by UD Yasha
‘When was the last time you met them?’
‘Seven months back, just after Diwali. We had a pact that my parents, Malini, Daksh, the kids and I would spend at least one day together whenever I come around Diwali. Mostly it was after Diwali as it was easier to get leave from work then.'
‘Have you ever had a reason to doubt Daksh’s credibility or character?’
‘Never even once, Siya. He was a thorough gentleman. He worked hard and loved his family. There’s nothing more I can say. Of course, when you handle people’s investments that run into lakhs and crores of rupees, there are bound to be some who are not completely satisfied. I’m just assuming this though. Daksh managed my portfolio and I haven’t ever had a complaint. But I don’t think anyone would’ve wanted to harm him, let alone kill his family and kidnap his daughter for that.’
Even though it seemed unlikely on the face of it, one of the biggest motives for both murder and kidnapping was money. I made a mental note to check out Daksh’s clients and their accounts with him along with Malini’s patients.
I glanced at the clock. One forty in the morning. I had been home for half an hour, longer than I would have wanted.
‘Let’s go,’ Atharva said. ‘I can just roll up this chapati and take it with me.’
We walked in silence to the car. Even though tension and anticipation were running wild at that moment, I felt a sense of calmness knowing that Atharva was with me. Heat rose from my face and a knot tightened in my stomach. I brushed all thoughts away. Right then, my focus had to be on finding out why Shaunak Manohar was lying, and there was no one better than the man himself to tell me that.
Chapter Thirteen
By two o’clock, the media and news channels had packed their bags for the night and vacated their position from the entrance of the CID building. I dreaded facing the media because they were an unnecessary hindrance while solving the crime and often came in the way of an investigation. Not to forget, they had an undying love for defence lawyers like me.
The corridors of the CID building were vast and eerie at night, especially after my most recent memory of going there was of a not-so-pleasant experience of chasing a nymphomaniac serial killer to get back maa. At the same time, Atharva would have a slightly different experience of coming to this place. His body language had stiffened in the past few seconds. He was preparing to brace himself to take care of Malini. He would soon see her and the reservoir of grief would open its flood gates.
As we entered the elevator, I took his hand and said, ‘Hey, I’m here for you.’
Atharva nodded his head and pursed his lips.
The door opened on the second floor with a ding. We walked out together. I knew everyone inside would wonder what a family member of the victim was doing with the defence lawyer.
‘They keep suspects in police custody on the third floor,' I said. ‘I'll call you once I'm done. Text me in the meantime if you need anything else. I can come down in less than a minute.'
‘Alright.’
‘Take care,' I said and was then surprised as Atharva stretched an arm and pulled me in for a hug. A strong musky perfume flirted with my senses. I hated myself for being attracted to him in that moment. This was neither the right place nor the right situation.
‘Thanks again, Siya,’ he said and let me go.
Just then, Mahesh Bhalerao walked towards us.
‘Mr. Mehta, please come with me,’ he said.
Atharva turned to me and I blinked once to let him know it was okay. I watched him walk away until he disappeared into a lobby. I shot up the stairs to meet Manohar. I was searched by another security guard. He noted my details in his log book and let me into the room that held Manohar.
By law, all detaining rooms needed to have a three-square foot window. Manohar was staring out of one when I knocked on the door before entering. He turned around, surprised to see me again.
‘Sit down,’ I said, pulling a chair for myself.
He walked towards me but did not sit down. He eyed me and I could tell his mind was working overtime. What was he thinking? I had met innumerable suspects and killers over the years but never once had someone examined me like this. It was not a creepy glare, but more of an inspection. The kind of glare that law enforcement authorities have when they take in a suspect.
‘Kalindi knows you stepped out last night after putting her to bed,’ I said, laying it out there as fast as I would walk past any men’s restroom.
The same flicker in his eyes. It lasted just for a flash once again.
‘Do you understand the graveness of the situation?’
Manohar stayed silent. He dragged the chair back and sat down. He scratched his scar.
‘I don’t care about the murders. They have already happened. I’m worried about the girl.’
‘Why are you here?’
‘The girl needs special care. She has health issues.’
‘I told you. I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘When I meet clients, they go all out while telling me literally everything they can think of that can help me prove their innocence. Your actions and everything you've said so far prove the opposite. There's something off about this case. I can tell it. Catching you was too easy. The murderer went to the extent of blacking out all the security cameras in the society. If you had killed them, you wouldn't have hung around once your job was done. There was a six-minute window between the murders and your arrest. None of this explains how, where and who took Rucha Sinha.'
‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I didn’t kill them. I didn’t take the girl either.’
‘You lied to your wife.’
Not even a single muscle twitched on Manohar’s face this time.
‘You told her you were going to meet your friends from college. But you ended up at the Sinha residence. You told me you were friends with Daksh. Let alone being friends with him, your wife thinks you haven’t spoken to him since the birth of your daughter.’
Silence.
