by Leena Nandan
Vikram looked around. The area towards the Ridge wasn’t very busy even in peak hours and you could drive down without seeing a soul for miles with only the roadside brambles and shrubs for company. The lengthening shadows only added to the gloomy environs. ‘How much further to the centre?’ he asked Leila.
She looked thoughtful. ‘I came here a few times but from the city side, so I’m not really sure. Half an hour perhaps, a couple of miles give or take. Mother might be able to help.’ She tried to dial her mother but the call wouldn’t go through.
Benoy said, ‘Look, one option is you both wait here—I doubt if Leila can walk all that distance, and we can’t leave her alone in the car. Leila, give me some idea of the chair you spoke about. Where was it—in his chamber or out there in the cavernous hall where he used to sit on the mainframe computer, and what did it look like?’
‘I can’t visualise it all that clearly in my mind to be able to describe it,’ she said slowly. ‘Maybe when I see it…’
Vikram cut in, ‘We’re losing time. I say we all move towards the centre and try to flag a cab on the way.’
Without a reply, Benoy started off and they followed him, each caught up in their own thoughts.
Leila’s feet began to ache after some time, but she didn’t want to complain. Her mind went back to the last scene with Neil and she shivered. But was Neil’s behaviour really that much out of character? She cast her mind back to the time when they had just got married and her college friends—minus Vikram—had come to the reception. Two of the guys had just shaken her hand, not even hugged her and he’d said in an icy cold voice, ‘That’s enough. Keep away from my wife.’
She wanted to sink into the floor with embarrassment, but they’d laughed and gone off to mingle with the rest of the crowd. She noticed, though, that they didn’t stay for dinner despite the fact that both lived far away. She couldn’t summon up the courage to reproach Neil but it had rankled.
The last three months had been a see-saw of emotions. Dad’s constant pressure to break up with Vikram and marry Neil, which she had resisted till she had that heated argument with Vikram. ‘This is the most important thing in my life,’ he’d said when been hurt beyond words. Dad insisted she give him an ultimatum and she’d done exactly that, sure that he’d see her point of view and opt for something less demanding. But he was adamant. Dad was outraged, ‘You’re a poor second to his job,’ he’d said without mincing words. In a fit of pique, she decided to get engaged to Neil. Still no word from Vikram, as if she had ceased to matter. Finally she’d got married and begun her marital life with a vow to forget him. There was the initial euphoria when life was happier than she had thought it would be without the one man around whom her existence had once revolved.
She had not known at first that Neil had a temper. He was charming and attentive all through their honeymoon. When they returned to Delhi, he wanted to buy something special for her on her birthday. So they went to a stylish jewelry store where a salesman helped her put on a necklace and another man standing next to her urged her to buy it, saying effusively that she looked stunning and it matched the sparkle in her eyes.
She’d blushed but enjoyed the attention. ‘Isn’t it pretty?’ she said to Neil with a smile but he pulled the necklace off her throat, bruising her, and almost dragged her out of the store. He behaved like a stranger for the rest of the week, and whenever he spoke, it was with biting sarcasm.
Gradually, other things began to force themselves on her consciousness. He was jealous of anyone who spoke to her, even his own colleagues. She had been awarded a scholarship for a research project, but after one visit to her guide, a young and energetic professor, Neil had forced her to drop the project. She’d even beseeched her father to persuade him, but Dad hadn’t intervened either. Somehow, he treated Neil with too much respect, almost as if Neil had some hold over him. Neil, in turn, was polite to her father but treated her mother with disdain. Once when mother wanted her to stay back for a family reunion, he’d refused, saying that they had a hectic social schedule and she had to be the hostess for several parties. But that whole week he went out for dinner every day, getting his maid to stay over late and give her company—and though she didn’t like to think it, in reality, the maid was practically standing guard over her. Immediately afterwards, in another mood swing, he’d been very caring, taking her to plays and parties, and displaying a rare sense of humour which made her wonder whether she had imagined all his boorish behaviour. She convinced herself it was all a part of the adjustment process and he too must be trying to cope with her idiosyncrasies—though in all honesty she couldn’t pinpoint anything peculiar about herself.
