Accidental Inquisitors

by Ananth Gunasekaran

  ‘Don’t you dare blame my family,’ shouted Geetha, ‘what proof do you have?’

  ‘I was with him. A few masked men stalked us and they beat Raj. I could not do anything. I took him to a hospital. In the hospital, Raj’s father got a call. The caller warned Raj’s father. If Raj doesn’t keep away from you, he’d be killed.’

  ‘No!’ Tears ran down her face. ’Who was this caller?’

  ‘I don’t know. His father never told us.’

  ‘Then how can you say it’s my family?’ Geetha was furious.

  ‘Your father told me today. That he regrets not killing Raj that day itself’

  ***

  ‘That green mango like thing doesn't fit into any of these.’ Alison waved the file the Director of the laboratory had given them.

  ‘Do you want me to order an official probe into that?’ asked John.

  ‘Yes chief. I don’t know how to proceed further.’

  ‘We’ll freeze everything they are doing and examine,’ said John.

  ‘They might have become cautious after our visit today. We may want to intercept all their transits.’ John raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Well, that makes sense.’

  ***

  ‘I know I am such a trouble to you Amba,’ said Geetha, ‘Give me just one more day. I will leave. I don't want you to be in danger because of me.’

  Amba grunted and said, ‘Geetha don't be a pain in the ass. Focus on the issue.’

  ‘Raj has eloped. What should we do now?’

  ‘I am sure he hasn't eloped. Something has happened. I don't know what.’

  ‘I wish I had a friend like you.’

  ‘Think about it. If Raj had done nothing wrong but somehow gotten into some trouble, who will help him if we don’t? Later, if we are proved fools for believing he could be innocent, I can live with that. But if he is really innocent and we fail to help him, I can never forgive myself. I want to satisfy myself that I have done everything there is to help him.’

  Geetha said at length, ‘I agree. We’ll do whatever we must, assuming he is innocent.’

  ‘I want to register a complaint with the police that our friend is missing.’

  ‘Don’t you think the company would have done that?’

  ‘See this,’ Amba said and picked the newspaper that had the news about Raj and Priyanka’s disappearance, ‘there is no mention of a police complaint. It would normally be there.’

  ‘But it’s not necessary to report about the complaint right?

  ‘Let the police tell us that the company has already done it.’

  ‘Okay. We will go to the police today,’ asked Geetha.

  ‘Amba, ’ said Geetha, ‘why did my father call me a thief?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Amba was unaware that the answer to Geetha’s question was in his hands, hidden away amongst the many folded pages.

  They headed to the police station. The sub-inspector, a pious looking man in his late fifties, with three big streaks of ash on his forehead, asked them to provide a detailed description of the missing person. He even asked the two to identify themselves and noted their present address They gave him all the facts. When they asked for a copy of the FIR, the SI told them to come early in the morning for the document had to be signed by the inspector who would be back only late in the night. Convinced, Amba and Geetha went home.

  ***

  Akhila turned to the man sleeping next to her.

  ‘The day after tomorrow is his birthday,’ she said. The night had been fun for them.

  ‘Let me see this kid you are swooning over.’

  ‘Are you getting jealous?’

  ‘Jealous? As if this is the first time?’

  ‘I want to make his birthday special.’

  ‘Just like you gave me the best gift on my eighteenth birthday.’

  ‘But this guy is not showing any interest,’ complained Akhila.

  ‘As if you need advice on seduction,’ teased the man. She pinched his bare chest in response.

  He laughed. ‘Can I see this boy?’

  Akhila picked her phone from the bedside table and opened Bala’s Facebook profile. The man scrolled through photos on Bala’s page and said, ‘Lucky guy.’

  ‘Ah! Now don’t say that. Raj used to say that and I miss him.’

  ‘If you miss him, why don’t you find him? It’ll be good for the company also.’

  ‘I wish I could find him.’

  ‘And I can sleep in peace. An employee reporting to you goes missing and I feel the heat from the superiors. Why don’t you answer them yourself?’

