“I know that.” Her obstetrician was an intelligent man and good at his craft. Wasn’t that the main reason he was so popular with the upper class?
“Slightly before his death, Niku had apparently informed Patil that he had received anonymous death threats.”
Isha drew in a sharp breath. “He didn’t tell me that, either! I wish he had, Sheila! I would have prevented him from getting involved in any of this. As long as we didn’t want the abortion and we had changed doctors, why did Nikhil have to pursue it?”
Sheila returned to sit beside her once again. “Because Niku was a man of principles. If he felt it was merely illegal, he would have turned a blind eye to it, but when it came to something highly immoral, you know he wouldn’t rest until he did something about it.”
“I know.” Isha had tortured herself all these months, agoniz-ing over whether Nikhil had suffered horribly while dying. Had he fought the killer, or was he taken by surprise? Had the killer THE
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at least finished the job quickly, or had he played with his prey like a cat with a mouse? What were her husband’s last moments like? An endless list of questions burned a hole in her brain.
Now the scab on the slowly healing wound was reopened.
And with it came rage. “Why couldn’t Nikhil leave this particular issue alone? How could he be so careless?”
With a rueful smile Sheila turned to her. “He was like that even when he was a child. In school, if a boy attacked another, he’d go to the principal and make sure the offender was punished.”
“But this wasn’t a schoolyard fight! Didn’t he stop to think about the consequences of going to the police? Weren’t death threats serious enough for Nikhil?” How could an intelligent and practical man not consider the consequences of his actions?
“In Niku’s mind, he was doing the right thing. He probably thought the threats were bogus. Anyone would, given the kinds of people we’ve always known in our town. Who would think anyone capable of murder?”
A sense of hopelessness came over Isha. “What a waste of a precious life.” She sat with her face cupped in her hands for a while. Sheila brooded beside her in silence. They both had their own doubts and questions. At the moment, there were no answers.
Moments later, Isha asked her sister-in-law a troubled question. “So if the police never catch the murderer, does it mean the insurance claim will never be settled?”
“It will be settled within a day or two. Besides, I understand the police are thinking about closing the case because they can’t find a single clue. As you know, they never found any fingerprints or weapons or even signs of a break-in.”
“I find that hard to believe. But I guess I have to accept it.” It was entirely possible the investigation was hushed up by Karnik. He was a wealthy doctor. All he had to do was hand over some cash to the right people and the matter would be closed. In fact, she was sure that was exactly what had happened. Her bitterness went up another notch.
“Kumar spoke to Manoj’s boss. He even went all the way up 126 Shobhan Bantwal
to the general manager, explained the situation, and vouched for your character. They’ve promised to settle your claim as quickly as possible.”
Isha enclosed Sheila in a grateful hug. “Thank you so much, both you and Kumar. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Don’t be silly,” said Sheila. “We’re family.”
“Do Ayee and Baba know about any of this?”
Sheila shook her head. “No. In fact, I haven’t told them I’ve found you and visited you. They have no idea their new granddaughter is here.”
“I’m glad. If they found out the murder was premeditated, they might even believe what the police suspect: that I’m the one who might have arranged for Nikhil’s death, or worse, that Diya is responsible for it somehow.”
“That’s ridiculous! Diya is an innocent infant.”
“Not so ridiculous if you look at it from your parent’s point of view. In their opinion, she is responsible for Niku’s death, remember?”
“In that case, I’ll keep my mouth shut. Patil and the insurance folks are keeping mum, anyway. They have to, since it’s an official investigation.”
“Thank God for that!”
“So, when do you want to go look at the flats you had in mind?” Sheila asked after a couple of moments.
Clearly Sheila was trying her best to cheer Isha up. “I don’t know. I’ll have to wait until the insurance check arrives.”
“Kumar and I can lend you the money for now.”
Isha mulled over that and realized it was probably the best thing to do. Now that she was assured she’d have some money to call her own, why not start moving forward with her plans?
And Sheila was so eager to help. “I don’t have a car, so I can’t even get out of here.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” Sheila did indeed look efficient and eager in her sunny lemon-yellow sari. “I can drive you in my car. Do you feel strong enough to go out?”
“I feel fine. But we can’t just leave. What about Diya and Priya?” Isha looked about her helplessly. She hadn’t left the THE
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room in several days, and the convent in months. Suddenly the prospect of venturing outside the steel gates was daunting.
“We’ll take them with us,” replied Sheila with a confident grin. “Between the two of us we can handle the kids.”
Sheila’s enthusiasm was infectious. Isha studied her generally subdued sister-in-law with narrowed eyes. Something was different. This was a Sheila unlike the one she’d known in the past.
Isha had almost always seen her when Ayee and Baba were present. She realized that Sheila, too, was intimidated and inhibited by her parents. No wonder Sheila had always played the sweet, submissive daughter. Outside their stifling influence she was a different woman, vivacious and full of spirit.
