‘What did Doc have to say about the time of death?’ Agni asked Arya.
‘Between two and four, Agni. We may know better after the autopsy.’
‘I’d like to take a look inside his flat.’
Agni got into the elevator that took him to Mayank’s flat in the topmost floor, now teeming with photographers and forensic experts.
The main door opened to a hall. A sofa set was spread out around a low table. There were a few fashion magazines on the table. There was a television on the wall facing the sofa. On the other wall, there was a picture of Mayank, smiling radiantly, like Agni had never seen him smile when he was alive. Those were the fake smiles hurting souls like Mayank sold to earn their daily bread.
At the other end of the room, there was a dining table and a refrigerator. There was a bone china plate with a few peanuts and a bottle of whisky that was almost empty.
At the far end of the hall, there was a door that opened to the bedroom. Agni walked through the door. There were pictures of Mayank all over the walls in various moods and poses, and with more famous celebrities in some of the pictures. The bed had not been slept on.
The door to a small balcony adjoining the bedroom was open.
As Agni stood in the balcony looking down at the body on the roof of the car below, he wondered what had been going through Mayank’s mind when he had stood on the same spot a few hours back, before he had thrown himself over the edge.
He kept looking intently at where Mayank’s body had landed. And then, something struck him.
He took a step back from the edge of the balcony. He then walked back to the edge and looked down again. He made a few mental calculations.
Agni walked back into the apartment. The forensic experts had already cleared out the dining table, taking the plate and the bottle of whisky in their possession.
When Arya walked into the apartment after a while, he saw Agni frantically pacing around. Agni was moving in and out of the rooms, opening cupboards, looking into shelves and pulling out drawers. He finally started crawling on the floor in all fours, peeping under beds, sofas and tables.
‘Agni, what do you think you are doing?’ Arya did not try to conceal his surprise, bordering on amusement, at Agni’s incomprehensible behaviour.
Agni stood up, looking very worried. ‘Arya, I want our experts to verify this. But, as per my calculations, if Mayank jumped from that balcony, he would have landed several yards short of that car,’ he declared, without bothering to answer Arya’s question.
‘What are you suggesting?’ Arya asked, as his eyes narrowed.
‘I have a feeling Mayank did not jump from the balcony. Someone pushed him down.’
Chapter 36
There was silence inside the room, as both men tried to weigh the implications of what Agni had just suggested. Arya rubbed his neck. What had looked like a simple case of suicide just a while back, had suddenly taken an unexpected turn.
Agni spoke again.
‘And Arya, you asked me what I was looking for. Can you imagine someone in this day and age not using a mobile phone? Or, a computer, for that matter?’
‘Of course not, Agni! What are you now getting at?’ Arya looked confused.
‘There isn’t a single mobile phone in this apartment. I know there isn’t any with Mayank either, as that’s one of the things I checked at the outset!’ Agni’s finger pointed downward. ‘And no laptop or tablet either. Don’t you find that incredible?’
‘Well...it does look odd...’ Arya muttered.
‘It sure is odd!’ Agni exclaimed, ‘And the only explanation can be that, there was someone in this apartment who removed everything!’
A chill went down Arya’s spine. ‘And why would anyone do that, leaving out all the other valuables?’ he asked, looking around the apartment.
‘Consider this, Arya. What would someone have in mobile phones or in a laptop or in a tablet that one might want to hide from the world? I am thinking messages, pictures, favourite websites, documents.’ Agni explained, as he paced up and down the living room.
He turned towards Arya and said, ‘Arya, it won’t be difficult to find Mayank’s mobile phone number. We need to check call logs. I know Mayank was with Rituja last evening. I need to know who else our Kapoor boy has been talking to lately.’
Agni looked at the dull grey sky outside. He said, ‘Mayank Kapoor wasn’t alone when he died. I would like to talk to his neighbour next door.’
