Accidental Inquisitors

by Ananth Gunasekaran

  ‘What happened now?’ asked Viki.

  ‘I think we’re all shocked,’ said Bala, stammering, ‘we really are emotional and don’t know what we’re talking about.’

  The other three looked at him, confused. ‘My suggestion is that we think through this individually. We’ll discuss in the morning when we are calm.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Viki. ‘Do we have that much time?’ asked Amba.

  ‘I am clear Bala,’ said Geetha, ‘there will be no change in whatever I said. I know Viki is also clear but you two need to get your heads clear.’ Amba was about to retort when Bala signalled him to stop.

  ‘Okay then. I’ll take Amba to my grandparents house,’ said Bala, addressing Viki, ‘Geetha and you stay here. We’ll meet in the morning.’

  Viki knew that Bala was upto something but played along, ‘Yeah! That should give all of us some space.’ Geetha was indifferent.

  ‘Good night then’ said Bala and picked the diary. He led a confused Amba by the hand as he exited the house.

  ***

  Inspector Kamalesh had just returned after a late night briefing at the commissioner’s office. So much for personal space. The accident of the previous night was definitely staged. Initial investigation had resulted in the meeting at a very short notice. A lorry driver had given his statement that a police officer had instructed one weigh bridge operator not to allow any vehicle on the road for thirty minutes. The addict happened roughly twenty minutes after the instruction was given.

  Do these bastards work for the department or for criminals.

  He sat at his desk and placed his cap on the table.

  It could have been an imposter.

  He saw two men walk into the station. North Indians.

  ‘Sir, we have come to register a complaint,’ said the man better dressed among the two.

  ‘Tell me’

  ‘It’s about an accident the happened in Hubli last night’

  Kamalesh sat upright. ‘Who are you?’

  For the next twenty minutes, Manroi and Arijit did the talking. Kamalesh listened with rapt attention.

  ‘Is there anyone else who might be in danger, Manroi?’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ said Manroi, ‘Gopi.’

  ***

  As soon as they were on the road, Bala asked, ‘Can you get a bike?’

  ‘Yes, how far is your grandparents’ place?’

  ‘We are not going to my grandparents’ place. Get a fast one.’

  ‘Don’t talk in riddles. Where are we going?’

  Bala opened the diary to the page where Priyanka had written her last entry. He turned the page and shock filled Amba. Blood was spewed across the page. The pages were thick and the blood could not be seen on the previous page.

  ‘I didn't show this inside because,’ Bala paused, ‘Geetha is being cranky and Viki is agreeing to everything she says.’

  ‘Have they killed her?’

  ‘We know nothing for sure. We don't even know if it’s her blood.’

  ‘But it is blood.’

  ‘I told you that we saw the truck in two factories.’ Amba nodded.

  ‘Viki and I went inside one of the factories. There was nothing there.’

  ‘Do you want to check the other factory now?’

  Bala was on his toes when Amba made a few calls using his phone. He snatched the phone back as soon as the calls were done. He felt a different kind of excitement surge through him when he walked a few feet away from Amba and opened Facebook messenger. He tapped on the conversation with Akhil and a topless picture of her stared at him. Below it was the statement : Gift to my sweetheart for turning 18. Happy birthday!

  His phone rang while he was still admiring the picture. The name on the screen excited him even further. He answered the call and said, ‘Thank you for your gift.’ He couldn't suppress his grin.

  ‘Are you blushing sweetheart?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I am all yours. Any time you want. Happy birthday Bala!’

  ‘Thank you Akhila’

  ‘Wow! It feels so good to hear you say my name’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Let me tell you this. I am here for you always. Anything you want, I am here for you. I mean it.’

  ‘Thank you Akhila.’ Bala was still grinning.

  ‘Do you want anything else?’ Bala turned red. Nobody has ever spoken to him like this. He cleared his throat.

  ‘What does that mean?’

  Bala remained silent. ‘So. Did you like the gift?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do you want more?' Akhila asked. Bala cleared his throat again, unable to speak.