Isha felt a sudden burst of optimism shoot through her veins as she observed the grin on Sheila’s face. Her eyes gleamed with promise. “Okay. Can we do it this afternoon when Priya returns from school?”
“Why not?”
“There’s something else I need to do—go to the District Registrar’s office and apply for Diya’s birth certificate.”
“So we’ll do that, too,” assured Sheila. “I know a woman there who can get it done right away. We can go directly to her and bypass the red tape and all those clerks looking for bribes.”
“Good. I don’t have money for bribes.”
The flats in the new building were smaller than Isha had anticipated, but the price was within her budget. In fact, like she’d been hoping, if she lived as frugally as she could for a while, she could afford to buy two. The dream of renting one and living in the other seemed viable.
She was ready to just about cry with relief, especially because she’d be within walking distance from food stores, the rick-shaw stand, and the bus stop. Best of all, she could leave the convent. Since Diya’s birth, it had begun to depress her more and more.
While Sheila held the baby, Isha settled Priya beside her on the sofa and talked to the owner of the building, Mr. Saraf. He was a short, rotund man with a pudgy face that glowed with 128 Shobhan Bantwal
self-indulgence. He wore overpowering cologne. A pack of ciga-rettes and a fancy gold lighter sat on the coffee table separating the sofa from the chairs, one of which he occupied and the other was taken by Sheila. His expensive clothes and the showy décor in his office weren’t exactly subtle reminders of his rags-to-riches story.
Most everyone in town knew Saraf, the real estate baron. He was a sharp businessman, and well known for his projects. His high-rise buildings were scattered all over Palgaum’s suburbs.
He was the king of ownership flats, or condominiums, as the Americans called them.
Mr. Saraf raised an eyebrow at Isha. “Madam, are you thinking of buying the flats as an investment?”
> “Not entirely, Saraf-saheb. I’m planning to live in one and rent out the other.”
“Oh . . . I see!” The man’s eyes went wide with astonishment.
Isha wondered how much he knew about her circumstances, other than the fact that Nikhil had passed on. This was the first time she’d shown her face in public since his death.
“As you know, I’m a widow now,” she explained to him.
“I am so sorry about your husband, Mrs. Tilak. I was shocked and saddened by the news about his . . . his . . .” Saraf was clearly at a loss for words.
“Thank you.”
“I buy all my tires from your shop, madam,” he said, recovering quickly. “It is an honor to do business with you.” He smiled and offered her the official papers for the purchase.
“Likewise, Mr. Saraf.” Isha glanced at the unsigned contracts for a brief moment and put them back in the envelope. Sheila had warned her not to sign anything until Kumar’s solicitor had studied and approved them. She rose to her feet and motioned Priya to do the same. “I’ll have our solicitor look at them. If everything is satisfactory, then I’ll bring the bank draft for the advance.”
“Very good, madam.” He stood up and joined his palms in a respectful good-bye.
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“We’ll give you a ring and set up an appointment,” said Isha.
“Namaste.”
They returned to the convent, listening to Priya’s chatter in the backseat while Diya slept in her mother’s lap. Perhaps sens-ing Isha’s need for quiet contemplation, Sheila was the one who conversed with Priya as she drove them back.
Isha had too much on her mind to pay attention to anything around her. She was going to become a homeowner. Despite her upbringing, she’d never really owned anything by herself.
Was she making a mistake? Would she be able to handle life on her own? The convent, in spite of its gloom, was a sheltered place, and with the nuns forming a protective circle around her, it was the perfect place to hide.
Now she’d be out in the open. People would notice and recognize her. What was she going to tell them? There was no question that she’d end up embarrassing her in-laws once people started to converse with her, pry into her circumstances—just like Saraf had tried a little while ago.
Ayee and Baba would find out soon that she was not only still in Palgaum but was about to start living not too far from them.
Would they try to drive her out of town? Or would they pretend she didn’t exist?
Chapter 15
December 2006
Isha looked around her new flat and inhaled. Who would have thought the mingled odors of fresh paint, varnish, and floor polish could be such a delight? And all this was hers!
She couldn’t believe that the elusive insurance check had finally arrived two weeks ago. After fretting for months, she’d wept with relief at seeing the check, mainly because she could reimburse Sheila and Kumar for the huge amount of money they had loaned her.
The flat now belonged to her in the real sense. She and the children were gradually settling into their new home. Despite the odds against it happening, they had somehow managed to make it so far. New Year’s Eve was right around the corner.
They could celebrate it in their new home.
Nikhil would have been proud.
The maroon- and beige-striped curtains she’d hung over the drawing room windows were parted at the moment. They fluttered in the afternoon breeze, bringing in the sunshine and Palgaum’s humid air, along with the toots and bellows of traffic sounds. She had missed that familiar clatter during her five-month stay at the convent.
She tore open the envelope that had just arrived from the District Registrar’s office. It contained Diya’s birth certificate.
