by UD Yasha
I wanted to know two things from Dhar. Firstly, if he was willing to cut a deal and give me the name of the person who paid him. Secondly, if he had any family outside. I was convinced that if he was guilty, his silence had been bought by making sure they were okay in all possible ways. I was prepared for Dhar to tell me he was innocent. I wasn’t too concerned about that.
Once I reached Yerwada, my car was searched and checked at the entrance. I was frisked by a female police officer too. Rathod had always been with me whenever I had met Zakkal, so the treatment had been different then. Going alone as just a lawyer, who wanted to speak to a convicted killer, meant that scrutiny was going to be harder.
I was prepared for it. Before I knew it, I was waiting in a small room for a hawaldar to take me to another room where I would meet Dhar. The room had nine other people, seven men and two women. I guessed there was a mix of lawyers and family members.
A middle-aged hawaldar, whom I had spoken to earlier, peeped into the waiting room and called out my name. I stood up and followed him down a narrow corridor. We hung a left at the end of it and entered a bigger room. Two female officers again patted me down. I had to keep all my personal belongings, including my phone, in a locker. Once the female officers were happy that I was clean, they waved me into another room.
Once I was inside, a balding male officer walked up to me. He said, ‘Ma’am, this way,’ and beckoned me into a room called the ‘Meeting Room’.
In a deadpan voice, the officer said, ‘You will be alone in the room with Mukund Dhar. The door will stay open. There are two video cameras, one for you and one for him inside. There are no listening devices. There’s a buzzer under the table. Press it if you feel threatened at any point or want to speak to someone outside. You can walk out any time you want. You have ten minutes with Dhar. I’m also required to tell you that Dhar last had visitors apart from his family six years back. He has had no female visitors, who were not his wife.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, not knowing what else to say.
I stepped into the Meeting Room at two forty-five. I texted Rathod that I was going to take longer. I reckoned he already knew I was going to be late because of the tight timeline. Realistically, I thought we were going to be able to leave by four. We would make it to Motilal Ahuja’s house just before eight, an hour late. But Motilal had cleared his schedule for us, so I guessed it wouldn't be a problem.
The waiting area was divided into many smaller rooms made from artificial walls. I was ushered to one of them. The room was maybe ten feet by ten feet and had two doors. One from where I came in and the other, I assumed, was for the person arrested. The setup inside was simple. Two chairs separated by a table. As promised, there were two security cameras and a button under the table, to my right. I hoped all of them were in working condition.
A minute later, the other door opened. A jail guard dragged in the man I had seen in the Ahuja murder’s case file. The man in front of me was the same but looked very different. Dhar had lost a lot of weight and now sported a stubble. The hair on his head was grey. His eyes were drawn in and it looked like he was ill. His hands and legs were cuffed.
Dhar smiled ever so little when he saw me.
The guard said to me, ‘You’ve ten minutes,’ and then left.
‘Who are you?’ Dhar said. His voice was coarse.
‘I am a criminal defense lawyer and private detective,’ I said. ‘Probably your only hope at this point.’
‘And why do you say that?’
‘I can get you out of here.’
Dhar’s eyes narrowed. ‘You said you are probably my only hope at this point. For some reason, I think it’s the other way around.’
I said nothing.
Dhar said, ‘How desperate are you to know what happened?’
I stayed silent again.
‘What’s in this for you?’ Dhar said.
‘Someone has gone off on a killing spree. They’re eliminating all the people connected to Kabir and Sheena Ahuja’s murders. I want to stop them.’
‘The police had stated that their murders weren’t connected.’
‘Your memory seems to be working fine. Forget what the police said. What do you think?’ I said.
This time, Dhar stayed silent.
‘I know they never truly found who killed Kabir Ahuja. You were just the messenger. I am here to catch the person who told you to deliver the message.’
Dhar’s eyes narrowed again and he leaned forward, keeping his cuffed hands on the table between us. ‘What did you say your name was?’ he said.
His glare penetrated my eyes. I had not told him my name on purpose. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t feel like it. ‘Siya Rajput,’ I said with new found confidence.
Dhar smiled. ‘Like father, like daughter, I think,’ he said.
My arms went cold and a current passed through my body. ‘How do you know my father?’
Dhar’s smile got wider. ‘You see what I told you about me being your last hope. Isn’t that true now? How the mighty fall and the tables turn!’
‘How do you know my father?’ I said, in a firmer tone this time. I was sure that Dhar could see the goosebumps that had crawled up all over my body.
Dhar’s smile waned off. ‘He had come to see me a long time back.’
‘When?’ I said, hoping with all my heart that it was after dad went missing. If that was the case, dad was alive for longer than we knew. Maybe he is alive even now.
‘You know, he asked me the same questions,’ Dhar said. ‘He also wanted to know who paid me to kill Kabir Ahuja.’
My teeth were chattering. I needed him to tell me when he saw dad. ‘So, that means you’re admitting to killing Kabir Ahuja,’ I said instead.
‘I never said that.’
‘When did my father come to see you?’
