by Amit Khan
“Oh…this is strange,” Tilak reacted. “Didn’t he leave a message? Maybe a note, a letter!”
“Nothing! That’s why we are worried.”
“Have you gone to the police?”
“Yes, we have reported it.”
“What do they say?”
“As usual. They say that they will look into it. They will inform us as soon as they find out anything.”
“If you need my help, let me know.”
“Sure, sir.”
“Whatever it is, do not hesitate to ask. Think of me as your brother, all right?”
“Yes, sir.”
The phone was hung up.
I smiled – the smile of Poison-Ivy. Tilak also smiled – the smile of a viper as he put the receiver down.
●
In the morning, there was news. It was on front page and it said how mysteriously the doctor had disappeared. There was mention of his car being found parked in front of his house.
Tilak and I read it completely.
It was nine o’clock. We entered the room with hot tea.
Tilak carried the newspaper. I put the tea on the table and removed the gag tied on his mouth. I also freed his one hand. Dr. Maalpani was looking haggard. Clearly, he had stayed awake all night – his second night in captivity.
“Have some tea,” I offered the cup to him.
“I don’t want it.”
“Drink it. You will not get anything till afternoon.”
“I said I don’t want it,” he snapped.
“Let me show you something. News in today’s paper,” Tilak said. “Maybe that will lift your spirits. Then you will feel like having tea.”
Tilak placed the paper in his lap and pointed out a piece of news.
Dr. Maalpani read it.
His face turned even paler.
“What do you say, doc?” Tilak pulled up a chair and sat across him. “They think you are missing and nobody has a clue regarding your whereabouts. According to your claim, we should have been in jail by now. Brinda’s murder should have been on front pages. Where is your partner? You said he was going to go to police within an hour. It’s been so many hours since your disappearance.”
Dr. Maalpani tried to moisten his dry lips with his tongue. He was nervous and could not speak.
“You are smart, doctor,” I said, “but you made a mistake. You considered yourself too smart. Your overconfidence led to your downfall.”
“Can I say something?” doctor hesitated.
“Yes.”
“If you two think that nobody else knows about your secret, then you are wrong. You are mistaken.”
“If there is someone then why did that person not contact the police? He should have followed your instruction and gone to cops after an hour.”
“That’s what I fail to understand,” he answered. “Maybe my partner changed plan about going to the police.”
Dr. Maalpani was clearly making it all up. He was just trying to fool us and bluff his way to freedom.
“What change in plan?”
“The only Partner knows…or God knows what’s going on!”
“Stop your nonsense doctor. Stop making up stories,” I shouted at him. “Truth is that your end is near. This heart beating in your chest is going to stop soon. So stop acting and have this tea.”
Dr. Maalpani did not drink the tea.
He was not in the frame of mind to drink the tea. He was a man about to die and he had realized it.
The report in the newspaper had also shaken him. His confidence and composure had abandoned him completely.
Now he was thinking of new stories to save himself.
I tied him up again and we came out after locking the room.
●
That night an incident happened.
An incident that created havoc in the penthouse.
It was around two or two-thirty. I don’t remember the correct time. I did not see the clock and the whole thing began so dramatically.
Tilak and I were in bed. We were sleeping.
I heard something and woke up. I sleep very lightly. The slightest of sound is enough to wake me up.
I strained my ears to listen carefully. The sound was coming from the hallway in the penthouse.
It was the sound of someone walking around in penthouse.
Who was that?
Who was roaming in the penthouse at that hour?
I concentrated hard. Yes, indeed there was someone.
I woke Tilak up. It was not easy. He was in deep sleep.
“What?” he opened eyes and startled.
“There is someone in the penthouse,” I said urgently.
That drove away his sleep.
“What…really?” he panicked and sprung up in bed.
“Listen carefully…in the hallway.”
He listened for a while then nodded, agreeing that there was someone.
“Shit! There is someone,” Tilak said. “But how did anyone break in the penthouse?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you close the main gate properly?”
“Yeah. I did. I had bolted it myself.”
Someone was walking towards their room softly.
“Who is it?” Tilak shrieked suddenly. “Who is out there?”
Immediately the sounds outside stopped. Everything turned silent.
Tilak took out his revolver from under the pillow. Ever since they had imprisoned Dr. Maalpani he kept this gun handy.
He wore his sleepers and moved away from the bed.
Then suddenly he broke into a run and opened the door. I followed him to the hallway.
“Who is it?” he was shouting again and again. “Show yourself.”
There was nothing but silence in response.
We had a feeling that there was someone not far from us. That person was not making any sound. It was like he was holding his breath.
I ran towards the main gate and checked it. It was locked and double-bolted. Just like I thought!
“What?”
“Surprising! The main gate is locked from inside.”
“Then how did anyone get in?”
“No clue.”
Tilak then ran towards the main door. He removed a key from his pocket and double locked the door using built-in-lock.
I looked at him questioningly.
