‘Well, that was the day Kannan died. I was terrified. I didn’t want to spill the beans and become the next body to be fished out of the pond. I mentioned it to Subhash and he too advised me to stay quiet. I did. But today when I saw all of you happy at the court verdict, I couldn’t help but think that if we put this off for long, the plunderers will not leave anything of worth in the vaults.’
‘Subhash asked you to keep quiet?’ Nirav looked at him, wondering what his friend was up to.
‘We should ask for an explanation. The discovery of a gold-plating machine on the temple premises changes everything. Something is definitely going on!’ Vikram was furious.
‘It is not in your jurisdiction to look at anything beyond the vaults,’ Nirav reminded him. ‘Isn’t that what you said to me, Mr Rai?’
‘Yes, I did, but there is something called legal jurisdiction, and something called moral jurisdiction. The rights the latter gives you cannot be defined by any court. Only your conscience can—’
‘Let’s not go down that path, Mr Rai,’ Nirav argued. ‘Where was your conscience when you wholeheartedly supported the Devaprasnam?’
‘It was not for us to support or oppose,’ Vikram replied heatedly.
‘That may have been the case, but you cannot deny that you orchestrated it!’
Vikram ignored him and picked up his phone to make a call.
‘Whom are you calling?’ Nirav asked him. ‘The police?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘I’m trying to call Subhash. I want to ask him why he stopped Ranjit from telling us about it.’
‘Wha—’
‘Quiet! It’s ringing.’
After about ten rings, the call was automatically disconnected.
‘I think we should call the police and inform them,’ Vikram Rai suggested.
Nirav was opposed to the idea. ‘Do you really want to do that?’ he asked, a concerned look on his face. And then he added, ‘This is getting messier. I thought Kannan’s death was a mishap. But now I’m beginning to think it was foul play. ’
Vikram nodded in agreement. ‘I know I was the one who wanted to restrict ourselves to Vault A, but now I think we need to hurry the entire operation. Any delay could prove costly. Perhaps even fatal.’ Lost in thought he walked out of the lunchroom and headed for the vault; the others followed. As he entered the vault he turned and said, ‘Let’s wait till Subhash comes back.’
‘Good idea,’ said Nirav as he followed Vikram into the vault. The others too walked in behind them, slowly.
Even though all of them got busy with the jewellers and valuers inside the vault, something was bothering Vikram. Questions kept clamouring in his mind: Why hadn’t Ranjit told them about the machine? Why had Subhash asked him to keep quiet? Was it only fear? Or was there something more? Was Subh— Oh god! How had he not realized it sooner!
Vikram picked up his phone and dialled a number. A few feet away, the phone in Nirav’s pocket rang.
‘Why are you calling me?’ perplexed, Nirav asked Vikram. ‘Pressed a wrong button?’
‘Don’t cut the call!’ Vikram warned as he dialled Nirav’s number again.
This time Nirav let it ring until the call got disconnected on its own.
Vikram looked up at him. ‘Something is not right here.’
The others had gathered around them by now.
‘What happened?’ Ranjit asked. Nirav shook his head and looked at Vikram.
‘Why did Subhash lie to all of us?’
‘What!’ Nirav was shocked.
‘He never went to Mumbai. He is here, in Thiruvananthapuram,’ Vikram explained.
‘How do you know that?’
‘Just now, when I called him, the subscriber-busy message played in Malayalam. Had he been in Mumbai, the message would’ve been in Hindi or Marathi. Apart from English, of course.’
‘It can’t be! He booked his tickets in front of me. He even spoke to someone to book a cab for him. I was with him when he did all this,’ Ranjit Dubey countered.
‘Check for yourself,’ Vikram said. ‘In any case, let him come back. We will ask him then.’
As he walked back to the temporary working space erected for the team just outside the vault, his mind was elsewhere. Something was wrong. ‘Why don’t you check with your daughter if he was on the flight with them? They were on the same flight, right?’
