by Vasu Velamur
“For the first time, something that matches the situation” a relieved Kalpana. “Vaidehi headed to the reception while the girl tip-toed but still inside the work premises. At that moment the security guard came and asked Vaidehi for her ID card and what she wanted. She replied she wanted to talk to her friend who stood there. The guard asks for her name and she would inform her. Vaidehi was also stuck for words and her mind did not work”
“Did she get caught for trespassing and is that the problem now?”
“Vashist, your question for the next 2 minutes is over” she continued “answer to your question is no. She had to sit near the sofa and wait. Looking at this, the girl came to the edge of the reception area and peeped out, looking for Vaidehi. She finds her seated on the sofa with Abhijit and then signals what do you want. Vaidehi signaled to her badge for her name. The girl looked around and then located a red heart-shaped cardboard decoration. She then touched the object to her eyes. Vaidehi nods and then she asks by lifting her hands over her head who her father was. The girl this time bites the heart-shaped object with her teeth. Finally, Vaidehi signaled something like a hut to the girl and she signaled back by touching objects to her ears. Both of them smiled, and the girl went back to the office and Vaidehi signaled to Abhijit to leave”
“What the hell are they playing dumb charades here. I cannot understand a word here, I’m confused”
“Yes, Abhijit also felt the same reaction and was wondering what they exchanged. She would not tell him until they reached outside the office and got something to eat. So they go to a nearby restaurant and order something to eat. Now Abhijit conceded defeat and was clueless about it and demanded answers immediately.”
“So do I”
“For a few minutes, think and let me know your answers”
Vindhya raised both her hands and then folded them like a Namaskar which signaled her out of the quiz. Ranga thought for a while, but was not yet ready to surrender. Vashist pondered what it was. A couple of minutes passed and the guys also gave up with reluctance.
“OK, here is what Vaidehi said about the conversation. When she pointed out to her badge for the name, the girl touched her eyes with a heart-shaped object, which meant her name is Priyadharshini”
“Wow, what a deduction. I did not expect this”
“Next she bites the object with her teeth. This meant her father was a dentist from the Dantavaadi sect. Now for the last one where she touched the object to her ear, which meant that she was from the Karnataka area. Now Abhijit, spellbound and awed by this exchange, still had a small doubt. So he asked again, are you doing a wild guess or you are in total control? To test my answers, we will go again after lunch. This time you enquire about the security with the same information and she will come out. Watch it. She was so sure that there is no evidence of any doubt in her eyes or the mind.”
“Elementary, my dear Vashist” Vindhya hugged Kalpana and irritated him at the same time. “So what happens then?”
“As agreed, Abhijit walked into the office. He then enquired to the receptionist to call Priyadharshini and he would like to meet her. The receptionist asked whom I should say was calling, and he revealed his name as Vinod. She dialed into the intercom and then found that the girl was not reachable and asked him to wait. So Abhijit waited for 5 minutes and then wrote a message on a post-it note and left. He got his answers for what he looked for. He returned to the hotel and prepares for his interview while she watched TV”
Ranga with a surprised look on his face “Ooh, Vaidehi watched TV, that’s news to me”.
“After 10 minutes of rest, Vaidehi asked Abhijit what he wrote in that note to Priyadharshini. He first said that it was personal and he will not reveal it and then teased her. He asked her if she was not so curious, what is the reason for asking it. After around 10 minutes of playful time, he said that he had written that he will be back at 3:30 PM. Vinod. Silence followed for the next 10 minutes. Then Abhijit jumped out of the sofa and asked Vaidehi how to find where the girl lived?”
“Quiet, easy, ask her in the evening” said Vashist
“Hmm, two strangers ask for your address and you will give it. Shows that you have never talked to a stranger. Have you?”
“Me, no way. If I need it, I will ask for the information to Vin and she will do it for me”
“Very intelligent boy” cracked her knuckles on the sides of her head and continued. “It’s time for Vaidehi to play with him for some time. She said she had an idea but would not tell him till they reached the office. There was absolute silence until they reached the office. As soon as they got out of the auto, Abhijit asked her how do you plan to get her address. Can you guess Vashist?”
