‘Oh!’
‘If Ashok did come home, he must have come on Wednesday—and the same applies to Lekh too—though I am still surprised why Ashok came and went back in such a hurry.’
‘But there’s nothing surprising in the son-in-law’s—Lekh Atlani’s—coming and going in such a hurry!’
‘Yes, but there’s another thing, which I’m not sure whether to tell you or not.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Sethji was not very keen on his son-in-law visiting.’
‘Is it so?’
‘Yes, he didn’t like him much and never hid his dislike. Once I even heard him tell Lekh, “Yaar, you must come when Shobha comes.” Lekh tried to blow it off lightly, saying it seemed the father was missing the daughter. Since Shobha could not come very often because of the children, he had hinted to Lekh that he must not come so frequently, but he was not willing to get the hint.’
‘Oh! So, you can’t be sure whether one of them was in Mumbai last week or not?’
‘No.’
‘Right.’
The conversation came to an end there.
The rest of the journey till Turner Road, Bandra West went by in silence.
They had no problem in locating Heritage Commercial Complex on Turner Road.
‘There are only five minutes left to four,’ Jeet Singh said, ‘don’t waste your time. Go to the fifth floor. I will wait for you here.’
‘Why are you not coming?’
‘The lawyer will immediately see that I am a tapori. That won’t be good for your reputation.’
‘What reputation do I have?’
‘What will you tell him when he asks who I am?’
She remained silent.
‘Suppose you do manage some reply, would you be able to do anything if the lawyer asks me to sit outside?’
She shook her head.
‘It would have been different had Navlani sahib been here with us. But now you have to go alone. Don’t waste your time. Fifth floor, front, ok?’
‘ok, here I go.’
Gunjan Shah was a roly-poly man of sixty-two. His hair was black even at that age and his face had a youthful glow. There was something about his appearance which clearly indicated his fondness for wine and women. He seemed to have a habit of always being very careful about his appearance right from the polish on his shoes and the gel in his hair. His chair was his throne, and the office his kingdom.
He ogled at Sushmita.
Nice! Nice! Less decoration, more substance! Nice indeed!
He stared at her from top to bottom like a butcher, as if trying to ascertain the amount of meat on her body.
Then suddenly, a smile appeared on his face.
‘Sit down, my dear,’ he said sweetly.
‘Thanks!’ Sushmita said, and hesitatingly sat on a visitors’ chair.
‘I am sorry about your husband.’
Sushmita remained silent, and kept staring at the floor.
‘Shekhar Navlani, the pd who has recommended your case, is my friend. And any friend of Navlani’s is a friend of mine.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘I did not speak to Navlani face to face about your case. He only told me briefly about your case over the phone. Since you are sitting here now, you must yourself explain the case in full detail.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Sushmita explained everything as directed and then fell silent again.
‘Hmm,’ said the lawyer, ‘so this is your case! The children of your deceased husband claim that you were not his wife, but live-in partner. They have destroyed all evidence of the marriage, the witnesses have either disappeared or are hostile, and the might of the police is behind the perpetrators of this injustice, though they actually ought to be helping the victim, which is you. Am I correct?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘They have thrown you out of the house, though these days even the live-in partner has certain rights.’
‘I was not aware of that.’
‘How could you be aware of it when you were not the live-in partner but the legally wedded wife, no?’
‘Yes … sir.’
‘These days, live-in relations are in vogue in modern, urban societies. Did you ever think about it?’
‘No … no, sir, never.’
‘So you thought of marrying an old man instead?’
‘Not for the heck of it,’ her voice became sharper automatically, ‘I had my reasons. It was so …’
‘Certainly, certainly. Every act has a reason, but that’s not my subject.’
Then why did you start talking about it, you old fox?
‘Your case has become complicated and difficult because of the active participation of the police. Otherwise there is nothing to it. I would blow it to pieces in the court, given I get a toehold first.’
‘And how will you get that, sir?’
‘There are two ways. One is that if one of the disappeared witnesses of the marriage, e.g. the store manager Tiwari, the Kashmiri pundit who performed the priestly duties at the marriage, or the photographer Santosh Vajpai, come over to our side and appear before the magistrate to tell the truth. But this is something which is out of my scope. Only Shekhar Navlani can do it, who is a skilled private detective, and your sympathizer for reasons unknown to me. But I hope he may produce some results on this count.’
‘And if he fails to do so?’
‘Then I will do something.’
‘What?’
‘I will pull a rabbit out of the hat.’
‘Sir!’
‘Have you never seen a magic show? The magician takes off his hat and shows it to the public, who confirm it is empty, and then, he puts his hand in it and pulls out a rabbit. You just wait. I will do something similar in court when the time comes.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘You don’t have to understand, my dear, you’ll see.’
‘But still …’
‘No but and no still. Beautiful girls must not tax their brains. The exercise is bad for their beauty. They must work hard on other things.’
