“And you told me that you were experienced in climbing. Acrobat is the term you used.”
“That is absolutely correct. Now let go of me.”
He released his gorilla-like grip and asked, “What did your family do exactly?”
I sprinted a few steps away from him before replying. “My ancestors were apes. You should have seen them swinging from tree to tree.”
I tied my handkerchief on my right hand to handle the friction between the metal and my skin. The developer had planted creepers along the walls of the building, no doubt to achieve the ’French effect’. They sprang in all directions along the pipe, making my climb difficult. It took me five minutes to cross the first floor. I looked up and saw that Leo’s terrace was still about twelve feet above me. I looked down, and signalled to Babu and Vimal to make their move. I was almost there. My legs were trembling, and I was out of breath. I hadn’t played Spiderman since I was a toddler, and I could feel my arms and legs revolting at the unnecessary effort. I halted for a few seconds and then began the vertical ascent again.
It took me another five minutes to finally reach Leo’s apartment. I lifted my left hand off the pipe and grasped the terrace railing. I looked down, and my hands went cold anticipating my next move. My right hand let go of the pipe and grasped the railing as well. I dangled from the railing for a few seconds. Then I raised my body against the railing, slowly pulling myself up till I could swing one leg over the railing. I fell onto the terrace and huddled in a corner.
There was no sign of Leo. I crawled to the door that was ajar, and peeped into the room. It was a sparingly furnished bedroom with a double bed, a wooden cupboard, and a television. There was an open suitcase on the bed, carelessly filled with clothes. Someone had been packing in a hurry. The other door of the bedroom was partly open, and I could see a passage. It would probably take me to the main door. I decided to make a dash to the front door, and confront Leo, after taking refuge behind Babu’s gun.
I had just got on to my knees in the on-your-marks position, when Murphy’s Law prevailed. An athletic, tall man appeared from a hitherto hidden bathroom adjoining the bedroom. He was bare-chested, and carrying a shaving kit in one hand. He had a brown towel wrapped around his neck. He saw me, and shouted something nasty. Before I could react, I saw his hand thrust forward in a bowler’s action and a metallic object hit me below my left eye. Intense pain, and a fountain of lights, seemed to explode in my eyes. It left me dazed. I stumbled, tripped, and fell backwards on the floor.
I lay there dazed, and touched the wound below my eye. I felt some loose skin drenched in thick liquid that I hoped was blood and not some liquid leaking through the cranium. I glanced sideways. The son of a bitch had thrown a deodorant bottle at me! I tried to assess the damage to my eye, straining to open the partially stuck eyelid. I lost precious seconds, and Leo was standing over me. He delivered a powerful punch to my solar plexus, cutting off my breath, and I groaned at the sharp pain that burnt my intestines. He pinned me down to the ground with his body weight, and started to strangle me.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asked.
Maybe it was the subconscious awareness that a half-naked gay man was sitting on top of me, with my hips under his legs; maybe it was the cheap pub that Pranay and I had started frequenting, that always showed wrestling on television … Whatever the reason, I felt a sudden rush of testosterone, and locked my legs around his neck in a classic wrestling style, and pushed him back.
Our position had reversed, and I was on top now. I had always preferred the missionary anyway. His fingers found my windpipe, and I started choking again. My knees were burning from the climb, my left eye was numb, and my stomach was experiencing slight cramps. Leo was struggling violently under me. I felt my grip relax. I jammed my right knee with great force into Leo’s abdomen. His pupils dilated, and his grip slackened.
I got up as quickly as my legs would permit, and tried to run for the door. Leo tripped me with his leg, and I fell face down on the bed, hitting something hard. My tongue tasted something salty. I was not on the beach, so it had to be blood. I felt too dazed to get up. From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo get up and walk towards me. I looked at the object I had fallen on. It was his shaving kit. I zipped the pouch open, and scrambled around to find anything that could be used as a weapon.