  ‘Don’t forget that I let you take that job so you can satisfy your ego. Or I’d have been in your place and you’d be a branch manager.’ The man didn’t respond.

  ‘I miss Ali too,’ said Akhila, her eyes moistening.

  ‘Are you going to blame me for his death?’

  ‘I can’t help but wonder. What if he had not fallen out with you? Would he still be alive?’

  After a pause, she added, ‘Thank god this boy doesn’t work under us. You can’t transfer him as you please.’ The man placed his hand on her tummy. She dropped the phone and began kissing him passionately.

  An hour later, the man asked, ’What are you going to gift the boy?’

  ‘Something no one would gift him anytime soon.’ Akhila climbed on to the man.

  ***

  ‘This feels good,’ said Bala, ‘feels like we are doing something useful.’

  Viki gave out a muffled laugh. They whiled time till the distant sound of a vehicle caught their attention. They watched with rapt attention. The vehicle stopped in front of the gate. Gopi walked up to them. After the driver said something, Gopi walked over and opened the gate. Once the vehicle went in, Gopi closed the gate from the inside. After a few seconds, the street light went off. It was suddenly so dark that Viki and Bala couldn’t see each other for a few seconds.

  ‘Shall we go in?’

  ‘Let’s go!’ said Viki. The duo were quick to get off the truck they were lying on. They stealthily moved towards the gate. The months of training to be sprinters proved to be helpful in more than just the athletic events. The walls had barbed wires on top. The gate had sharp spikes on top but it was no obstacle for either of them. Viki went first. He ran a few metres and stepped on the wall. The momentum pushed him upwards. He then took two steps on the wall and the spikes on top of the gate were within his reach. He used the strength of his arms to pull his body to the other side of the gate. Bala too ran up the wall and crossed over to the other side.

  Once inside, they saw that that road was straight with rows of plants on either side. They took light steps to move forward. They arrived at a point where the road split. They could see the truck parked on the road that went left, its back to them. In the light emerging from the building next to the truck, they could see that the driver’s door was open. They took a fews steps towards the truck and then hid behind the plants, one on each side. There was no activity. Odour of chilli wafted in the air.

  Viki, who was on the side of the lighted building heard some noise, as if something was being dragged. He signalled to Bala, who did not understand. Two men emerged was a large carton. Gopi walked behind them. They opened the truck and unloaded two large plastic sacks. They seemed to make a lot of effort to carry the sacks. Gopi had placed the carton on a trolley by then. The other men dropped two sacks into the carton and pushed it away. Gopi pushed the next empty carton on a trolley to them. This went on for the next forty minutes.

  The duo saw the lights going off and the shutter being downed. Gopi and the other two men got onto the truck.

  Viki and Bala looked at each other blankly. The truck reversed at a good speed up to the tee junction, turned and went speeding to the gate. Gopi jumped out, quickly opened the gate, let the truck out and locked the gate from outside.

  Viki and Bala came out to the road. ‘If Gopi’s going home in that truck
, we can’t tail him,’ said Viki.

  ‘Want to check what that is?’ asked Bala pointing behind him and began walking towards the shut building knowing well what Viki’s reply would be. They opened the shutter just enough for them to get inside. They used lights from their phones to look around. It seemed to be a spices factory. There were many chambers and each one had a different aroma.

  ‘I smell chicken sixty-five masala,’ said Viki.

  ‘I smell sambar.’

  ‘The bags are here,’ Viki cast light on the array of trolleys. Bala walked over and they examined the bags.

  ‘TT masala,’ Viki read, ‘the factory is in Karnataka.’

  ‘Must be some ingredients for these masalas,’ commented Bala and after a pause said, ‘but there seem to be many sacks. I counted twenty-eight cartons.’

  ‘I counted thirty.’

  Bala had already begun counting the bags stacked inside the cartons, ‘There are 30 cartons. Sixty sacks. Shall we leave? Nothing interesting here.’ In less than three minutes, they were outside the gate.

