as he noticed Uday staring at the screen, frowning and squinting, trying to read some of the text which disappeared as Ashwin pulled up a new page.
“Here! Found it.” Ashwin stood behind the television screen and pointed to a specific line. “Says here, ‘Got chef name Shaun Lin work at Sin Hoe Hin. Use him two time oredi for private party. His food damn good leh.’”
Sayana cringed. “Atrocious English! I don’t care what they say, it’s not Singlish. Just bad English, plain and simple. Why can’t Singaporeans get their grammar basics right and spell words properly rather than how they pronounce it? Oredi for already? Seriously? Sheesh!”
Ashwin smirked as he replied, “I know! Must be hard for you, the pedantic English teacher at an elite school.”
“Focus! Let’s get back to this, please,” said Uday.
“I Googled the restaurant—Sin Hoe Hin. It looks like it’s very popular. Famous for … guess what? Suckling pig! And it’s at Clementi Street 10, which is very close to where Shaun lives. Apparently, on Mondays, when the restaurant is closed, Shaun freelances as a private chef. He charges three hundred an evening for dinner. That’s just to cook the meal. Taxi fares and all ingredients have to be paid for by the host. I scrolled down and went through three pages before someone had posted a number. It’s the one you have on Ah Huat’s phone. Voila! This chef, Shaun, is Lavi’s attacker!”
“So? How is it a breakthrough, Ashwin? I’m the one who got his address. Photos, too! How does your information help us any more than what we had before you decided to play P.I.?”
“Okay, Sayana, you’re the clever one. Everyone knows that. So, tell me, what exactly were you going to do with your information?”
“How do you know it’s the same Shaun Lin? There might be a few of them around. We don’t know for sure our guy, or girl, is a chef. The only connection you have now is the suckling pig. You get the wrong person and you’ll ruin us all!”
“I’m hundred percent sure he’s the one. I checked Google images and … look!” Ashwin pulled up a page with several images of a chef who looked like the boy-girl Sayana had photographed that morning. “That’s the same Shaun! Now we know more about him, it might be easier to get him. For someone so smart, Sayana, you should have thought about this earlier.”
“Please. My pictures aren’t clear enough for you to make a definitive identification.”
“Looks clear enough to me, especially when comparing your photos to the one I Googled. Can we just assume this is the same Shaun Lin? Only thing now is to establish if Shaun is a man or a woman.”
“I’m not the one who spends my time on rubbish sites like you do. Which site is this? eateatdrinkdrink.com? Even the name is so stupid! Must reflect the quality of the conversations there. No better than what’s on the screen.”
“There’s useful information on good places to eat, especially for hawker food. These people are really passionate about food. You’re just a snob, Sayana! Your loss.”
Uday stretched out his arms and waved them up and down, as if to quieten young children. “Boys, please. Stop arguing. We have a name and address. We have some photos. But who is he? Or she? Was it really Rohit who hired this creature to kill Lavi? If not, then who did? So many questions still to be answered.”
Ashwin sat next to his father. “I don’t know, Dad. I know you don’t believe Rohit was involved, but I do. I think as a start, I’ll call Shaun and book a private event with him—”
“I don’t want to wait till next Monday! Let’s try and get him earlier. Offer him more. How much do you think he makes a month? Two thousand dollars?”
“Yes, around that, from what I gathered on this forum. Someone said that as a private chef who has a gig every week, Shaun Lin can make more than half his salary in four days. We should offer him double.”
Sayana stood in front of Uday and Ashwin. He had his thumbs looped through his belt hoops. “Then what? He comes over and what do we do with him?”
“We force all the information out of him.”
Sayana laughed. “Oh, I see. Like he’s going to volunteer everything like people usually do, especially when they’ve committed a crime.”
“Of course not. We’ll threaten him with torture first, and then resort to actual torture if we must. We can have him over at my flat. I’ll ask Angela to come over here while we sort some things out. She’ll probably work late all this week anyway.”
“At what point does torture turn to murder? There are criminals who would much rather die than be a rat.”
Uday spoke. “It’s good that we have identified Lavi’s attacker. It’s good that we know where to find him. But we still need to find out who was behind this.”
He yawned. “I need a shower to wake up. Sayana, you really need to get some sleep as well. So do all of us. Let’s skip dinner at Sayana’s and have an early night. I’ll be in the office tomorrow morning. Ashwin, I’ll see you at the hospital at 2pm. Let’s think about this again tomorrow and discuss our options. For now, Lavi is safe. Shaun thinks she’s gone.”