Seduced by Murder (8 page)

He growled. “Ha! You are a bloody civilian. I have been trained in countering obstacles you can’t even imagine.”

I looked at Vimal for help, but he did not register any emotion. I was sure the guard would have informed Leo that an inspector had come snooping around. We were losing precious time.

I said with full conviction, “I know that, inspector. I wouldn’t dream of trying any other obstacle in your presence. The only reason I volunteer to climb up the pipe is because I have the relevant experience in all kinds of activities related to acrobats.”

“What do you mean?”

I looked at Vimal. “Tell him about my pedigree.”

“What?” Vimal asked me stupidly.

“I am a natural in trapeze acts. It’s in my blood. My ancestors were amazing acrobats. They did that for a living.”

“Really?” Babu asked and relaxed his grip.

“Cross my heart and hope to die. See, I am still alive. Let me go.”

The inspector looked guiltily at Vimal. “You are witness that he is going up, even though I offered to go.”

So this was what this was all about. And I thought Babu was concerned about my welfare.

I replied on behalf of Vimal. “Inspector,
in case
I fall and break any limb, or Leo hurts me, it is my responsibility. For the record, even though you wanted to go up, and confront Leo yourself, I insisted and ran to the pipe before you could stop me. Vimal is witness to that.”

“And you told me that you were experienced in climbing.
Acrobat
is the term you used.”

“That is absolutely correct. Now let go of me.”

He released his gorilla-like grip and asked, “What did your family do exactly?”

I sprinted a few steps away from him before replying. “My ancestors were apes. You should have seen them swinging from tree to tree.”

I tied my handkerchief on my right hand to handle the friction between the metal and my skin. The developer had planted creepers along the walls of the building, no doubt to achieve the ’French effect’. They sprang in all directions along the pipe, making my climb difficult. It took me five minutes to cross the first floor. I looked up and saw that Leo’s terrace was still about twelve feet above me. I looked down, and signalled to Babu and Vimal to make their move. I was almost there. My legs were trembling, and I was out of breath. I hadn’t played Spiderman since I was a toddler, and I could feel my arms and legs revolting at the unnecessary effort. I halted for a few seconds and then began the vertical ascent again.

It took me another five minutes to finally reach Leo’s apartment. I lifted my left hand off the pipe and grasped the terrace railing. I looked down, and my hands went cold anticipating my next move. My right hand let go of the pipe and grasped the railing as well. I dangled from the railing for a few seconds. Then I raised my body against the railing, slowly pulling myself up till I could swing one leg over the railing. I fell onto the terrace and huddled in a corner.

There was no sign of Leo. I crawled to the door that was ajar, and peeped into the room. It was a sparingly furnished bedroom with a double bed, a wooden cupboard, and a television. There was an open suitcase on the bed, carelessly filled with clothes. Someone had been packing in a hurry. The other door of the bedroom was partly open, and I could
see a passage. It would probably take me to the main door. I decided to make a dash to the front door, and confront Leo, after taking refuge behind Babu’s gun.

I had just got on to my knees in the on-your-marks position, when Murphy’s Law prevailed. An athletic, tall man appeared from a hitherto hidden bathroom adjoining the bedroom. He was bare-chested, and carrying a shaving kit in one hand. He had a brown towel wrapped around his neck. He saw me, and shouted something nasty. Before I could react, I saw his hand thrust forward in a bowler’s action and a metallic object hit me below my left eye. Intense pain, and a fountain of lights, seemed to explode in my eyes. It left me dazed. I stumbled, tripped, and fell backwards on the floor.

I
lay there dazed, and touched the wound below my eye. I felt some loose skin drenched in thick liquid that I hoped was blood and not some liquid leaking through the cranium. I glanced sideways. The son of a bitch had thrown a deodorant bottle at me! I tried to assess the damage to my eye, straining to open the partially stuck eyelid. I lost precious seconds, and Leo was standing over me. He delivered a powerful punch to my solar plexus, cutting off my breath, and I groaned at the sharp pain that burnt my intestines. He pinned me down to the ground with his body weight, and started to strangle me.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked.

Maybe it was the subconscious awareness that a half-naked gay man was sitting on top of me, with my hips under his legs; maybe it was the cheap pub that Pranay and I had started frequenting, that always showed wrestling on television … Whatever the reason, I felt a sudden rush of testosterone, and locked my legs around his neck in a classic wrestling style, and pushed him back.

Our position had reversed, and I was on top now. I had always preferred the missionary anyway. His fingers found my windpipe, and I started choking again. My knees were
burning from the climb, my left eye was numb, and my stomach was experiencing slight cramps. Leo was struggling violently under me. I felt my grip relax. I jammed my right knee with great force into Leo’s abdomen. His pupils dilated, and his grip slackened.

I got up as quickly as my legs would permit, and tried to run for the door. Leo tripped me with his leg, and I fell face down on the bed, hitting something hard. My tongue tasted something salty. I was not on the beach, so it had to be blood. I felt too dazed to get up. From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo get up and walk towards me. I looked at the object I had fallen on. It was his shaving kit. I zipped the pouch open, and scrambled around to find anything that could be used as a weapon.

I found a metallic can of shaving spray and held it tight. Leo’s superhuman strength became evident when he lifted me effortlessly, with his hands under my armpit, so that we were face-to-face. I had the can in my left hand. I thrust my right hand forward pushed his chest away with all my might. His grip slackened, and my toes touched the floor. He pulled his fist back, held on for a few seconds, and then catapulted it towards my face. Within milliseconds his fist would hit my nose. I jerked my arm up, pushing the can towards his jaw. It hit him before his fist touched me. I heard some bones crack. He released me and collapsed on the ground, groaning in agony. There was no time for congratulating myself. I heard the doorbell ring, and limped to the main door swearing at Babu. He should have broken down the door by now.

