‘So Padma was a very close friend of yours?’ Reddy asked.
‘Yes. She was a good friend and we used to have lunch together. It is rumoured that Dr. Amit was engaged to another lady doctor when he started pursuing Padma. The doctor heard about it and broke off the engagement.’
‘Did Padma know this?’ Vikram asked.
‘Sir, she came to know about it later, after she herself was dumped and had confided in me at that time.’
‘So you were still in touch with Padma?’
‘Yes, immediately after she left we used to meet regularly. But after some time we got busy and we exchanged messages occasionally. You know how it is, out of sight – out of mind. Strange, that both Padma and Dr. Amit died in the hands of the same killer. You know, I feel that the killer could have been a patient in our centre!’
‘Why do you think that the random killer was a patient there?’ Vikram asked.
‘Rumours have it that Dr. Amit was quite insensitive towards his patients. Actually I had once overheard a discussion between Dr. Kiran Chanchu and Dr. Amit Pancholi. Dr. Chanchu was asking him to be gentler with his patients and he had received complaints from a few of their guardians. Dr. Amit used to feel that people get addicted because they’re weak and do not have self-discipline. He thought that they don’t have the backbone to fight through tough times. He would try to discipline them by with harsh methods. Many families took away their near ones when they came to know about the abuse that went on in the name of treatment. There have been many deaths in our centre. But people do not complain because of the stigma attached to drug addicts. It was really shameful. I would not be surprised if one of the patients took revenge.’
‘But why kill Padma?’
‘Well you know a drug addict hallucinates a lot. And Padma was very close to Amit till he dumped her. So it is possible that the patient had been discharged before that and did not know that they were no longer in a relationship. So he might have killed her to get back at Dr. Amit again.’
‘Hmm...sounds a bit farfetched to me.’ Vikram said.
‘And what about the other doctors?’ Reddy asked.
‘Well, most of the doctors or nurses for that matter in this centre are not doing their jobs properly. Rajagopal only likes to take care of critical patients. And many of them die under his care. So I am not sure how well he takes care of them. I am sure that he also supplies drugs to the patients. He knows about everything that goes on in this hospital. I have seen too many patients die at his hands. When I pointed this out to Dr. Chanchu, he asked me to quit. He was waiting for an opportunity to get rid of me once I rejected his advances. My accusation against Raja was the final straw, I guess.’
‘But if Raja is handling critical patients, then the death rate will be higher. Isn’t it?’ Vikram said.
‘True. But a few nurse friends of mine told me that some of the patients were on the road to recovery when they suddenly died. Raja is in the good books of the management and does whatever he pleases. He was working with Dr. Renuka Reddy before joining here,’ she added tartly.
‘But was he asked to leave Dr. Renuka’s hospital or did he leave on his own for a better offer at the Foundation?’ Vikram asked curiously.
‘That I don’t know and I don’t care. I only know that Dr. Chanchu, Raja and their small coterie of doctors had formed a vicious circle and they used to take care of each other. I am so glad to have got out of that poisonous atmosphere. Mostly I pity the patients. They are in the care of such insensitive morons. The guardians of the patients never complain because they do not want to let their friends and acquaintances know about their ward’s drug addiction.’
As Mallika had nothing more to add after this, Vikram and Reddy took their leave after thanking her.
They decided to go and meet Saurav, Amit’s elder brother next. As they got into his car, Vikram said, ‘The interesting part is that Raja used to work in Dr. Renuka’s clinic. He should have mentioned this.’
‘But why should he have mentioned this? This was not a job interview we were doing. He did not need to talk about his previous work experience.’ Reddy argued.
Vikram said, ‘But it is relevant as Renuka was also killed and he knew Renuka. I feel that our killer is intent on finishing off as many doctors as possible. He seems to have a grudge against doctors in general.’
‘Ha ha. But jokes apart, he also killed Padma who was not a doctor.’
‘Ah, ha! She was engaged to a doctor. The killer might not have known that the engagement was broken.’
