‘Sir was out in the morning. He returned in the afternoon with his friend.’ Agni sensed a slight hesitation in Arjun’s voice. ‘Then he went out with her in the evening.’
‘Do you know this friend?’ Agni probed.
‘Well, yes...she visited him a number of times in the last couple of months. Rituja Bose...you know, the famous actress.’
Chapter 39
Agni looked at Arya. His brows were wrinkled.
After a few minutes, he looked up from the register and said, ‘There are a number of entries here without “Out” times. How do you explain that?’
Arjun and Mohan looked at each other and then lowered their heads.
‘I am assuming the main gate is not locked during the daytime,’ Agni commented next.
‘Uh...yes, Sir,’ Mohan concurred.
‘So, it’s perfectly possible for someone to slip out unnoticed during the day, which probably explains the missing “Out” times,’ Agni shook his head disapprovingly. ‘Also, on a number of days, I see big gaps in time between consecutive entries. It is very unlikely that none of the apartments here would have any visitor for such lengths of time! Anything I’m missing here?’
‘Well, sometimes, we don’t ask regular visitors to log...you know, ones we know. One more thing,’ there was hesitation in Arjun’s voice as he continued, ‘some of the residents have special friends who come and go at odd hours. They usually have duplicate keys to the lock on the main gate.’
Agni threw his hands up in despair.
‘So who were these regular visitors of Mayank Kapoor who are exempted from signing on the register?’
The guards realised that, they had already given out a lot more than they should have. They were not sure if their jobs were safe anymore, thanks to the detective.
‘His heroines mostly...and then, some of his guy friends,’ the guards decided to opt for the safe refuge of ignorance.
‘You said Rituja Bose was a regular for the last couple of months,’ Agni looked into Arjun’s eyes.
‘Yes...she was...we know her...’
Agni picked up the register and handed it over to Arya.
‘I want you to make a list of everyone who visited Mayank in the last three months. I want to find out who his regular visitors were.’
Agni turned to Arjun and asked, ‘Do you remember seeing anyone get out of the elevator before you went to the rear of the building on hearing the crash?’
‘No one, Sir...at least not when I was in the post. The last I had seen anyone use the elevator was Mayank Sir going up,’ Arjun confirmed.
‘That would be all for now,’ Agni finally let the two guards go.
When they came out of the complex, Agni turned towards Arya.
‘If Mayank Kapoor was the last person to use the elevator that night before Mr. Samaddar came down, the elevator car could not have been at the ground floor.’
Arya’s jaw dropped as the realisation dawned on him.
Agni continued, ‘Which means, someone last night had come down by that elevator before Mr. Samaddar came down. Most probably, the murderer sneaked out when Mr. Samaddar was in his bedroom balcony and Arjun had left his post to reach the backyard after hearing the crash.’
Chapter 40
When Agni was ushered into the first floor sitting area by one of Rituja’s personal attendants, memories came flooding back to him and he could not shake off the uneasiness that had crept inside him the moment he had stepped into the same bungalow after more than a decade.
Rituja stepped out of her bedroom in a gown, her hair tied back neatly. It did not look like she had slept well.
‘Good morning, Agni,’ she said as she took a seat, pushing herself back on the sofa and crossing her legs. ‘I’m afraid we’ll have to keep this really short. I’m not too well.’
‘This won’t take too long, Ms. Bose,’ Agni said reassuringly.
An attendant placed a tall glass of orange juice on the table in front of Rituja.
‘This is about Mayank,’ Agni said.
Rituja took a sip of the juice. She did not speak and her lips were pursed. It seemed she was struggling to hold back a deluge of emotions. Agni heard the birds outside and the general stirrings of the city waking up and going about its business on a cold winter morning.
When Rituja looked back at Agni, her eyes were moist.
‘What about him, Agni?’ she asked, a slight tremor in her voice.
‘Where were you that night?’ Agni finally broke the deafening silence.
Rituja tilted her head slightly and looked into Agni’s eyes. There was a hint of smile at the corner of her lips.
