Seduced by Murder (29 page)

“Mayank was the perfect person for a frame-up. He took sleeping pills, and would not remember a thing in the morning. The murderer’s foresight was rewarded, as we were able to prove that there was no villager involved at all. Not that he had much to worry about. He had a second backup in case Mayank was proved innocent, or Shalini did not play as per his plan. The second back-up was Sunil.”

“What!” Sunil and Aditi cried in unison.

“The knife used to murder Anil was the same one Sunil had chased Anil with; and the cigarettes found at the scene of Anjali’s murder, the same brand that Sunil smokes. They were deliberately planted. He must have been furious when I proved that Shalini couldn’t have been at the zoo when Anjali was murdered. And, he knew I didn’t suspect Sunil. I let him know I had found him out.

“I got complacent, assuming that there was not much he could do, since Babu had instructed his men to restrict your family’s movements tonight. He knew where I would be; I had mentioned that at the zoo. He planned quickly and instructed Abhijit, probably over the phone, to murder Leo and frame me by planting some money in my apartment. He would have later murdered Abhijit too.

“The plan was perfect. With the CD in his custody, Abhijit out of the way, and the money planted in my apartment, he would have got away with the crime.

“Everything went as per his plan and I got arrested, but Shalini ruined it for him by trying to commit suicide and leaving behind a suicide note. One can’t predict everything, can they Vimal?”

The accusation hung in the air, and the people around me expressed their astonishment and indignation. Vimal’s only reply was raised eyebrows. He was a cool customer, as I had expected him to be.

Paras stared at his son. “Vimal, Vishal has a theory that you murdered Anil, because you were being blackmailed by Anil.”

“That’s absurd, Dad!” said Vimal calmly.

“What!” Reena appeared appalled.

“Dad!” exclaimed Vimal. “How can you say such a thing? Especially after the copy of his license was found?”

“That was flicked by you,” I said, “when you handed me the wallet at Leo’s apartment.”

“Is this a joke? Dad, what’s going on?” said Sunil.

I continued, “Anil was blackmailing Vimal. Vimal and Reena were part of a couple-swapping circuit. Anil and Leo came to know about it. They had some proof – most probably
a CD, and they started blackmailing them. Anil must have asked for five crores to withhold the secret from Mr Kapoor and the rest of the family.

“Vimal paid Anil the money, and Anil promised the leave the country with Leo on Thursday. That accounts for the five crores found in his apartment. What Anil didn’t know was where the five crores came from. It was Vimal who had forged the signatures. He had posed as Anil, facilitated the entire deal, and made the payment to Anil from the thirty crores paid to him by Thapa, on behalf of Asrani.

“Vimal knew that Anil was leaving the country for good on Thursday. He insisted that Asrani transfer the white component directly to the company’s account on or after Thursday. Anil would have left the country by then, and everyone would have assumed that Anil had committed forgery just like he had done in the past, and then eloped with Leo, taking the cash with him.

“Everything was going as per Vimal’s plan, but some of the investors came to know about the Asrani deal, and sent goons to the house to recover their money on Saturday evening. Sunil reacted instantly, accusing Anil of the forgery. Anil was smart enough to put two and two together, and realised how Vimal had managed to arrange five crores. Anil didn’t expose Vimal; instead, he started blackmailing Vimal on two counts.

“My guess is that Anil demanded a substantial amount of the money, if not the entire amount, from the remaining twenty-five crores. He threatened Vimal that not only would he blow the lid off his and Reena’s sexual adventures, but also inform Mr Kapoor of the forgery.”

Everyone was looking at Vimal and Reena. Reena’s face was exceedingly vulnerable, but Vimal showed no signs of panic or alarm. His naturalness was in itself unnatural.

I addressed Vimal. “The police are on their way, with Abhijit. They found the CDs, and two crores in his car. I believe you instructed him to plant the money in my apartment. Mr Thapa is on his way here to identify him. It’s over, Vimal and Reena. You better own up.”