“Whoever is inside penthouse now, should not escape.”
“Oh!”
●
There was an eerie silence in the hallway.
The penthouse was a huge place. Especially if you were searching an intruder. Various rooms were connected through zigzag passages. All smaller hallways finally joined the main hallway. In short, it was possible to reach anywhere in that penthouse easily.
Along with Tilak, I was walking through the hallway. We went ahead searching room by room. We turned twice.
“Who is there?” I shouted. It was necessary to be careful.
That could have been a thief. Who knew what weapon he was carrying!
Being scared continuously is a disturbing thing. It creates an uneasiness. And the only way to end it is ‘to find out’.
What if a killer had broken in?
Or was it someone else that we least expected?
We were moving ahead in anticipation of coming across the intruder when loud banging was heard behind us. It came from the main gate. Somebody was trying to force open main gate.
“The main gate,” Tilak shouted.
We turned and ran towards the gate. When we were running towards it, the noise stopped. We heard someone running.
The main gate was closed. Whoever that was had run away but he had left behind a clue.
In the chaos, his shoe was left behind.
I looked at it carefully.
“Do you recognize this, Tilak?” I asked.
“No,” Tilak answered after observing it.
“This belongs to Dr. Maalpani,” I said.
Tilak reacted as if the ground beneath his feet had
been pulled away.
“What the….?!”
“I am telling you. This is Dr. Maalpani’s shoe.”
“Dr. Maalpani!” Tilak wondered. “How the hell did he get out of that room?”
“That we will need to check.”
We ran towards that room where we had kept Dr. Maalpani.
The lock had not been broken open. A window was open. We opened the room and rushed in.
Dr. Maalpani was missing. The nylon rope that we tied him with was lying around the chair. The table in front of the chair was toppled over.
“Oh my god…that’s Dr. Maalpani.”
“He must have untied himself,” I said, “and escaped.”
“We must find him…right now.”
We came out of the room.
Tilak held on to his revolver. We were ready for any eventuality. The sheer size of the penthouse was a problem now. He could have been anywhere.
Searching every hallway, every room was the mammoth task before us.
Where was he hiding?
In the next one hour, we searched for him all over. Every room, every passage, and every balcony was searched but he had just disappeared!
“Strange!” Tilak exclaimed. “Where is he?”
“He is not far from us,” I whispered. “He is a shrewd man. In fact, he is watching us and accordingly changing his hiding place. Tell me something.”
“Hmm?”
“Is there any other exit to get out of penthouse apart from the main gate?”
“No. no other way.”
“Then he is not going anywhere.”
That’s when we heard it. A very soft sound!
“Listen carefully. He is walking again,” I said.
He was trying his best not to make noise. However, the protracted silence in the penthouse made it possible to hear even a faint sound.
We held our breath and listened carefully.
He was climbing stairs!
The same sound repeated for few moments and then a little harsh sound of metal hinges of the door creaking open reached our ears.
“On the roof!” Tilak almost screamed. “He is on the roof right now.”
We ran towards stairs that led to the roof. Our loud footsteps were followed by the sound of Dr. Maalpani running on the roof. He had realized that we were on to his trail and were closing in fast.
We hurried up the stairs and reached the roof.
●
Tilak firmly gripped his revolver.
The enemy could come in sight at any moment. We searched in various directions after reaching the roof. It looked deserted.
Nothing but silence. The huge tanks of water were standing on roof blocking a clear view.
“He must be behind one of those tanks,” I whispered.
“You are right.”
We slowly inched towards those tanks. We were trying to tiptoe so as not to make any sound. But the silence was so intense that even someone’s breathing could be heard.
“Doctor,” I reached closer to tanks and shouted. “We know that you are hiding behind tanks. It’s better that you walk out quietly. Do not make us shoot you like a dog.”
The doctor did not respond.
There was silence again.
We did not feel his presence. His breathing ought to have become heavy after so much commotion, yet we could not hear it. If he was there, he was standing holding his breath and controlling his heartbeats.
“Doctor,” Tilak changed direction and walked ahead to see if there was any movement from other angle. “Come out. This is your last chance.”
No answer!
Was he there at all? We wondered if he was hiding somewhere else watching us. We decided to take few more bold steps towards water tanks. We had moved ahead only two or three steps when Dr. Maalpani jumped out from a dark corner and pounced on us.
He moved with speed and screamed as he attacked us. We were stunned by his monstrous move. He was swinging a metal rod in hand and he brought it down on us. It hit me on my leg.
I shrieked with pain and stumbled back.
I lost my balance and fell down. My leg began throbbing with unbearable pain.
Tilak aimed and tried to shoot but Dr. Maalpani was too fast. He had gone crazy. After hitting me the rod swung in same motion in Tilak’s direction.
I heard Tilak’s scream.
He was hit on the shoulder.
Dr. Maalpani aimed again and hit Tilak once more.
