Vikram, who had fallen in deep sleep, was suddenly awakened by the sound of a motorcycle revving up near his ears. He glared around wildly trying to find the motorcycle. Then he realised that it was the ringtone of his latest phone. His daughter Kamala liked to play around with his phone when he was not looking, and must have accidentally changed the ring tone. He thought indignantly that she was turning into a little brat and he must remember to keep the mobile some place which she would not be able to access. He must also be a little stricter with her. But he knew that it will be a futile exercise as Kamala could twist him around her little figure. The moment he returned from office, she would toddle towards him and he would scoop her in his arms and forget his pain and frustrations.
Vikram took the call. It was his wife.
‘You had been sleeping.’ Veena said accusingly.
‘No…’
‘Don’t lie – Radha says she can hear your snores right from your outer office. You are demoralising your staff by snoring so loudly during office hours.’
‘Are you keeping tabs on me through Radha now? And did she say she is demoralised?’ Vikram asked indignantly.
‘Not really – I am just deducing. If the boss sleeps, the staff would get demoralised. Is it not? Anyway I did not call her. She called me to take some cooking tips.’ Veena said airily.
Vikram let out a loud guffaw.
Veena said, ‘Why are you laughing? Do you think I cannot give cooking tips? Let me tell you no one can cook healthy food like me!’
Vikram saw that he was treading on dangerous ground. He made a conciliatory sound and said, ‘Yes, of course, darling. Nobody can cook like you.’
‘And what exactly do you mean by that?’ Veena asked coldly.
‘I meant that you cook really well. What did you think I meant?’ Vikram said, tongue firmly in cheek.
However, Veena was mollified. She said, ‘Listen, the reason I called you is that, can you help Dr. Priya to find Dr. Renuka’s killer? She asked me if you can take up the case. She feels that the police are not making much progress. She wants your help.’
‘Did Dr. Priya come to meet you?’
‘Na baba, I went to her house to offer condolences. You should also have come. It is your duty as a neighbour.’
Vikram rolled his eyes at this fresh attack, but said in a honeyed tone, ‘I rely on you, darling, to take care of these social niceties. What would I do without you?’
‘Vikram you do not need to butter me all the time.’ There was laughter in Veena’s voice.
‘No… I mean it.’ Vikram said in his most droll voice.
‘Now I know you are buttering me. But listen can you help her?’
‘It is pure police work – tell her that I really cannot help her with this case.’
‘You can at least hear her out. She says that she can meet you at her home at around 9 pm tonight. She is on hospital duty till 8:30 pm’
‘Sure – tell her I’ll drop in at her home. I’ll be home by 6:30 pm. Hope you’ll make some ginger tea and bhel for me this evening,’ Vikram said, not missing a chance to negotiate for some non-diet food.
‘I thought that I’d give you sprouts but just for today I will make bhel,’ Veena said. She wanted to sweeten Vikram up for the upcoming meeting with Dr. Priya. Veena liked Dr. Priya very much.
‘Thank you sweetheart – see you around 6:30 pm then,’ and disconnected the call. He was feeling triumphant. Not only had he won one round of argument with Veena, which was a rare victory in itself, he has also been able to negotiate a nice snack when he returned home today.
At 9 pm sharp, Vikram rang Dr. Priya’s doorbell. He was shown in by a live-in maid to Dr. Priya’s study. The drawing room was tastefully decorated and a large photo of Dr. Renuka adorned the wall along with a photo of her son. Both the photos were decorated with garlands. Both were clearly missed. The study was understated, lined with bookshelves and a laptop was open on the stylish, utilitarian desk. A vase was kept on another side table with a bunch of fresh flowers. A gift from an admirer? Vikram wondered to himself. There was a small sofa by the side table where the flowers were kept. Vikram sat down on the sofa.