  ‘I think that’s a yes,’ said Akhila and laughed. ‘I will send you more now sweetheart and then I’ll call you back.’

  When the call got disconnected, Amba pointed to an approaching light. ‘The bike has come.’

  ***

  ‘I shouldn't have trusted Raj.’ Geetha shut the door behind Amba. ‘But I am so happy I got you back.’

  ‘You never lost me.’ He saw her shift uncomfortably. ‘You can change into my clothes if you want.’ She readily agreed.

  When she was back wearing an oversized t shirt and jogging pants, Viki suppressed his urge to laugh.

  ‘I wanted to ask you something,’ he said.

  ‘Ask!’

  ‘Did you take the money?’

  ‘Which money?’

  Viki lay flat on his back with no words to respond.

  ‘Tell me Vicky,’ said Geetha, ‘which money?’

  ‘Can I make a call?’ Viki had a job to do. ‘I’ll be back in a few minutes.’

  ‘Oh, girlfriend?’ asked Geetha, ‘Can’t talk in front of me?’

  ‘I have to talk to my parents.’

  ‘Ok! ok! ok!' said Geetha hurriedly, ‘I am sorry!’

  Viki smiled and stepped out of the flat. He dialled a number from his memory.

  ***

  A pillow vibrated and the person sleeping on it woke with a start. Doss slid his hand into the foam of the pillow and fished a phone out of it. If was common practise to make the students who graduate from eleventh standard to twelfth standard stay in the school during the summer vacations. The schools thought two extra months of preparations would give better results. Doss fell in that category of students. He hurried to the restroom and attended the call.

  ‘Geetha did not steal the money’

  ‘That means the principal lied,’ said Doss, angry.

  ‘We need some proof,’ said Viki.

  ‘That invigilator you slapped, came to school and met the principal.’

  The news shocked Viki. ‘When did this happen?’

  ‘Yesterday,’ said Doss, ‘a pastor also came along. That pastor had come as chief guest for the Annual Day last year.’

  ‘I remember him. I gave the welcome address that day. His name is Gheevarghese.’

  ‘Yes that’s the guy We laughed a lot that someone can be named Ghee’

  ‘I remember,’ said Viki, ‘If you get to know anything, call me.’

  ‘Sure bro.’

  When Viki returned, Geetha asked, ‘Which money?’

  ‘What money?’ asked Viki confused, and after a moment realised what she was talking about. Viki felt it was futile to lie to her. He told her what conspired following her disappearance. Geetha was shocked. ‘Is that why my father kept calling me a thief?’

  ‘You met your father?’ asked Viki incredulously.

  ‘No!’ She spoke calmly though her face displayed shock. ‘Amba met my father and was thrown out.’ Viki fought the urge to laugh.

  ‘But why would they do that?’ mused Geetha.

  ‘I think there is a link between this and the invigilator I slapped.’

  Geetha’s eyes widened further in shock.

  ‘And the key to this will be Ghee.’

  ‘What Ghee?’

  ‘Ghee Ghee Ghee. The one they make mys
ore pak with.’ Viki laughed at his own poor joke, buying time to come up with something else. His eyes fell on the sample he had picked from the TT Masala sack.

  ‘Geetha,’ he went to the desktop, ‘help me draft a mail.’

  ‘What mail?’ She sat next to him.

  ***

  They headed to the locality of the factory where Viki and Bala had seen the truck the second time. The walls of the compound from which the van emerged, were low. Amba, who was not as fit as Bala, managed to climb over the wall. They walked in the darkness covering their noses to defend the pungent smell of spices. As they neared the area with lights, they heard it bustling with activity. They saw a line of trucks parked on the road, all screaming TT Masala.

  ‘This is a big company,’ said Amba.

  Bala did not know what to do since the area was fully functional. ‘Shall we go back?’ he asked nervously. They were back to where they had left their motorcycle in less than ten minutes.