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Her mouth curved into a smile as she checked the information for accuracy. Diya Nikhil Tilak. The child that wasn’t meant to be was very much here. And now it was official. Diya was an individual with her own unique personality. She had a right to live a decent life, gain an education, pursue a career, vote for the political candidate of her choice someday, and carve out whatever kind of life she wanted.
Isha opened the almirah to store the certificate along with the other papers that were in the thick brown envelope she’d pulled out of the safe deposit box. She settled herself on the bed to examine its contents. Nikhil had usually dealt with the safe deposit box, so she wasn’t aware of exactly what was in the envelope. But it was time she learned.
Inside it she found three smaller white envelopes. The first one contained Priya’s birth certificate, their marriage certificate, and two passports—Nikhil’s and hers. They had needed those when they had taken trips to Nepal, Singapore, and Dubai when they were newlyweds. Before the memories of those happy trips could come barreling into her mind and bring on the tears, she quickly added Diya’s birth record to the envelope and closed the flap. She was slowly learning to shut off those upsetting memories at will.
Now that could undeniably be termed progress.
The second envelope was filled with receipts going back a few years, most of them for jewelry Nikhil had bought for her.
The third envelope was bulky, and looked crisp and new.
What could Nikhil have stowed in the safe deposit recently?
Opening it, she pulled out a computer disk and three folded sheets of paper. Curious, she unfolded and smoothed them out on the bed.
They looked like tables of some kind, statistical information.
Frowning, she studied them. Why would Nikhil keep account-ing information in a bank vault when their accountant handled everything?
The tables had been done on a computer. Since she’d often observed Nikhil work on his home computer, she knew what a 132 Shobhan Bantwal
spreadsheet looked like. It took her several moments to recognize what she was looking at: numbers, dates, names, and amounts in rupees.
All at once it registered. Oh God! Oh God! She went very still.
They appeared to be printouts of records from Dr. Karnik’s office. Or were they from his home? They contained data going back to the past three years. She studied the names, dates, times, fees collected. She knew some of the names—a few very well.
The money column added up to astronomical sums. The word abortion didn’t appear anywhere, but anyone with half a brain would know what they were: a record of abortions performed, and meticulously maintained by someone—most likely Karnik himself.
So, the man had established some sort of database. More than likely it wasn’t stored with his other paperwork—the legal kind. This probably came from a private computer.
And Nikhil had somehow managed to obtain copies! Karnik wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave it in some obvious place. So, exactly how had Nikhil come by all this? Had he confronted Karnik with these records? Is that why a desperate Karnik had stabbed him to death? Had Nikhil even had a chance to show them to the police?
She turned that over in her mind for a moment. Her heart was racing. This was vital information about something sinister.
She read some of the more familiar names once again. Shocking!
Some of her close acquaintances had had abortions. Was there no end to this obsession with producing male children? Didn’t all these bright and educated individuals recognize the folly in going against God’s will and upsetting the balance of nature?
As she digested the information, slowly a few other pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. Nikhil had probably realized that starting an investigation into a dangerous matter could end his life, especially since he’d received death threats, and that’s why he had gone out and bought a large life insurance policy.
Somehow he’d known that his parents would abandon Isha and THE
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his children if he died, and he had done his best to take care of them be
fore that happened.
So, when he was attacked so brutally, was it still a shock or had he been expecting it?
Something else started to claw at her brain. What if the killer knew that Nikhil had copies of the spreadsheets? What if he presumed Isha may be holding on to them? The killer could come after her! The thought made her shudder. She couldn’t afford to die, not when she was the only source of support for her children. She couldn’t let them become orphans.
But now that she’d discovered the evidence, should she hand it over to the police? Should she mention it to Sheila and Kumar and let them handle it? In the next instant she abandoned both the ideas. Nikhil had died because of this. She couldn’t place his sister and brother-in-law in danger. Whoever had killed Nikhil was a cold-blooded monster, and wouldn’t hesitate to kill again.
Maybe she should just ignore the whole thing and let it go? It had brought her and the family so much misery. She didn’t need any more of it.
In the end, she decided she couldn’t ignore the significance of what she held in her hands. She had to do something. But not right now, not while she needed to concentrate on putting her life back together. It was barely two weeks since they’d moved into the flat. There was still so much for her to do.
One thing at a time, she told herself. Once she’d established herself and her girls in their new home, she’d give serious thought to what she’d do with this crucial piece of evidence against Karnik.
Carefully folding the sheets of paper, she put them and the disk back in their envelope. Then she locked it up in the almirah. But her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Chapter 16
April 2007
Harish lifted the baby off the scale and laid her gently on the examination table. She had gained a fair amount of weight. Diya Tilak was an unusually amiable baby, too.
There was no doubt she’d grow up to be a beauty someday.
He tapped her chin with his finger. “You want to smile for me, Diya?” It came instantly, a dazzling, toothless smile that settled like a soft, warm fist around his heart. She was delightful! Too bad her father wasn’t around to see her and enjoy her presence.
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