Seduced by Murder

by Saurbh Katyal

  “So no one ventured outside till Ram discovered Anil’s body?”

  “That is correct.”

  I nodded in appreciation at the old man. I directed the next question at Vimal. “What time did Ram leave?”

  Vimal thought about it, and then replied in a thick American accent, “Ram left at nine last night. He helped us serve the drinks and snacks, and then we sent him off.”

  I hurled at the next one at Sunil. “We know it started raining sometime past midnight. Did anyone of you notice when it stopped?

  He said, “It stopped at around one-thirty in the morning. I remember because I had come out to the veranda for a smoke.”

  I turned to the petite Reena and asked, “The access to the farmhouse is quite exclusive. Given the close proximity to the village, I assume that the front gate was locked by someone from inside after Ram left?”

  Reena looked innocently lost, and Sunil replied on behalf of his sister-in-law. “That’s correct. I locked the gate myself. It was my duty to lock the front gate before it got dark. Yesterday, I locked it at nine, as soon as Ram left.”

  “You walked the entire stretch from the front gate to the house? It must be at least fifty metres.”

  “So?” he asked, impatiently.

  “It is quite a long and dark stretch. Did u carry a torch?”

  “No, the lights in the garden are sufficient. Ram switches them on at six every evening, to discourage any trespassers.”

  I pointed to the lights hanging between two trees in the garden. “Those ones?”

  “Yes. They throw enough light to illuminate the garden and the road.”

  “Okay, and where are the switches for the lights?”

  “The switches are in the kitchen.”

  “Any other switches outside the house?”

  He shook his head.

  I asked Ram, “So it is your duty to switch them on at six every evening?”

  “Yes, sir, but not every evening. We switch the lights on in the garden only when the family is visiting.”

  “And when do you switch them off?”

  “In the morning.”

  “You went to the garden and saw the body first?”

  “Yes, sir. I came at ten and rang the bell. Sunil Sir came out, opened the gate, and went back to sleep. I had just put the hose to the tap to water the garden, when I….”

  He put his head in his hands dramatically, and shuddered.

  I looked carefully at all of them. “I see the lights are switched off now. Who switched them off?”

  This innocent question surprised everyone. A couple of people looked at Ram expectantly, who shook his head.

  I thought aloud, “Ram was outside the house. When he saw the body, he would have panicked, and his normal faculties would have been affected. He would have screamed to get your attention. All of you would have obviously rushed to the body. So which one of you was composed enough to notice that two lights in the garden were still on, and switched them off?”

  I didn’t wait for an answer. “Did one of you turn the lights off before retiring to bed?”

  Paras replied, “No, the lights were on when I looked out from my bedroom window last night at around two-thirty. Anyway, we deliberately keep the lights on at night.”

  I snapped my fingers. “Please pay attention. I need to get a confirmation for this one. Could it be that one of you turned off the lights this morning accidently?”

  “Difficult. The switch for the floodlights is in the storeroom, in the kitchen,” offered Vimal.

  That confirmed my doubts. I requested Ram to switch on the lights. In two minutes the lights were on. An involuntary chill ran down my spine as I realised what this meant. The murderer was staring at me right now.

  I continued, “So the bulbs are not fused. Someone must have deliberately turned them off from inside the house. For the sake of convenience, let’s assume that it was the murderer.”

  There was an expected cacophony of angry voices. I had made my statement slowly, trying to study each individual’s reaction. There was indignation and shock, but no fear on anyone’s face.

  Babu’s loud voice suppressed the rest. “You mean to say someone from the family committed the murder?”

  He looked like he was going to murder me.

  Paras said indignantly, “Young man, you’d better be careful about what you say!”

  I took a few breaths.

  “I am not saying that someone from the family is the murderer. All I am implying is that turning off the lights would have undeniably been a very big advantage for the murderer. With the lights on, most of the beach would have been exposed. Switching the lights off was the only thing he or she had to do, so that the murder could be committed without being witnessed. All the other facts evidently prove that this murder was planned. Come with me.”

  The angry mob followed me. “What do you see here?” I asked Babu, pointing to the beach.

  “Sand,” he replied.

  “Yes, sand. And if you tax your delicate vision a little bit more, you will see footsteps on the sand, evidently made by all of us. The sand is damp from the rain last night, and we see a deluge of footprints. These include Anil’s footprints, and all those who have subsequently come from the bungalow to the hammock, after the dead body was discovered.”

  I pointed to a particular set of deep footprints left by heavy boots. “These, Inspector, I believe, are yours.”

  Everyone looked at the marks on the sand. I walked over to the other side of the hammock, and looked at the untouched part of the beach facing the pool.

  “There are no footprints leading to the dead body from any other part of the beach.”

  I looked around to see if all of them were with me. They were an avid audience. I walked to the side of the beach leading from the back portion of the property. Even as I walked, my footprints left their marks on the damp sand.

  “There are three ways someone could have reached the hammock. There are no footprints from the pool side, or from the back gate. All the footprints visible are from the bungalow leading to the hammock. Not a single footprint from any other side of the beach leading to the hammock. Unless the murderer flew, he or she must have walked from the side facing the bungalow.”

