‘For the next few days, Delnaz pondered over what she should do. There were again moments of self-doubt. What if she was wrong? After all, there was no real proof that Karan had really killed all those women. All she had were some bloody clothes, a directory of perverted porn and a list of names.
‘After a lot of thought, she decided to trust her instincts. She had to do something. If Karan was innocent, then that would eventually get established. There would be hell to pay for later but she was ready for that. If her suspicions were correct though, then her actions could save the lives of future victims and bring a heinous criminal to book.’
An indescribable sadness washed over me. I knew D was troubled but hadn’t imagined that it could be anything of this magnitude. I only wished she had confided in me. Though there wasn’t necessarily anything I could have done to help her, I would have at least shared her burden and who knows, maybe the two of us would have figured out some way to bring down Karan.
‘She should have gone to the police,’ I said. ‘I’m sure someone would have taken that list seriously and cross-referenced their records with it.’
Roy shrugged. ‘Maybe…But there was this overwhelming fear in Delnaz’s mind that the police were in Karan’s pocket. She did the next best thing she could think of—take her story to a woman she had met socially a couple of times but knew far more from her highly visible campaigns protesting crime against women. Coincidentally, it was the Member of our organisation who had already launched an investigation into the same murders.’
Neel said, ‘Did you already suspect Karan at that time?’
‘Well, he was on my longlist but honestly, I hadn’t really thought it could be him. However, when I met Delnaz and heard her out, I knew I had my man. I did some further checking and found that in a large number of the cases, I could place Karan in the city or town where the killing took place around the time it happened. For me, there was no further doubt.’
We lapsed into silence, digesting all this information. Then Sara said, ‘What about Rachel…How did she know about you, Roy?’
Roy sighed. ‘Rachel did a brilliant investigation of her own. She had figured out it was Karan well before I did—in fact, she had gathered enough evidence to nail him but he killed her before she could act on it. When I realised that Rachel was sniffing on the same trail as I was and a couple of steps ahead of me, I reached out to her to combine forces. She was understandably shocked to see me alive but I swore her to secrecy. Unfortunately, it was too late for…’
He stopped abruptly, and grabbed the Walther from the table. Then he shouted, ‘Go in right now!’
Before anyone could react, there was a muffled crack and the front door flew open.
71
Roy
My sixth sense had warned me a fraction too late.
Three men walked in. They looked calm and unhurried. Professionals, I figured. Not good news at all. One of them kicked the door behind him but it didn’t close properly. They had probably used some low-intensity explosive to blast the lock.
I studied them carefully.
One man stood a little ahead of the others, and was clearly the leader. He was of medium height and had a wiry build. I guessed he would be quick on his feet, and deceptively strong. His features were flat, unremarkable except for the eyes which stared back expressionlessly at me. The irises were jet black, with the whites visible around them. They were the eyes of a demented man.
The other two men could have been brothers. Perhaps they were, I don’t know. Both were over six feet tall, with thick arms and large hands. One’s nose had been broken in the past, and the other had a long, ugly scar running down his face. They had been in fights before, serious ones. Neither looked very bright. They were obviously the locally hired muscle.
All three carried Chinese M20 pistols. It’s a pretty accurate gun and popular among all classes of criminals in the country. The silencers weren’t standard issue, though.
There was no doubt in my mind that they had come to kill us. Maybe they would dress up the scene later to make it look like a burglary gone wrong but the real objective was to take us out, that much was certain.
‘Sit down!’ Crazy Eyes spat the words at me in a hard voice.
I slowly sank back into my chair but not before I had managed to slip the Walther in my pocket. The others had been too stunned to move.
‘What do you want?’ I asked.
He didn’t reply. His eyes swept around the room, even as his henchmen kept their guns trained on us. I detected a faint note of confusion on his face as he carefully checked out each of us. I presumed that he had been told there would be three people inside the house, not four.
Sara raised her head and said bravely, ‘This is my house. If you want money or valuables, I can tell you where you’ll find them. Please don’t hurt us!’
The man turned towards her and gave a half-smile but remained silent. His gaze travelled to her breasts and lingered, making her cringe.
Neel clenched his fists and shouted, ‘If you touch her, I’ll…’
One of the other men took two strides forward and struck Neel on the face with the butt of his M20. For his bulk, he moved surprisingly fast. I thought Neel had been knocked out but then he raised his head and stared back defiantly at his assailant. His lips had been reduced to a bloody pulp and there was a deep gash on his right cheek.
Sara screamed. She started to move towards Neel when there was a dull thump and a bullet flew into the sofa six inches from her head, throwing up a small puff of dust and foam. Crazy Eyes said menacingly, ‘Don’t move! The next one won’t miss.’
Sara fell back with a weak moan. Neel hissed, ‘You bastard! Kill me, if you have to. Leave her alone!’ Despite the circumstances, I felt admiration for him. Neel had more balls than most guys I’ve known.
The man who had struck Neel pressed his M20 against his temple and looked questioningly at Crazy Eyes, who shook his head.