  ‘Looks like we have to wait one more night before we figure anything out,’ said Bala while they walked back to the main road. Viki was lost in thought.

  ‘What next?’ asked Bala breaking Viki’s stream of thoughts.

  ‘My gut says something wrong is happening there,’ said Viki glancing in the direction of the factory. ‘I have a similar feeling.’

  TT Masala. Viki picked a plastic bottle from the ground.

  ‘What’s that for?’ asked Bala. He got this answer when Viki put his hand into his right pocket and brought out a handful of something like white sand.

  ‘From those sacks?’ Bala did not miss Viki’s wink even in the darkness.

  ***

  Shaminder, Bhuvan, Abdul, Manaki and Manroi were asked to get into a vehicle leaving to Pune. They were told they had ‘special duty’ which in their parlance meant ‘double pay.’ Who would not like to be paid double. Their tasks were never hard. They had to wear gentleman clothes, walk into a company and cry or unload goods in one place and load goods in another. Manroi and Manaki had completed a special duty the previous night. They had returned from Chennai only in the morning. They were surprised when the Chennai special duty was assigned to juniors that night. But they convinced themselves that their master had an even better special duty for them.

  They let Bhuvan drive whenever time was a constraint. This was one such day.

  After two hundred kilometres from Shimoga, Bhuvan got a call. ‘Sir is calling,’ and the rest fell silent. He answered the call and said, ‘Namstey sir.’ Some instructions were given and Bhuvan nodded.

  ‘Boss has asked to stop at Hubli. Another vehicle will come in half an hour. We’ll have to go together.’ He pulled over and turned the lights off. ‘Sir said we should stay in the vehicle.’

  Sharminder grunted, ‘in this heat?’

  ‘This is sir’s instruction’

  Sharminder hit the side of the truck and turned away. At a distance he saw a woman waving.

  ‘Maal re baiya maal,’ said Manaki. Bhuvan craned his neck to see the maal.

  ‘We have half an hour left,’ said Sharminder. This time Bhuvan did not protest.

  ‘Manroi, you do the talking. You are the best at bargaining,’ said Sharminder.

  Manroi got off the vehicle and walked up to the woman.

  ‘How much?’ he asked with the ease of a practised man.

  ‘How many?’ she asked. A seasoned expert.

  ‘Five.’

  ‘Fifty each.’

  ‘Too much. Two hundred for five people.’

  She knew she would be paid the same if someone takes her for the whole night. If she could earn the two hundred in a few minutes, she could at least have a good meal and go to sleep. She nodded.

  Manroi walked back to the vehicle with a sense of achievement. When he told them the bargain, they praised him.

  ***

  Viki and Bala traced back the route they had taken while following Gopi. The main road was about a kilometre away.

  ‘My mother told that most products have additives that are cancer causing. What’s that term for cancer causing?’ asked Bala and turned to find only darkness next to him.

  ‘Viki?’ he panicked

  ‘Shhhh…I am here,’ said Viki in a hushed voice, standing a few metres behind. Bala ran towards him and found him craning his neck, trying to look at something inside one of the low compound walls.

  ‘What is it?’ whispered Bala.

  ‘I think I heard the truck,’ said Viki and a roar of the truck engine could be heard approaching the gate near them.

  ‘Quick!’ said Viki and instinctively ran in the direction opposite to the main road. Bala followed closely. The gate opened and the same truck emerged. It took the road leading to the main road and disappeared in the darkness.

  ‘He doesn't even have his lights turned on,’ said Viki and saw Bala eyeing the gate which wasn't spiked. The walls didn't have barbed wires on them though they were low.

  ‘I think we shouldn't get into this one.’

  ‘I think so too.’ said Viki

  ‘The smell of spices is stronger here,’ said Viki while they continued walking.

  When they reached the main road, Bala saw a direction board that read, TT Masala.