  The inspector, and Paras, went to the other part of the beach to confirm what I had stated.

  Babu said defiantly, “What if the murderer entered from the back gate, got on to the porch, and then came to the beach from the kitchen, knowing that his footsteps would be visible in the morning?”

  A murmur of voices rose collectively, supporting this idea.

  “He was pretty smart for a petty thief then. And yet he ran away without stealing anything, because he was scared of a corpse?”

  “You also saw the lock,” shouted someone behind me, with a ferocity that surprised me. It was Ram. He had suddenly become very interesting to me. I turned towards him, and said, “I am coming to the lock.”

  I turned to Babu. “So the murderer broke the lock after it had stopped raining, entered the premises, came to the courtyard outside the kitchen without being seen by Anil, managed to switch off the lights through a closed door – that shows no sign of a forced entry – murdered Anil, and then, instead of dashing to the back gate, retraced his footsteps to the courtyard again?”

  Babu hesitated and conceded, “It does sound unnatural.”

  Paras looked pale. “I am sure one of us switched off the lights. Think for God’s sake.”

  Everyone looked at one another.

  I noticed Babu was perspiring when he asked Paras, “Sir, what do you think about his version?”

  Paras looked aghast. “He is wrong, of course.”

  Sunil lent support to this father. “Insane! This is ridiculous.”

  I turned to Sunil. “The party dispersed at approximately two in the morning. I am sure people wouldn’t have gone off to sleep right away. Your father said he was awake at two-thirty and saw the lights on. What time did you slee
p?”

  “Aditi and I went to the bedroom around two. But we would have fallen asleep at around two forty-five, or three – latest. Right, Aditi?”

  She nodded at him. The casual words Sunil had uttered shook me, and I pondered the extent of the intimacy between them. Did they have sex last night?

  Was he better than me? Did he understand her as well as I did? Did she moan and whisper ‘I love you’ when she came? I became aware of Aditi’s gaze, and I was sure she knew what I was thinking about. I felt disgusted at the power of my sentiments.

  “Well, what are you thinking?” asked Babu, giving undue importance to my blank stare.

  I looked at the inspector.

  “The entire exercise of the murderer creeping stealthily to the courtyard from the back gate, murdering Anil, and retracing his way via the courtyard to the back gate, would be a minimum of twenty minutes’ process, right?”

  Babu replied, “Yes. Twenty minutes or more.”

  I continued, “You will notice that Anil’s watch has stopped at three-thirty in the morning. Most probably from a heavy impact, while struggling with the murderer. That means, in case the murderer was from the village, which I highly doubt, he or she would have entered the premise latest by three-ten in the morning. That implies he would have started the process of breaking the lock by three o’ clock. It’s a strong lock. There would have been some noise. If people were awake at three, someone would have heard something.”

  Babu rushed towards Anil’s body, lifted the limp wrist, and nodded. “The glass of the watch is cracked, and it has stopped at three-thirty.”

  I addressed the crowd.

  “Did anyone of you hear any noises between three and three-ten in the morning?”

  Paras walked to his son’s body and glanced at the wrist watch. He paled and nodded. He repeated my question to his family.

  Sunil reasoned, “No, dad. But we were all intoxicated last night, totally sloshed. I don’t think we would have noticed anyway.”

  I shook my head. “The lock couldn’t have been broken. Follow me.”

  I led them to the back gate. I told Ram to stay inside the compound. I closed the metal gate behind me, so that we were outside the compound, facing Ram. I asked Ram to place the broken lock in the latch.

  “Well?” I looked encouragingly at everyone.

  They looked lost.

  “Look at the size of the grill. Even a kid would find it difficult to get his hands inside to reach the latch.”

  I asked Aditi to try squeezing her petite hands through it. She could only get two fingers through.

  “It would be impossible for a full-grown adult to put his hands inside. Look at the lock. Not a single scratch on it, no sign of it being broken by something heavy. It is neatly cut in half. Probably sawed.”

  Paras was the first one to observe the obvious. “My God! It would have had to be sawed inside the compound!”

  I shook my head. “My guess is that someone who had access to the key, conveniently removed the lock, took it to some secluded place, and sawed it, before throwing it here. The murderer would not dare stand inside the compound and break the lock. The noise would have been too much of a risk.

  “He or she probably anticipated the party would extend beyond the wee hours. The lock was broken, and put here before the party began. Everything was planned meticulously.”

  Paras showed a perceptible draining of colour. Sunil stared at me disbelief, Vimal’s eyes widened in shock, and Shalini started shivering.

  No one had asked me the most pertinent question, so I told them my ideas. “Some of you might be wondering why the murderer didn’t switch the lights on after committing the murder. Probably because he or she had some blood on the clothes; or it could have been cuts or bruises that required urgent attention.

  “He or she would have required time to dispose off the bloodstained clothes, wash, change back into night clothes, and get back into bed. With the lights on, there was always the risk of being seen, and getting suspicious at Anil’s odd posture in the hammock.

  “Plus, the murderer knew that switching off the lights would not attract as much attention as switching them on. Some of the rooms overlook the garden, and the risk was too great. I am assuming that the murderer planned to switch the lights on in the morning.”