‘I’ll tell you that much,’ he said and his face curled again. ‘A few months after I had been arrested.’
A few months was not good enough. ‘Can you be more specific?’ I said, thinking if I could get my hands on the register that tracked visitors. It was possible but hard. It happened almost seventeen years ago.
‘Probably soon after New Year’s Eve.’
‘The one immediately after your arrest?’
Dhar nodded. ‘Yeah, if I remember correctly.’
‘What did he want from you?’
‘The same thing you want from me,’ Dhar said and paused. ‘Has anyone told you that you’re tall like him?’
‘What did you tell him?’ I said.
‘The same thing I told you.’
‘Which is not much.’
‘Exactly. That’s the point.’
I leaned in. ‘What did they promise you to keep your mouth shut?’
‘No one promised me anything.’
‘You’re lying. Why aren’t you ratting out who ordered the hit on Kabir Ahuja?’
The smirk on Dhar’s face went away for the first time. He shook his head. ‘You don’t get it, do you? No one wants to go near that person.’
‘Why?’
Dhar started laughing. ‘You will find out soon I guess.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Anyone who has crossed them has ended up dead or even worse. No one dares to wrong them.’
‘Them? Are there multiple people? An organisation?’
‘Why don’t you ask your father?’ Dhar said.
‘He…,’ I stuttered, not knowing what to say.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘He went missing soon after meeting you.’
‘So, you do know what it means to interfere in their business. It’s cute that you think he’s still alive. You’re quite the romantic.’
I put my hands under the table to not let Dhar know that they had started shivering. I said, ‘They never found his body.’
Dhar went silent but his eyes wandered. I could make out that he was thinking about something. His gaze returned on me. Right then, I noticed a sh
ift in his energy. He shook his head and said, ‘It’s probably nothing.’
‘What do you mean? What were you thinking about?’
‘The idea of your father or anyone else being alive.’
‘Do you believe he could be?’
‘The thought of it made me think about something.’
‘Why are you being so vague?’ I said, feeling frustrated.
‘Because the person you’re up against is a demon. He stays in the shadows and very few people know who he is. They call him the Viper. It's like the snake that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. Before you know it, you’re gone. How do you think so many people are ending up dead? They’ve come in the path of the Viper. In the snake world, the Viper kills more people than all other snake species combined. There’s a reason this person is called the Viper. Because it kills and has no mercy.’
‘Do you know who the Viper is?’ I said, thinking it was worth the shot of asking him directly.
‘No, I don’t. But I know how dangerous he is.’
Silence.
I said, ‘Is the Viper a man or a woman?’
‘I don’t know that either.’
‘How do you know that the Viper exists?’
‘I’m here because of him or her. People have experienced his prowess.’
Silence.
My hands stopped shaking. I kept them on the table and said, ‘What were you thinking about earlier when I told you that my father’s body was never found?’
‘I don’t think your father is still alive. But if at all he is, then there has to be a reason.’
‘And what do you think the reason is?’
‘I don’t get many visitors here apart from my wife and kid. So, I remember every time someone comes to see me. I remember every small detail of what they said. I know your father was asking me the right questions. He was on the right track. He knew the Viper existed. He had spoken to people who knew the Viper. He had not been able to crack the Viper’s identity.’
‘Who knew that the Viper existed?’
‘I don’t know. I asked your father the same question. He said if he says anything, then their life would be in danger.’
‘But what were you thinking about when I told you that my father could be alive?’
‘Your father knew his actions would expose the Viper. That’s why he was careful. But at the same time, if he just vanished but didn’t end up dead, that means there is evidence out there that reveals the Viper’s identity and ties him to at least one crime he has committed. There’s no other explanation for your father still being alive. He or someone else has some sort of insurance against getting killed by the Viper.’
Suddenly what Rahul, Radha and I had discussed earlier came to my mind.
Why are we being spared? Are we immune? If we are, then what has given us that immunity?
Dhar said, ‘If that kind of evidence exists, the Viper can be taken down.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because I thought the Viper was indestructible. Now, I know he isn’t.’
‘Since we’re being honest, did you kill Kabir Ahuja?’ I said.
‘It doesn’t matter and you wouldn’t believe me.’
‘Try me.’
‘I was with Kabir Ahuja on the day he died. But I didn’t kill him. Kabir had hired me to protect him. As you know, Kabir was a journalist. I think he was working on an article to expose the Viper. He was going to meet someone that day. He was going to be given something that would help him in his investigation of the Viper.’
‘How do you know that?’ I said.
‘Kabir told me. When I asked how dangerous the mission was, he told me that he’s taking down a big bad guy. But I wanted the money. Kabir was giving a lot of it. So, I took the job. Kabir himself didn’t believe that any evidence to that effect existed. But the person he was going to meet didn’t want me there. They didn’t trust me. Kabir still wanted me there. So, I hid in a bush in the large open yard of the farmhouse. But whoever was going to meet Kabir did not show up well past their scheduled meeting time. So, Kabir sent me home. Next day, I woke up to the police knocking on my door for the murder of Kabir Ahuja.’