‘The kids didn’t go. I guess they were so tired after the Kanyakumari trip yesterday that they overslept,’ Nirav informed Vikram.
Kabir Khan was getting ready for bed when he got a call from Delhi.
‘Hello?’
‘Interpol is putting out a red corner notice on your Shreyasi Sinha,’ Arnab Basu began without preamble. ‘They wanted to inform us in advance because she is an Indian citizen.’
‘How does that matter now? She is in India. And from the looks of it, it’s unlikely that she’s left the country. We have notified the airports,’ Khan said.
‘After the hue and cry over the Nataraja statue, the Singapore government began an investigation and discovered that there are no import records for the statue. Sinha should have declared it as a part of her filings, but she didn’t. That gave Singapore Police reason to investigate her. And since she disappeared soon after, they have grounds to declare her an offender and file a case.’
‘Aah. Now that she’s being sought by Interpol as well, it might make our job a little easier.’
‘On paper at least,’ Arnab said and disconnected the call.
53
‘I felt the jewellers were taking longer than usual today,’ Ranjit Dubey remarked as he exited the lift with Vikram Rai. They were returning to their rooms after dinner.
‘A distracted lot,’ Vikram said dismissively. ‘Kannan’s murder has them worried and scared.’
Ranjit shook his head. ‘Now it will take longer to complete the task. My condition may prevent me from seeing this through till the end.’ He quickened his pace just a tad; it was time to get to a toilet.
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Vikram tried to sound very concerned. ‘We can ask for a replacement for the team. If you are unwell, you are unwell.’ He actually felt bad for Ranjit. ‘You should have just told us in the beginning that you have a problem. We would have asked someone else.’
‘The fear of incurring god’s wrath is getting to me. I haven’t been getting proper sleep, and it’s making the condition go from bad to worse.’
‘Hmm,’ said Vikram as he crossed Subhash’s room. Nirav’s room was a few doors down the corridor on the opposite side. ‘I’ll file an interim report intimating the Supreme Court about a change in team. Give me some time, I’ll fix it. Okay?’ Oddly, there was no response. He turned around and saw Ranjit standing outside Subhash’s room.
‘Ranjit! What happened? I thought you were in a hurry to go to your room!’
‘Isn’t Subhash supposed to be in Mumbai?’ Ranjit asked him. He had started sweating from the effort it was taking to control his bladder.
‘Yes. That’s what he said.’ He patted Ranjit’s back. ‘Though I do think he lied to us. Still, he’d have to be really thick-headed to have stayed back in the same hotel, in the same room.’
‘Then why is the do-not-disturb light in his room green?’ Ranjit pointed to the lights by the side of the door.
Vikram looked at the panel. ‘Relax, Ranjit,’ Vikram said. ‘You’re overthinking this. Maybe he turned it on at some point and forgot to switch it off before leaving.’
‘You are not getting it.’ Ranjit was visibly shaking now. ‘The light will remain on as long as there is power in the room. The moment the power is cut the light will go off.’
‘So?’
‘Subhash would have taken the room key with him. And the moment he pulled the key card out of the slot, the power to the room would have been cut. The very fact that this light is on indicates that there is someone inside the room.’
‘Or that he left in a hurry and didn’t take the key card out of the slo
t.’
‘Whatever!’ Ranjit was flustered. ‘I think we should check the room.’
Not wanting to get into trouble, Vikram stepped up and pressed the doorbell. It didn’t ring. He was about to press it again when he realized it wasn’t ringing because of the do-not-disturb setting. He walked up to the house phone in the hallway and called the reception. Within a couple of minutes a steward and the duty manager arrived. The steward swiped his card on the key console and the door unlatched with a click.
The duty manager pushed open the door and stepped inside. Vikram and Ranjit were about to follow when he shouted, ‘Call the doctor! Right now!’
54
Subhash was lying on the bed. Sprawled on his back. Eyes open. Motionless. A towel lay in a heap on the carpet next to the bed.