‘What other things?’
‘Try to imagine.’
Bloody lech!
‘Anyway, believe me, Shekhar Navlani may or may not do anything in locating the missing witnesses, I’ll certainly present at least one such witness in the court.’
‘And how will you do that?’
‘My dear, I am Gunjan Shah. Nobody asks Gunjan Shah how he will accomplish something.’
‘Sorry.’
‘The magician has to utter his magic words abracadabra, gilli gilli before staging his magic. But I need not do even that before staging my act in the court. That’s why I am Gunjan Shah. Understand?’
‘Yes, sir. Perfectly, sir.’
‘God bless you, my dear.’
‘You said there were two ways of getting a toehold. One you just explained. What’s the other one?’
‘The second one is a bit complicated, and the likeliness of its success depends on hopeful thinking.’
‘Sir, can you please explain?’
‘The murder of your husband is said to be an incidence of carjacking gone wrong. The bonus for the carjackers in this episode is believed to be an amount of twenty to twenty-two lakh rupees, the day’s earnings from the store, which the victim was carrying with him. The crooks tried to snatch it, your husband resisted and so he was murdered. Shekhar Navlani has an alternative theory, that this is a clear-cut case of murder and the carjacking was just a cover-up to misguide the investigators. They would keep looking at it from the carjacking angle, and would pay no attention to the motivated murder angle, the deliberate murder angle, as is happening at present.’
‘But deliberate murder …’
‘Try to imagine who could have done it, or paid a supari to get it done.’
‘Sir, I am afraid to even think about it.’
‘There is no need to be afraid here. Gunjan Shah is here by your side, or not?’
Pompous oaf, trying to show off that if he will catch the bull by its horns if need be!
‘Where there’s a damsel in distress, there’s advocate Gunjan. Ha ha ha.’
Bloody joker! God knows how he became such a big-shot lawyer!
‘My dear, these days children are not as committed to their parents as they used to be. No child feels proud serving their parents or following their instructions now. The papers these days are full of news items about sons killing fathers or sons-in-law smothering fathers-in-law …’
‘What do you want to say? I feel sick even thinking about it.’
‘Thinking about what?’
‘You know what.’
‘Still …’
‘What should I say now?’
‘Say anything. It is only between us two.’
‘But, sir, the son-in-law was in Kolkata and the sons were in England at the time of the incident.’
‘How do you know? You can see England from here? You can see Kolkata from here?’
‘But, sir, this is too distant a possibility.’
‘Distant or not, it is a possibility nonetheless. And it is most welcome if it serves your purpose.’
‘Sir, they are planning to put the blame for murder somewhere else.’
‘I know of that. Navlani had told me about your pre-marriage love affair.’
‘That was not a love affair. It was a fantasy in which one person was infatuated and the other person was not even aware of it.’
‘Whatever it was. What I wanted to say was that this fake, made-up case won’t last a day in the sessions court. It is a tall claim of the police that they can make a fabricated case of murder stand against anyone. It becomes the duty of the corrupt police to issue tall claims favourable to those who give them bribes, fat bribes to slap false cases against their adversaries.’
‘Can’t they do anything?’
‘They can. They can arrest you, they can arrest your accomplice—what was his name? Yes, Jeet Singh. They can arrest both of you but they can’t keep you under arrest—absolutely not now because Gunjan Shah is involved. The very name of Gunjan Shah is the guarantee that they will think ten times, hundred times before taking any unjust, unlawful, inappropriate step. As per the law, they are required to present the accused in the court within twenty-four hours of the arrest. Their modus operandi is that they ask for the remand of the accused which is mostly granted the first time, is generally extended the second time and in special circumstances the third time. They try all tricks and methods they are notorious for with the accused once he is in custody. They even succeed in getting confessions out of the accused, but such confessions rarely stand in a court of law.’
‘They still do all this?’
‘They are the slaves of their habits, they can’t help it. When one has power in hand, who can stop him from exercising it? Sometimes they even kill the accused during the period of remand, and say it was a suicide.’
Sushmita’s body shivered.
‘Remand means a glimpse of hell, a sheer nightmare. But you need not fear. You have sought my refuge. I won’t let them do anything to you.’
‘Sure, sir?’
‘As sure as your divine beauty.’
‘Sir!’
‘Do you know what the motto of this firm is?’
‘No, sir, what is it?’
‘Anyone who is Gunjan Shah’s client is innocent. My clients are always innocent, and the whole judiciary knows this.’
‘Oh!’
‘They can embarrass you, trouble you but can’t prove you guilty if you are not. Are you guilty?’
‘No.’
‘Then what’s the reason to worry?’
‘This way it seems there is no reason.’
‘There is no reason in any way, because you are in safe hands. And whose safe hands are you in?’
‘Gunjan Shah’s.’