Chapter 37
When Agni knocked on the door of ‘P. K. Samaddar’, as the nameplate proclaimed, it was opened by a frail emaciated man with glazed eyes and very little white hair. He looked clearly dismayed at the general commotion around him.
‘Yes?’ he asked.
‘I am ACP Agni Mitra and this is my colleague Inspector Arya Sen. We wanted to ask you a few questions, Mr....‘
‘Samaddar, Pradip Kumar Samaddar,’ the man announced. ‘And I always knew the lout will bring the police to my door some day!’ Agni was taken aback at the rather blasphemous reference to the dead.
‘Please come inside,’ Mr. Samaddar told the two policemen and walked into his flat with a slight limp. Agni and Arya followed him to the sparsely furnished living room.
Agni came straight to the point.
‘Where were you last night, Mr. Samaddar?’
Mr. Samaddar’s eyes narrowed. ‘What? Am I a suspect? Just because I live next door?’ He almost shouted.
‘Not yet. But, being the next door neighbour of the deceased, you might have valuable information if you were home last night.’ Agni explained.
‘Of course I was home! I don’t spend my nights outside drinking with loose men and women like these guys do!’ He pointed in the direction of Mayank’s flat. His indignation with Mayank Kapoor’s lifestyle was evident.
‘Let’s not get personal here, Mr. Samaddar. So, I understand you were home last night.’
‘Yes, I was,’ Mr. Samaddar replied. The sternness in Agni’s voice had somewhat mellowed him down.
‘Did you see or hear anything unusual?’ Agni asked.
‘Unusual? Unusual? There was nothing usual about that man!’ Mr. Samaddar’s fury had been rekindled by Agni’s question. ‘He came in late every night. Drunk, on most nights. And his friends! Loud, boisterous, outrageously dressed! He played his music loud late into the night! A number of residents signed a petition against him and submitted to me a few weeks back. Well, just so you know, I am the chairman of the cooperative. That guy was an antisocial element!’
‘I understand. Now, about last night...‘
‘He came home drunk as usual. I heard sounds and looked through the peep-hole. He was fumbling for the key, as usual. Shut his door with a bang. And then, for quite some time, there was no sound from his flat. Coming to think of it, he was rather quiet last night! No loud music, no maniacal laughter on the phone. I went to bed and fell asleep.’ Mr. Samaddar stopped speaking momentarily, and then continued, ‘And then, I was suddenly awakened. I heard loud voices in his flat. It seemed he was shouting at someone.’
‘What time was it?’
‘It was around half past two.’
‘How can you be so sure about the time?’
‘I have an alarm clock on the bedside table. I get up at six every morning for my morning walk.’
‘Did you hear anyone else in his flat? You said it had seemed to you that Mayank had been talking to someone.’
‘No. I could only hear Mayank shouting! For all you know, he might have been speaking on the phone.’
‘Could you make out what he was saying?’
‘No...my hearing is not at its best these days, I’m afraid.’
‘I do understand,’ Agni paused to think and then asked, ‘Did you hear the crash when Mayank fell down?’
‘I did...I was awake...I did.’
‘What did you do when you heard the crash?’
‘I went to the balcony immediately. I saw him...’ Mr. Samaddar closed h
is eyes. ‘What a ghastly sight!’ he shivered. He paused briefly, trying to regain his composure, and then continued, ‘The security guard from the night shift was there too. He was screaming. The lights had come on in a number of flats. People had heard the crash and had come out in their balconies.’
‘What did you do next?’
‘I came back inside and rushed out of my flat. I looked at Mayank’s flat. The door was closed. Just as I had seen it last. Then I went down.’
‘Who did you see when you went down?’
‘Apparently, I was the first one to have gone down. The security guard was there, of course. We were joined before long by a number of the other residents.’
‘Who informed the police?’
‘I did.’
‘Did you hear anyone inside Mayank’s flat after the crash? Did you hear anyone leaving?’
‘No. I didn’t hear anyone inside his flat after the crash.’
