The accusation hung in the air, and the people around me expressed their astonishment and indignation. Vimal’s only reply was raised eyebrows. He was a cool customer, as I had expected him to be.
Paras stared at his son. “Vimal, Vishal has a theory that you murdered Anil, because you were being blackmailed by Anil.”
“That’s absurd, Dad!” said Vimal calmly.
“What!” Reena appeared appalled.
“Dad!” exclaimed Vimal. “How can you say such a thing? Especially after the copy of his license was found?”
“That was flicked by you,” I said, “when you handed me the wallet at Leo’s apartment.”
“Is this a joke? Dad, what’s going on?” said Sunil.
I continued, “Anil was blackmailing Vimal. Vimal and Reena were part of a couple-swapping circuit. Anil and Leo came to know about it. They had some proof – most probably a CD, and they started blackmailing them. Anil must have asked for five crores to withhold the secret from Mr Kapoor and the rest of the family.
“Vimal paid Anil the money, and Anil promised the leave the country with Leo on Thursday. That accounts for the five crores found in his apartment. What Anil didn’t know was where the five crores came from. It was Vimal who had forged the signatures. He had posed as Anil, facilitated the entire deal, and made the payment to Anil from the thirty crores paid to him by Thapa, on behalf of Asrani.
“Vimal knew that Anil was leaving the country for good on Thursday. He insisted that Asrani transfer the white component directly to the company’s account on or after Thursday. Anil would have left the country by then, and everyone would have assumed that Anil had committed forgery just like he had done in the past, and then eloped with Leo, taking the cash with him.
“Everything was going as per Vimal’s plan, but some of the investors came to know about the Asrani deal, and sent goons to the house to recover their money on Saturday evening. Sunil reacted instantly, accusing Anil of the forgery. Anil was smart enough to put two and two together, and realised how Vimal had managed to arrange five crores. Anil didn’t expose Vimal; instead, he started blackmailing Vimal on two counts.
“My guess is that Anil demanded a substantial amount of the money, if not the entire amount, from the remaining twenty-five crores. He threatened Vimal that not only would he blow the lid off his and Reena’s sexual adventures, but also inform Mr Kapoor of the forgery.”
Everyone was looking at Vimal and Reena. Reena’s face was exceedingly vulnerable, but Vimal showed no signs of panic or alarm. His naturalness was in itself unnatural.
I addressed Vimal. “The police are on their way, with Abhijit. They found the CDs, and two crores in his car. I believe you instructed him to plant the money in my apartment. Mr Thapa is on his way here to identify him. It’s over, Vimal and Reena. You better own up.”
Vimal’s face looked disconcerted for the first time upon hearing Thapa’s name. Reena had paled, her lower lip trembling.
Paras spoke up. “It’s true, isn’t it, Vimal?”
Vimal’s expression changed from smooth and urbane to something very ugly. He launched forward and said to me, “That’s an interesting fairly tale. Do you have any proof?”
He tried to smile, trying to hide his panic and get back in control. The doors of the lift opened, as if on cue. The police escorted a terrified Thapa, and a defeated Abhijit, towards us.
“No, this isn’t a fairy tale. Fairy tales have happy endings. This one won’t.”
A cop handed two CDs to Babu, along with a bag. Babu opened the zip, and showed the money to everyone.
I put my arm around Thapa’s shoulder reassuringly. “Thanks for coming, Thapa. We need you to identify this man.”
“What’s this about? I don”t know about any black money. It”s between Asrani and Kapoor. I am just an employee. I want my lawyer.”
“Relax. I am sure Mr Asrani would be touched by your loyalty. However, we are not interested in the cash. We are investigating a murder. All we want you to do is identity this man. His name is Abhijit. Do you know him?”
Abhijit stared threateningly at Thapa and, for a moment, Thapa seemed nervous. Babu stepped forward and slapped Abhijit so hard that blood started trickling down his lips.
Thapa shrieked, “Yes, I know him! The one with the goatee and grey eyes! He was the CFO who met me on behalf of Anil Kapoor. He handed the agreement to me and collected the cash.”
I held the CDs before Vimal and Reena.
“I have already seen the one titled R, so I know who’s starring in it. I bet the second one was taken from Leo this evening, and has Vimal in the cast too. That’s what it was all about, wasn’t it? Anil was blackmailing both of you because he had a CD that showed one or both of you indulging in sex with different partners. But you wouldn’t have murdered him just for that. After he found out about the forgery, you couldn’t risk him exposing you in front of Mr Kapoor. Ever. Not to forget, twenty-five crores is a huge amount.”
Paras’s voice quivered, “Is it true?”
Vimal muttered a weak no.