‘How do you know then that the person Kabir wanted to take down was the Viper?’
‘Because the Viper’s men got in touch with me once I was arrested. They told me to not contest the charges otherwise I would meet the same fate as Kabir Ahuja. They showed me pictures of his wife as well and told me what they had done to her. They promised me that my family would be well taken care of in my absence. I was handed a twenty-two-year-old sentence. I am still young enough and that was okay for me. In four years, I’ll be out of here.’
I said, ‘What about the bag and bloody clothes?’
‘I don’t know how the bloody clothes got there. The bag had the money that Kabir had given me. I had told the cops too.’
I cut in. ‘I didn’t see that in the statement.’
‘What you read in that statement is not all true.’
I was confused, but before I could say anything, Dhar said, ‘You asked me why I’m helping you. I know that I will be a free man if the Viper gets caught because I am pretty sure he was behind the murder of Kabir Ahuja. I have one last thing to share with you. I have a theory. The evidence might be….’
Dhar never finished his sentence. He put both his hands on his heart. His eyes were bloodshot. He heaved air into his lungs, fell from the chair then collapsed on the floor.
Chapter Thirty-One
I pressed the buzzer, not knowing what had suddenly happened.
Two guards rushed in and looked equally confused.
‘He just grabbed his heart and went down,’ I said, now standing near the door as more guards rushed in.
They might have had some kind of an internal alarm go off because the small room was soon swarming with police officers, some of whom were armed. I was taken to another room while Mukund Dhar was carried out on a stretcher.
‘Wait in here,’ a police officer told me. ‘We’ll go through the video tape and then talk to you.’
The officer closed the door behind him. The room I was now in was similar to the one before. I could hear a lot of activity outside. Heavy footsteps and people shouting. I checked the time. Five minutes past three. I needed to leave soon but felt that was not going to be possible. I began thinking about what could have happened to Mukund Dhar. Was it an accident or had someone poisoned him to kill him?
The police would want to know what happened inside and I was their best bet. I knew they would want to question me. But I had no reason to answer any of them. If they suspected me of doing something to Dhar, which they possibly couldn’t because everything was on tape. At the same time, there was no evidence against me. I could stay silent until they arrested me for killing Dhar, if at all there was foul play involved. I had stayed back out of courtesy and to know what had happened to Dhar.
Five minutes later, the same officer who had spoken to me before came into the room. He sat across the table. He was wearing a poker face. I knew I had to start talking to him first before he started to question me.
‘What happened to him?’ I said.
‘We suspect he was poisoned,’ the officer said right away.
I had got what I wanted from the conversation already.
‘What were you talking about?’ the officer said.
‘I’m sorry, but that is personal and privileged information that I cannot share,’ I said. ‘I’m a lawyer myself and I know my rights.’
‘Were you his lawyer?’
‘I’m not required to answer any of these questions,’ I said with one eye on the clock.
The officer’s eyes narrowed.
‘Is there anything else?’ I said.
‘As a fellow law enforcement officer, I request you to help me,’ the officer said.
‘I don’t know what happened. He suddenly grabbed his heart while we were talking.’
‘Did you hav
e anything to do with it?’ the officer said.
I got up. ‘If there’s nothing you’re charging me with, then I am going to go,’ I said. ‘You have my contact details. If there’s anything else that you want to know later, you know where to find me.’
‘You’re doing a very bad thing by leaving, Miss Rajput,’ the officer said as I stepped out of the room.
It was three fifteen. I drove home as all the things that Dhar had shared swirled in my mind. I tried to not get emotionally swayed. He had said things I wanted to hear. But he was also in prison for almost eighteen years with four more years of his sentence left. He knew that if I was convinced he was innocent or that he had helped an investigation, it could lead to an early release. What surprised me the most was that he never brought up a bargain plea.
I had noticed a genuine shift in Dhar’s body language when I told him that dad could still be alive. He really seemed to believe that there was a piece of evidence against this so called ‘Viper’.
I reached home, changed my clothes and put on black jeans and a slightly loose grey T-Shirt. I took a jacket, knowing fully well that Mumbai would be warmer and more humid. But the jacket would be useful in case of an emergency to keep my guns and extra rounds. I checked the mirror once to see if my bullet proof vest was visible through the T-Shirt. I smiled when I didn’t see it.
‘Take care, Siya,’ Radha said as I stepped out, hearing Rathod’s car at the entrance.
She waved at me as we drove away. The GPS app told us that we would reach Motilal Ahuja’s house by seven forty.
‘I’ve already told him that we are running late. He said it’s okay and he understands given the circumstances,’ Rathod said.
Over the next twenty minutes, I told Rathod what Dhar had told me. At the same time, I called Radha and Rahul so even they would be up to speed.
‘I don’t know of anyone called the Viper,’ Rathod said. ‘I’ve not heard of whispers or rumours on the street either.’
I said, ‘It could very well be something that just his associates call him. It sounds like an ominous name after all. Great way to entice fear.’
‘What do you make of the story that Dhar told you?’ Rathod said.