“No idea Kalpana as of now, please proceed”
“She told him that remember that a maid cleaned their hotel room. Abhijit said yes, since he had tipped her with Rs.20 in the morning for the luggage delivery. He asked what has that got to do with that Vaidehi replied she works here in the afternoon shift and works at the hotel in the morning shift. I saw her when I went into the bathroom and now have connected the dots. When you were busy, I went down and met her and have asked her to get an appointment on when we can meet her and where. Abhijit yet again got surprised by her shrewdness and sharp observation skills.”
“I had something like this in my mind then, but not so accurate”
“Haha,” Kalapana smiled and looked at her watch “Let us not stop too often from here and finish it. I have an early morning status meeting today.”
Ranga was also aware of the timer and urged Vashist to keep quiet “Kalpana, I agree with you. Please get the story done as fast as possible”
“No worries, we are three-fourths done as of now” Kalpana calmed Ranga and restarted the story. “They reached the office, and Abhijit went inside while Vaidehi waited on the sofa. She waited for the maid and, as promised, she came out at 4:15. Vaidehi told her to convey that a person named Vinod wanted to talk with her. Please get me the information about when and where they should meet. The maid was a little afraid, but Vaidehi said it’s not so serious. She will know that we have only called her. Let me know what the reply is when you come to the hotel tomorrow. Now Vaidehi’s job was done, and the maid left after her duty, which finished at 4:30. Abhijit came out all smiles, which meant that he had a good interview and they had tiffin and left for the hotel”
“I have a question” Vashist raised his hands and the entire group laughed. He looked like an eight-standard student ready to answer a social studies question.
“What is it this time?”
“Why did Vaidehi tell the maid to get the information the next morning and not get it immediately?”
“They could have but the maid had told them that on Friday’s the girl had a long meeting from 2 PM till 5 PM. Hence it was not possible to see her.”
“Hmm, this meeting culture had started a long time back” Vashist smiled “please carry on”
“The tour was to stay only till Saturday when the interview got over. Abhijit returns to Madras via Bangalore mail and Vaidehi returns to Hampi. But that did not happen”
“This I guessed, Romance 2.0 starts”
“What is that? 2.0”
Vindhya pulled Vashist down and closed his mouth “That’s nothing Kalpana, you please carry on. We have timing issues here”
“I too have to leave as soon as you give me the answer” Kalpana looked at her watch “and we have to get the breakfast done too. They got up early the next day and freshened up and ordered the tiffin inside the room itself. While they were halfway done with it, the doorbell rang and the maid was there standing and confused”
“Why the confusion? All she has to do is to relay the information back to them”. Ranga slapped him on the head to stop his interruptions. Vashist apologized with his finger on his lips.
“You see when Vaidehi went to the door and asked her what did the girl reply. The maid reached out to her money purse and pulled out a small post-it not
e and gave it to her, and rushed to the stairway. Vaidehi did not understand, but she closed the door and came in. Abhijit was anxious and asked her what the message was. Vaidehi pulled out the post-it note and showed it to him. It had nothing, but a circle made of sandal paste and had a dark blue impression of 5 fingers over it. I have some time. Do you know what it means?”
“I know the 5 fingers, it means either 5 days or the 5th or 5 hours from now, but what is that Sandal paste and circle mean?”
“They had the same doubt, but then it was Vaidehi who again solved the mystery. She said that the girl requested Vinod to meet her this coming Panchami. Abhijit wondered what Panchami was. Vaidehi said that it was the 5th day from the Full/No moon or Poornami/Ammavasi. So what does that mean, today is Poornami and so she has asked us to meet her on the coming Wednesday”
The story went ahead fast and so Ranga was keen since the problem was now in sight. Something had to happen with the girl and he hoped that there would not be any connection with his aunt. So with something cleared out in his mind, for the first time in the morning Ranga was back to his old ways of thinking. He was about to open his mouth when they heard a big sound. Something had blown and there was a voice of a woman in some crisis. They were all petrified and ran towards the ground floor.
