‘I didn’t go. I wanted to live with my memories of the last time we had met. He sat right where you are sitting now, ACP. We went through some of the designs for his new movie. That was a day before the...the...’
Agni looked at his watch and stood up. It was well past the half hour that had been originally stipulated for him.
He stretched out his hand. When Rocky took his hand in his, Agni said, ‘Rocky, thanks for your time! And I hope you’ll find the strength to get over your loss.’
As he walked out of the room, Agni looked back. Rocky was still in his chair, which was now turned in the direction of the picture of Mayank’s last ramp-walk. Agni could see tears streaming down his chubby cheeks.
Rocky was madly in love with Mayank. No doubt about that. Mayank, the man who had fallen in love with Hiya and had probably not managed to erase her memories or the grief of her betrayal till the last day of his life.
And unrequited love was always a dangerous motivation.
Chapter 43
Agni’s car crunched on the gravel as he drove into the portico of the Chauhans’ lavish bungalow. He turned the ignition off and stepped out, to be greeted by a valet, who promptly offered to drive his car to the garage.
An immaculately dressed woman was waiting for him at the top of the three stairs that led up to the spacious sitting area. The watchman at the main gate had called her to announce his arrival, a while back.
‘Hi, I’m Devina. Please do have a seat, ACP Mitra. Sir would be here right away. Is there anything I can bring for you—tea, coffee?’ Devina rattled off, almost mechanically, plastic smile intact all through her routine welcome address.
‘A black coffee please, no sugar,’ Agni requested, as he lowered himself into a cane chair with fluffy cushions. As he waited for Manav Chauhan, his eyes went to the impeccably maintained lawns and he soaked in the soothing tranquillity of the surroundings.
The day’s newspapers were strewn on a cane table. The Economic Journal carried an interview with Manav on the front page. The interview was about the impact of inflation on the purchasing habits of the Indian middle class and what that meant for Manav’s business. Agni looked at the picture that accompanied the interview. It showed Manav smiling broadly at the camera in a T-shirt. The background looked familiar. It was the Sher-e-Punjab restaurant off the Kolkata-Mumbai highway. The tri-colour was prominently displayed. There was a board near the top of the entrance that read ‘Happy Independence Day 2016’. Agni felt that Manav’s jovial countenance did not go too well with the not-so-upbeat tone of the interview.
‘Precisely what happens when your fiancée chooses the picture to go with your interview. They find you charming in every damn picture, don’t they? I hate my silly grin!’ Agni looked up from the newspaper and saw Manav standing right in front of him, smiling, a hand stretched out.
Agni shook his hand and smiled back.
‘You would know better, Mr. Chauhan,’ he said, suddenly realising Manav had just confirmed the rumours about his impending second marriage.
‘The journalist called up at the last minute for a picture,’ continued Manav as he took a chair right opposite Agni, ‘I was in the shower and Neha mailed her the first picture she found on my laptop. From a long drive she and I had gone to! Lesson learnt—never ever let a woman take your calls or play with your laptop when you are not around!’ Both men laughed aloud.
There went the second confirmation! It was Neha, indeed, who was going to be the next Mrs. Chauhan.
‘Well, if nothing else, the picture will probably bring some cheer to the despondent market,’ Agni remarked as he folded the newspaper neatly and laid it down on the table. They laughed again.
One of the Chauhans’ servants had, in the meantime, served coffee and some cookies on a plate. Agni picked up his cup and took a sip.
Manav looked at him and asked, ‘It’s always a pleasure talking to you, ACP Mitra. But, I’ve a feeling this is not really a social visit, is it?’
Agni smiled, ‘Looks like my social skills have not made a healthy impression on you!’ He paused briefly and then said, ‘Well, you are right, actually. I’m here on business. I wanted to talk to you about Mayank Kapoor.’
‘That was absolutely shocking!’ Manav shook his head. There was a faraway look in his eyes as he said, ‘We used to be fast friends, ACP.’
‘So I heard,’ said Agni.