‘Am I a suspect, Agni? Do you actually think I could kill Mayank? Is that why you decided to pay me an early morning visit?’
‘It’s my job to explore all possibilities, Ms. Bose. He was seen last at Tipple with you. I was there myself,’ Agni did not take his eyes off Rituja as he kept talking. ‘And from the looks of it, your conversation with Mayank that night didn’t seem to have ended on a happy note. I’ve been wondering if that conversation had anything to do with what happened later that night, Ms. Bose.’
Rituja threw her hands up, expressing her dismay at the suggestion.
‘Look Agni, we were working together in a movie, in case you don’t know. And colleagues do have creative differences. What you saw inside Tipple was one of our usual arguments. Please don’t read too deep into it.’
She paused briefly and said, ‘And you were in Tipple that night? Why didn’t you walk over and join us? You could’ve heard everything we were fighting about and we would not be having this conversation now.’
‘Well, not that I mind having you back in my house,’ Rituja was quick to add.
Agni did not respond. He said, ‘Mayank looked very upset when he left Tipple. I know he went back to Galaxy from there. Where did you go from Tipple?’
Rituja lit a cigarette. She took a long drag and looked outside. She seemed to be contemplating her answer to Agni’s question.
She let out a deep sigh. She then looked back at Agni, having made up her mind.
‘Well, if you have to know, Agni, I spent the night with Rakesh Raheja at his bungalow. He picked me up from Tipple.’
‘Rakesh Raheja...you mean the movie producer?’
‘Yes, that Rakesh. If you want to verify, you can speak to him. And then, there is the cook and the guards at his bungalow. They are of course sworn to secrecy. Rakesh doesn’t like his wife to find out about his girlfriends. But, I hope Rakesh will speak the truth to save me from the gallows!’ Rituja smiled. ‘By the way, I’m eyeing Rakesh’s next project. Fingers crossed.’ She made the sign with her fingers, suddenly looking like a child.
‘Sounds like a pretty solid alibi, Ms. Bose,’ Agni smiled.
He looked at his watch and stood up.
‘I wish we could talk some more,’ Rituja sounded apologetic.
Agni looked at her with his eyes narrowed. Why did he have the feeling that Rituja knew much more than she was willing to divulge?
‘I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about in days to come,’ he said.
Chapter 41
Agni appraised himself in the mirror one more time. Fashion for him meant being in clothes that made him feel comfortable and confident. However, he was on his way to the workshop of a fashion designer that morning, and although he found most of the so-called trendy men’s garments rather frivolous and at times esoteric, he did not want to be dismissed outright as a ‘fashion disaster’. He paired his white shirt with a pair of faded blue jeans and put on his black blazer. That was conventional and comfortable, though in defiance of the rather rebellious designs Rocky Chowdhury, the designer in question, was famous for.
As he got into his car, Agni reflected on the progress he had made in the last couple of days.
The autopsy report for Mayank revealed that he had died around three in the morning. Instant death had been caused by a combination of head trauma and inter
nal blood loss. There had been severe injuries of the head, including multiple skull fractures, ruptures of brain structures and severe intra-cranial bleeding. There had also been severe injuries to other internal organs. Those included lung injuries, rib fractures and liver rupture.
Although Mayank’s mobile phone was yet to be found, the activity details for his number were made available to the police by the service provider. An examination of call records revealed that, on the day of his demise, Mayank had spoken to and texted Rocky on several occasions. Agni found from the records that the two had been talking to each other several times everyday over the last few months, an observation that was the reason behind his visit to the fashion designer that morning.
Another number that featured prominently in Mayank’s call records belonged to Rituja. He had called and exchanged texts with her a number of times on that fateful day. Mayank was, of course, with Rituja in his flat that afternoon as the security guard testified. Later, Mayank was at Tipple with her in the evening—Agni was there himself. Mayank reached his flat alone at quarter past eleven, and the security guard heard him fall to his death around three o’clock.