Dr. Priya came in, wearing a pale pink saree. She was a tall and slender lady. Vikram had casually met her on the road around a month ago while on their morning walk. He noticed that she had lost quite a few kilos in the past few days and she had become so slender that her face looked tired, gaunt and exhausted. Was it because she loved her mother-in-law or was she aware that the police would consider her a prime suspect in Dr. Renuka’s death? After all, she stood to inherit Renuka’s considerable property – he guessed, mentally making a note to ask Reddy to find out more on this.
But in spite of the slenderness, she was beautiful. But it was a faded kind of beauty and he was reminded of flowers that one of his cousin sisters used to press among pages of books. She had large, sad eyes as if the death of Dr. Renuka had caused her huge pain. Either she was an excellent actor or she was genuinely attached to Dr. Renuka who was a typical genteel woman. Vikram knew her quite well as his daughter was delivered in Dr. Renuka’s Reddy Hospital. Dr. Priya was more into post-natal care and she had been very gentle, kind and caring. All the patients in the hospital loved her and Veena and Vikram had been no exception.
She smiled at Vikram and said, ‘Good evening Mr. Rana. I invited you over as I want you to investigate my mother’s murder. I am not at all happy with the progress made by the police so far.’ She sat the chair in front of her desk near the sofa and faced him.
Vikram noted that she spoke of her mother-in-law as her own mother. The maid came in with a tray containing two glasses of water. Dr. Priya held out a glass to Vikram who shook his head to signal that he didn’t want it. She then placed it on the table in front of her and gestured the maid to leave.
After the maid went out of the room, Priya continued, ‘Mr. Rana, Amma, which is what I used to call Dr. Renuka had replaced my mother in my heart. My parents died when I was very small. Dr. Renuka’s cousin, who used to be our neighbour, adopted me. She inspired me to be a doctor. I used to worship the very ground that my mother-in-law walked on. When my husband, her only son died within two years of our marriage, she asked me to continue to stay with her. She said that I was the daughter she never had.’
She stopped to take a sip of water as if to compose herself. Then she continued, ‘Mr. Rana, have you ever felt like you are reading a book?’ She wiped off a single strand of tear that rolled down her cheeks. Then she continued with a weak laugh, ‘That is what it seems like. It did not seem like it could be happening in my life. My only living near and dear one is now dead. I owe my life to her and her family. She did not deserve to die. And I feel that the police are not doing enough to find her murderer. I want you to help me to find out who killed Amma.’
Vikram remained silent for a few minutes. Then he said gently. ‘Dr. Priya, I am very sorry about your loss. You know, I truly am. But this is the case of a psychopath killing at random and a lot of manpower and resources are needed to nab him. The job of finding a random killer like this calls for a patient and systematic search. It isn’t a one-man show. Only the police can handle a job like that.’
‘But I would still request you to take up this case. That way I will feel that I am also doing something to help find her killer.’
She opened the drawer of the table and took out a wad of money. Placing the money in front of Vikram, she said, ‘Please keep this as your retainer.’
Vikram shook his head and said, ‘Dr. Priya, I can’t take any money as I’m not sure I can help you in any way or add any value to the police investigations. But I am in touch with the police to see what progress they have made. The police are already patrolling various areas to nab suspicious looking characters. If there’s any way that I can help you, I’ll let you know.’
‘I feel disappointed. But if you feel that there is nothing you can do to help, then I will have to rely on the police.’ Dr. Priya�
��s lips were trembling and she was trying to control her tears.
Vikram shrugged helplessly. He said, ‘I can understand your pain, Dr. Priya. I’ll help you if I could. But right now I have no idea how. Let me think things over. I will get back to you once I have some ideas.’
When he came back to his home, Veena said, ‘What happened.’ After hearing what he had said, Veena said, ‘Could you really not help her?’
Vikram said, ‘This is a police matter. How can I find a random killer? Anyway I said that I’ll think over the case and will try to help her. Veena, do not pressurise me. Please try and understand.’