‘We gave him the first modelling break when he came down to Kolkata from Patna. He kept working with us ever since. In between, a number of other prestigious brands signed him up. He started acting in TV serials. I heard he also bagged a movie deal sometime back.’
‘Were you in touch with him lately?’
Agni detected a hint of discomfort in Manav’s demeanour for the first time that morning.
‘Well...he got busy with his career. I was, of course, holed up in the hospital for most of the past few months. To be honest, we didn’t really get to see a lot of each other in the recent past.’
‘He didn’t visit you at the hospital?’
Manav thought for a few seconds and then said, ‘I did hear from Neha that he had come down to see me the day after the accident. But I was not in my senses at that time, and we couldn’t meet.’
‘I do understand,’ Agni nodded. He took his time before he asked the next question.
‘Is it true that there was an altercation between the two of you on a movie set? I believe Hiya was working in that movie.’ He reclined in his chair, and fixed his eyes on Manav, who looked back at Agni without flinching.
‘Well...yes...where did you hear about that?’ Manav questioned Agni back without answering. Agni sensed a slight resentment in Manav’s voice.
‘I had the opportunity to speak to Mayank a few days before his death. Through a common friend, you know...’
Manav shook his head and blew through his mouth. He looked away, his eyes narrowed. ‘Mayank and his friends!’ he exclaimed. ‘You know what, ACP Mitra? He fell into bad company when he started working in the serials. He lost control on the drinking...I heard he had started doing drugs. He was a changed man.’
Manav paused briefly and then said, ‘I am not the kind that washes dirty linen in public...didn’t want to discuss what I still feel was a family scandal. But now that you already know it, I might as well tell you. Yes... there was some friction between Mayank and me over Hiya. It was rather unexpected, if you ask me. I thought the guy was out of his mind!’
‘But that incident probably scarred your friendship for good!’
Manav had that faraway look on his face again. ‘It probably did, ACP Mitra. I’m sure Mayank regretted his actions, but, he never managed to bring himself to come up to me and talk. It does take a lot of courage to do that, doesn’t it?’ He paused and took a sip of the coffee, looking distraught. He then continued, ‘And I kept thinking, I’d eventually make the first move myself. But then, sometimes it gets too late, ACP. Mayank must’ve died a troubled soul!’
‘Yes, Mr. Chauhan. He did regret the incident. When I spoke to him, he was upset over the uncertainty around the future of his relationship with you.’
When Agni looked at Manav, he spotted the glint of tear at the corner of an eye. He allowed Manav to regain his composure and then asked him, ‘How did you get to know about his death, Mr. Chauhan?’
‘I was in Salt Lake that night at the inauguration of the Awasthis’ new restaurant in my mall there...you must have read about that event in the papers. I came to know about Mayank’s death like everyone else...through the television and the newspapers the next morning. And that’s what makes it all so difficult! It was not meant to be like this, at all! Considering how close we were...’ Agni could sense Manav’s pain.
For a few minutes, no word passed between the two men. The silence was broken by the clatter of heels.
Devina looked almost apologetically at Agni and turned towards Manav.
‘Sir, Mr. Suri has arrived. You have an appointment...‘
Agni did not let her finish and stood up. He was interested in Manav’s version of the account he had heard earlier from Mayank. He had already got that story validated.
‘Thanks for your time, Mr. Chauhan. I understand your feelings,’ Agni paused briefly and said, ‘Happens with all of us...sometimes it does get too late, and everything changes before we know.’
