by Sana Shetty
“Who the hell was that? Are you okay?” Namita came running towards Misha.
Misha nodded, too shaken to answer.
A moment later, Vedant returned, “Lost him.” He panted.
“Who was he?” Namita looked from one to the other.
They recounted everything that had happened to her. “The gun? Where is the gun?” she asked them.
“I think somewhere in my room,” Misha said. Namita ran up to retrieve the gun. She came back and put it on the table. “It is a police pistol.”
“A police pistol?!” both Vedant and Misha chorused in surprise.
“Does that mean that man was a…a....cop?’ Misha asked in shock.
Namita looked at the pistol, “Maybe,” she said thoughtfully. “But it should be easy to trace and you two can identify him.”
Misha was so shaken that she flopped down on the couch and started to sob.
Namita sat down next to her, “Hey take it easy. You are okay.”
“I’m sorry,” Vedant said.
“It is not your fault,” Misha said, hiccupping.
“It is. If I hadn’t come here, you wouldn’t be in danger. Pankaj was right. My staying here is dangerous for you.”
“Maybe he didn’t come here to kill you or anything. I think you guys surprised him. He may have assumed no one was home.” Namita said thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?” Vedant asked.
“He may have come here looking for something. Since that guy is a policeman, he would obviously know that Raunak is in the hospital and may have assumed Misha was there too. He wouldn’t be expecting anyone to be home.” She looked at Misha reproachfully, “You have to stop this habit of not locking your door. What more proof do you need that this village is no longer your safe haven?’
Misha was silent. Namita was right. She had to start locking her doors. “What do you think he wanted?” she asked.
“The same thing we are searching for. Something that Jay left for us to find. That reminds me, look what I found.”
She dug into her sling bag and pulled out something wrapped in plastic. Carefully, she laid it in front of them and slid it across to Vedant.
“Recognise that?” she asked, watching his face carefully.
Vedant picked it up and examined it closely. It was a mobile phone.
“Is it mine? Where did you find it?” Vedant was about to open the packet.
“No,” Namita stopped him. “It is evidence.”
“Evidence? Evidence of what?” Vedant asked.
“This was found at Pankaj’s house. I have looked at it and the last message from that phone was to Pankaj requesting him to meet you. I know you called the police to inform them he was dead. Why were you there, Ved?”
Misha felt like she had been slapped across her face. She jumped up from the couch.
“You? You were at Pankaj’s house?”
“You are always ready to assume the worst of me, aren’t you?” Ved said a little sadly.
He turned back to Namita and continued, “This phone got left behind at the hotel, the day I was attacked. Or rather it was taken away from me and I haven’t seen it since then. And that is the truth, whether you want to believe it or not. And yes, I did go to meet Pankaj, but he was already dead. It was I who called the police not from this phone but from the landline in his house. You can check.”
Misha sank back into her seat. She was so confused, she didn’t know what to make of all this. He had known about Pankaj’s death and yet he had chosen not to tell her. Why?! He had mentioned seeing Divya there but omitted telling her, he had found Pankaj dead. She looked back at him but he still wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he was watching Namita, warily.
Namita was also watching him and Misha saw her frown. “If I were to believe you, it means the phone was left behind deliberately. Why did you not wait till the police arrived and give your statement to them? Why run away?”
“I did not run away.” he denied hotly. “After I made that call, I saw Divya’s car parked near the house. And as I already told Misha, I had seen the car parked in our private garage back at the Heritage and I wanted to find out whose car it was. When I went out to check, I saw Divya sitting in the driver’s seat waiting for someone. I jumped into the boot of the car and she took me right back to the hotel. I spent the better part of the day there.” Vedant recounted, tiredly. “Which reminds me, I found something too.” He dug out the photograph he had found of Namita and placed it on the table.
Namita picked up the photograph, staring at it. The colour drained from her face and she looked shaken.
“Are you okay?” Misha asked her.
Namita put the photograph back on the table and asked, “Where did you say you found that?”
“It was hidden in Tarun’s locker, in his wardrobe.”
“What was Tarun doing with this?”
“I don’t know.”
There was a subtle change in her expression and she slid the photograph back towards him.
“Look at it, carefully. Do you recognise the third guy in the photograph?”
Vedant picked it up and looked at it for a long time and then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I have never seen him in my life. Who is he?”
“My fiancé, Hriday Parker,” Namita said.
“Your fiancé?” Vedant and Misha stared at her.
“Yes, my fiancé and I think you knew him,” Namita said calmly.
“How would I know your fiancé?!” Vedant stared at the photograph and shook his head. “I am sure I have never seen him in my life. Why do you think I know him?” Vedant asked puzzled.
“Because you killed him!” she said casually, as if she was talking about the weather. But her eyes did not waver from his face as she waited for his reaction.
“Are you crazy?” he looked at her in shock. “Why are you bent on painting me as a villain, here?” agitatedly he got up and started to pace the floor and then stopped to stare down at her angrily.
“Sit down, Vedant,” her voice was sharp. She now sounded like the police officer she was.