Mr. Samaddar thought for a while and said, ‘Do you think there was someone else in his flat last night? Your questions seem to be suggesting that possibility. Well...even if there was someone inside the flat, the person might have left when I was in the balcony. I was too shocked to register anything. Also, if someone left Mayank’s flat without making a lot of noise, the sound would not reach my bedroom balcony.’
‘Do you stay alone here, Mr. Samaddar?’
‘Yes. My son is in the United States. Wife passed away last year. Heart attack...’
‘That would be all, Mr. Samaddar. Sorry for the trouble....’
‘That’s alright, ACP. I’d be happy if I can be of any help.’ It seemed that, the importance of the recently concluded interview had finally dawned on Mr. Samaddar. Agni thanked him and walked out. Arya had finished taking notes and he joined Agni. Agni’s head was lowered, his brows wrinkled. He looked engrossed in his thoughts. He suddenly stopped and walked back to Mr. Samaddar’s flat. He knocked on the door again.
Mr. Samaddar opened the door.
‘What is it now?’ he asked, not bothering to hide the irritation that rang loud in his voice.
‘Mr. Samaddar, there’s one more thing I need to ask you,’ Agni sounded almost apologetic. ‘How did you go down after you had heard the crash? Did you take the stairs, or, did you go down by the elevator?’
Mr. Samaddar kept looking at Agni for a few seconds, trying to gauge the significance of that question. ‘I took the elevator,’ he replied after some time.
‘When you pressed the button on the elevator, did it come up, or was it already on this floor?’ Agni asked.
Mr. Samaddar promptly replied, ‘It was on the ground floor. I remember I was frustrated as I was in a hurry. I pressed the button a couple of times. I couldn’t wait for the elevator, and almost thought of taking the stairs. But, my gout pain had got worse since last week.’
‘Thanks again for your time, Mr. Samaddar,’ said Agni.
As he made his way towards the elevator with Arya, Agni was lost in thought.
Chapter 38
The office of the security guard next to the entrance of Galaxy Apartments was small and stifling. One could enter Galaxy through a barred iron gate that opened to a garage. The garage led to a lobby area from where one could take an elevator to the floors above. The guard himself, Arjun, was seated on a stool, a register with records of visitors moving into and out of the apartment complex open before him on a table. There was a small ceiling fan that remained switched off during the winter months.
Agni stood outside the security post, accompanied by Arya, whose pen was poised on the notepad ready to take down notes. Agni noticed to his dismay that there was no CCTV surveillance in the complex.
‘How did you get on with Mayank Kapoor?’ Agni asked, ‘You probably saw a lot of him.’
‘Well, I would see Mayank Sir go in and out past my post,’ Arjun said. ‘He didn’t talk much. Maybe just a “Hello” if our eyes met. In any case, expecting someone to say “Please” if he has to request me for something, and to thank me when there is a reason to, is much more than what I expect from most people living in these flats.’ He made a sweeping gesture at the flats with his hand. ‘So his cold behaviour did not matter to us, especially when you consider the fact that he was a star,’ Arjun added.
Agni thought that was a rather flattering compliment for someone who had recently made the transition from television serials to low-budget Tollywood movies.
‘Longest chat we ever had was about the difficulties of staying away from home and missing home-cooked food. He was an immigrant in the city like myself, you know.’ Agni did not miss the tone of solidarity with the departed actor in Arjun’s voice.
‘Can you tell us what happened last night?’ Agni asked. ‘Mentioning the time wherever you can.’ For a fleeting few seconds, images of Mayank Kapoor leaving Tipple, drunk and agitated, flashed before Agni’s eyes. That must have been around ten-thirty last night.
‘Let me see,’ Arjun ran his fingers through his grubby long hair and then continued, ‘Mayank Sir came in around 11.15 pm. He was drunk and had been banging loudly on the gate. When I opened the gate, I saw that he had come by a taxi. I let him in and the taxi left.’
‘Do you remember the number of the taxi, by any chance?’
‘No, Sir. I hardly noticed,’ Arjun smiled sheepishly.