Chapter 44
Agni looked at the sluggish traffic on the road below, cradling a glass of whisky, his mind in turmoil. As he drained the glass, his eyes closed, images from the last few months kept flashing through his mind. He remembered his interrogation of the three convicts. He remembered his rendezvous with Anamika inside Panache and everything she had said about Neha Awasthi. He remembered what Arya had found out about the decline in Deepak Awasthi’s fortunes. He recalled his meetings with Rituja and the report about her very public spat with Hiya. His mind drifted to the private booth inside The Nook, where he had met Mayank for the first time, intoxicated and hurt. He remembered Manav’s parents regretting their son’s decision to marry Hiya and the ‘misfortune that the girl had brought on the family’. He remembered the accounts of Hiya’s secretary and her director about the emotional turmoil she had been going through in the days leading up to her marriage, and about her reckless affair with Mayank, which had taken everyone by surprise. The image of Lakhan lying dead in a pool of blood next to a gutter inside a Tiljala slum flashed before his eyes. He remembered the unlikely affluence he had noticed inside Lakhan’s rented house and the hefty sums of money that had been deposited in his bank account from time to time since Hiya’s murder. He remembered seeing Mayank walk out of Tipple and Rituja try to placate him on the night of his murder. The image of Mayank lying dead on the roof of a car came next. In his mind, Agni found himself back in Mayank’s flat, wandering from room to room. He saw Rocky, shedding silent tears as he looked at the pictures of Mayank inside his dark, cold office.
Mayank—so very different in his pictures from his real brooding self.
Those pictures—in Rocky’s workshop, inside Mayank’s own flat.
And then suddenly, something clicked inside Agni’s mind. Agni was jerked to complete alertness, and he sat up straight under the forceful impact of his sudden discovery of a fantastic possibility. In his excitement, Agni jumped off his deck chair. He started pacing up and down his room, talking to himself.
He had to meet Rituja. But, before that, he had to call Neha Awasthi.
Chapter 45
A pall of silence descended inside the room when Rituja finished speaking.
Agni leaned back and let out a deep sigh. The fantastic revelation Rituja had laid bare before Agni a while back had not sunk in fully yet. His eyes were fixed on the particles of dust swimming in the cone of light that seeped in through the glass window. The black coffee on the table in front of him had gone cold long back.
Rituja reclined in her couch and lit yet another cigarette, coughing mildly. She passed her fingers through her dishevelled hair. Her eyes were fixed on the wall ahead, and they had a sheen of tears. Free from make-up, her face looked puffy and the lines on it were prominent. Rituja looked aged and weary.
When Agni looked back at her, he saw a woman living in self-denial, trying desperately to hold on to the last vestiges of the stardom that had abandoned her years back. She was the reason why Agni would rush to the theatres several years back. She was the one who gave him sleepless nights of untold pain and despair in his early years in the force. Destiny had brought them together after a decade.
Agni stood up and said, ‘I don’t have the words to thank you, Ms. Bose...‘
‘Ritu,’ she interrupted.
‘By the way, why did you let me in on your secret about Mayank? When we spoke the last time, you tried to hold on to it, giving me a very different and inaccurate impression about what the two of you had been talking about inside Tipple that night!’
‘I always owed you one, Agni. I realised it late. But what matters is that, I did realise it. I’ll be happy if this piece of information helps you in any way.’ Rituja smiled warmly at Agni and continued, ‘You know what? I don’t know what you made of my relationship with Mayank from what you saw, but I’ve always been very protective about him. Almost in a maternal way. Behind that mask of a tough exterior, he was weak and vulnerable. I made a promise to Mayank and I am proud I kept my word. I knew if word got out, the industry might not have been kind to him. There are so many tragic stories, Agni. I didn’t want him to join the league. But, he’s no more,’ Rituja sniffed, and her voice choked. ‘I want, as much as you do, to get to the bottom of this, and find out who did this to him. And one more thing, Agni.’
Rituja stood up and walked towards Agni. Standing at an arm’s length, she ruffled his hair, leaving him stunned.
She looked into his eyes and said, ‘I...I am sorry for everything. I know it’s too late. Many years have passed. But I have to say this. You didn’t deserve what you went through ten years back. I was a stupid, arrogant girl who thought that the world was at her feet and would stay there forever....’ Her tears spilled over.
Agni smiled. Sometimes, the deepest of wounds need the simplest of words to heal.
‘Stay well, Ritu.’ He finally called her by her name, the way she always wanted him to. It took him ten years to bring himself to.