‘Exactly. Now the big question.’
‘What is it?’
‘Can you afford me?’
‘Sir!’
‘I am expensive.’
‘Sir, nobody spoke to me about the expenses.’
‘Somebody should have, because I charge heavily. Your upkeep and the way you are dressed tells me you won’t be able to afford heavy charges.’
Sushmita shifted uncomfortably in the chair.
‘But this is not a big handicap, my dear, for the fee can be collected in cash or in kind. No?’
‘Yes.’
‘So now you get my point,’ he said while ogling her breasts. ‘Two points to be exact. And great points I must say.’
‘Sir,’ she said mustering some courage, ‘I have been told that you call the client, I mean the would-be client, to get familiar with the case, and to judge whether you will accept it or reject it. That is why you don’t charge your fee for the first meeting. Now, the way you have talked to me shows that you are ready to accept the case. You are not going to reject it. So, it goes without saying that there will definitely be a next time. No?’
‘Yes,’ the lawyer’s voice was laced with impatience, ‘what do you want to say?’
‘Sir, what if we talk about the point—or the points you were emphasizing upon, in the next meeting?’
‘You are quite smart.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘I like you.’
‘Sir!’
‘As a client.’
‘Oh!’
‘All right, enough of the smart talk. Let’s talk business now.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘How long were you married?’
‘Seven months.’
‘How many times did you meet your husband’s family during these seven months?’
‘I never met his England-based sons prior to the incident.’
‘Not even once?’
‘No, not even once.’
‘They did not even come to congratulate on the marriage?’
‘They invited us there, so that the congratulations and our England tour, both could be arranged together.’
‘Hmm. Go ahead.’
‘I met the Kolkata-based daughter once when she came to Mumbai with her family a few days after the marriage. And I met her husband, Sethji’s son-in-law, four or five times, because he used to come frequently to Mumbai for his business.’
‘Did the daughter give you any attitude during the meeting, or express any displeasure over the unconventional marriage?’
‘No.’
‘Despite the fact that she is older than you?’
‘Much older than me, because she is older than the two brothers as well.’
‘So she did not show any displeasure or attitude, and kept her sentiments to herself because she wanted to be amicable and understanding.’
‘To me?’
‘To her father. Daughters are built that way.’
‘I can’t say anything about it. It was a mere two days’ meeting, and nothing untoward happened during those two days.’
‘Seven months is not a long time, but then it may be a long time. If I ask you to recollect every single thing of this period, you may not be able to do it. But you can easily reflect upon recent events by taxing your mind only a little.’
‘What sort of events?’
‘Those events which are somehow related to this case, to your current problems.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Try to remember incidents in the household that appeared to be abnormal to you. You would not have forgotten them if you considered them abnormal. Try to remember any such incidents.’
‘Well, there is one such incident.’
‘Good!’
‘And it is recent.’
‘How recent?’
‘It happened last week, on Thursday.’
‘Very good! What happened?’
‘It was around seven in the evening, when a guest came to the house …’
‘Sorry for interrupting—Changulani sahib used to come back hom
e by that time?’
‘No, but that day he had returned earlier than usual from the store, because he was not feeling well.’
‘I see. Who was the guest?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I mean, was he an acquaintance or a complete stranger?’
‘I don’t know. I did not see his face … not when he came, not when he left and not during his stay there.’
‘The reason being?’
‘The reason is what makes it abnormal.’
‘Oh!’
‘Sethji himself answered the door when the bell rang.’
‘Such a rich man and he still answered the door himself! Were there no servants in the house?’
‘He used to live there alone, and never felt the need for live-in hired help. After the marriage there were two people instead of one. But he still did not feel the need for a live-in maid or servant. Our requirements were being taken care of by one maid and one cook. The maid used to come at seven in the morning and go back by seven in the evening. The cook used to come in the afternoon and leave after cooking enough for two meals. In case of a party in the house, the cook used to come in the evening as well, and additional serving staff would be called. That day the maid had just left when the guest arrived. Sethji opened the door, left him standing there, came to me and ordered me to go into the bedroom. His attitude at that moment hinted that he was expecting some unpleasantness to happen during his meeting with the guest and he did not want me to be a witness to it. I went to the bedroom as instructed but he followed me and instructed me to stay there till the guest had left. I was in suspense due to this, and I felt the sudden urge to try to know who the guest was and what disturbance his sudden visit could have caused. Feminine curiosity, you know!’
‘Yes, I do. Please continue.’
‘It was due to this that in place of settling down on the bed I stood close to the door, and tried to hear what was going on outside. When I failed to hear anything this way, I thought of opening the door a bit and trying to listen through the small gap. It was then that I came to know that Sethji had locked the door from the outside. This further increased my curiosity. I couldn’t hear a thing. Still I dragged a chair near the door and sat there.’
The Colaba Conspiracy Page 20