‘It’s alright. I understand,’ Agni reassured him.
‘Is the main gate locked at night?’ Agni asked next.
‘It is, Sir.’
‘And you have the key?’
‘I do. In fact, they all do, Sir—the residents. They can open the main gate with their keys, walk across the garage, and take the elevator to their flats. And if one has a visitor during the night, one has to call me for allowing entry.’ Agni noticed a telephone set inside the security post.
‘So, why did you have to let him in last night? I’m assuming Mayank Kapoor had his own key to the main gate.’
‘He did—I don’t know about last night, though. Also, he was drunk. He kept banging on the gate.’
‘You didn’t ask him why he hadn’t used his own key?’
‘No, Sir. He was drunk and looked pissed off for some reason. I dared not...’
‘What happened next?’
‘He walked across the garage to the lobby, and I saw him get into the elevator. I went back to my post.’
‘And you were here all the time?’
‘Yes—barring the few times I had to use the bathroom. They were urgent calls, you know. My tummy is not doing too well. With all these street food...‘
Agni did not let him finish. He had no patience to lend his ear to the dietary hardships of immigrants in Kolkata. He asked, ‘Is the post usually empty when you have to use the bathroom?’
‘It is...during the nights, Sir...I’m the only one on duty at that time,’ Arjun looked uncomfortable as the potential implications of a vacant security post at any time during the night dawned on him.
‘Where is the bathroom?’ Agni looked around.
‘It’s on the other side of the garage, Sir.’
‘Which means, while you are in the bathroom, someone with a key to the lock on the main gate can get inside and you won’t notice.’
Arjun nodded in concurrence. Agni and Arya exchanged glances.
‘How did you find out that Mayank Kapoor was dead? What time was it?’
‘Around three o’ clock, I was here in the security office, when I heard a loud noise at the backyard! I could hear glass shattering. I ran to the rear of the building. A few cars are parked these days in the backyard. This garage is running out of space.’ Arjun paused for a moment and then continued, ‘And then, I saw him on the roof of one of the cars. The windshield of the car was shattered. I could tell he was dead. There was blood on the roof of the car. His neck was broken, turned oddly to a side.’ Arjun shivered as he remembered the gory sight. ‘For a few minutes, I couldn’t react. I didn’t know what I should do. I then walked up to the car. One of hi
s arms hung over the edge. I checked for his pulse, just to be sure, with my eyes turned away from him. I couldn’t bring myself to look at his face. He was dead. I started screaming. When I looked up, I saw a number of the residents in their balconies. The sound had woken them up. Mr. Pradip Samaddar was there too. Have you met him? He is the chairman of the cooperative and lives next door to Mayank Sir’s flat...’
‘Yes, we’ve met him. What did you do next?’
‘Mr. Samaddar came down. He was followed by some of the other residents. The lights had come on inside most of the flats. Mr. Samaddar informed the police. After a while, the police arrived.’
‘What happened then?’
‘The siren of the police car had woken up people in the neighbourhood. There were faces in the windows of the adjacent buildings. One of the cops stayed with Mayank Sir. I picked up the master key and went up with the other one. We unlocked the door of his flat. We looked into every room. His flat was empty. The door to the bedroom balcony was open. We realised he had jumped from there. More cops turned up after some time. More people came down. Some of them started taking pictures on their phones—I couldn’t believe my eyes! I thought that was rather insensitive. Don’t you think so? People from the neighbouring apartments also started coming out. Word had got around and soon there were random people all over the place. The cops had a tough time managing the crowd.’
Arjun paused and took a sip from a glass of water on the table. They had been joined by the guard from the day shift. He introduced himself as Mohan.
Agni looked at the register. ‘Looks like you maintain a log of people going into and out of the complex.’
‘Yes, Sir. Everyone needs to sign in and out.’
‘Do you remember who visited Mayank Kapoor yesterday?’ He picked up the register and started going through the logs.
The Colours of Passion Page 11