Then, out of the blue, her Dad died. Neil had shown genuine concern about both Leila and her mother. She’d wanted to have mother over for some time but uncharacteristically, her mother, usually so amenable to other people’s ideas, had refused. ‘You need time with him, dear,’ she’d said. ‘I’ll manage. I’ve got used to being by myself.’ They spoke everyday and Leila wanted to believe that mother was better off in her own home, following a familiar routine, but she could never quite suppress the nagging sense of guilt at having failed her parents. She understood now that Neil was possessive about her, and had convinced herself that this definitely better than having an indifferent relationship like between her parents. In time, they were sure to develop common interests, and she would take up her thesis work with his approval.
Things seemed to be settling down when she’d decided to call up Vikram; and after that life had become a nightmare. The questions she had tried to suppress forced themselves into her consciousness all over again. How had Neil known she was going to meet Vikram? Worse, why had he followed her to their rendezvous and practically dragged her back? Should she have tried to explain that it was all about Dad’s death? Had she been right in leaving home so abruptly without even trying to let Neil explain? What would happen to her marriage? If it collapsed, what would her mother say? There seemed to be an unending list of questions. She wished she had a sister with whom she could share her worries or a friend who could give her sensible advice, but she’d been so wrapped up in Vikram all through college, she had no other person to turn.
The breeze whipped strands of hair into her eyes and she came back to the present with a start. The weather had been pleasant enough when they started to walk but the sky had darkened much before sunset and now a strong wind was building up. There was a flash of lightning and the first rumblings of thunder. The landscape had a wild stark beauty, with huge boulders and thorny trees forming the backdrop for a dark grey sky on which jagged silvery streaks were drawn as if by a sparkling pencil. Benoy said something which was a muffled shout and then he demonstrated what he meant by beginning to run. Leila and Vikram followed suit. From nowhere a building, all glass and shining steel, came up on their left and Leila recognised it as the call centre next to her Dad’s research facility.
Vikram’s train of thought was interrupted as they approached the call centre. His mind flashed back to his investigation and the innumerable visits he had made. Ironically, he had not met Suneil Bansal, and wondered now whether the latter would have been hostile or disinterested if they had indeed interacted. The CEO, Shailendra Prakash, had promised all assistance and passed him on to the floor team. Vikram, not being familiar with interrogation techniques, had become increasingly frustrated at being stonewalled. It was very subtle. Everyone was helpful but one clarification led to another query till things seemed to be going around in circles and he began feeling like a dog chasing its own tail.
The team leaders Raghav and Tina were always forthcoming, but the fact that there were no set rules, made it difficult to track who was responsible for what. The reporting system was equally informal and completely at variance with Vikram’s parent organisation, the CRPF, which had a rigid and well-defined structure, with strong emphasis on hierarchy and protocol. In 24x365, the team was given targets and objectives and they strategised to achie
ve the results, with the reporting system amorphous and flexible.
Vikram recalled how Tina had finally drawn up a chart showing which executives were assigned which clients and the chain of interaction therein. He had tallied that with the IP addresses of the computers that had been used for the attempted cyber theft and narrowed down the list to the masterminds of the operation. Without that finer detail, he would still have been banging his head against a virtual wall. Of course, with the CDs having been stolen, he had no access to the IP addresses any longer and the evidence was woefully thin to convict Aakash. It was not his responsibility any longer, Vikram tried to tell himself, but an inner voice whispered that perhaps it would have been better to follow up the cyber fraud case than to be caught up in a wild goose chase like this. What on earth had possessed him—if anyone got to know, there would be a black mark on his career for all time to come. Helping his former girlfriend run away from her husband, accompanying her on this mysterious search—from an objective standpoint, this was a crazy mission and certainly not expected from an officer of his calibre.