‘I saw a book of bedtime stories by your daughter's bed. It had the story of the boy who cried wolf. In normal life, if somebody lies or exaggerates blatantly to you, there comes a point when you don’t believe anything they say. In court, there is the legal doctrine for this. Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. It means untruthful in one part, untruthful in all. So, it’s very hard to believe anything you say because I know you’ve uttered several lies.’
‘I thought defence lawyers had to prove their client’s innocence.’ A touch of disdain in his voice. He went on. ‘No matter what the truth was. Why are you so curious about the other stuff? Why don’t you do your job properly and get me out of here?’ he said and put his hands on the table and got up.
‘I’m on your side,’ I said.
‘Doesn’t seem like it. When I told you I hadn’t done, you should have believed me.’
‘I'm trying to. Truth be told, it doesn't even matter if I believe you or not. I want to know what exactly happened so I can prove your innocence. I don't want to be surprised in court when new information comes up. My hands would be tied then.'
Manohar walked away and again looked out the window. He put his hands at the back of his head and massaged his neck. He came back to the table and sat on the chair.
‘There’s nothing else I can tell you. I didn’t do any of the things that I’m accused of,’ he said.
I said nothing. Silence waltzed into the room. I needed to know why he was refusing to say anything more. I had to completely break down all the barriers he had built around himself. I was close, but like with most things in life, the last step is always the hardest.
‘Sheila was gutted to find out that you had lied to her,’ I said.
Manohar gulped once. His face turned red. More silence. I let him wander in his own mind. Our own thoughts can be our worst enemies. They run wild, fester damage faster than any wildfire, dealing us one scenario after another, each exponentially worse than the other. A minute p
assed, and I could make out Manohar was feeling the weight pulling him down. I decided to press the issue.
‘Sheila believes you must have had a good reason to lie to her. That comforted her for sure, but it still broke her.’
‘I was protecting her.’
‘From what?’
‘I can’t say.’
‘The evidence is stacking up against you. Do you think withholding any relevant information is worth it? You know what will happen. You wouldn’t be able to put your kids to sleep for a long time. Maybe never ever, ’
Silence.
‘It’s looking bad. I’ll still do my best to prove your innocence. Please give me something to work with.'
‘Why did you take my case?’
‘It’s the second time you’ve asked me that question. I told you I was assigned it.’
‘Why are you so interested in the girl?’
He had asked me about the girl before as well. I wondered why. I said, ‘Because she is just eight years old and still out there. She has a health problem. I don’t know if she’s okay. Her life could be in danger. I just hope she’s safe wherever she is.’
Silence.
I said, ‘If you’re indeed as innocent as you claim to be, why aren’t you telling me the truth for the girl’s sake?’
‘I don’t know anything about her.’
‘You’re clearly hiding something.’
‘Let me assure you that it has nothing to do with the girl.’
‘That’s hard to believe considering all the lies you have told me.’
‘I think we’re done here.’
I felt helpless. I was close to getting to him a few seconds back. I heaved a sigh of frustration as I got up to leave.
‘You know where to reach me if you change your mind,’ I said and paused near the room’s door for a beat. ‘I’m going to find out what happened, why you’re lying and what this is all about.’
‘It seems like you're more hell-bent on finding the girl than proving my innocence,' Manohar said in a deadpan tone as he stared out the window again with his back to me.
I gulped hard and left, even more confused than I was before.
Chapter Fourteen
I waited on the second floor for Atharva and Malini. A junior officer told me both of them were still speaking to Rathod and the ACP. They had been inside for a while, so I was expecting them to come out at any moment. Most conversations with a victim's family did not last this long. Maybe Malini was sharing something useful.
I also needed to find out where Manohar had gone last night. Most times, a father would not break the promise he had made to his eight-year-old daughter unless he had a good enough reason.
I pulled my phone out to call Sheila, only to realize it was almost two at night. I hesitated, but only for half a heartbeat. Her husband had been arrested for four murders. She was not going to get any sleep for the next few days. I tapped on her number from my call log.
‘Did you speak to him?’ Sheila said, even before I could say anything.
‘He didn’t cooperate much,’ I said and heard a gasp escape her mouth.
‘Why would he be doing this? Doesn’t he know how this makes him look?’
Sheila was even afraid to say the word ‘guilty’. Her words came back to me. He would have had a good reason to lie. Manohar’s reply when I had mentioned his wife was also on similar lines. I was protecting her. Were they in some kind of danger? I wanted to know the kind of man Manohar was. As much as I sympathized with Sheila, I did not want to waste time harping on the same issues.
‘I called for a specific reason. I wanted to know if Manohar had close friends,’ I said.
‘Of course.’
‘Can you please send me their names and contact details? I would like to speak to them.’
‘Sure, I will WhatsApp them to you right away. Do you think they will be able to help you?’
I was not sure. But no venture, no gain. ‘I think it will. I’ll be waiting for your message,’ I said and clicked off.