  ***

  ‘Let’s do it quickly,’ said Bhuvan, ‘I will park the vehicle in such a way the backside is not visible from the road. If the other vehicle comes, press the horn like this.’ He demonstrated three short horns followed by a long one. After parking the vehicle as planned, the woman climbed on to the back side and Sharminder got to work. The suspension was not the only part making weird noises under him. After six minutes, Abdul continued to make the suspension creak, followed by Manaki and then Manroi. Manroi got out of the vehicle and Bhuvan took his place. Manroi walked into the darkness a few feet away to empty his bladder. He had not done it earlier because he did not know when his chance would come.

  He experienced secondary bliss while relieving himself following the primary one at the back of the vehicle. His knees buckled when he heard a loud crunch of metal on metal. He turned around and saw the van being crumpled under the lorry. He heard screams. He instantly knew his friends would not survive. He looked at the lorry, all his functions stalled. The lorry reversed a good distance and charged again, this time running over the crumpled van. Manroi stayed in the dark. The driver got off the lorry with a can in his hand. He poured the contents of the can on the wreckage and set it ablaze with a match.

  Day 7

  Five killed in a road accident, the newspaper said. The reader picked the phone and dialled a number. When it was answered, the caller said, ‘Good job. I am relieved now. I was worried if all five were there. I am relieved now.’

  The person on the other side of the line laughed heartily before disconnecting the call.

  The reader continued.

  The vehicle belonged to TT Masala. It was seen speeding before it hit a post and caught fire. The occupants of the vehicle were charred to death. The five were on their way to Pune. When asked about the compensation to be given to their families, the authorities of TT Masala company refused to comment.

  ***

  Jainika was early to office on Monday. The first reply to her mails asking for bank statements of the 41 customers came at half past ten. She quickly printed it out and highlighted the last three entries.

  The latest entry was a credit of twenty lakh rupees into the customer’s account by TITGIC.

  The previous entry was four months prior to the last one, it was a debit of one thousand rupees for Personal Accident Insurance. The entry prior to that was a credit of one thousand into the account by Mr. A K Babu.

  Janika saw that Babu’s deposit was eleven months away from the previous transaction.

  Clever. Had it been 12 months, the system would have automatically blocked the account and asked f
or verification of the customer if a transaction was attempted.

  The next reply came at quarter to noon. To Jainika’s contentment, this one also had a deposit by Mr. Babu.

  She quickly called her banker friend at the Mumbai main branch. ‘I have an account number. Can you tell me details of the person?’

  ‘Which branch? The KYC will be in the home branch. I can see just basic details on the computer.’

  Jainika narrated the account number from the statement she had and said, ‘Give me his picture, contact details and account statement.’

  ‘For statement, you have to ask the respective branch. This person’s home branch is Andaman. Rest I have on my screen now I’ll send a pic on WhatsApp.

  ‘Okay. You guys take so much time to reply to mails,’ said Jainika casually.

  ‘You think selling insurance is our primary job?’ retorted the banker. Jainika apologised.

  ‘I am sorry Jainika. You make such lean remarks about us and expect me to help you?’

  ‘I am sorry. Please forgive me. I did not mean any offence. I am sorry’

  ‘If you send a mail, I will reply,’ said the banker, ‘that’s it.’

  Jainika knew bankers take a long time to reply to email. An angry banker would never reply. However, she sent the email.

  ***

  ‘Arijit,’ said Raj, on the verge of breaking down. Arijit sensed panic in his voice.

  ‘What is it Raj?’

  ‘See this,’ said Raj and he held out an old newspaper with shivering hands. Arijit read the article titled ‘Office worker elopes with stolen money.’

  ‘That is Geetha,’ said Raj and broke down. He cried out loud and Arijit could not help.

  ‘I read this news. It somehow did not strike me it was Geetha. I have never seen her.’

  ‘I have blundered Arijit. I have to call Amba now.’ Raj said and dialled the number.

  It pained Arijit to watch his friend suffer. When Raj’s face hardened, he knew things could be horribly wrong.