On a hunch, he walked up to Benoy and shouted that he needed to go to the call centre for ten minutes and would rejoin them shortly. Benoy nodded assent, so Vikram gestured to Leila to carry on, and then entered the call centre. The guard let him in after seeing his identification, and he quickly walked to the executive floor, where there was some, though not much, activity. He had hoped to see Tina, but she wasn’t around. The place looked very calm, a complete contrast to the storm raging outside and in fact the sea of emotions churning inside Vikram himself. At first all the people looked unfamiliar, as though the entire team had been changed. Then he spotted Rita.
Rita looked very busy but gave him a friendly wave. She said, ‘Hi, Mr Batra! Sorry, we’re caught up in a crisis as always, and there’s hardly anyone around to help you out.’
Vikram responded with ease, ‘No, no, the fault’s all mine for barging in suddenly. I thought if Ms Tina Sahni was here, perhaps she could clear one last nagging doubt I had.’
‘Well, she isn’t, but I’ll tell her to get in touch with you. Please don’t mind. We’ve some deadlines to meet and all my team members seem to have left for the day.’
Vikram smiled at her reassuringly. ‘Oh, it’s okay. I should have fixed up the time beforehand. I was just hoping Tina would give me a copy of the sheet, which lists out the names of executives and the IP addresses of the computers assigned to them.’
‘Oh, that won’t take a minute,’ she said happily, glad to be able to assist this very personable young officer. She fished around on her desk and handed over a sheet. Looking around to see that no one could overhear, she added, ‘You can’t believe the fuss Tony made about the material he had on his hard disk and how no one else should be allotted his computer. I’m so glad he no longer sits next to me, now that the renovation work is over.’
Leila and Benoy were slogging on. Benoy slowed down to indicate that their destination was up ahead. The wind was a roar now, making conversation impossible, so she had to decipher Benoy’s sign language, which hinted at abundant caution. Quietly, she followed him. The centre was encircled by a boundary wall and there were trees all around. A massive iron gate broke the monotony of dull grey wall but did nothing to make the place look more welcoming. Leila shivered, not just because of the cold wind and rain but at the presentiment that her father’s soul was still in the vicinity. A sudden irrational thought struck her. Would Dad’s spirit mind that despite his manoeuvering she was accompanied by Vikram, not Neil? ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she said aloud and thought she sounded crazy, talking to herself in this surreal atmosphere.
Benoy, up ahead, had slowed to a halt; he signalled to her to stay put, out of sight of the gate.
‘Why is he acting so strangely? It’s his own organisation, and he’s being so stealthy!’ Leila thought to herself. She watched intently as Benoy spoke to someone, presumably a guard.
Benoy vanished for a brief moment, reappeared and looked back to shout, ‘Come on, hurry up. We don’t have all the time in the world.’
Leila cautiously approached the gate, hoping she wouldn’t be challenged by security. The guard’s uniformed figure was faintly visible through the rain-spattered glass, but he didn’t look up, nor did he come out of the kiosk. Benoy’s smooth talk seemed to have done the trick. With a sigh of relief, Leila joined Benoy at the main door, which swung back with an ominous creak straight out of a horror film. This place was really getting to her, Leila thought. She was finding it spookier by the minute and wondering how Dad had put up with its eerie atmosphere. She cast a glance behind—Vikram had not yet caught up with them. Leaving the door ajar, Leila slipped inside wanting the whole thing to get over…
TWENTY
6 February
Sub-Inspector Ajay Menon and Jeet had left Tina’s office with the intention of going to police HQ and tightening the screws on the two unsavoury characters Tina had mentioned. They had just got onto the National Highway when Ajay made an exclamation.
‘How did I miss that connection?’ he said.
‘What?’ asked Jeet.
‘I mean that reference to Suneil Bansal. He’s the son-in-law of Dr Maken, who died so mysteriously a week ago. Around the same time, the steno to a police officer working on a fraud case in this very call centre was murdered. I never mentioned the case to you, but I was taken off it in a very strange manner so I did some sleuthing on my own. I need to find out more about this guy. Let’s go back and talk to him.’