Vikram walked up to him and touched his wrist. It was cold. He turned and looked at the others. His eyes said everything they needed to know.
‘The doctor’s on his way. Five minutes,’ the duty manager announced, putting away his phone.
‘He can take his time.’ Vikram stepped away from the bed and walked towards the window. The curtains were not drawn. He stared out into the night, the fronds of the coconut trees in the distance swaying under the moonlit sky. ‘How did this happen?’ he muttered under his breath, running his fingers through his hair. This was not the way he had expected things to go.
The police arrived shortly after and took charge of the situation.
55
DGP Krishnan called Kabir to tell him what had happened.
‘I’ll be right there!’ Kabir hurriedly changed out of his nightclothes and rushed out of his room. On the way to the lift, he messaged Madhavan asking him to come to the fourth floor, ‘ASAP’. He didn’t give any details. He didn’t have any.
He made his way through a posse of constables and a few other onlookers and entered Subhash’s room. There were several people inside—two police photographers, a bunch of forensics specialists, a crime scene investigator and the remaining members of the audit team.
Vikram Rai looked up as he entered. ‘Mr Khan.’ He smiled. Kabir wondered how he could smile in the presence of a corpse.
‘Who is the doctor?’ Kabir asked. The doctor came forward. ‘Initial assessment?’
‘It’s difficult to say. There’re no visible injuries, no marks on the body, no signs of a struggle. The bed is undisturbed. Everything points to a heart attack. But I’d like to reserve my comments till after the autopsy.’
Kabir nodded and turned to the others in the room. ‘Who here saw him last?’
‘We were in the coffee shop last night when we saw him. That was the last time,’ Nirav responded. He had come a few moments ago, along with the rest of the audit team. They seemed more anxious than sad. Fear seemed to have set in. ‘He had to catch an early flight to Mumbai this morning,’ Nirav added, looking at Ranjit for confirmation.
Ranjit’s face too was white with fear. ‘Is it the curse of the lord? Or is it something else,’ he whispered, unable to keep his voice from shaking.
Kabir Khan questioned them for some time on various things that happened that day, taking notes all the while. Finally, he took Vikram Rai aside. ‘Mr Rai, was Mr Parikh’s life at risk? Was he under threat from anyone? Would you know?’
Vikram Rai just shook his head.
‘Could someone in your team have an interest in eliminating Mr Parikh?’
Vikram Rai was horrified. ‘Tell me that was not a serious question, Mr Khan!’ he burst out.
Kabir placed a hand on Vikram’s shoulder and tried to placate him. ‘I am not trying to insinuate anything. I just wanted to be sure. Part of my job, you see.’ He patted Vikram’s shoulder.
Vikram shrugged off Khan’s hand and stepped back. ‘I don’t think anyone here had any interest in killing Mr Parikh, that is assuming he was murdered.’
‘Oh, in most of these cases, that’s the way it is,’ Kabir said nonchalantly. ‘Thanks a lot. I might call you in case we need more information. I hope that’s okay.’
‘Of course.’
And then, as if he had just remembered, he asked, ‘By the way, do you know why he was going to Mumbai?’
‘No. He said he had some business dealings to finish,’ Vikram responded.
‘Any idea where he was planning on staying in Mumbai? Family? Friends? Hotel?’
‘Sorry, I won’t be able to help you. But yes, Ranjit Dubey might know. He was with Subhash when he was making his travel arrangements.’
‘Wonderful. Where is Mr Dubey?’ Kabir asked. ‘I can’t see him.’
Vikram Rai looked around. He couldn’t see Ranjit Dubey either. He peeked into the corridor, but Ranjit was not there.
Just then they heard the sound of the toilet being flushed. Seconds later the bathroom door opened and Ranjit Dubey walked out, wearing a look of relief.
‘Are you out of your bloody mind?’ Kabir yelled in disbelief. ