Jackpot Jetty

by Marissa de Luna

  Arjun took a step forward. ‘I didn’t know anything about a letter, about Jackpot being my half-brother. Please, Detective, I really don’t see how this is relevant. So what, I changed my name and my brother lets me stay in one of his rentals for free. Big deal.’

  ‘It isn’t a big deal, although those properties are no longer in your family’s name, so you may find that you will now have to pay rent. They now belong to Roshni.’ Chupplejeep looked at the bride, who had taken a step away from her groom. She was looking at him, slowly working it all out. The detective looked back at Arjun and continued. ‘But you’re lying when you say that you didn’t know about the letter your mother wrote to Jackpot, your half-brother.’

  Arjun laughed. ‘You can’t prove that I knew about a letter I knew nothing of. Listen, I understand you’re desperate to solve this case, to show your superiors that you are some great cop, but I’m not your guy. You’ve got this all wrong, Detective.’

  ‘Have I also got it wrong that you tried to contest your mother’s will along with your brother Nilesh?’ Chupplejeep said. Yesterday, he had remembered Pankaj had said Ms Ajuha’s sons, not son singular, had contested the will. He had asked Pankaj at the time the names of her sons, but had quickly forgotten to press his officer for the information when he realised his prime suspect Nilesh was the deceased’s half-brother. He berated himself for not having questioned Pankaj further at the time.

  Arjun was silent.

  Chupplejeep continued. ‘Have I also got it wrong that you paid the local thug Vadish to steal Jackpot’s letter for you?’

  ‘What nonsense?’

  ‘The first time you asked Vadish to take a picture of the letter because you knew about it and wanted to see what your mother had to say. Why was that?’

  Arjun turned to leave, but the thick-set waiter stepped up to him. Sofia too took a step closer. She looked like a woman who wasn’t afraid to use her hands if needed. Arjun turned back. Chupplejeep was still holding the knife that he had taken from Talika. Now he looked at the blade. ‘If you’re not going to tell us, let me tell you what I think.’ Arjun made no motion to answer. ‘I think it went like this – you had disowned your family, moved away and had wanted nothing to do with them. Your mother tried to get in touch for years. You disregarded that, but eventually you had to contact your brother when you needed something – free accommodation at the lake. Then your mother died, and I understand from your mother’s solicitor that you were left some property in Kolkata. Now Kolkata is beautiful, but perhaps not as desirable or lucrative as Goa. I’ve heard the Belur Math and the Marble Palace are quite something, but the property prices are not quite the same as they are here. How angry you must have been when you realised that the prime Goan property owned by your mother was left to a boatwalla, her illegitimate son.

  ‘You felt that this should have rightfully come to you. Your brother was already constructing a hotel in the area, and you knew he was desperate for the properties. You knew about Jackpot’s inheritance from your mother’s solicitor, as he had been the one to arrange the correspondence. You needed the money, and you knew he was willing to pay. Or perhaps you wanted to be partner with your brother in his venture.’

  Arjun spat on the ground next to his feet. ‘I would never partner with him.’

  ‘Ah, so you just wanted to sell the properties to him?’

  ‘Is this true?’ Roshni asked, her eyes wide.

  Arjun shook his head. ‘I never knew about the letter, despite what you say, Detective.’

  ‘You’re continuing with this lie. Like I said earlier, it was when I saw Vadish leave your villa yesterday that I started to piece it all together. The first time you paid Vadish to break into Jackpot and Talika’s home, asking him to make it look like a burglary. Talika told me some jewellery had been stolen, but she couldn’t tell me what exactly had been taken. I knew then that she was lying. She knew someone was after the letter, and Arjun, you didn’t want to risk anyone finding out about its existence. You didn’t want Jackpot to start making a noise about it. So you asked for a photo of your mother’s letter; no one would suspect that. Once you saw it and read the contents, you saw red. Why should this illegitimate child get something? Was it then that you started to plan?’

  ‘Plan what?’

  ‘How you’d get the properties back. Take what was rightfully yours.’

  ‘Oh please, Detective, you’re boring our wedding guests –’ Arjun started, but Roshni cut him off.

  ‘I want to hear what the detective has to say.’

  ‘Because that’s what you thought, isn’t it? That those eight villas by the lake should have been left to you. Initially, I thought your brother Nilesh was the villain of the piece, but on the contrary, he was telling the truth when he said that he had argued with Jackpot about purchasing the properties. He didn’t pursue Jackpot when he realised that the boatwalla couldn’t be bought.’

  ‘Hear, hear,’ shouted Bhumika, her arm around her husband.

  ‘You, on the other hand,’ Chupplejeep continued, looking at Arjun, ‘devised a plan. A plan that involved killing Jackpot. You knew he had a heart condition; either Talika or Roshni would have told you this, and you would have known about his drinking. Everyone in the village knew about it; it wasn’t a secret. You asked Jackpot for a ride in his boat that fateful evening, told him that you knew about the inheritance and brought the two bottles of Old Monk with you. He would have agreed to talking with you because he was that kind of person – perhaps he wanted to warn you to stay away from the women in his family; perhaps he realised why you were so interested in them. But talking was too simple for you. You wanted those properties and you knew there was only one way to get them. Once you were out in the middle of the lake, you strangled him, and then you swam back to the shore. You’re strong enough to do so without much effort. You knew Detective Kumar wouldn’t be interested in investigating this murder so close to his retirement, and you hoped that he would file the death as a natural death, as unsuspicious, and leave it at that. You didn’t count on someone like me turning up, did you?’

  ‘You’re pathetic, Detective.’

  ‘Before Jackpot died, you seduced both Talika and Roshni, keeping your options open, depending on who Jackpot left the properties to. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’d have soon proposed to Talika had she been bestowed the properties. Talika started to put this all together, but I think it only completely registered when she was talking to me by the lake. Previously, she had tried to dissuade her daughter from marrying you, but it hadn’t worked. By the time the invites were printed, there was nothing more she could say because she could not bring herself to disclose to Roshni that she had an affair with you. She attempted to tell her, perhaps, but Roshni would no doubt have laughed at her. The only way she thought she could stop her daughter from making a dreadful mistake was to murder you. “There is something I have to do,” Talika said to me yesterday with a solemn tone, and then she muttered, “It’s the only way,” and that thing was why she came here today with a knife.’

  Roshni ran to her mother, knelt at her feet and put her head in her mother’s lap. Both mother and daughter began to sob.

  ‘Your whole theory, Detective, relies on a letter, a letter you cannot even prove exists.’

  ‘Ah, that’s where you are wrong. I have a copy here,’ Chupplejeep said, taking his phone out of his pocket. ‘I paid a visit to Vadish early this morning, and he had a copy of the letter. He took a picture of it on his phone the first time he broke into Jackpot’s house, and he had kept the image. He was saving it for a rainy day, knowing it might come in handy. When he saw me at his door this morning, he obliged and shared the image with me.’

  Chupplejeep sighed. He went to the address Sneha had given him, and Vadish had been shocked to see him. Vadish reluctantly handed over the letter, explaining his involvement with the writer and his most recent instruction to steal the letter so that Arjun could destroy it. It was as Vadish was leaving Arjun’s
house, having handed over the letter and being paid handsomely for his troubles, that Chupplejeep had seen him.

  ‘You should never trust a local gangster,’ Chupplejeep said. He looked up and found Sofia’s eyes. ‘Erik is well,’ he said. ‘Staying with Vadish, working on new projects, apparently.’ Chupplejeep swallowed. He wanted to arrest them both there and then, but he didn’t. Vadish had only agreed to give him a copy of Jackpot’s letter if he gave them a three-hour head start before he informed the local station. It had pained him to do this, a dark spot on an otherwise unblemished record. Chupplejeep wondered if that spot would spread like ink on blotting paper, now that a line had been crossed. Vadish had been instrumental though in helping him catch the killer, and he had told him what he knew about Dilip Mendonca. He had seen him that fateful night at the brothel. His good friend wasn’t at home alone like he had purported to be. He wondered if Christabel had heard that rumour too about his friend, which would explain why she had asked if Dilip was happily married. She wasn’t having a dig at him after all.