It was a one-way street and they had to drive on for a kilometre before they found a U-turn. Ajay drove fast but to Jeet, in a fever of impatience, the weather seemed to add to the ominous feeling that disaster was in the offing.
The parking lot of the call centre was deserted. The guard gave them an unfriendly look. ‘We were here a while ago,’ said Ajay impatiently.
He bristled. ‘That doesn’t mean you can become permanent residents.’
‘Look mister, I have no intention of entering into a debate with you. I have to meet Mr Suneil Bansal.’
‘He isn’t here.’
They looked at each other. ‘Let’s ask Tina whether she remembers anything, any reference to Dr Maken,’ said Ajay.
Trying to sound polite whereas actually he wanted to just bash up the guy, he added, ‘Can you please call Ms Tina out or allow us both to go in?’
The guard’s smile was positively nasty. ‘She’s just left with her friend. They drove out minutes ago.’
‘Which friend?’ asked Jeet, speaking for the first time.
‘Ms Shelly.’
‘Thank God, she’s not alone with that creep of a boss. Let’s go back to the police headquarters.’
They both got on to the motorcycle.
With a screech, Ajay changed gears and the bike roared off leaving acrid exhaust fumes in its wake. As if in reproof, the skies opened up.
Vikram had entered the research centre without anyone challenging him, and was staring at it, mesmerised. He was fascinated and repelled by the peculiar metallic structures that looked like the tentacles of an alien creature. He went around the building to see how exactly the antennae had been installed, because he vaguely remembered reading about such devices that were the safest way to communicate encrypted messages. Even by itself the building appeared unprepossessing; the sinister look was even more accentuated with the projections. From the sky it probably resembled a giant and hideous cockroach that had survived a nuclear war, he thought. Anyway, their purpose here was limited. The sooner they found what Benoy was looking for, the better it would be for all of them.
The fraud case had started just next door and around the same time as Dr Maken was finishing his report regarding sabotage in the company. Were the same sets of people involved? No, how could that be—Vijay and Aakash had been caught, so there were no loose ends—or were there? Vikram could remember the pencil notations he had made in his file, intending to ask some follow-up questio
ns. One thought had always nagged him. How could the entire team be totally unaware of what Vijay and Aakash were up to? Had he paid adequate attention to the minor details? Maybe the sheet he had taken would indicate something. He glanced over it and suddenly, Tony’s name leapt out. Vikram stopped in his tracks with an exclamation. Just then his cell phone rang. It was Commissioner Goyal.
‘Vikram, there is something wrong with the investigation into your private secretary’s murder case. I have a hunch it’s linked with the cyber theft case you were investigating and…’
‘My God, sir,’ exclaimed Vikram. ‘You couldn’t have called at a better time. I’ve just left the call centre. There’s one fact here which has suddenly struck me and you can tell me if I’m on track or on a tangent. I thought I was reading the name wrong but…if not, this is the real story.’
Goyal listened, confirmed and then said sharply, ‘Hurry up, man. Do what you have to do.’
Vikram and he realised the extent of danger to Tina. Something needed to be done urgently.
Swiftly, Vikram took out his cell phone and called Inspector Khanna.
Khanna was annoyed when his phone rang. The storm had picked up and he had to reach home before getting stranded in a massive traffic jam. Radhika was going to be furious that he hadn’t stopped by the vegetable market.
When he heard Vikram’s voice, he almost disconnected in annoyance.
‘Khanna, I think you’ve been barking up the wrong tree in Celia’s murder. The caretaker is not involved. It’s connected with the call centre fraud case.’
‘Sir!’ the Inspector expostulated, ‘the case is watertight…’
‘Listen carefully, for heaven’s sake,’ shouted Vikram. ‘I’ve just talked to your commissioner. The evidence I unearthed against Vijay and Aakash was only the tip of the iceberg. I just realised who the kingpin…’