Vedant and Misha stared at her. “How could he have killed…?” Misha was now totally confused.
“Why don’t you tell us Vedant? Why don’t you tell her why you really went away eight years ago?” she looked steadily back at Vedant.
Vedant looked as if she had slapped him as what she was saying dawned upon him. He sat back down suddenly, “He…wasn’t….I…mean…I….can’t. I…”
Now it was Namita’s turn to stand up as she faced him, “For god’s sake, Vedant. Your best friend is dead and your brother is missing. So who are you protecting? You have to talk or you will be going down for murder. And yes,” she picked up the mobile phone and waved it in front of his face. “Do you know what the punishment for murder is?”
“But I…I had nothing to do with Pankaj’s death?”
“I want to believe you, Ved. I really do. But for that you will have to start by telling the truth. And if you don’t, I swear I will bring you down so badly, you will spend a lifetime trying to get out of it all.” Namita ground out.
Vedant stared at her, a shocked expression on his face. He stood up too and what happened next took both Misha and Namita by surprise. He made a grab for the pistol that Namita had kept on the table; the one that the intruder had left behind and pointed it at Namita.
“I knew it! I knew I couldn’t trust you guys. Pankaj was right. The police do nothing. Now listen. Listen to what I say. I did not kill your fiancé. It wasn’t him. I can never forget that night or the guy’s face ever. Because all I have thought about is that one night and how it changed my life. That guy wasn’t your fiancé and I am not going to jail for something I haven’t done. I know you will find ways to pin Sebastian’s and Pankaj’s death on me too. Yes, you know Sebichacha is dead too, don’t you? Because I was the one that called the police at both the places.” He paused.
“Sebastian is dead too?” Misha felt the blood d
rain from her face. “And you knew about Pankaj’s death too.”
“Hah!” he gave a derisive laugh. “Go ahead Misha. I know what you are thinking. I know how all this looks like to you. I did not tell you about Pankaj and Sebastian earlier because I did not want to frighten you. You were already upset about Raunak and I did not have the heart to tell you but here it is. As I told you before I wandered about the village after I left here. I was desperate, not knowing what to do next. It was then I remembered Sebastian had promised me answers when the time is right and I decided I would start there. I was going to beg him to tell me what he knew. But when I reached there he was fighting for his life. He told me some guys had come barging in and torn down the place. They were looking for something.” He put his left hand inside his jacket and pulled out something and slid it towards her. “This! This is what they wanted or at least one of the things they wanted.”
She looked down at it. It was a file with her mom’s name written on it. “What is it Ved?”
“It is just one of the files that Pankaj asked Sebastian to hold on to for him. Sebastian stashed it in the hospital’s filing cabinet under your mother’s name, so that he could identify it easily and at the same time keep it hidden from others. There are more files like this, prepared by Pankaj, detailing other suspicious deaths that have taken place here, at Tamara. He had wanted to redeem himself. Maybe he wanted some leverage over the guys threatening his family. I don’t know but I am sure the police would have found some of them by now. Isn’t it?” he looked mockingly at Namita. “Your police, Namita. They are supposed to protect the public but they go around killing people and supressing evidence, so that they can pin it on innocents. Anyway, Sebastian thought I should get hold of this before it got destroyed and he begged me to go check on Pankaj, before he breathed his last in my arms. He was fearful those goons were going to harm him. And he was right. I called the cops and ran to Pankaj’s house as fast as I could. But when I reached there, it was too late. Pankaj was already dead. I could do nothing.”
He stared at Namita and gestured with the gun. “Sit.” Namita sat down next to Misha and they both looked up at him as he stood over them with the gun. “You want to do justice? Look at that file. It is Jay’s original post-mortem report. Do you still want to believe me or the policemen who tried to kill us today? The question is not whether you can trust me, Namita. The question here is can we trust you and your men? Yes, Jay and I made a mistake, years ago and God knows I have paid a heavy price for it. And now I am ready to face the legal consequences. But first I want justice for Jay and I want to find my brother. If you and your men can’t help me, I will do it on my own. After that I promise, I will give myself up to you. Until then…”
“If as you say, Pankaj has documented all this then you don’t have to worry, do you? We can catch these people,” Namita tried to reason with him.
Vedant gave a short laugh, “You really think it is that simple. The police would have gone over everything that was there. And who knows how much evidence is already destroyed. Didn’t you hear? They have declared Pankaj’s death as a suicide! This village is turning into a suicidal zone and nobody cares. Least of all the police,” he said bitterly. “And how can we be sure you are not in cahoots with them? How can we trust you, Namita? You have been lying to us since the day you arrived.”
“Dammit Ved! Don’t do this. If you are innocent, you will only be incriminating yourself by doing this,” Namita tried to appeal to him again.
Vedant shook his head. “I have to, I’m sorry. I told you, I have to find out what happened to my brother and Jay.”
“Please Ved,” Misha pleaded. “Listen to her. She can help you.”
“No! Either she can’t or she won’t. I don’t know which and I am not sticking around to find out. Pankaj, Dinkar, Sunil; they were all right. You cannot trust anyone.”