I found a metallic can of shaving spray and held it tight. Leo’s superhuman strength became evident when he lifted me effortlessly, with his hands under my armpit, so that we were face-to-face. I had the can in my left hand. I thrust my right hand forward pushed his chest away with all my might. His grip slackened, and my toes touched the floor. He pulled his fist back, held on for a few seconds, and then catapulted it towards my face. Within milliseconds his fist would hit my nose. I jerked my arm up, pushing the can towards his jaw. It hit him before his fist touched me. I heard some bones crack. He released me and collapsed on the ground, groaning in agony. There was no time for congratulating myself. I heard the doorbell ring, and limped to the main door swearing at Babu. He should have broken down the door by now.
The door bell rang again. I opened the door and said to Babu accusingly, “I thought I told you to break the door open.”
Vimal and Babu both said in unison, “My God! What happened to your eye?”
I counted till five, and breathed normally again. “Why didn’t you barge in?”
“I thought ringing the doorbell would be better. What happened to your eye?”
“Got into a scuffle with Leo. He’s lying injured in the other room. Why the hell would you ring the bell if I wasn’t at the main door, you fool?”
“How does it make a difference?” Babu asked defiantly.
“What if he had put a bullet in my head and escaped from the pipe?”
I didn’t wait for an answer, and guided the inspector to the room where I had left Leo a few minutes ago.
“You overpowered him?” Babu sounded surprised.
I felt some kind of movement as soon as I entered the room, and immediately ducked, missing the cricket bat by a couple of inches. Leo swung the cricket bat blindly once more, and Babu ducked too.
“Don’t come towards me!” he yelled and rushed towards the door. Only the gentle Vimal stood between it and Leo. I expected him to be wise and step aside. However, Vimal brought his fists up in a boxer’s stance and stared boldly at Leo. Leo hissed in anger, and waved the bat menacingly at Vimal, who bent backwards as though his spine were made of elastic. The bat missed his face, and Leo was thrown off balance. Vimal landed a left-handed punch on Leo’s jaw, and almost carried him off the floor. Leo lay stone cold on the floor. Babu and I looked at Vimal in admiration.
“Wow. You took good care of him,” I commended him.
“Three times gold medallist in boxing. University level,” he said shyly.
Babu handcuffed Leo to a chair, while I picked up parts of my personality strewn on the floor. My shirt was torn, and one of my shoes was missing. Vimal helped me pick up my wallet, car keys, a pen, and some fabric from my shirt.
I took stock of the damage to my eye in the bathroom mirror. A small plum had formed where my eye used to be. The pain was increasing with time, and I needed immediate medical attention. I went to the hall and took out a bottle of vodka. There was nothing else in the refrigerator. I was not much of a vodka drinker, but these were dire straits. I joined Babu and Vimal in the room. Leo was semiconscious now, and trying to understand what was happening.
Babu looked at the bottle of vodka in my hand, and stared at me disapprovingly. “You can’t drink that.”
“Why not?”
“It is personal property.”
“So was my eye.”
“You need proper medicine for that, not vodka.”
“I know. But the bugger has no whisky or beer in the refrigerator. You know what they say. Patients can’t be choosers.”
I dispensed with etiquette and took a direct swig from the bottle. That was for the eye. I im
mediately took another one for my bruised knees. I concentrated on the faint pain in my abdomen and took another gulp. The vodka burnt my throat, reduced the pain, and I immediately felt better. I even smiled good naturedly at the morose Leo, who was regaining consciousness.
“What’s your name?” barked the inspector in an intimidating way.
Leo stared at us insolently and said, “I want to make a phone call first.”
Slap.
“Answer the question.”
Leo looked at Babu without an iota of fear.
“You don’t know my contacts. All of you will be sorry. Watch it. Do you even have a warrant for me?”
I pitched in. “Listen, you are a suspect for the cold-blooded murder of the city’s biggest real-estate developer. If anyone needs to be sorry, it is you.”
Reality dawned on him, and he became aware of the reason why we were there. His eyes widened.
“What? I am a suspect for Anil’s murder? Are you crazy?”