I tried to think if I had missed out on anything till then. A corroboration between the logs from the Gunshot Detection System and nearby CCTV feeds could prove whether Manohar was present in the house when the gunshots were fired. But the latter was going to take time. Manohar's car was also missing, provided he was telling the truth. If he was, there was only one explanation. The killer had taken Rucha in it. Given the level of preparation, I was sure it would have been dumped in a deserted area by now.
A hand on my shoulder. I turned around with a start. It was Atharva. His sister, Malini, was next to him. I recognized her even though I had last seen her some fifteen years back. Her hair was longer now and there were some strands from which her mehendi had faded. She was in a pink salwaar kameez. She looked nowhere close to her real age of around forty but much older—I reckoned, from the extreme stress she had been under; as if her young daughter's health issues weren’t already enough, her life had been brought down in just one evening.
Malini Sinha recognized me as well. She nodded to acknowledge me. She stepped forward, touched my arm and whispered, ‘Atharva told me you’re trying to help us. Thank you.’
I didn’t know what to say. I took her hand and squeezed it. ‘I’ll let you know everything that happens. I’m going to do my best to get your daughter back.’
‘We’re heading to our cousin’s house,’ Atharva said. ‘We’ll be staying with them for a few days.’
I felt a pang of disappointment. I had not thought of their staying arrangements. They certainly could not have gone back to their house. I had just assumed that Atharva would be staying with us. I also wanted to speak to Malini once. I wondered when the right time would be.
Atharva said, ‘My cousin stays near SB Road. I'll text you the exact address. Malini had a rigorous session with Inspector Rathod. Maybe you can come home to speak to her.' Atharva looked at Malini. ‘Yeah, please come. Whatever it takes to get Rucha back.'
‘I'll see you around soon,' I said. I would have just gone with them but as I opened my mouth to say it, I saw Rathod raising him arms behind Atharva to get my attention. I was confused momentarily but realized he wanted to speak to me alone. I watched Malini and Atharva walk to the elevator.
Rathod walked past me, heading straight for the stairs. I followed him ten seconds later to CID parking lot. Rathod was leaning on his car and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt when I got to the bottom of the stairs. He had that grin on his face. One that reeked of the happiness that he experienced after finding a new clue.
‘You wouldn’t believe what Malini Sinha told me,’ he said.
Chapter Fifteen
Like always, Rathod had parked his car around the tightest corner in the entire parking lot. I had first noticed that he always parked at the same spot on our second case together. I had even asked him about it. He had told me that it was the only blind spot in the entire building, making it the perfect place for a CID officer to speak with a criminal defence lawyer inside the premises. What I didn't know about him then was that it was also his way of revolting against the system. That and assisting me with cases. So, as I followed him down to the parking lot, I knew that as a defence lawyer I was not meant to know what he was about to tell me.
Rathod said, ‘You said Shaunak Manohar didn’t have a motive to kill them. I just found one.’
He held his car’s back door open for me and slid in after me.
‘Malini Sinha was a gynecologist. Nine years back, the Manohars went to her for a consultation. Shaunak's wife Sheila could not conceive. Malini recommended two phases of treatment. Sheila Manohar got pregnant after the first. During the second trimester, Sheila reacted badly to the treatment and lost her six-month old baby.'
I gasped, ‘What?’
‘Yeah, and that’s not it. Shaunak threatened to sue her. But they were just starting off. They neither had the money nor the energy to follow through. Malini told me Shaunak Manohar had threatened to harm her and he
r family.’
‘What were his exact words?’
‘It was something on the lines of “I will have my revenge and you and your family will pay for it.” He had apologized for it later, but she was extremely scared when it had happened. She told me she still remembers the way his body shuddered with anger.'
‘I met Sheila Manohar two hours back. She told me she had been treated by Malini, but she skipped the part in which she had a miscarriage.’
‘I wonder why.’
I told Rathod about my conversations with both Sheila and Shaunak.
‘They’re both lying. They’re hiding something big,’ Rathod said and paused. ‘I’m sorry to bring this up. But she doesn’t even have an alibi. They could’ve done it together. We can’t rule out there being two perpetrators.’
‘At first, I thought it was just Shaunak. He even admitted to me that he lied to his wife about going somewhere last night, and again this evening. She’s no saint either. But does that make them murderers?’
‘I’ll run a full background check on her. I’ll have an officer follow her. She could try to get out of town for all you know. I’ll also get a warrant to search her house and tap her phone.’
‘You’ll have a tough time getting the phone tapping warrant.’
‘Let's see what the search yields then. If they murdered those people, or even if only Shaunak Manohar was involved, there has to be some more evidence.'
‘How much of the traffic camera footage have your officers gone through?’
‘About thirty minutes. There are many angles. To make matters worse, the feed is grainy. They wouldn’t finish anytime soon.’
‘Also, the medicine Rucha requires is rare and it needs to be specially ordered. The tracking system is pretty thorough because the Indian Government subsidies it by almost ninety-five per cent. So, a detailed record is made of every purchase. You can only buy it with a valid prescription.'
