Prakash straightened his back. “I can inform our vigilance department to retrieve the required information, but it may take a day’s time before they get back to us with details.”
Rajiv rose from his seat. “All right, we’ll wait till tomorrow evening and will leave now. Do call us when the reports are made available.” He walked outside with Simi toward the parking place.
Rajiv looked at Simi while he drove the car toward his office. “We’ll go to the Secunderabad Community Park in the evening and see if Tanu visits the park with her fiancée.”
Simi turned her face toward Rajiv. “Yes, and it will confirm us whether the security guard is true or not about his evidence.”
Rajiv smiled at her. “Correct, and we’ll also take evidence of Tanu and ask few more questions.”
Rajiv drove his car in the underground parking area and swiftly walked toward his office with his secretary.
*
In the evening, Rajiv and Simi sat on a wooden bench in a secluded area near the entrance of the park. Rajiv watched the park entrance keenly looking for Tanu to step inside.
“If we’re lucky, we will meet Tanu in the park today,” Simi said.
Rajiv shifted his gaze toward Simi. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.” He chuckled.
Moments later, a lady wearing white mixed pale yellow salwar kameez entered into the park. Rajiv widened his eyes to see her better. “Is she not Tanu?”
Simi smiled at him. “Yes, she is, and we’re lucky this evening.”
Rajiv rose from the bench. “Let’s follow her from a considerable distance and observe whom she meets.”
He walked behind Tanu along with Simi. Tanu reached another secluded place deep inside the park and sat beside a man in mid-thirties. He wore a casual dress and Rayban spectacle.
Rajiv and Simi went straight to her and stood before Tanu. She suddenly rose from her seat in bewilderment. Her face became pale and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She looked at Rajiv and Simi with her eyes wide open. Rajiv smiled at her. “Don’t worry, we wanted to meet you related to your friend’s missing case and would like to ask you few more questions.”
“Um… I’m sorry; I have already informed about Sita whatever I knew during our last meeting…Please leave us alone.” Tanu trembled.
Simi came forward. “It’s all right, you are going to be safe if you tell us the correct information, and otherwise you will be in trouble.”
Rajiv cleared his throat and looked at the guy. “Are you writing love letters to your friend?”
Tanu’s fiancée leaned forward. “Um… Yes sir, I’m passionate about writing poems on her.”
“Tanu, where are you keeping those letters?” Simi asked.
“Um… I’m sorry, I can’t…” Tanu hesitated.
“If you don’t tell us the correct information, you will be arrested as suspects in this case.”
“No, sir, I had kept all the letters with Sita,” Tanu said.
Rajiv sighed in relief. “All right; when we met last time, you mentioned about Sita dining out with Varun outside on weekends.”
“Yes, sir, I did.”
Rajiv cleared his throat. “Can you tell us if Sita had ever mentioned you where they dined frequently? What was their favourite hotel?”
“Um… sir, I remember they frequently visited Taj Residency Hotel near the old Airport Road.”
Rajiv pocketed his hands. “Okay, thanks for your information. We’ll meet to you again if need arises.”
Rajiv walked back toward the parking place along with Simi.
*
Rajiv looked at Simi while he drove his car. “We have yet another important clue to know whether Varun visited Taj Residency Hotel along with his wife on Eighth of April. You please speak with inspector Prakash and request him contact the hotel personnel.”
Simi took out her phone and tapped on it to dial Mr Prakash. Dial tone was heard from the speaker of the phone.
“Hi, Simi, how is it going?” Prakash said.
Simi looked at Rajiv. “Going on well, Prakash, we need another vital information pertaining to the Missing Woman case. You please enquire with Taj Residency Hotel personnel to know if Varun visited the hotel with his wife on Eighth of April. I think they can track the CCTV footage and can let us know.”
“All right, I think you guys are getting close the end point with several clues in hand. I let you know about all the details once I receive them by tomorrow,” Prakash said.
“Thank you.” Simi disconnected the call.
“We will wait till Prakash get back to us with the details tomorrow.” Rajiv steered his car toward the Candour Detective Agency.
Chapter 6
Rajiv pondered over the information which he collected during the evidence of various people connected with the case. He was suspicious of Varun’s involvement in the case but could not decipher the reason as to why he would kill his own wife.
What is the connection between the love affair of Tanu and Sita’s disappearance? What made Varun to go against his wife and kill her? Let’s wait for the report from inspector Prakash before coming to the final conclusion.
Rajiv’s phone rang while he had a tea with Simi in the evening. A message ‘Prakash calling’ lit the screen. “Hi, Prakash, I hope you have the report with you,” Rajiv said in a curious voice.
“Yes and two out of three findings are positive about Varun’s involvement in the case,” Prakash said.
“Excellent, pray tell the details.” Rajiv leaned forward while his heartbeat raced.
“Rajiv, Varun did call Sita on Eighth of April evening as per the records we received from the telecom department. He did visit the Taj Residency Hotel with his wife on the same evening. However, the credit card detail shows no transaction on that day.”
Rajiv smiled at Simi and relaxed on his cushion chair. “It’s enough, Prakash, and first two evidences are enough to indict Varun in this case. Let’s summon Mr Varun and Gita to the police station to investigate the matter and we’ll start to your place from here immediately.”