  He looked at Dilip, his arm around his wife. Then with a sigh of relief, he motioned to a uniformed man who had just arrived and was standing at the back of the garden towards the hedging. It was Kumar’s sub-officer. He had called the detective last night and asked him to send an officer to the wedding. Kumar was reluctant, but after he mentioned the fictitious blood alcohol levels stated in Jackpot’s autopsy results, he agreed. He didn’t want his failings as a detective revealed so close to his retirement, a retirement that would see him leave the force with a clean record. Chupplejeep looked at his watch. It was past twelve. Perhaps the detective was warming to him now that he was officially retired and no harm could come to him anymore.

  He stepped forward, but Arjun started to move too, letting out a blood-curdling scream as he did. He tackled Chupplejeep to the ground, taking Talika’s knife from him. Chupplejeep fumbled desperately for the flick knife he had taken from Sofia. Arjun’s weight prevented him from getting it out of his pocket. He was going to get away. Chupplejeep forced his hand deeper into his pocket, just managing to grasp the handle of the knife. He jerked his hand free, tearing at the seams, and slashed desperately at the fleeing Arjun, just managing to catch his leg. As he did so, he heard another high-pitched scream. He looked up to see Christabel heading towards them, a chair in her hands. Before he had time to blink, the chair came hurtling down on Arjun’s back. The sub-officer took a step back, his mouth gaping open at this determined woman. Christabel adjusted her skirt and held her head up high. Chupplejeep gave her a warm look, and she smiled. The sub-officer bent down towards Arjun, pulling his hands behind his back. Taking the knife from his hand, he handcuffed him and read him his rights.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  ‘Such a shame, Detective,’ Nilesh said, shaking his head. ‘What a bright future that boy had, and he threw it all away. When you started poking your nose around, I didn’t worry because I had nothing to worry about. I honestly thought you were trying to cause unnecessary trouble. I didn’t think for one moment that my brother would kill his half-brother for these properties. He was a troubled child, that much is true, but this… I never thought he would do something like this.’

  Chupplejeep wanted to say that greed was the number one reason that most murders in India were committed, but he held his tongue.

  ‘It is a shame Kumar’s retiring,’ Nilesh continued. ‘He’s a friend of mine and he’s been helpful, but maybe it’s time for a change; hopefully someone better this time. Especially with a new hotel and whatnot. Did he take a bribe to turn a blind eye to the murder of that boatwalla or was he just being lazy?’

  Chupplejeep shrugged. Kumar had believed a bribe was coming his way after he recognised the bandana around Jackpot’s neck. He believed it to be Vadish’s uncle’s work, and when he realised it wasn’t, he believed it was Vadish. He wanted his money either way. He didn’t mind who he was covering for. But neither man committed the crime, so there was no way he was going to get paid. Still Kumar persisted, hoping the culprit would pay him for his troubles. Besides, he was in too deep to turn around and say his natural death had turned into a homicide. Kumar had as good as confessed to this when he called him last night to halt the release of the incorrect autopsy report and arrange for an officer to attend the wedding. Kumar believed that one last pay-out would give him the retirement he had dreamed of. As of today, Kumar was a retired cop with a clean record. He showed no interest when Chupplejeep disclosed what he knew about the Jackpot murder mystery, just a distaste for Arjun, who hadn’t succumbed to paying a bribe. But that information wasn’t something he needed to share with Nilesh.

  ‘So you’re progressing your hotel without the additional land?’

  Nilesh nodded. ‘It’ll be a boutique hotel until Roshni decides to sell, and I think eventually she will.’ Nilesh put his hand on Bhumika’s lower back. She smiled at the detective with an assurance that both she and her husband were innocent of any wrongdoing. Then they said their goodbyes and left.

  ‘This is for you, Detective,’ Sneha said, passing Chupplejeep a small brown velvet pouch. ‘Open it,’ she said.

  He did as he was told and pulled out a small pink stone.

  ‘A rose quartz crystal,’ she said. ‘Remember what I told you. It will bring love and laughter into your heart.’

  Chupplejeep held it up to the light, then slipped it into his pocket. ‘I think I’ve been on holiday for too long, because I actually believe you.’ He looked at Sneha. ‘I’m glad you stayed to hear all that. I was worried you would leave. It was important to me that you knew what had happened to Jackpot, especially as you two were close.’