  ‘Sit.’ Amba started the motorcycle. He took multiple turns to reach a point on the main road where he stopped. ‘This,’ he pointed to a large gate with an arch above it reading, TT Masala, ‘is the entrance to the company. We just jumped in from the back.’

  ‘Oh!’

  ‘What now?’

  ‘We saw the truck enter a compound, dump something and leave.’

  ‘Okay’

  ‘And then we saw it come out of this place.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Amba calmly, ‘now what is your confusion?’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s just fishy.’

  Amba laughed and said, ‘If you want to be clear, we can wait and watch.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Anyway I won’t be able to sleep. I went to the police and there are people at my door to kill me. I don't think anywhere is safe.’

  Bala imagined how it would be to be in Amba’s place. He imagined a girl telling him Viki was attempting to kill him. He shook his head. ‘Raj and Priyanka are safe. We will find them.’

  They were soon at their planned destination. Gopi was sitting on the chair. The truck arrived and the usual rituals happened.

  ‘How did you guys climb that gate?’ Bala smiled.

  When the truck was out, Amba and Bala got on the bike and waited for it to cover some distance. Amba noticed that the lights of the truck were off but its noise was loud enough the muffle the sound of the bike. They followed the truck till it reached another gate similar to the one Gopi had guarded.

  ‘This is it!’ Bala was excited. They left the motorcycle and inched their way towards the truck. Gopi got off and opened the gate for the truck to go in. The gate was then locked from the inside.

  ‘Can you climb?’

  ‘Not that one, no!’ Bala stepped back.

  ‘Then stay here. If the truck comes out, follow it,’ Bala said and ran towards the gate. Before Amba could make sense of the moves, Bala had caught the spikes on top the gate. He disappeared.

  The smell in this place was different from the other two. He ran along the only road till it reached a four road junction. He could hear the trucks’s engine at a distance. He took the road on the right which turned left after some distance. He found the truck parked there, its engine now turned off.

  The three men were loading plastic sacks onto the back truck from the nearest building. The sacks looked similar to the ones they unloaded at the other place.

  Bala watched. The men loaded the truck, reversed it and left the place. Bala heard the gate open and close. He knew Amba would follow the truck.

  He went to the building from where the men had loaded the sacks. Unlike the place where they had unloaded, this building did not even have a shutter. There were numerous sacks arranged on the floor. At least a hundred.

  He tore open a bag and pocketed a handful of the powder. He then walked back to the four-way junction, turned right and continued on the road opposite to the one leading to the gate. It hit a wall. On the left was a house-like structure. It reminded him of a structure in school that housed an electric generator.

  He heard metal drag. He stood still and tried to listen. He heard nothing. He then walked back to the junction and took the road on his right. He reached a building similar to the one from which the bags were loaded. He flashed his mobile torch on the contents inside.

  ‘Sack!’ The sacks were smaller and the smell was familiar to him. He pocketed a handful of the powder in the sack and turned his mobile torch off.

  As he was walking back to the junction, he again heard the sound of metal dragging.

  He could not place from where the sound came. Suddenly, lights came on in the house like structure. He stepped on to the muddy surface beside the road and stealthily walked towards the house.

  The metal door opened and a middle aged woman stepped out. Her hair was dishevelled and her saree was a mess. She peeped inside the house and said, ‘Be quick!’

  A girl walked out. Not much older than Geetha. Her gait was unsteady. She crossed the road and walked towards a structure Bala had not noticed. It was much smaller compared to the house.

  The girl tapped a switch to turn the light on. A restroom.

  A couples of minutes later, she came out and turned the light off. The woman was sitting at the entrance of the house. The girl crossed the road and went into the house.

  Why isn’t she running? The woman went inside the house and after a few moments came out and locked the door behind her. She then crossed the road and entered the restroom. Bala hurried to the restroom and latched the door from outside.

  He then opened the door to the house. What he saw made his heart sink. The girl was chained. So, that’s the noise. The girl was lying on the floor, her back to him.