Vikram called up Reddy and updated him about his meeting with Dr. Priya. Before concluding his conversation he said, ‘Oh, by the way, you can get somebody to check out Dr. Renuka’s will. Contact her lawyer to find out about her will, whether she left her property to Dr. Priya. I personally believe that she has inherited all her assets.’
‘Why do you think that?’ Reddy asked curiously.
‘Well she looks worried and wants to retain me. That tells me that police will consider her a prime suspect. That means she must have gained a lot from Dr. Renuka’s death. Also she shows too much affection for her mother-in-law. This is quite unusual in my opinion. 60 percent of women use words like "strained," "infuriating" and "simply awful" to describe their mother-in-law daughter-in-law relationship. In this case I may be wrong of course.’
7
A MURDER IN HIMAYATNAGAR
The next murder happened at Eden Function Hall, in Himayatnagar on 30th April. An engagement ceremony had been in progress. The victim was Dr. Amit Pancholi, a friend of the family. He had been poisoned. He had been drinking with a few of his buddies when he had suffered seizures and died in front of his horrified friends.
Reddy was about to go for lunch, when the Commissioner called on his cell. ‘Kinshuk Jain has received another email from the killer. I am forwarding the email to you,’ he said in a heavy voice. ‘Please do something Reddy, we will be slaughtered by the press if we do not catch the killer soon.’
After pacifying the Commissioner, Reddy opened the email that the killer had written to Mr. Kinshuk Jain.
This is Prakash writing.
I have killed Amit Pancholi in Eden Function Hall. The Hyderabad police are too stupid to catch me. I was standing right in the crowd of people surrounding him in the function hall, enjoying the sight of his moronic doctor friends trying to save his life. It was hilarious. I did enjoy watching him die a slow and painful death. I will kill again on 15th May.
Catch me if you can.
For heaven’s sake, catch me. I want to stop now but I can’t control myself.
After forwarding the mail to Vikram, Reddy called him. When Vikram picked up the call he said, ‘Did you receive the email that I sent just now? ‘
When Vikram responded in the affirmative, Reddy continued, ‘Our friend Prakash has struck again. A Dr. Amit Pancholi has died of poisoning in Eden Function Hall in Himayatnagar. Do you want to come along?’
It was around 3 pm on a Saturday. Vikram was relatively free. He said, ‘Yes of course I will come.’
‘Okay, meet me in front of the function hall in an hour.’ Sighing regretfully that he would have to miss his scrumptious buffet lunch at the Sheraton where he had been invited by some of his foodie friends, Reddy started for Himayatnagar.
Reddy and Vikram reached the function hall around the same time and went in together.
Amit was lying on the floor in a pool of vomit when Reddy along with Vikram went to inspect the body. There was a stink of death in the air mixed with the smell of alcohol, flowers and rich food. He had been of medium height, and very dark. His death had not been a peaceful one and his face was distorted in a grimace of pain. His rather sharp and pointed teeth showed up as extra white against his dark skin. He was definitely not a pretty sight and neither had death come easily to him. He was dressed in a sherwani suit.
The police doctor said jocularly, ‘Well, he was certainly dressed in style when he died.’
Reddy ignored the joke and said, ‘Are you sure death is due to poisoning? The time of death as we all know is somewhere near 2 pm according to the eyewitness accounts.’
‘Yes. Looking at him I can definitely say that he was poisoned. But I can only give you further details after the post-mortem.’
‘I hope we have confiscated his cell phone?’
‘We could not collect his cell phone. It is missing. There was quite a crowd of people surrounding him when he was suddenly taken ill. It was an expensive phone. Someone must have stolen it in the confusion that ensued when he was dying.’
‘That is unfortunate. Did you try to trace the phone?’
‘Yes we did that, but the phone was switched off. We have been unable to trace it, though we are trying. If the thief switches it on or tries to connect to the internet, then hopefully we will come to know.’
‘Okay, you carry on then. We will talk to Dr. Kiran Chanchu. Where is he?’