I spoke to Babu, “He is Leo all right.”
The inspector jubilantly took out the heart-shaped pendant inscribed with the letter L and suspended it before Leo’s face.
“We found this at the scene of the crime.”
For a moment Leo paled, and his tone sobered.
“This is not mine! I mean … Anil had given it to me, but I returned it to Anil a few weeks ago. I didn’t murder Anil.”
“Every madman says he is a genius, and every criminal says he is innocent,” said Babu philosophically.
I took out my trustworthy tape recorder and hit the record button. Babu’s pearls of wisdom were priceless.
“Do you have some proof that you returned the pendant to him?” I asked.
He thought for a moment and spoke excitedly. “Of course! I threw the locket at him in front of at least twenty people at The Clocker’s Pub.”
“The Clocker’s Pub?”
“It’s a pub on Wilson Street. Some of the occupants that night were regular visitors. And wait … the bartender – Reddy – he would remember the incident. I threw the locket at Anil, and it fell into his glass. He asked Reddy to get him another drink. I am innocent and I can prove it. Just let me make the phone call.”
“You can make your phone call. But we want to ask you a few questions first. If you are innocent, you need not be scared. This will be part of a routine investigation, okay?”
He nodded. I realised what this meant. If Leo could prove that he had returned the pendant to Anil, not only would my original theory of the murderer being an insider hold true, it would also incriminate Shalini. It was the usual mistake a first-time criminal made. It was supposed to be a flawless murder. In his or her panic, the murderer had planted the locket outside the back gate; and going by the circumstances, I was inclined to believe that Shalini was the culprit behind this.
I asked Vimal, “If Leo returned the locket to Anil, who would have access to it?”
“Umm … Anil would probably have kept it in his room. All of us would have had access to it.”
I could see the realization dawn in his eyes, as he answered my question. I knew he was evaluating the same person I was – Shalini. Babu made a phone call and asked someone to talk to Reddy, the bartender, at The Clocker’s Pub. Leo was white as a sheet now and, unless he was a very good actor, he was telling the truth.
Babu tried to extract more information from him. “Your real name is Leo?”
“Yeah.”
“Leo as in Leonard?”
“Leo as in Leo.”
The Inspector was not convinced. “What type of name is that?”
“I was born on 23rd July. My parents named me after the zodiac sign.”
“Lucky you,” I chipped in.
“Why?”
“One day earlier, and you would’ve been called Cancer.”
Leo didn’t find the joke funny. I looked at the carelessly half-packed suitcase, and grinned.
“If you are innocent, why were you packing? Why would you assault a police inspector with a bat and make a run for it? What are you hiding, Leo?”
“I … I … thought … you were thieves.”
Babu turned a nasty shade of crimson. “Do I look like a thief to you?”
I was not convinced. “So that is why you attacked us. Why would you instruct the guard downstairs to lie?”
I went to the suitcase and emptied its contents – casual wear, undergarments, and toiletries. I could feel Leo’s eyes on me. I walked to a table in the corner and opened a drawer. There was an envelope there. I could see his reflection in the mirror next to the table. He licked his upper lips nervously, and moved his gaze from my back to the cupboard. He was nervous about something in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard. There were clothes, some documents, and a large black leather bag that was locked.
“Key?”
“What are you doing? Don’t touch my bag. I will sue you.”
“Silly boy,” I said, and picked up a pair of scissors lying on the table. The scissors had been lying there all along. A murderer, who could stab someone in the heart, would not have used a deodorant bottle or a cricket bat to attack an intruder. He would have used the scissors. I dragged the blades of the scissors along the width of the bag and emptied the bundles of currency notes on the bed. There were one-thousand-rupee note bundles. Babu whistled. There were five hundred bundles, and each bundle had a hundred notes.
“That’s a cool five crores in cash. Care to explain this?”
Leo had aged two years in two seconds.
“They are my savings, from my modelling assignments.”
“Who were you modelling for? Reserve Bank of India?”