Vimal’s face looked disconcerted for the first time upon hearing Thapa’s name. Reena had paled, her lower lip trembling.

Paras spoke up. “It’s true, isn’t it, Vimal?”

Vimal’s expression changed from smooth and urbane to something very ugly. He launched forward and said to me, “That’s an interesting fairly tale. Do you have any proof?”

He tried to smile, trying to hide his panic and get back in control. The doors of the lift opened, as if on cue. The police escorted a terrified Thapa, and a defeated Abhijit, towards us.

“No, this isn’t a fairy tale. Fairy tales have happy endings. This one won’t.”

A cop handed two CDs to Babu, along with a bag. Babu opened the zip, and showed the money to everyone.

I put my arm around Thapa’s shoulder reassuringly. “Thanks for coming, Thapa. We need you to identify this man.”

“What’s this about? I don”t know about any black money. It”s between Asrani and Kapoor. I am just an employee. I want my lawyer.”

“Relax. I am sure Mr Asrani would be touched by your loyalty. However, we are not interested in the cash. We are investigating a murder. All we want you to do is identity this man. His name is Abhijit. Do you know him?”

Abhijit stared threateningly at Thapa and, for a moment, Thapa seemed nervous. Babu stepped forward and slapped Abhijit so hard that blood started trickling down his lips.

Thapa shrieked, “Yes, I know him! The one with the goatee and grey eyes! He was the CFO who met me on behalf of Anil Kapoor. He handed the agreement to me and collected the cash.”

I held the CDs before Vimal and Reena.

“I have already seen the one titled
R
, so I know who’s starring in it. I bet the second one was taken from Leo this evening, and has Vimal in the cast too. That’s what it was all about, wasn’t it? Anil was blackmailing both of you because he had a CD that showed one or both of you indulging in sex with different partners. But you wouldn’t have murdered him just for that. After he found out about the forgery, you couldn’t risk him exposing you in front of Mr Kapoor. Ever. Not to forget, twenty-five crores is a huge amount.”

Paras’s voice quivered, “Is it true?”

Vimal muttered a weak no.

I continued, “When Anil told Leo to postpone their tickets, and demanded more money, you realised that he would be a perennial risk. That’s why you decided to murder Anil on Saturday. When Leo heard that the police suspected one of the family members, he realised what must have happened. He started blackmailing you, but unlike Anil he was smart enough to use Anjali as insurance.

“You were supposed to pay him the money tonight, or he would have exposed you to the press. Leo would never have imagined that you would murder Anjali too. With Anjali dead, you decided to close the chapter by having Abhijit murder Leo, framing me, and then murdering Abhijit himself.”

Abhijit looked at Vimal and Reena, and shouted, “What! What is he talking about?”

Vimal tried to pacify him. “Relax. He is just—”

“Fuck you. Is that why you wanted to meet me alone at the farmhouse?” He looked at me and shouted, “I have nothing to do with any murder! I am innocent! Fuck them! I will testify. I will—”

“Shut up,” hissed Vimal.

“Oh, I don’t think you are innocent,” I intervened. “The blood on your T-shirt would match Leo’s. You murdered Leo this evening. Also, I saw you handing the bag to Reena at the parking lot. You are Leo’s murderer, and an accessory to the murders of Anil and Anjali.”

He broke down.

“Shit, shit, shit! Both of them used me. I didn’t want … I am not a murderer. They promised me money …”

“I think we should play the CD now,” I said to Babu.

“I will ask someone from the administration to get a laptop. Or we could—” began Babu.

“That will not be necessary,” said Vimal, interrupting him. “Please don’t play it in front of Dad. It’s not suitable.”

Paras broke down upon hearing these words from Vimal. Reena had tears of mortification in her eyes. She mumbled something to him.

He replied calmly, “It’s okay, baby. I take full responsibility for the murders of Anil and Anjali. Abhijit murdered Leo. Reena was not directly involved in any of the murders.”

Abhijit charged at him. ‘You bastard!’