The door bell rang again. I opened the door and said to Babu accusingly, “I thought I told you to break the door open.”

Vimal and Babu both said in unison, “My God! What happened to your eye?”

I counted till five, and breathed normally again. “Why didn’t you barge in?”

“I thought ringing the doorbell would be better. What happened to your eye?”

“Got into a scuffle with Leo. He’s lying injured in the other room. Why the hell would you ring the bell if I wasn’t at the main door, you fool?”

“How does it make a difference?” Babu asked defiantly.

“What if he had put a bullet in my head and escaped from the pipe?”

I didn’t wait for an answer, and guided the inspector to the room where I had left Leo a few minutes ago.

“You overpowered him?” Babu sounded surprised.

I felt some kind of movement as soon as I entered the room, and immediately ducked, missing the cricket bat by a couple of inches. Leo swung the cricket bat blindly once more, and Babu ducked too.

“Don’t come towards me!” he yelled and rushed towards the door. Only the gentle Vimal stood between it and Leo. I expected him to be wise and step aside. However, Vimal brought his fists up in a boxer’s stance and stared boldly at Leo. Leo hissed in anger, and waved the bat menacingly at Vimal, who bent backwards as though his spine were made of elastic. The bat missed his face, and Leo was thrown off balance. Vimal landed a left-handed punch on Leo’s jaw, and almost carried him off the floor. Leo lay stone cold on the floor. Babu and I looked at Vimal in admiration.

“Wow. You took good care of him,” I commended him.

“Three times gold medallist in boxing. University level,” he said shyly.

Babu handcuffed Leo to a chair, while I picked up parts of my personality strewn on the floor. My shirt was torn, and one of my shoes was missing. Vimal helped me pick up my wallet, car keys, a pen, and some fabric from my shirt.

I took stock of the damage to my eye in the bathroom mirror. A small plum had formed where my eye used to be. The pain was increasing with time, and I needed immediate medical attention. I went to the hall and took out a bottle of vodka. There was nothing else in the refrigerator. I was not much of a vodka drinker, but these were dire straits. I joined Babu and Vimal in the room. Leo was semiconscious now, and trying to understand what was happening.

Babu looked at the bottle of vodka in my hand, and stared at me disapprovingly. “You can’t drink that.”

“Why not?”

“It is personal property.”

“So was my eye.”

“You need proper medicine for that, not vodka.”

“I know. But the bugger has no whisky or beer in the refrigerator. You know what they say. Patients can’t be choosers.”

I dispensed with etiquette and took a direct swig from the bottle. That was for the eye. I immediately took another one for my bruised knees. I concentrated on the faint pain in my abdomen and took another gulp. The vodka burnt my throat, reduced the pain, and I immediately felt better. I even smiled good naturedly at the morose Leo, who was regaining consciousness.

“What’s your name?” barked the inspector in an intimidating way.

Leo stared at us insolently and said, “I want to make a phone call first.”

Slap.

“Answer the question.”

Leo looked at Babu without an iota of fear.

“You don’t know my contacts. All of you will be sorry. Watch it. Do you even have a warrant for me?”

I pitched in. “Listen, you are a suspect for the cold-blooded murder of the city’s biggest real-estate developer. If anyone needs to be sorry, it is you.”

Reality dawned on him, and he became aware of the reason why we were there. His eyes widened.

“What? I am a suspect for Anil’s murder? Are you crazy?”

I spoke to Babu, “He is Leo all right.”

The inspector jubilantly took out the heart-shaped pendant inscribed with the letter
L
and suspended it before Leo’s face.

“We found this at the scene of the crime.”

For a moment Leo paled, and his tone sobered.

“This is not mine! I mean … Anil had given it to me, but I returned it to Anil a few weeks ago. I didn’t murder Anil.”

“Every madman says he is a genius, and every criminal says he is innocent,” said Babu philosophically.

I took out my trustworthy tape recorder and hit the record button. Babu’s pearls of wisdom were priceless.

“Do you have some proof that you returned the pendant to him?” I asked.

He thought for a moment and spoke excitedly. “Of course! I threw the locket at him in front of at least twenty people at The Clocker’s Pub.”

“The Clocker’s Pub?”

“It’s a pub on Wilson Street. Some of the occupants that night were regular visitors. And wait … the bartender –
Reddy – he would remember the incident. I threw the locket at Anil, and it fell into his glass. He asked Reddy to get him another drink. I am innocent and I can prove it. Just let me make the phone call.”

“You can make your phone call. But we want to ask you a few questions first. If you are innocent, you need not be scared. This will be part of a routine investigation, okay?”

He nodded. I realised what this meant. If Leo could prove that he had returned the pendant to Anil, not only would my original theory of the murderer being an insider hold true, it would also incriminate Shalini. It was the usual mistake a first-time criminal made. It was supposed to be a flawless murder. In his or her panic, the murderer had planted the locket outside the back gate; and going by the circumstances, I was inclined to believe that Shalini was the culprit behind this.

I asked Vimal, “If Leo returned the locket to Anil, who would have access to it?”

“Umm … Anil would probably have kept it in his room. All of us would have had access to it.”

I could see the realization dawn in his eyes, as he answered my question. I knew he was evaluating the same person I was – Shalini. Babu made a phone call and asked someone to talk to Reddy, the bartender, at The Clocker’s Pub. Leo was white as a sheet now and, unless he was a very good actor, he was telling the truth.

Babu tried to extract more information from him. “Your real name is Leo?”

“Yeah.”

“Leo as in Leonard?”

“Leo as in Leo.”

The Inspector was not convinced. “What type of name is that?”

“I was born on 23
^rd
July. My parents named me after the zodiac sign.”

“Lucky you,” I chipped in.