  ‘Are you Priyanka?’ he whispered.

  The girl turned, startled, but did not shout. Bala was unaware of the smile flooding his face.

  ‘You are Priyanka.’ It wasn't a question this time.

  ‘Yes.’ She was sweating heavily.

  ‘I am Raj’s friend,’ He was about to ask where Raj was when Priyanka asked, ‘Where's Raj?’ Bala froze. She doesn't know.

  ‘You’ll see.’

  She looked at the chain clutching her ankle. ‘Where’s she? She has the key.’ Priyanka heard the restroom door rattling. ‘Shall I hit her on the head and make her faint?’ whispered Bala. The rattling grew louder. Priyanka pointed at a spray on a shelf nearby and said, ‘They use that to make me unconscious.’

  Bala got the message. He picked the aerosol can, walked over to the restroom, unlatched and pulled the door open.

  The shock on the woman’s face lasted two seconds before she collapsed, unconscious. Bala could not find the key. He checked around the woman’s waist. He quickly ran back to Priyanka and asked, ‘Where does she keep the key?’

  ‘In her blouse. Left side’

  Bala’s face screwed. He remembered Akhila. He quickly ran to the woman and carried her to the house. He placed her next to Priyanka, who slid her hand inside the woman’s blouse and found the key.

  They left the house. Something near the restroom caught Priyanka’s attention. She ran, grabbed the aerosol can, ran back to the lady and sprayed it on her face for many seconds. ‘That’s how it feels bitch!’

  Bala smiled lightly despite being terrified. He grabbed Priyanka’s hand and took her towards the gate. She stopped midway.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘Where’s the kid?’

  ‘Which kid?' asked Bala, fear rising. Priyanka looked around.

  ‘There’s no kid here,’ assured Bala, ‘I’ve checked.’

  He tugged at her hand and she gave in.

  Hope Amba hasn’t gone after the truck.

  ‘Is Raj safe?’ She asked between bated breath.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Your name?’ she asked, panting.

  ‘Bala.’ They reached the gate.

  ‘How are we going to climb it? It has spike
s.’

  Bala looked at the spikes, then at Priyanka. ‘Stay here,’ he said, climbed the gate swiftly and disappeared. Priyanka panicked.

  She was startled when Bala jumped back in

  ‘Lift me!’

  ‘No!’ He ran towards the house she had been locked in. He turned right and disappeared, then came running with a sack on his back. He ran back after placing the full sack vertically against the gate. After four such trips, the stack of sacks was high enough for Priyanka to climb on and reach the spikes.

  He came running with the fifth sack. Without breaking his momentum, he climbed up the stack and swung the sack he was carrying, over his head. It landed on the spikes, which tore through it but did not emerge from the other end. Bala motioned Priyanka to climb and he extended his arms to help her.

  Priyanka quickly climbed up and stood on the sack on top of the gate. Before she could figure out a way to get down on the other side, Bala was already on the road. Priyanka saw him signalling to someone. When the person appeared, she felt relief.

  ‘Amba!’ She had seen enough pictures of his on Raj’s phone to identify him.

  Amba ignored her as he listened to Bala’s instructions. The two positioned themselves. ‘Jump!’

  ‘How can I jump?’

  ‘We’ll catch you. Jump!’ said Bala, irritated.

  Priyanka hesitated. ‘Trust us and jump or go back.’ This made Priyanka’s nose flare and she jumped. Amba and Bala caught her clumsily. They got on the motorcycle and sped off.

  Day 8

  Geetha woke with a start when Viki’s phone rang. She walked over to the couch where Viki lay and shook him.

  ‘Your phone.’

  Viki sat upright. Bala. He attended the call though he did not recognise the number.

  ‘Sir, I am Vishnu Salim Kumar, AGM at TT Masala Company.’

  ‘Hi, good morning,’ said Viki, becoming alert.

  ‘I am sorry for troubling you at this hour. But the contents of your email have caused great concern. When can I meet you sir?’