‘What do you want?’ I repeated.
‘You’ll find out.’
With his free hand, he made a waving motion to his goons. On cue, they unslung the backpacks strapped on their shoulders. One began to walk around the room and stuff items into it randomly—two mobile phones, a pair of silver jars, a computer tablet, a set of expensive looking crystal figurines. The other man went out through the door leading further into the house.
My presumption was correct. They were going to make it look like a burglary.
The way Crazy Eyes kept staring at Sara made me really uneasy. I was sure he was planning to have some fun with her before killing us. It would only add authenticity to the crime scene. Rape-robbery-murder was not an uncommon crime cocktail in the capital.
I knew I would have to do something very soon. With only two of them to deal with, our odds had improved but I needed a distraction. Crazy Eyes didn’t let his attention on us wander for a moment. His gun-hand remained rock-steady. I caught Neel’s eye and nodded imperceptibly. I hoped he had seen me pocket the Walther and understood what I needed him to do.
He blinked twice to signal that he had.
Crazy Eyes’ flunky had almost completed his circuit of the room. Waiting until he was within striking distance, Neel dived off the sofa and from an almost horizontal position, kicked out at the man’s knees in a jack-knifing motion. He connected spectacularly. The man was taken completely by surprise and fell face first on a side table, smashing the glass top.
Even as the man was sliding to the floor, I had the Walther out and was lining it up on Crazy Eyes. He had frozen for a moment at the sudden move by Neel but instinctive reflexes took over and he began to swing his M20 towards me. Something told him that I was the real threat. In that split second, I knew he would get there before me, because he had a much shorter arc to cover.
Out of the corner of my eye, I sensed movement. I didn’t look but I gue
ssed it was Omar. He had picked up a heavy metal ashtray and flung it at Crazy Eyes. I saw it enter my field of vision and strike his shoulder even as my ears registered a muffled pop from the M20.
I felt nothing. It was impossible that Crazy Eyes could have missed me completely at that range but he obviously had. Omar had thrown his aim by a couple of degrees and it had been enough.
I fired a single shot. It was a little lower than I had intended and the bullet went into the base of Crazy Eyes’ neck. There was a great gush of blood, and he collapsed. I knew he would die in a few seconds and moved towards the other man who lay next to the sofa, shards of glass sticking out of his face. I shot him in the head at point-blank range.
For a few seconds, none of us moved. The only sound was a dying gurgle from Crazy Eyes. Then I felt my sixth sense signalling furiously again. I knew what it was telling me.
The third man had heard the noise and rushed back. As he appeared in the doorway, I put a two-shot burst into his chest. He tottered like a marionette with its string cut off but managed to fire a shot from his M20 even as he was falling.
To my horror, I saw a red stain spreading on Sara’s breasts.
72
Neel
‘Sara!’ I rushed across. Cradled her in my arms. She was rapidly going into shock. With a great effort, she lifted a hand and put it on her wound. The blood continued to seep through her fingers. Then her eyes glazed. She slumped on my shoulder.
I looked at Roy and said, ‘We have to do something!’ My voice was choked with grief and anger.
Omar had already picked up his phone. I presumed he was calling for an ambulance and the police. In that order.
Roy knelt down in front of Sara. He carefully peeled away her blood-soaked tee shirt. The bullet had entered just below her left breast. From the colour of the blood, I knew an artery had been pierced. Possibly one of the major ones around the heart. The first thing to do was seal the wound. Prevent air from being sucked inside.
Roy had figured out the same thing. He looked around for something to make a compress with. There was a rainproof jacket draped around a dining chair. It would serve the purpose. He folded it and placed it firmly on Sara’s midriff. Omar quickly came around to hold it in place. I checked her breathing. It was laboured but regular. That was good news. It meant that the bullet hadn’t punctured a lung.
I asked frantically, ‘Shouldn’t we just take her to a hospital?’
Omar said, ‘The ambulance will be here in ten minutes.’
Roy put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Let’s wait. It’s best not to move her until the medics arrive.’
The room was like a slaughterhouse. The smell of blood and cordite hung heavy in the air. Our three attackers lay where they had fallen. I knew it wouldn’t be an easy matter to explain to the authorities. Roy muttered, ‘I’ll have to get one of the Members to make a call. This is no time to get into any messy tangles with the police.’
He checked the pockets of the three men. None of them carried any identification. The ringleader had a thick wad of notes tucked inside the waist band of his trousers. They were stained dark with his blood. An advance payoff for the hit, I guessed.
He was the only one carrying a mobile phone. Roy went through his call history. The most recent one was from a number saved as Karan Sirji. Here was proof, if any was required, of who had sent them. I figured Karan must be panicking. He had dramatically upped the ante by sending his men on such a brazen mission to get rid of us. It didn’t seem to be his style at all.
‘The police will be here soon,’ said Omar. ‘How the hell do we explain all of this?’
‘You’ll have to say it was a break-in and attempted burglary,’ Roy replied. ‘That’s what these guys were trying to make it look like anyway.’