He started to back out. “Ved? Please…don’t do this,” Misha pleaded but he threw her a helpless look and continued to back out and then he was gone. They heard the front door being bolted from outside. As soon as he was out the door, Namita ran out the back door. Misha just sat there shocked at the turn of events.
Eventually, Namita came back, panting. “He is gone. He put the gun on the porch before he left. Now he is unarmed and alone, putting himself in danger. The idiot!” she sat down on the couch, frustrated.
“You pushed him to do that,” Misha accused her, fiercely. “How can you accuse him of murdering your fiancé?”
“Misha, I had to push him. I didn’t know he would do something so foolish.”
“What did he do? What is this talk of your fiancé? How is it connected to what is happening now?”
Namita sank back on her chair, tiredly. “I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this but …” she shrugged. “Vedant and Jay were on the Mumbai police radar for years, in connection to Hriday’s murder. In fact, I came here with the intention of hauling Ved back to Mumbai, for the murder. But there are gaps in the story of witnesses. Each witness has a different story to tell and to add to that at least two important witnesses are believed to be dead. One of them, the main witness is Vishal, Sunil’s father who ran the pub, where it all went down.”
Namita sighed and picked up the photograph lying on the table, “As you already know, I am not Raunak’s college friend. I was his instructor at the academy. I was engaged to Hriday, who was working for the Mumbai police. They were following a high profile case of fake drugs. Fake drugs were being flooded into the market putting the lives of thousands in danger. These were not ordinary drugs but drugs used to treat life threatening diseases like cancer and heart ailments. And these drugs cost these families a fortune. They had zeroed in on some hot shot business man and Hriday was obsessed with bringing down the guy. Apparently, he was into all sorts of illegal business but they could never find the proof. He always got away clean and all they could get was some lower level crooks, who refused to give evidence against him, out of fear.
Then just like that, out of the blue, someone sent an anonymous call to the Mumbai police about some of his activities here, in the village. In exchange, they wanted a reassurance of protection before they would provide the evidence. The call was traced to the hotel. The businessman was very popular here and feared. Nobody spoke against him. In the name of helping the villagers, he was getting them involved in his shady dealings. There were unexplained disappearances, bodies kept appearing, some known, some unknown but I guess it was enough for people to be scared. For ages people here had not seen such happenings and they tried to explain it away.
Also since the cops here had dirtied their hands, there was no way people were approaching them for help. That is what Pankaj meant when he said the police couldn’t help him. Nobody has seen this person, yet his persona grew and if anyone spoke, they were hushed, told to look the other way out of fear.” She paused and looked at Misha.
“When I first came here, I was surprised to meet you. You were totally unaware of what had been happening here. You sincerely believed that this place was what it had always been, safe.”
“I was away, remember? And now it feels like I came back to a different place. Jay must have known but he never mentioned it to me.”
Namita nodded in agreement. “Yes, he must have known or at least knew something that got him involved with these guys. He must have crossed their path when he started to go to the Heritage. In retrospect, Heritage Palace is a perfect place to do illicit businesses. Remote, a forgotten palace, with secret chambers and tunnels that would be difficult to access, unless you knew it well.”
“Oh my God,” Misha said suddenly remembering. “Ved found some order forms for drugs at his house. Do you think Tarun was involved in all this?”
“Ved did? That idiot, why doesn’t he tell us anything?” Namita sighed. “It could be because Hriday was convinced it was Tarun who had made that call and he came here under cover to convince him to help but two months into the assignment, Hriday disappeared.
All attempts to contact Tarun were in vain. He had clammed up and we were at a loss to know why. The team that followed Hriday’s leads heard about that night at the bar. That day someone was killed. An informant led us to the body buried in the woods, Hriday’s, claiming that Jay and Ved had killed him. The team tried to talk to some villagers. But there were conflicting versions. One version said Vedant had shot Hriday, while the other said that Jay had hit him with a chair. Hriday had been shot. There is also a conflict on who had died that day. Some of them swear it was Hriday but then there are still others who whisper it was someone else. Only Vedant can answer the questions.
As for me, it was very difficult to come to terms with what happened and eventually, when the police put the case on the back burner, I decided I would complete what Hriday had come here to do. I pulled strings, called favours and transferred from the academy to the crime branch. But they had relegated the case to the unsolved category and unless I had any leads it was going to be difficult to reopen it. I sought Raunak’s help. Raunak had become my close confidantè, at the academy. My best student. At my request, Raunak got a posting here.
Meanwhile, I kept a watch on Ved in Mumbai, waiting for him to slip up. Then suddenly one day he came here in a hurry.
At about the same time Raunak told me about Jay’s death and Tarun’s disappearance. I then followed him here. The rest as they say…” she shrugged.
“Does this mean Ved and Jay had killed a police officer?” Misha asked miserably.
“I don’t know Misha! That is why I need to hear the story from Ved.” Namita said helplessly.
“That is why he left,” Misha said thoughtfully. “Jay told me they had got into a fight. But he wouldn’t say with whom.”