Two cops held him back, while he shouted vile abuses at Vimal and Reena. Babu looked at Paras, and signalled to a cop to arrest Vimal and Reena. Vimal put his hands behind his back, stared at me, and asked, “How did you know?”

“I knew that only one thing could have gone wrong for Anil’s murder at the farmhouse. If the party extended outdoors
to the lawn, or to the beach, there was always the risk of someone walking towards the back gate and finding the lock already broken. You couldn’t risk that happening. If the lock had been found broken, Anil would have immediately become suspicious of you. So, being the meticulous planner that you are, I was sure you would have found a way of ensuring that the party stayed indoors.

“When I got to the farmhouse, my first question was whether the party had extended outdoors. Mr Kapoor replied that it hadn’t, since Reena had been running a high fever the previous evening. She seemed perfectly fine to me the next day. Later I came to know, from Malti and Mr Kapoor, that Reena and Aditi had gone to play tennis at the club the evening Anil was found murdered. That means the fever came and vanished in an evening. That was too much of a coincidence.

“When I saw her collecting a bag from Abhijit at the club, I knew she was involved. You made your mistake, Vimal.”

“What was that?”

“Anil was stabbed in the heart with a single, powerful blow. The murderer had to be a man. If Reena was involved with the missing cash, you were my suspect; naturally. But then today, I became sure. Anjali was struck from behind, on the left side of her head. Again, it was a single blow.”

I walked up to Babu, stood behind him, and swung my left hand pretending to hit him on his head.

“You see, I am right-handed, and I had to use my left hand to get a proper arc and enough force to hit him on the left side of his head, as Anjali had been struck. I would have to criss-cross my shoulder if I tried to do it with my right hand. So the murderer had a powerful left hand – someone who could bring Leo to his knees with a single, left-handed punch. You
should have let Leo pass that day, Vimal. You are left handed, aren’t you?”

Babu said, “Oh… is that why you used your left hand when you pretended to strike me at the zoo?

“Yes. And that is the same reason I made you pretend to drown the cop. A right-handed person would hold the neck with his strong arm, and use his left arm to hold the right leg of the victim. A more impactful posture for drowning someone. But the tear in Anjali’s skirt was on her left leg. That meant the murderer had used his left hand to hold her neck, while immersing her under the water. And that was a fatal flaw.”

A nurse appeared and stammered, “You… you … are with Shalini Kapoor?”

No one seemed to be in a right state of mind to respond to her query, so I said, “Yes.”

“The patient is conscious now.”

A
cross the horizon, the day was coming to an end. I jerked to a stop as Bruno stopped abruptly, and sat down on the ground for the umpteenth time. He hated walking. He looked back longingly towards the apartment. I tugged at his leash, but he stayed put. We had covered exactly four hundred metres from my apartment. I pointed to the boundary of the park that was visible from his position, and encouraged him in canine language.

“Good boy. There. Only ten more steps. Then food time.”

His ears perked up on hearing the word
food
, and his resolve weakened momentarily. I took the opportunity to tug at his leash to get him back on his feet.

The park was buzzing with the idiosyncratic activity of a Sunday evening. A toddler jumped in front of me from behind a pile of discarded leaves. He pointed at my head and started speaking gibberish. Happy gibberish. It took me a few seconds to comprehend that he was fascinated by the bandages on my head. I think he wanted to touch the bandages. I was just bending my head forward to oblige him, when his mother appeared and dragged him away, eyeing me suspiciously.

I looked around the park, and saw her sitting alone on a bench near the far end. I started walking towards her. She was
looking at some kids playing. She seemed engrossed in their antics, and didn’t notice when a small wayward leaf landed on her head. A few strands of her hair were blown aside softly by the breeze, and her eyes were lost in thought. With her timeless beauty and aura of mystery, she could have been a statue placed on the bench. It was exactly a week since I had got her call and started working on the case. It seemed like an eternity.

She did not notice me until I was standing next to her.