ACP Reddy looked glum. ‘I feel that we are not heading anywhere in this investigation. I really feel that we are groping in the dark. I have to show some progress, make some arrests soon. Sanjay is making my life miserable,’ he said, despair in his voice.
‘Don’t lose hope Reddy sir. We must rally on. It is always darkest before the dawn. Let us go and meet Saurav – maybe he can provide some clues regarding Amit’s murder,’ Vikram said, encouragingly.
13
SAURAV PANCHOLI
As they started for Banjara Hills from Himayatnagar, Reddy exclaimed, ‘Look at the time! It is nearing 2:30 pm. No wonder I am famished. Let’s stop somewhere for lunch.’
Vikram said, ‘Yes, I am hungry too. Let’s stop at Chinese Pavilion. It’s on the way.’ Chinese Pavilion was a restaurant favoured by both of them. As the waiters knew Vikram very well, they were warmly welcomed.
Soon they were sharing a fragrant Chicken Manchow Soup. The soup smelt of star anise, cinnamon, chilli, ginger and garlic. The overall aroma was spicy, warm and seductive. Then they followed it up with Prawns Pepper Chilly starter. Finally, they finished the meal with Chicken Soba Noodles which had the right amount of spice and were delicious. Reddy commented with a satiated expression, ‘Amazing food, good ambience and great service. The Chinese here is blended with Indian flavours and that is what makes it so special!’
Vikram smiled in agreement and after struggling with his conscience reluctantly decided not to go for dessert as he was supposed to be on a diet. Feeling quite contented and full, Reddy refused desert as well.
They had an appointment with Saurav at 4 pm. After finishing off the meal with a cup of jasmine tea, they proceeded to Saurav Pancholi’s house. They had no difficulty in locating Saurav’s mansion.
Reddy had already found out that Saurav was a property developer. After looking at his mansion, they had no doubt that he was also a highly successful one.
A superior looking maid opened the door and bade them to sit in the drawing room. As they were waiting, they heard the clicking of high heels. A gorgeous girl in her late teens, dressed in skinny jeans and a bright top one size too small for her was clicking her way towards them.
She looked at them like they were slugs which had crawled into her salad. Then, in an ice-cold voice she asked, ‘What do you want?’
Vikram looked at the insolent girl from her well-coiffed head to immaculately-manicured toes and then asked, ‘Who are you?’
The girl looked outraged as if she expected everyone to recognise her by sight. She replied, disdainfully, ‘I am Kiara, Saurav Pancholi’s daughter.’
Reddy produced his badge and said, ‘We have an appointment with your father.’
‘Regarding what?’ The girl questioned arrogantly.
‘I am sure that your father will let you know if needed’ Vikram said, mildly. But he was feeling disgusted by the girl’s attitude and he felt sure that Reddy, whose face was turning purple, felt the same.
‘I bet it is regarding the death of Amit Uncle. I will tell you – it is good that he died. He was a horrible man. My father caught him red-handed in the bedroom with my step mother.’ The girl imparted this scandalous news with relish. They were so caught up in this startling information that they had failed to notice that a man had come in. He had clearly heard the last part of the conversation and it was evident that he was in a rage. His face was red and he was breathing heavily.
‘You silly
girl,’ he spat at Kiara. ‘Get out of the room and go to your bedroom now! I will deal with you later.’
The girl stood her ground. ‘It is the truth. Was he not having an affair with your slut of a wife who is closer to my age than yours?’
‘Kiara!’ Saurav slapped her.
Though Vikram felt that Kiara richly deserved the slap, he made an involuntary movement to come between father and daughter, but Kiara was already running out of the room crying, ‘Oh! I hate you,’ as she went.
Her exit was followed by an embarrassed silence. Then clearing his throat, Saurav looked towards Reddy and Vikram and said, ‘I apologise for my daughter’s behaviour. You wanted to question me regarding Amit’s death?’
Saurav was an older version of Dr. Amit. Looking at him, Vikram guessed that another few years down the line Amit would have become like this guy - fat, dark and balding. Even Saurav must be a lech if he has married a girl closer to his daughter’s age. While Vikram was lost in his thoughts, Reddy began asking Saurav about Amit.