Agni turned around and headed out. He had to pick up Arya and head for the Sher-e-Punjab restaurant on the Kolkata-Mumbai highway.
Chapter 46
Agni woke up with a start as the mobile telephone buzzed under his pillow.
He picked up the phone. It was Rocky.
His eyes went to the wall clock in front of him. It was close to ten in the morning. He had overslept. The drive to Sher-e-Punjab Dhaba and back the day before with Arya was strenuous. Arya and he were then up till late, validating his theories with the information they had gathered at the restaurant.
‘Good morning, Agni,’ Rocky’s voice sounded heavier than usual.
‘Good morning, Rocky. Are you alright?’
Rocky did not reply.
‘Agni, can you please come over?’
‘To your workshop?’
‘Yes...we have to meet, Agni!’ Rocky almost pleaded with him.
‘What’s going on, Rocky?’ Agni was already out of bed, heading towards the toilet.
‘There’s something I want you to know. Preeti came down to my workshop this morning...she is a friend...she works for a travel agency....’
It seemed to Agni that Rocky was in deep emotional stress for some reason. He sounded disoriented on the phone as he kept on talking.
Chapter 47
The conical sabres of light outside Vibe, the auditorium inside the Town Centre Mall, the Chauhans’ multi-storeyed property in Salt Lake, were visible from miles away. They moved in rhythm with the loud music, criss-crossing each other, and lighting up the night sky. There was a fashion show on at Vibe that evening to launch Rocky’s new Spring-Summer collection.
The Town Centre Mall in Salt Lake had emerged as the hottest shopping destination in Kolkata in just a few months. The Awasthis had opened a restaurant in the mall sometime back—the same restaurant that was inaugurated by Manav on the night of Mayank’s murder.
Rocky had invited Agni to the event when they had met briefly in the morning. ‘We’re using pre-recorded digital videos as backdrop for the ramp for the first time ever in Kolkata...you’ll get to see the vibrant hues of spring and feel the romance in the air as my models sashay down the ramp!’ Rocky had proudly announced.
As Agni and Arya walked into Vibe, they could barely hear each other’s voice above the music. Some of the top models of the city were on the ramp in the dresses designed by Rocky. A couple of designs seemed familiar to Agni. He had seen them the first time he had visited Rocky in his workshop.
Agni spotted a galaxy of celebrities in the front row, Manav Chauhan included. The media presence was remarkable, everyone jostling for the best
view. Agni noticed logos of some of the most popular television channels.
As Agni and Arya found their seats, Agni pulled out his phone and spoke into it.
For the next several minutes, Agni’s eyes darted between the ramp and the front row decorated with Rocky’s celebrity guests. The high-octane music which made conversation impossible was interrupted only by the frequent collective gasps and applause from the audience as the models walked in one awe-inspiring design after another, the grandeur of all of it completely lost on Agni.
Rocky had just finished his bow before the ecstatic audience with all his models and walked back up the ramp, when Agni saw Manav pull out his phone.
He seemed to be reading a message.
Manav looked around after he had finished reading.
And then, he left his seat and headed for one of the exits.
Chapter 48
Stepping into the roof-top parking area of the Town Centre Mall, Manav looked around. It was late in the evening, closer to night in fact, and the roof was desolate. The icy cold wind licked his face. He buttoned up his jacket and looked around one more time as he took a couple of tentative steps. A few cars were scattered around. Not a soul was in sight anywhere. Not even the security staff who, Manav thought, should have been there. He made a mental note. He would have to take this up with the agency.
The light sabres from Vibe moved in circles, piercing through the darkness of the night. The beats of the loud music reached his ears. He fished out his phone from a pocket and read the text from the unknown number one more time.
Time to settle a few scores. Meet me on the roof of the mall right now
If this was someone’s idea of a joke, it was not funny. For a moment, Manav regretted having paid heed to the message.
Before Manav could do anything more than just turn around in the direction of the lift lobby, a figure pounced on him from the shadows and sent him crashing against the boundary wall of the roof.
The Colours of Passion Page 13