‘I think he is waiting in the small room upstairs next to the main function hall.’
Kiran Chanchu and Amit’s other friends were huddled together whispering to themselves when Reddy and Vikram entered the room. On seeing them, he came forward and introduced himself and the other two men. They were Nitin Kala and Rajagopal Subramanian.
While Reddy was busy asking questions, Vikram was studying Chanchu. He was of medium height and very dark. His face was riddled with pockmarks. In contrast to his hard and arrogant face, his voice was soft. He wore steel framed glasses He was dressed in an expensive-looking, steel grey suit, and obviously took great care of his appearance. If he had not been dressed in clothes that been designed to give him a sophisticated look, he would had been hideously ugly, Vikram thought to himself. Looking at Amit and his cronies’ appearances, it was easy to guess that the doctors at Asha Foundation were not lacking in money.
Dr. Nitin Kala, on the other hand, was short and had a beard. He was a general physician. He could have been attractive but for his lack of height and the permanently arrogant expression on his face as if he had a bad smell under his nose. He nodded curtly after the introduction – clearly a man of very few words, Vikram thought.
While Vikram had been busy observing, Reddy was asking questions. Focussing now, Vikram heard Chanchu say, ‘The engagement was over. We were having a few drinks together after lunch. In fact this would have been the last round after which we were planning to leave.’
‘Do you know the exact time of death?’
Chanchu looked towards Raja for guidance.
‘Must have been around 1:30 pm.’ Raja said promptly. It was clear that Raja was a very proactive, confident and alert person and Chanchu relied on him heavily for assistance.
‘How long have you guys known each other?’ Reddy asked.
‘We all have been working in the Asha foundation for more than three years. Dr. Amit was quite charming and made friends easily. As he had no family we became his family.’
‘You mean drinking buddies?’ Reddy asked sarcastically.
‘Yes, we used to have a few drinks together – what is wrong with that? He did not have any family to speak of. We were his family.’ Raja said quite unfazed by Reddy’s remarks. It was clear that Raja would not be easily cowed or frightened by the presence of the police.
‘Who is Dr. Amit’s next of kin?’ Reddy asked.
‘He used to live with his elder brother Saurav, but they fell out due to some personal issues. Currently he was living alone in an apartment near the clinic,’ Dr. Chanchu responded
‘Can you tell us where his elder brother lives?’
‘Yes – he lives in Banjara Hills.’
‘Do you know the reason of the fall out?’
‘We do not know…’ Kiran said cautiously.
‘Knowing Amit it must have been something to do with a woman.’ Raja said irrepressibly
Kiran interrupted him, ‘Raja…’ Clearly he was cauti
oning Raja to be more discreet.
Then he turned to Reddy and said, ‘Raja talks nonsense, of course. It was purely a family matter and we have no idea why Amit was not on talking terms with his brother.’
Vikram asked, ‘Do you have Dr. Amit’s brother’s address in your records?’
‘Yes – we might have. You can ask my secretary. She might be able to get Dr. Amit’s old address from our existing records.’ Kiran said.
Reddy said, ‘By the way, Amit’s cell phone seems to be missing. Any idea about who might have taken it?’
The men looked bewildered. Then Raja said, ‘It is a function hall and lots of people are coming and going. When Amit initially had the seizure, a lot of people crowded around us. In fact I had to shout at them to disperse. Any one of them could have taken the cell phone at that time.’
Reddy said, ‘I have heard of Asha Foundation. Is it not a drug rehabilitation centre?’
Kiran Chanchu nodded.
‘All of you were doctors there?’ Reddy asked again.
‘Yes. I am managing the foundation and more into administration, though I am also a psychiatrist. Only Rajagopal here is a nurse. But he is a senior nurse.’ Dr. Chanchu qualified as if to explain Raja’s presence among all the doctors.
A Season for Dying: A Vikram Rana Mystery (Vikram Rana Series Book 2) Page 5