“All right, I’ll try to contact both of them right now.” Prakash disconnected the call.
Rajiv looked at Simi. “Let’s go to the Tarnaka Police Station, we have almost reached the final stage of the case.” He rose and walked out of his chamber while Simi followed him.
*
When Rajiv reached the Tarnaka Police Station, Varun and Gita were seated in front of inspector Prakash. Rajiv entered inside the room and settled on a chair beside inspector Prakash, little away from other two. Simi sat beside him.
Rajiv glanced at inspector Prakash. “Are we late in reaching here?” He dragged his chair forward.
“We assembled here just five minutes ago, we can start the enquiry now,” Prakash said.
“All right, Mr Varun, when we met last time, you had informed us that you never met or called your wife on Eighth of April evening. Is that correct?”
Varun corrected his throat. “Um… Yes, we never had a chance to meet together.” He gazed into space toward the wall.
Rajiv looked at Prakash. “Let Mr Varun have a look at the evidence we collected from the telecom department and the Taj Residency Hotel.”
Inspector Prakash opened his laptop and turned the screen toward Varun. “Please have a look at this CCT footage which we collected from the Taj Residency hotel. It confirms that you visited the hotel with your wife on eighth of April evening.”
Varun stared at the screen in surprise and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He took out his handkerchief and wiped his perspiration.
Rajiv continued staring at Varun. “And just before reaching the hotel, you had called your wife from your cell phone and invited her reach the hotel. She had joined you at the hotel, and you had taken her to secluded place and returned back to your residence without her.”
Varun started trembling. His face became pale and eyebrows narrowed. “I… did not …take her anywhe
re…I just…” Varun trembled.
Rajiv straightened his back. “You had taken her to a valley outside the city and pushed her down without mercy, Mr Varun.”
Varun buried his face in hands. He started crying with face down. Gita looked at Rajiv and others in bewilderment.
“Yes, Mr Varun. You had mentioned that you loved her very much. What was the reason for you to take such an extreme step toward your wife?”
Varun removed his hands form his face. He stared down for few minutes and looked at Gita. “She cheated me. She took advantage of my over-affection toward her. I did the right thing and I don’t regret my deed.”
Rajiv clasped his hands. “Well - Mr Varun – What made you to think that your wife cheated you? Have you seen her in relationship with anyone other than you?”
Varun took a deep breath. “I have seen several love letters written to her by his lover. Take a look at this letter, how her darling has written it with style.” Varun handed a letter to Gita.
Gita glanced at it and her gaze shifted to Rajiv.
Rajiv looked at Simi and back to Varun. “Mr Varun, did you ever ask your wife to whom this letter belonged to? If you had asked, you wouldn’t have lost your wife today.”
Varun widened his eyes. “What do you mean by that? These letters were written to her. Otherwise why she keeps them with her in her safe?”
“Mr Varun, these letters belonged to your neighbour called Tanu who loved a guy you’re pointing at. Your wife just kept the letters with her and she always loved you. It’s your false belief what your wife was in extra-marital affair which made you as a murderer.”
Varun held his head with both his hands. His eyes became red and frustration filled in his face. “Oh, No, I can’t believe it. What …a mistake ...I ...did.”
Gita rose. “You scoundrel, you killed my sister. You deserve severe punishment…” She started hitting on his shoulder. Simi intervened and tried to control her fury by pulling her away from Varun. Varun kept his head down on the table and Prakash put knuckles to his hands. He took him inside the police station toward the lockup.
Chapter 7
Simi shared a coffee with Rajiv while they discussed the Missing Woman case which was successfully executed in the previous week. Simi looked at Rajiv with an expression of appreciation on her face. “It was well thought decisions and correctly inferred events which led us to the final stage of the case without any delays.”
Rajiv smiled at her. “Yes, and I knew that the security guard is the key person in this case since he is the one who monitor the visitors to the house. I was very much dependent on his evidence and he provided the vital information to us.”
Simi looked at Rajiv with her eyes wide open. “What made you to inform inspector Prakash to probe into CCTV footage and the phone call details of MR Varun?”
“Well, since the letters were kept inside his residence, I suspected that Varun might have seen them accidentally. Also during his evidence, I noticed him concealing certain information.”
“Varun is such a stupid to kill her wife without knowing that the letters never belonged to his wife.”
“Yes, one shouldn’t suspect without proper evidence in hand. Suspicion is the cancer of friendship.”
_____
Thank you for reading my novel, The Case Book of Rajiv Rai. Please consider leaving a review at your favourite retailer’s website, your feedback is important to me and helps me decide what types of stories to write in the future.
Best Wishes,
Vijay K Kerji
About the Author:
I'm an engineer, worked in software organizations, including Siemens and Intel. Later on, my vast experience in design and development was useful for various students in technical colleges while giving lectures on software subjects. I had a passion for writing and I'm thankful for the electronic media like SmashWords.com for giving opportunities to fulfil writer’s aspirations, and making their dreams real. I like spending time with my family and playing with my daughters. I live in India.
The Case Book of Rajiv Ray Page 3