∞∞∞
Chapter-19
The Last Two Minutes
Friday 06:49 AM
The group came out in a hurry and Ranga pulled himself behind and also stopped Vashist from running. He signaled to Vindhya to go with Kalpana and they would wait there to see if everything was OK.
“Why can’t we go?” whispered Vashist into Ranga’s ears
“Let them go. There are women inside the room. Let them call us for help and we will go”
“Fine, in the meantime, let us look at the device and see what’s in store for us?”
“Yeah correct, it’s a long time since we looked into it this time” Ranga went inside and picked up the device, and sat on the bed. Vashist followed, and they both stared at the device and all they sighted was a blurry picture of Kalpana. The timer was down to 40 minutes. Panic set into them whether they could complete the adventure and get out of this web of puzzles.
“Do you think we have enough time to crack this puzzle with this sudden interruption?”
“I like to. There is no option for it. The life of my aunt depends on it. I do not want to ruin it” a worried Ranga looked at Vashist. “Please let us have more time to solve than understand the story”
“Sure, I will not interrupt unless it is necessary” Vashist calmed Ranga down. “Now can I see what happened downstairs”
‘Sure, go while I look at what is this blurry picture means”
Vashist got up and had gone till the door when he heard Vindhya shout, “Guys, stay there. We are coming up. Nothing serious happened here”. Kalpana and Vindhya climbed the stairs, and both their faces were calm and composed.
“What happened” a curious Vashist
“Nothing, the Idli cooker was out of water and burst since her mother was in the bathroom”
“Did she not put the gas in the sim?”
“She did. She has over 60 years of experience, buddy. Let’s get on with our problem”
“Are you sure everything is ok?”
“Yes, Vashist,” Kalpana pointed them to get inside the room, “let us continue from where we left”
“It was something about meeting her on Wednesday, the Panchami”
“Ooh, we have come till there, then it’s hardly a few more events before the story ends” Kalpana sat on the ground. “Since Vaidehi could only understand the girl’s sign language, Abhijit requested her to stay. If she could stay till Wednesday and sort out the thing. She was not comfortable and said that she has to return to school as they have some exams. Yet, she said that she will help them via the hostel phone daily. So they went to the interview in the afternoon, finished it and then went shopping. They ended the day with dinner and both returned to their homes.”
Kalpana went for the water bottle and had a few sips of water to clear her throat. “Nothing happened till Wednesday when Vinod received a message. It was a sketch of a house and a clock, meaning where they should meet and at what time to the maid. She went inside the office and came back with another note in her hand. The note had nothing except an arch and a clock depicting 9’o’clock with the hour hand showing an arrow. Nothing made sense for Vinod and so he immediately called Abhijit, who called Vaidehi in the night. Now Vaidehi thought for a few seconds and updated him. She understood what it was. The girl wants to meet him tomorrow at 9 PM near the west gate of Lalbagh garden.”
“How did she get it?”
“On her way to the station, she went via Lalbagh and saw an arch at the west gate entrance. The second-hand arrow showed the west direction and 9 was not in the morning but night after work. She was becoming adept at deciphering these cryptic messages”
“Ah, now I know from where Ranga gets his skills. Now you carry on Kalpana”
“So Vinod went there at 9 PM and met Priyadharshini and they spent a long time there and got back very late to her house. The next afternoon Vinod calls up Abhijit and tells him he is not in the mood to live. Abhijit asked if he met her and he said yes, they talked for over 4 hours that day. Then Abhijit enquired what was the problem now?”
“I guess Vinod felt she did not like him. He gets a doubt like that”
“No, please listen with care. Priyadharshini had told Vinod that she liked him a lot, but there was a big complication. Her father had fixed up her engagement with his friend’s son. He was in the US practicing neurosurgery in Chicago. She does not want to go to the US but her family pressured her to move there. So she said if he can come up with some idea to stop the wedding, then she said they can make this relationship work”
“Now I get it. Abhijit calls Vaidehi for help and she comes up with a master plan. Right?”