Saurav was speaking now, ‘Yes, Amit had moved out of this house. But that was because he wanted to stay closer to the hospital. There was no bad blood between us. We were as close as ever. Please pay no heed to what my daughter said. She disapproves of my second wife. You know how difficult teenagers can be. In fact, I will offer a reward to anyone who can find the person who killed my dearest brother.’
After a few more questions, regarding his background and other things, Reddy and Vikram could not find any other relevant information.
Refusing Saurav’s offer of tea, they came out. Vikram turned to Reddy and asked, ‘What do you think?’
‘I think that Amit was really having an affair with his brother’s current wife and that led to the fight between the brothers. The man does not cease to amaze me. He really ran after anything in skirts. You know Vikram, the more I understand this man, the more I dislike him. If he carried on with his brother’s wife, then it tells you what kind of a man he really was. The way he treated Padma also tells its own story. The way he treated his patients… I am glad that he is dead. His death will not be a loss to humanity.’
14
PADMA MANEPALLY
ACP Reddy was writing up his report regarding the murder of Dr. Amit when his cell rang. It was Inspector Kannan.
As soon as he received the call, Kannan said excitedly without preamble, ‘Amit was in touch with Padma.’
‘Is that so? How did you find out?’
‘You remember we gave her phone to the forensic lab? They have come back with the report that she was regularly in touch with Amit Pancholi through WhatsApp. Though she deleted the messages, we have recovered them. There was some serious flirting going on. But it seems from her comments that she came to know that he was engaged to someone else before proposing to her. Basically he was cheating on his fiancée who appears to be another doctor. Maybe Mr. Ashok came across these messages and hence planned to murder both Amit and Padma?’
‘Wow, great find! You know we discovered yesterday that Dr. Amit had been Padma’s boyfriend, and had dumped her. I think I will grill Ashok a bit. You can come along if you like.’
Next, Reddy called up Vikram and informed him. Vikram said, ‘I repeat, Ashok Manepally does not match the profile of a random killer. But if you think that he has murdered Padma we can always question him to find out more. Are you going to arrest Ashok?’
‘Why not – he has enough reasons to kill both Padma and Amit.’
‘But his face does not match the sketch of the killer as described by Raja. Also, why did he kill Dr. Renuka?’
‘Perhaps he wanted us to make us believe that a random killer was on the loose. Maybe he paid the waiter to kill Dr. Amit.’
‘May I be present when you question him?’ Vikram asked, humbly.
‘Come along. You have helped a lot with this case, anyway,’ Reddy said.
Vikram, Reddy and Kannan were waiting for Ashok to arrive in Reddy’s office. Vikram sat perplexed and frowning at Kannan’s self-congratulations. He finally said, ‘At least wait till we know what he has to say.’
‘Next to nothing if he is wise. Too many criminals have hanged themselves by being too cocky and thinking that they could fool the police,’ Reddy replied.
Ashok Manepally arrived punctually. He looked nervous. In a soft tone, Reddy said, ‘Do not be afraid, Mr. Manepally. We have called you just for routine interrogation. Have a seat.’
Once Ashok was seated and feeling comfortable, Kannan asked, ‘We know that your wife owned a house in Hafeezpet. What will you do with your wife’s house now that she is dead?’
‘I have not been able to think about that. It’s too early. It’s barely a month that she has passed away. I miss her every minute, every day. I have had no time to think about her property.’
‘But isn’t it true that you have approached a property developer with the intention of selling it?’
A look of utter surprise came over Ashok’s face. A film of perspiration appeared on his forehead in spite of the room being air-conditioned. Taking his handkerchief out of his pocket, he wiped his face in silence as if gaining some time to think, before answering the question. After a significant pause, he said, ‘I do not know how you came to know about this. But I can tell you that I did not approach the developer. He approached me.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘I told him that currently I will not sell, maybe later.’
Kannan pounced, ‘So you do intend to sell it at a higher price.’
Vikram looked at Kannan in distaste. The man was so insensitive. Ashok was clearly extremely distressed but still Kannan went on asking blunt questions.