  I studied their countenances carefully, hoping for a hint.

  “Someone wanted to make it look as though a villager had committed the murder; but I am very sure the murderer was from inside the hou … eh … inside the compound.”

  This time I caught the look. It was not a look of fear or guilt. Two eyes stared at me with hatred and anger. I was surprised at the hatred exuding from her eyes, clearly hinting at homicidal intentions towards me. For a moment, I locked my eyes with Shalini’s. The beautiful widow was radiating negative vibes towards me. It immediately made her a suspect. I stared at her for a couple of seconds, and she showed no sign of lowering her gaze.

  Everyone was silent now.

  I said to Babu, “During the autopsy, you will realise that there was a struggle between Anil and the murderer. Either after Anil had been stabbed, or before, there was a struggle, the evidence of which can be found in the bloodstains on Anil’s right-hand finger nails.”

  Three men rushed towards the corpse, and observed Anil’s bloodstained fingernails. I reconstructed the crime scene for everyone’s benefit.

  “Since there was a struggle, let us assume that Anil was awake or semi-awake. It is certain that Anil was lying on his back when he was stabbed. But the body was found lying on the stomach.

  “It would be terribly inconvenient for the murderer to creep in stealthily, get beneath the hammock and aim for Anil’s heart. But if he had been lying down when he was stabbed, how did he turn? So let us assume that Anil had judged the murderer’s intentions, stood up, struggled, and managed to scratch the intruder before being stabbed. He was then pushed so that he fell on his stomach, and the additional pressure drove the knife further into his heart.”

  All eyes were fixed on me, and I stared at Shalini. Intuition told me that the murderer was standing there.

  A little later I casually asked Ram, “How did you scratch your neck?”

  Everyone understood the implication of this question, and all eyes shifted to the scratches on his neck.

  “What … oh … this is from the branches, sir – from the branches in the forest in the village, sir!” he said, pleading.

  “Okay. Just concerned. Use some antiseptic.”

  Babu was sitting in my car while waiting for the backup to arrive. We had exited the house to respect the family’s privacy. The grief associated with the death had been overshadowed by the shock of the macabre possibility that the murderer could be an insider. The Kapoors had become hysterical after I told them my thoughts on the murder. Paras had requested Babu and me to excuse the family for some time. They were seated in the living room, engaged in a sort of confused, tearful conference as we left.

  Babu said excitedly, “If what you said is true, this will be one hell of a case! The media will go berserk!”

  There was a twinkle in his eyes. “You are quite a sharp guy. For how long have you been doing this stuff … hey … what’s that?”

  I caught the familiar sweet smell of weed, and cursed Pranay silently.

  “You are smoking drugs?” the Inspector yelled, and held Pranay by the collar.

  It took a few seconds for Pranay’s placid pupils to register that he was doing something wrong by smoking a joint in front of a police officer. His looked at me in alarm.

  “Put that away.”

  I pulled the cigarette from between his lips and extinguished it against the steering wheel. I apologised on Pranay’s behalf.

  “I am sorry, Inspector. This is the first time he has seen a dead body at such close quarters. He is not thinking straight.”

  “That stuff is banned. I should have him arrested.”

  “Let him be, Inspector. We have b
igger things to worry about. How will you handle the media when they come to know that Anil Kapoor has been murdered, and you have found clues that incriminate a family member?”

  He let go of Pranay’s collar, and stroked his moustache in ecstasy.

  “It will be big! They would want to know how we found that, of course?” He looked at me slyly. “You will give a statement to the media?”

  “Not a chance. I will leave it to your judgment to issue the statement.”

  He beamed at us, and both Pranay and I breathed easy. He continued, “I will tell them how both of us uncovered the clues together. That should keep us in the headlines for a few days.”

  “Maybe you should check with Mr Paras Kapoor before issuing any statements. And please don’t mention my name.”

  He ignored the first part of my statement.

  “You don’t want me to mention your name to the press? They would want to know who found all the clues.”

  “Oh no. I got lucky. You were the first one to examine the corpse, remember?”

  He looked at me and an unspoken agreement was sealed between us. He would forget the dope Pranay was carrying, and I would forget what a dope he was. An excruciatingly painful hour passed in the car.

  Babu was attacking me with a paroxysm of idle chatter that was slightly more interesting than watching snails race. I thought of the repercussions of pushing him out of my car, and realised it would only make things worse. I wanted to shut out his mindless babble, close my eyes, and concentrate on how to deal with the tempest of past memories. I wanted to see Aditi again. I wanted a drink.

  Thankfully, Ram came running and said, “Please come in, sir. They are waiting for you.”

  I followed Babu and Pranay into the living room, and found the Kapoor family sitting stiff and impassive. Count Dracula and his family assembled for their annual Halloween portrait. Six pairs of eyes gazed at me with a sense of anticipation reserved for a surgeon, who walks out of the operation theatre after trying to save a man’s life. I noticed that Shalini and Mayank were missing, and asked where they were. Paras said that Shalini had had a nervous breakdown after hearing my assumptions about the murderer, and was resting in her room. Her father was with her.