“Yes, but can you guess what the plan is?”
“No Kalpana, start it and let me see if I can figure it out”. Ranga was grinding his teeth and hinted at Vashist to look at the timer. It came very close. He wanted more time to deduce the answer this time than the other adventures. Vashist actions didn’t align with that. Vashist then nodded and confirmed that he would take care. “Please fast Kalpana, I cannot tolerate this suspense”.
“That same evening, Abhijit called Vaidehi and narrated what happened so far. Then Vaidehi said that she needed time to come up with a plan. So told Abhijit to call her during lunch tomorrow at her school number. She would reveal the plan and what to do. The next day, as requested, Abhijit called her during lunchtime. She described the complete plan. What Vashist, do you know the plan?”
“Let me take a wild guess. She tells Vinod to run away to Hampi, get married. After some time go back and confess to the entire family about the marriage and fight them”
“You are talking like a Tamil movie story writer. Vaidehi is a much smarter woman, is it not?”
“Yes Kalpana, I cannot think of anything now but please proceed”
“OK, here is the plan” she reached out for the water bottle for a few sips. Then continued, “Priyadharshini should bring all the jewels from the bank locker. Hand them over to Vinod that same night. Then Vinod will keep it for a few days and then visit a jewelry shop for an exchange. There he needs to act a little nervous and create doubt in the shop owner so that he calls the police.”
“What, Vinod will get caught. A stupid plan”
“Listen Vashist, it’s not complete yet. Abhijit also had the same question. He asked why should he get caught? To which she said when the police come and ask him where did he get these jewels, ask Vinod to tell my name. I will handle the rest”
“What, I am confused” Vashist scratched his head, and Ranga was dumbstruck at the situation. Why would his aunt get caught in this drama and how is it going to help them? They were all eager to wait for the finale.
“Don’
t get confused. Listen to what happened. She also instructs Vinod to perform this action. He has to give a movie ticket stub and some sleeping pills to Priyadharshini and ask her to keep them in her handbag. Also, she asks Vinod to collect her Infosys ID card from her and bring it back with him. Abhijit now enquired why all this. She says don’t worry, this will get the marriage stopped. They both can start their relationship from here.”
‘It’s getting crazier than I thought. Please Kalpana, tell us what happened?”
“It was crazy for me too, so I asked her about the plan. Here is what she said was the master plan. Priyadharshini’s father had chosen Wednesday as the day to get all their jewels for the function. So Vaidehi told them to go to the bank on Tuesday itself and clear the locker and pass on those jewels to Vinod. She asked Priyadharshini to send one of her friends to the bank with Vinod and complete the task. Vinod kept the baggage till Saturday. That morning, he goes to the same jewelry shop from where they bought these items and asks for an exchange. When they are checking it, Vinod will have to act a little weird like his hands shake a bit and also sweet a little. So that some doubt arises with the shop assistant. Since the tags are all with the same shop, the assistant comes to know that it robbed materials and Vinod is a fake. They then call the police.”
“Wow, cannot be more criminal than this”
“The police come immediately and question Vinod. He reveals he is a messenger and Vaidehi is the actual person who is the mastermind. So Police contact Vaidehi who narrates a story to the police”
“What story now?”
“Patience, my dear Vashist. Vaidehi would tell that she saw this girl next to the movie theater on that day and looked a lot depressed. While she asked her why she was outside late at night, she dropped the bag and ran. To stop her, she caught hold of her shoulders, when the dress tore off and she slipped and fell to the ground. Before she could help, the girl got up and ran away, and Vaidehi picked up the baggage. When she looked at her hands, she realized she was holding a part of her dress and an Infosys ID card. Vaidehi then claimed that she went to Infosys for 2 days consecutive to locate this girl, but could not. She used the same hotel maid as an alibi to this story. If the girl was unidentified and no one claimed the bag, she said let’s use it for her financial needs. What is wrong, she got this bag not by stealing. So it is not an illegal act. The police now go to the doctor’s house and match the torn dress. Also, they search the handbag and find the movie stub which corroborated the story”