In all probability, between quarter past eleven and three, someone entered the building with a duplicate key unnoticed, taking advantage of the security guard’s absence from his post, took the elevator up to Mayank’s flat, pushed Mayank off the edge of the bedroom balcony, and came down by the elevator when the security guard had rushed to the backyard on hearing the sound of Mayank’s fall on the car.
Agni was convinced the mastermind behind the plan was someone who was no stranger to the apartment complex. The murderer, undoubtedly, was known to Mayank and had a duplicate key to the lock on the main gate. The murderer was also familiar with the security arrangements at Galaxy and the layout of the complex. That the murderer was familiar to Mayank was further corroborated by the fact that there was no sign of a forced entry into Mayank’s flat, or any indication of a scuffle inside. A thorough scrutiny of the visitors’ book should throw up the names of those who had visited Mayank frequently over the last three months. Was Mayank’s death related to the murders of Hiya and Lakhan? Agni did not know yet.
***
When Agni pressed the calling bell at the address he had, the door was opened by a woman with purple streaks in her hair. Her lips were distractingly glossy and her junk jewellery made jingling noises at the slightest movement of her hands or neck. She put a hand on her unbelievably narrow waist and fixed her large kohl-rimmed eyes on Agni.
‘Yes?’
‘I’ve got an appointment with Mr. Chowdhury at eleven,’ Agni looked at his watch. He was around ten minutes early. ‘I am ACP Agni Mitra,’ he added.
‘Please be seated,’ the woman gestured to a few colourful chairs in what Agni assumed was a reception area. ‘I’ll let him know,’ the ‘him’ was accompanied by a slight backward tilt of her oval head in the direction of an adjoining room which had its door closed.
She set off for the room, and then stopped, turning around to face Agni.
‘Oh, by the way, don’t ever call him Mr. Chowdhury. He hates that! He’s Rocky—just Rocky—for everyone,’ she laughed, revealing stained teeth, probably from heavy smoking if not from more damaging addictions, and walked away.
A few minutes passed before a strikingly fair-skinned man with locks growing past his shoulders stepped out of one of the adjoining rooms and approached Agni. Agni noticed an exaggerated swing of his hips even as his upper body and arms remained remarkably still as he walked.
Rocky was several inches shorter than Agni. He wore a purple T-shirt that was a second skin and his white jeans clung to his hips and slender legs. His eyeballs protruded behind the designer spectacles, his nose was botched, and his cheeks were round and flabby in contrast with his lean frame. He ran his fingers through his messy locks every few seconds. He stretched out a very cold and soft hand.
Rocky gestured at Agni to follow him as he started walking back towards the room he had appeared from. On his way, he hollered at the girl at the reception, ‘I’ll be busy for the next half an hour. No calls and no guests, please. And send in some green tea for us, sweetheart.’
Agni realised his time would be up in half an hour, and that Rocky did not believe in checking for one’s preference when it came to beverages.
Agni peered into a room to his right which had its door ajar, and saw a few mannequins in various stages of undress, studio lights, heaps of clothes, workbenches and walls decorated with garish paintings. Agni could see another woman inside the room, working on a dress.
Rocky pointed a slender finger towards the room and said, ‘Those are from my upcoming Spring-Summer collection...still work in progress...I’m planning a seriously big launch this year,’ without bothering to stop or to look at Agni.
Rocky pushed open the door of his office and the first thing that struck Agni was the chill inside the room. The air conditioner was on in full blast, which Agni found rather unusual considering the time of the year.
‘Phew, never seen a warmer winter, have you?’ Rocky turned towards Agni as he fanned himself animatedly with his hands.
Agni buttoned up his blazer and smiled. The chill was getting to his bones.
There was a large desk strewn with sketches, crayons, felt pens and markers. There was an ash-tray overflowing with cigarette stubs. Rocky walked around the desk and sat down on a high back chair, the leather making fart noises as he landed on it. He gestured towards a similar chair on the other side of the desk for Agni.
The walls were whitewashed and had framed pictures, mostly in black and white, all over. Agni looked around the room. He could see Mayank Kapoor in most of the pictures around him.