Babu stared at the notes in hypnotic wonder. Vimal walked to the bed, picked up a bundle, and remarked casually, “The currency is authentic.”
Five crores in cash. The inspector was stumped, the detective was tempted, and the rich dad’s son was nonchalant. Life was fair.
Babu looked at Leo menacingly and said, “You better have an explanation for this.”
“I … I earned it”.
I placed the scissors below his chin, and lifted his face. “Either Anil gave it to you, or you stole it from him. Which one?”
All that crap about the eyes not lying is actually true. He knew that I knew, and he knew that he was cornered. His eyes conceded defeat and he said, “I didn’t steal it from Anil. He gave it to me. Can you light a cigarette for me, please?”
Vimal spoke up. “That is a load of bullshit. Anil would never give that kind of money to you.”
“I think he did,” I said.
I picked up Babu’s keys from the bed, and unlocked Leo’s handcuffs. He took a cigarette from his pack, lit it, inhaled deeply, and immediately relaxed.
“Thanks a lot.”
“No sudden movements,” Babu threatened him. Then, turning to me he asked, “How do you know Anil gave him the money?”
“If he had murdered Anil, he would have left the country yesterday with the cash. I am assuming he became aware of Anil’s death just now, and was trying to escape with or without the money. He knew that if he was found with the cash, he would become the prime suspect. He was desperate to escape. That’s why he attacked us.”
Leo nodded. “Yes! If I had murdered Anil, why would I stay? I saw it on TV an hour ago, and panicked. That’s exactly how it happened. The money belonged to Anil.”
“I believe you. But you need to give me more dope.”
Vimal intervened. “You people don’t believe this scum, do you?”
I looked at Leo and said, “Depends on our friend here. As of now, he does seem to have a motive. Five crores is big enough a motive for someone to kill Anil.”
“Bullshit! Anil didn’t have that kind of money. He got peanuts from his family. Ask him,” Leo pointed at Vimal.
Vimal looked at him with hatred.
I turned to Leo. “You have attacked an inspector. Your locket was found at the scene of the murder. You have a motive. U
nless you tell us what’s been happening, you are going to the noose.”
Leo sighed. “We were supposed to go to Paris on Thursday, three days from today. On Saturday night Anil called me, all excited, and instructed me to postpone the tickets to next week. They are in the envelope that you took out from the drawer.”
I found two international tickets and handed the envelope to Babu.
“Why did he ask you to postpone the flight?”
“He didn’t tell me. He was excited, and mentioned that he had hit a jackpot. He said we would have to wait another week to collect the payment.”
“Okay. How much?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t speak much. He seemed in a hurry.”
“What about this? Five crores?”
“He got this money last week. He didn’t tell me from where. We were planning to leave India for good. Everything was settled. He called me on his father’s birthday, and told me to postpone the trip by a week.
“He didn’t show up this morning. Which was normal. He usually spent weekends at home, or his old man burst a vein and didn’t pay him his pocket money. I heard about Anil’s murder on TV. I panicked, and decided to leave the city. I was packing when you showed up on the balcony. That is the truth.”
“At what time did he call you on Saturday?”
“Around seven in the evening.”
“So let me get this right. The cash in the apartment is Anil’s, and you are unaware of the source. Both of you were planning to leave the country this Thursday. Something happened on Saturday evening, that got him excited about another big payment, and he asked you to postpone the trip, correct?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Vimal.
“Anil was Paras Kapoor’s heir. Why would he leave the country with just five crores, jeopardizing his inheritance?”
Leo interrupted with a sarcastic laugh. “Inheritance? The old man had already declared that Anil would not get a penny when he found out about me. Anil was on a weekly allowance.” He looked at Vimal and continued, “And with the financial mess these guys are in, they will be lucky if they can avoid bankruptcy. Their debts for their dream mall project run into hundreds of crores. Anil always said that the project would ruin them. He hated his family. And they hated him. He had to leave.”
Seduced by Murder Page 6