‘Did you know that Dr. Amit Pancholi was your wife’s ex-boyfriend?’ Kannan asked again, before Vikram could stop him.
Ashok looked mortified as if he was too ashamed that his wife’s dirty linen was being flaunted in a public police station like this.
As he remained silent, Kannan again asked loudly, ‘Did you know of her affair?’
Vikram, looking at the harmless, defenceless man could not stop himself from intervening. Raising a hand indicating that Kannan should stop his questions, he asked gently now, ‘Mr. Manepally, you told me once that your wife had a boyfriend in Asha Foundation. Was it Dr. Amit?
In a defensive gesture, Ashok folded his hand across his chest and said, ‘Yes, it was Dr. Amit. But she had no feelings left for him. Please believe me. She had understood what a shallow man he really was. She would never have gone back to him.’
‘Do you know that we have recovered recently sent lovey-dovey WhatsApp messages from Amit to Padma? Do you know what I think?’ Kannan asked brutally.
When Ashok remained silent, he said, ‘I think that you are posing as Prakash and you have actually murdered Padma and Amit when you discovered that they were flirting with each other again. You were afraid that she would leave you and go.’
Ashok started weeping. ‘Please believe me, Mr. Rana. I loved Padma. I would never ever harm her. I am already mourning her loss. I just wished I had died instead of her. I have lived a long time. She had her whole life ahead of her. I don't want to live anymore. I just exist. I don't even get out of bed some days. Why are you harassing me further? I am not a killer. You have got the wrong man.’
Vikram said, ‘Did you know that she was chatting regularly with Amit?’
Ashok looked at Vikram straight in the eye and said, ‘I had no idea, sir. But even if I had known, I wouldn’t have stopped her. You know why? I loved and trusted her utterly and unconditionally. A marriage has to be based on trust.’
Ashok turned his eyes from one to the other of them. He looked afraid, like a trapped animal.
‘I don’t... understand all these questions. I suppose... none of you...believe me,’ he said, in a broken voice.
Vikram indicated to Reddy and Kannan that they should discuss this together in private before they came to any decision. Asking Ashok to wait for them,
they went to another room to discuss.
Vikram now said, ‘I think we should not arrest him now.’
Reddy turned to Vikram and said, ‘You know, I think that we are making a huge mistake by letting him go. I am sure that he has not only killed Padma but also the rest of the victims, just to deflect attention. He stood to gain nearly half a crore if his wife died suddenly as he would inherit her mother’s house. Murder has been committed for far less.’
‘But what is his motive for killing such a nice lady, as Dr. Renuka? She was not associated with drug addicts or the Asha Foundation on a day-to-day basis,’ Vikram countered.
‘I think you are just trying to protect Ashok as he is your client,’ Reddy accused.
Vikram said, ‘You know I am always a seeker of truth. But again, the truth can be stated in a thousand different ways and yet each one can be true.’
‘Yes…that is of course true. Anyway, let us meet Priya Reddy once more to find out if there was any link between Ashok and Dr. Renuka. We will not arrest Ashok till we know more on that.’ Reddy decided.
Though Inspector Kannan clearly did not agree with them, he was in minority. Ignoring his obvious disapproval, they went back to Ashok. ACP Reddy now said, ‘Mr. Ashok, you are free to leave now.’
Kannan warned, ‘But we might call you again for questioning. Ensure that you are available.’
Giving Vikram and Reddy a tiny grateful smile, Ashok nearly ran out of the room. Kannan’s face was thunderous. To diffuse the tension, Reddy looked at Vikram and said, ‘Let us visit Dr. Priya to see if Ashok knew Dr. Renuka.’
15
ANOTHER MEETING WITH PRIYA REDDY
Inspector Kannan had left. He had been in a rage in spite of Reddy’s effort to cool things down. Kannan was sure that Ashok was the random killer and it was a mistake to let him go. Reddy also felt that Kannan was right, but he trusted Vikram’s instinct.
A Season for Dying: A Vikram Rana Mystery (Vikram Rana Series Book 2) Page 8