‘Cute boy, wasn’t he?’ Rocky asked, noticing Agni.
‘Oh yes, a very good looking man,’ Agni finally heard something he could agree with. ‘Looks like you worked a lot with him!’ Agni commented.
‘I did,’ Rocky lit a cigarette and offered Agni one, which he politely refused. ‘Mayank walked the ramp for me on a number of occasions.’ Rocky pointed at one of the pictures with his cigarette. ‘See that one? That was about a week back. He was my showstopper.’
He shook his head and said, ‘It’d be hard to find another Mayank. He could carry off anything! What a darling!’
He then took a long drag of the cigarette, his eyes closed.
When he opened his eyes, they were moist.
‘What a way to go!’ Rocky sighed, blowing out a lot of smoke through his nostrils.
‘Indeed,’ Agni muttered. He had not foreseen the emotional turn the conversation had taken.
‘You know, ACP, he was so full of life! His energy was infectious,’ Rocky was still reclined in his chair, his eyes closed, restlessly taking long drags of the cigarette and blowing through his nose. He pulled his unruly locks off his face with both hands. ‘We’ve spent days and nights here, right in this workshop, discussing fashion, movies, music...love! I’ve lost a great friend, ACP. All I have now are these pictures...’
‘I understand you were very close to him, Rocky. And I believe the two of you spoke a number of times on that fateful day...’
‘Yes, ACP, we did. I was designing his clothes for his new movie with Rituja. And we were very busy in the days before his...his...’ Rocky stopped, his voice choked.
‘What do you think might have driven Mayank to...‘
Rocky did not let Agni finish. In fact, it seemed he did not want him to finish. He suddenly thumped on the desk, almost in anticipation of what Agni was about to say, dislodging in the process a few sheets of paper that drifted to the floor. ‘Don’t...please don’t...say that word!’
‘This man is way too much in love with Mayank!’ Agni said to himself. As Rocky’s emotions overwhelmed Agni, he was reminded all over again of the myriad hues of love and its all-consuming prowess.
Chapter 42
The girl Agni had met outside in the reception area stepped into the room w
ith a tray carrying two cups of green tea and a plate with cookies. She looked sympathetically at Rocky and scornfully at Agni, in turns. She hurriedly placed the tray on the desk and left, after yet another reproachful glance at Agni, who had clearly earned her wrath for having caused visible distress to the boss.
Rocky removed his glasses. The veins in his eyes were red. He went on, ‘Mayank could never have done that to himself! Never!’ Rocky’s thin, almost tinny, voice reverberated in the closed room. His locks were all over his face now, the eyes barely visible.
‘And what makes you so confident?’ Agni bent forward.
‘You don’t see, do you? He was happy! He was very happy all through that day. We were on the phone so many times! I kept asking him but he wouldn’t tell me. He was being such a tease! I was dying to know...’ Rocky lamented.
‘When did you hear from him last?’
‘Let me see...’ Rocky lit another cigarette and took a long drag noisily. He closed his eyes and stroked his stubble. ‘He was with Rituja in the afternoon. They went out for a drink. Tipple...I think...that’s where they went that evening. And then, that text from him...’
Rocky suddenly became silent. The only sounds in the room were those of his frequent drags on the cigarette and the hum of the air conditioner.
‘His text...what did it say?’ Agni sounded impatient.
‘He said that he had good news for me...that he would tell me when we met the next morning...said he was going to bed...’
‘When did you receive that text?’
Rocky picked up his phone from the desk and scrolled through the messages in his inbox till he found Mayank’s last message to him.
‘It was half past eleven,’ Rocky sniffled, ‘Poor baby...never got to see the new day he had been waiting for...’
The timing of the text as suggested by Rocky tallied with what Agni had seen in the records. It was around fifteen minutes after Mayank had entered Galaxy.
‘I don’t think I saw you at Galaxy the next day,’ Agni immediately wondered if it was alright to bring up that reference. Rocky did not reprimand him this time, to Agni’s relief.
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