  Sneha smiled. ‘Thank you for playing ignorant with Bhumika. She probably knows I was with her husband the night Jackpot died, but she doesn’t need it confirmed, and anyway, all that is over with now.’

  Chupplejeep waved away her thanks with his hand. It was none of his business. ‘I now know why you said you couldn’t have slept with Arjun Chopra that day I asked you.’

  Sneha looked away.

  ‘He was your lover’s brother. I knew you were hiding something from me that day we spoke. Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘Because I had slept with Arjun a long while ago. Nilesh didn’t know. I didn’t want it coming out, and I didn’t want you to think I just slept with anyone and everyone. You already think that of me. I didn’t want to confirm it.’ Sneha fell silent and looked away.

  ‘Anyway,’ he said, touching her shoulder. ‘Like you said, all that is over with now.’

  ‘The rose quartz stone will help you sort things out with Christabel.’

  ‘How do you…’

  ‘I’m friends with Bhumika, remember. She isn’t someone who keeps things to herself. She told me about you and Christabel. The wedding –’

  Chupplejeep put his hand up to stop her saying anything. ‘Okay, so you know.’

  ‘It hurts you to hear about it?’

  ‘Let’s just say the memory is still fresh in my mind.’

  ‘But you love Christabel,’ Sneha said. She wasn’t going to give up.

  Chupplejeep didn’t respond.

  ‘That day when we were walking along the lakeshore, looking for Erik, I called Christabel your wife. You didn’t even flinch when I said the word. For someone like you, Detective, that is progress.’

  Chupplejeep recalled the moment. He had failed to correct Sneha, that much was true.

  ‘I see something in your near future that will transform your life,’ Sneha said.

  ‘Let me guess, marriage?’

  ‘No. It’s a good idea, but no. I’ve seen how you’ve persisted on this case. You amazed me when you revealed Jackpot’s murderer like that. I would never have suspected Arjun. Never. But you wouldn’t rest until you brought justice for him.’

  ‘He was an orphan like me. He showed kindness to my adoptive mother once. He was a good man; his murderer needed to be punished.’

  ‘You we
nt against your superiors. You went beyond the call of duty.’

  ‘That I did.’

  ‘You’re a detective inspector with the force, but is that all you want to be –’

  ‘It’s my vocation. I love what I do.’

  ‘You were demoted to the villages for not taking a bribe. I’m guessing that unless this case works in your boss’s favour, they’ll try and demote you even further, am I right?’

  ‘Maybe you should be a detective.’

  Sneha laughed. ‘But you could help others. You could be a private detective. You would find it much more rewarding.’

  ‘Like Poirot,’ Chupplejeep said. He thought about how he was going to have to relay what had happened to General Inspector Gosht. Kulkarni was correct when he said it wouldn’t help his prospects of promotion. Chupplejeep had assumed that Inspector Gosht would benefit from this, that he would be proud, take the credit, get a promotion to director general of police and help Chupplejeep climb the ranks as a thank you. But now that the mystery of Jackpot’s death had been solved, he realised this would be far from the reality he had envisioned. It was likely that he would be put on road traffic duty for exposing another failing in the system. Chupplejeep sighed. ‘I’ve never really thought about branching out on my own.’

  ‘Now’s the time to do so.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ Chupplejeep said.

  ‘I’ll leave that thought with you,’ Sneha said. She pointed into the distance. ‘I better go. If those fellows carry on pulling those decorations down like that, the whole betel tree is going to fall. That tree is fragile, more fragile than it looks.’

  He looked at Sneha Dhanjwant as she walked away. What she had said of the betel tree could be said of her too. He hoped she looked after herself in the years to come. She was a strong woman. She certainly appeared tough on the outside, overcoming years of domestic violence to build up a beautiful retreat like this. Sneha wasn’t exactly innocent though – dealing and selling hash cakes without consent was illegal, but she had promised that she would clean the resort up. Vadish’s decision to move away from Goa had been a blessing; at least now he would leave her alone. He thought about the words Sneha had spoken to him just moments ago about Christabel and about a different career path. He had many decisions to make. He couldn’t resolve everything today, but there was one choice he had made. He held on to the tiny rose quartz tumble stone in the right pocket of his trousers as he walked towards Christabel.