“What…what were you thinking?” he barked like a psychotic killer. “You will trap me and kill me like Brinda? No…Now…By God… I am sending you two straight to hell.”
He was trembling with anger.
I looked at him and saw blood in his eyes. He was unstoppable now and killing was as easy as shouting for him.
I saw him gather strength and swinging the rod again towards Tilak.
Tilak somersaulted and escaped the blow.
The rod hit the roof noisily.
Dr. Maalpani then made his move. He ran towards stairs.
Tilak saw an opportunity and showed tremendous speed. He stood up, grabbed his revolver and aimed at the running doctor.
Dr. Maalpani was running towards stairs with the rod still in his hand.
“Stop right there,” Tilak warned, “or I will shoot.”
Dr. Maalpani turned once and looked back with horror-struck eyes.
“Don’t be crazy, doc,” Tilak shouted again. “Take a step more and you die.”
He did not stop. He was close to stairs and on the first step. He could not step on the second. Tilak aimed and fired.
The doctor lost his balance and howled with pain. It was a scream that could only come out of an animal while being slaughtered. There was the sound of footsteps going downstairs and then we heard a tumble. He must have slid down rest of the steps.
We ran towards stairs and looked from the top. Dr. Maalpani was sprawled on the last step with his hands and legs spread in an awkward manner. He was not moving at all. There was a bullet wound on the neck. Blood was bubbling out of it. With a closer view, we saw his eyes that had remained wide open. I watched closely. Tilak was behind me.
“What?” Tilak looked at me. “Is he dead?”
“Yeah. He is dead.”
“My God!”
Our minds were engulfed with terror.
●
I was sitting on a step not far from the dead body. I was in a state of trance.
Third murder for money.
Third!
“This should not have happened,” I spoke in a hypnotized manner.
“Why?” Tilak put his revolver in the pocket and sat down beside me. “We were going to kill him anyway.”
“Yes, …we were,” I said, “but not here in the penthouse. That was the plan. We were going to take him away. First, we would have put on some make-up on his face to make him look normal. We could have told him that we are freeing him. Then in some deserted spot, we could have killed him. That’s what I had told you. Now here he is! Dead inside the penthouse! Do you realize what a big problem we have on our hands?”
“What problem?”
“Just think Tilak,” I said. “How are we going to get rid of this body?”
Tilak gave it a thought.
“To take the body out, we will have to take it downstairs first,” I continued, “and we have to carry it in such a way that nobody notices it. Is that possible? Even if we travel few floors down, we will be noticed. “
“That’s true.”
“Then how do we do it?”
Tilak had no fresh ideas and neither did I.
It was a weird situation and our minds were tired of solving problems.
“But we have to find a way out,” Tilak rubbed his forehead.
“That we have to, Tilak,” I agreed. “Or we are screwed.”
●
After some time, we dragged the doctor’s dead body to the same room where he was imprisoned.
Then there was clea
ning work. We cleaned all the stairs till they looked sparkling clean.
The murder mess was cleaned now all that remained was a dead body.
We locked the room where it was kept and sat in drawing hall of the penthouse.
I remember it very well. It was dark outside. I had prepared coffee. Our minds needed some relaxation and energy. We wanted to think of a plan to age tried of the dead body without detection.
Once we sat down in a relaxed manner, both of us felt pain where Dr. Maalpani had hit us with the rod.
He was relentless in his effort and had put in a lot of power in it.
I was also feeling throbbing in my head.
We sipped coffee for some time.
“Here’s an idea,” Tilak spoke after a long time.
“What?”
“What if we cut his body into smaller pieces?” Tilak wondered as he spoke. “Our work will be easier. We can pack them up, go out and throw them. Nobody will see us moving a dead body.”
“No way! Pieces of the body,” I shivered at the thought. “I can’t do a hideous thing like that.”
“We don’t have any other option,” Tilak said.
●
In the end, we had to cut Dr. Maalpani into much smaller ‘Dr. Maalpani’s. Because even after brainstorming, we could not think of anything better and easier.
Indeed that was the only solution.
Tilak brought a long knife. A very long and sharp knife! We both indulged in a cutting frenzy. It was horrible and we had to make ourselves stronger for that.
First, we cut his legs and separated them.
Cutting his head was an easier task.
Then it was the turn of his hands.
Now Dr. Maalpani’s dead body was a smaller problem than before.
Three huge Suitcases were needed. We distributed his body parts in those three bags and locked them. Early morning as soon as there was some light, we took them down and drove to a deserted place. We made the suitcases heavier by putting in large stones and then threw them in the sea.
Now Dr. Maalpani was gone forever. Nobody was going to hear about him anymore.
●
17
Life comes Full Circle
After these events, I thought that the clouds of trouble had left and the Sun of Tilak’s wealth would shine on me forever.
All his wealth was mine.
There were no hurdles.
Brinda was gone, Kartar Singh was dead, and now the dangerous doctor too had left this world. Every murder had been almost flawless and there were no ghosts of past to haunt me.