I continued, “When Anil told Leo to postpone their tickets, and demanded more money, you realised that he would be a perennial risk. That’s why you decided to murder Anil on Saturday. When Leo heard that the police suspected one of the family members, he realised what must have happened. He started blackmailing you, but unlike Anil he was smart enough to use Anjali as insurance.
“You were supposed to pay him the money tonight, or he would have exposed you to the press. Leo would never have imagined that you would murder Anjali too. With Anjali dead, you decided to close the chapter by having Abhijit murder Leo, framing me, and then murdering Abhijit himself.”
Abhijit looked at Vimal and Reena, and shouted, “What! What is he talking about?”
Vimal tried to pacify him. “Relax. He is just—”
“Fuck you. Is that why you wanted to meet me alone at the farmhouse?” He looked at me and shouted, “I have nothing to do with any murder! I am innocent! Fuck them! I will testify. I will—”
“Shut up,” hissed Vimal.
“Oh, I don’t think you are innocent,” I intervened. “The blood on your T-shirt would match Leo’s. You murdered Leo this evening. Also, I saw you handing the bag to Reena at the parking lot. You are Leo’s murderer, and an accessory to the murders of Anil and Anjali.”
He broke down.
“Shit, shit, shit! Both of them used me. I didn’t want … I am not a murderer. They promised me money …”
“I think we should play the CD now,” I said to Babu.
“I will ask someone from the administration to get a laptop. Or we could—” began Babu.
“That will not be necessary,” said Vimal, interrupting him. “Please don’t play it in front of Dad. It’s not suitable.”
Paras broke down upon hearing these words from Vimal. Reena had tears of mortification in her eyes. She mumbled something to him.
He replied calmly, “It’s okay, baby. I take full responsibility for the murders of Anil and Anjali. Abhijit murdered Leo. Reena was not directly involved in any of the murders.”
Abhijit charged at him. ‘You bastard!’
Two cops held him back, while he shouted vile abuses at Vimal and Reena. Babu looked at Paras, and signalled to a cop to arrest Vimal and Reena. Vimal put his hands behind his back, stared at me, and asked, “How did you know?”
“I knew that only one thing could have gone wrong for Anil’s murder at the farmhouse. If the party extended outdoors to the lawn, or to the beach, there was always the risk of someone walking towards the back gate and finding the lock already broken. You couldn’t risk that happening. If the lock had been found broken, Anil would have immediately become suspicious of you. So, being the meticulous planner that you are, I was sure you would have found a way of ensuring that the party stayed indoors.
“When I got to the farmhouse, my first question was whether the party had extended outdoors. Mr Kapoor replied that it hadn�
�t, since Reena had been running a high fever the previous evening. She seemed perfectly fine to me the next day. Later I came to know, from Malti and Mr Kapoor, that Reena and Aditi had gone to play tennis at the club the evening Anil was found murdered. That means the fever came and vanished in an evening. That was too much of a coincidence.
“When I saw her collecting a bag from Abhijit at the club, I knew she was involved. You made your mistake, Vimal.”
“What was that?”
“Anil was stabbed in the heart with a single, powerful blow. The murderer had to be a man. If Reena was involved with the missing cash, you were my suspect; naturally. But then today, I became sure. Anjali was struck from behind, on the left side of her head. Again, it was a single blow.”
I walked up to Babu, stood behind him, and swung my left hand pretending to hit him on his head.
“You see, I am right-handed, and I had to use my left hand to get a proper arc and enough force to hit him on the left side of his head, as Anjali had been struck. I would have to criss-cross my shoulder if I tried to do it with my right hand. So the murderer had a powerful left hand – someone who could bring Leo to his knees with a single, left-handed punch. You should have let Leo pass that day, Vimal. You are left handed, aren’t you?”
Babu said, “Oh… is that why you used your left hand when you pretended to strike me at the zoo?
“Yes. And that is the same reason I made you pretend to drown the cop. A right-handed person would hold the neck with his strong arm, and use his left arm to hold the right leg of the victim. A more impactful posture for drowning someone. But the tear in Anjali’s skirt was on her left leg. That meant the murderer had used his left hand to hold her neck, while immersing her under the water. And that was a fatal flaw.”
A nurse appeared and stammered, “You… you … are with Shalini Kapoor?”
No one seemed to be in a right state of mind to respond to her query, so I said, “Yes.”
“The patient is conscious now.”
Across the horizon, the day was coming to an end. I jerked to a stop as Bruno stopped abruptly, and sat down on the ground for the umpteenth time. He hated walking. He looked back longingly towards the apartment. I tugged at his leash, but he stayed put. We had covered exactly four hundred metres from my apartment. I pointed to the boundary of the park that was visible from his position, and encouraged him in canine language.