‘But the guns…the bodies…I doubt the police will buy that story.’
‘Let them investigate. That’s their job.’
After a pause, Omar said, ‘The way you…killed those guys…are you a commando or something, Roy?’
‘Something like that.’
I was suddenly irritated at their conversation. ‘Fuck the police! I don’t understand what you guys are going on about. We need to first get Sara to a hospital.’
As if on cue, there was the distant wail of an ambulance siren.
Roy stood up and said, ‘I have to go now.’
I exclaimed, ‘What do you mean? What happens to…’
He interrupted me. ‘Neel, don’t forget that Karan is behind this attack and our first priority is to stop him before he kills anybody else. I can’t afford to get caught up with the police right now. They’ll never accept what really happened here.’
‘But…but what do we say then?’
‘Well, you can say that there was a fourth man in the group, who killed the others after an argument and escaped. That will have to do for the moment. I’ll handle things from the outside later.’ Roy paused. ‘Hope you guys will be at the school reunion?’
‘You’re going to be there?’ I was surprised.
The old alma mater completed a hundred and fifty years of existence that year. To commemorate the milestone, the annual Founder’s Day celebration was going to be extra special. There would be the usual parades, exhibitions, competitions, memorial services and dances. But on a much grander scale. In addition to the traditional silver and golden jubilee reunions, there was going to be a special service for the students completing twelve years since graduation.
Us.
Attendance was generally thin among golden jubilee folks. They were almost seventy. Many wouldn’t be fit enough to travel. So they decided to include a third, younger batch. I used all my influence as the general secretary of our alumni association to ensure that it was ours which got chosen.
As I joked later, unlike ten or fifteen, twelve years maintained a sort of geometric progression with twenty-five and fifty.
Before Roy could reply, there was a faint groan from Sara. I gripped her hard. ‘Sara, Thank God! Can you hear me?’
She stirred and opened her eyes. ‘Roy…’ Her voice was barely audible.
Roy knelt again in front of her. ‘Hang in there, Sara. You’ll be fine.’
‘Roy…I’m really…sorry.’
‘Don’t talk. The ambulance will be here any minute.’
She looked at him. Her eyes were full of tears. ‘I…I’ve lived a lie about you…inside my head. For all…these years.’
I had no idea what she was trying to say. Perhaps it was the trauma of the injury.
‘Sara, whatever it is, don’t worry about it.’
She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. ‘You…don’t understand. It was Karan…and I…who…’ She stopped.
‘Who…what?’
‘That night…we…pushed you…into the river.’ She began to sob.
I was stunned. She sounded like she was telling the truth. If her brain was muddled from the shock, it was still a strange thing to make up.
I glanced at Roy. Looking bewildered, he asked, ‘But…why?’
‘Because…I believed…you…’ She didn’t complete the sentence. Her eyes closed slowly. She was still.
part four
73
Roy
I had mixed feelings as I stood in front of that once familiar gate.
The twin pillars built of large granite blocks were inlaid with marble, on which was etched the name, founding year and motto of our school. The spherical lights atop each pillar were new. The gate itself was an arched grille, affixed with a bronze plate emblazoned proudly with the school emblem. The guard-house, built in the Victorian style that characterised the architecture of the entire campus, stood as it had for over a century and a half.
I recognised the grizzled durwan in the olive green uniform who ambled out to open the gate. He had been there during our time
, an unyielding symbol of authority who had apprehended many a student trying to sneak out of the premises. He was now old and frail, yet the steely look in his eyes was as I remembered.
He didn’t recognise me, of course.
Even if his memory was strong enough to recall me from the tens of thousands of boys he must have seen graduate, the fact was that I was in disguise. Sort of. I was wearing heavy glasses and had cropped my hair very short. I had also stopped shaving since that eventful night at Sara’s house and a luxuriant beard did a good job of concealing my features.
I was back at these loved portals after twelve tumultuous years, but incognito. A ghost. I had no doubt that if anyone did end up recognising me, that’s exactly what they would think I was.
The durwan gave me a piercing look and checked my name against a much-thumbed list. It was an assumed name but I was carrying matching photo ID, just in case. When he finally let me through, I hoisted my bag on my shoulder and walked up the driveway. The autumn chill had already begun to set in. I breathed in the sweet, cool air. The road had been recently resurfaced and the canopy formed by the deodar trees lining either side was as green as ever.
I rounded the sharp bend which we used to call the U-Turn, and passed under the school arch. The damage from a lightning strike over a hundred years ago had never been fixed but it was one of the most striking landmarks of our school. The road then sloped upward towards the main academic block but I decided to take a detour.
The principal’s house was unchanged. It still looked like the plush holiday home of some rich industrialist, all stone and glass. The asymmetric gabled roof had several dormer windows protruding from its sloped sides, giving the entire structure a fairytale look. The large porch was painted green and covered with ivy. I knew that behind the house was a beautifully landscaped lawn, complete with rose-beds and sit-outs.
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