“Good boy. There. Only ten more steps. Then food time.”
His ears perked up on hearing the word food, and his resolve weakened momentarily. I took the opportunity to tug at his leash to get him back on his feet.
The park was buzzing with the idiosyncratic activity of a Sunday evening. A toddler jumped in front of me from behind a pile of discarded leaves. He pointed at my head and started speaking gibberish. Happy gibberish. It took me a few seconds to comprehend that he was fascinated by the bandages on my head. I think he wanted to touch the bandages. I was just bending my head forward to oblige him, when his mother appeared and dragged him away, eyeing me suspiciously.
I looked around the park, and saw her sitting alone on a bench near the far end. I started walking towards her. She was looking at some kids playing. She seemed engrossed in their antics, and didn’t notice when a small wayward leaf landed on her head. A few strands of her hair were blown aside softly by the breeze, and her eyes were lost in thought. With her timeless beauty and aura of mystery, she could have been a statue placed on the bench. It was exactly a week since I had got her call and started working on the case. It seemed like an eternity.
She did not notice me until I was standing next to her.
“Hi. Did I keep you waiting?” I interrupted her trance.
“No. Thanks for coming on such short notice.”
“No sweat. I live just around the corner, and a little walk is good for the dog.”
She looked down at Bruno. He exhibited a surge of activity, anomalous to his nature, and charged forward excitedly, jumping all over Aditi.
She laughed. “Oh my! He’s a friendly dog! I thought you didn’t like pets.”
“I still don’t. He was incidental.”
“Incidental?”
“I had no choice. Had to keep him.”
Aditi stood up. Bruno put his paws on her midriff, licking her with his tongue.
“What’s his name?”
“Bruno.”
“Sit, Bruno!” she ordered, and then said to me, “Funny, he reminds me of the Bruno we picked up from the dhaba on the highway. He was the same colour. Such a long time ago.”
She stopped patting him suddenly, looked up; and said half-amused, half-serious, “I just had a crazy thought. It can’t be the same Bruno, can it?”
“Why can’t it be the same Bruno?”
She stood up again and looked at me attentively. “You are joking, right?”
“Don’t have a sense of humour when it comes to dogs.”
“How is that possible? I thought he was …”
“Dead? Well, he is not dead. But as you see, he is as fit as a piddle, if that counts.”
She looked at Bruno and ran her hand over his coat. “It is him! How did you make him change cities?”
“He flew. Cost a bomb at that time. But I couldn’t let him be there all alone. It was … a promise. Your promise to him.”
She looked at me, then at Bruno, then misty-eyed she said, “Thank you.”
“For?”
“I don’t know. He was my responsibility and I … I just feel guilty about it. I can breathe easy now that I know he is safe and sound.”
Bruno was acting crazy jumping all over her.
“Do you think he recognises me?”
“You can bet on it. This is the first time I have seen him use his hind legs. I think he wants to play with you.”
She smiled, interfering with my breathing, as she followed Bruno to the grass. She kicked off her sandals and dodged him as he chased her. The sun was setting. Men in the park looked at her in amazement, mesmerised by her beauty. They would not forget this moment for a long time. Neither would I. The case was solved, the murderer was in jail, and I had twenty-five lakhs in cash, lying in my apartment. Yet, I felt strangely unfulfilled.
She was a quagmire that would never let me go. Would I stop loving her? Probably not. Would I love anyone else like I loved her? Probably not. Did I hate her because she had dumped me? Definitely not.
A woman as beautiful as her had a right to be selfish: getting unsolicited attention and approval from males all her life, being admired for her looks everywhere she went. How could she turn out any different? Among the scores of men, who had been affected and haunted by her beauty, I was a more fortunate one. At least, I had been able to chase an impossible dream. I had always known in my heart that she was not destined to be an ordinary spouse; to run a household, juggle a career and children. She was cut out for the finer things in life – bungalows, travel, gowns, imported cars, diamonds, and a life of luxury. Our lives could have never converged. She would go back to her affluence, and I would get back to my ordinary existence, living each day as it came.
She called out to me to join her. Bruno was running all around her, with no trace of past hurt. I guess both of us couldn’t learn to hate her.
The sun had set. People were returning home. The case was closed. There was no need of maintaining further contact with her.
She shouted delightedly, “Vishal, come here.”
She was sitting on the grass, laughing like a kid, while Bruno still ran around her in circles. I could think of a thousand reasons to decline her invitation, put Bruno on a leash, and bid her farewell. And never see her again. Instead, I got up and started walking towards her … towards the perpetual emotional ambush called Aditi. What the heck, you are born to die anyway.
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Seduced by Murder Page 22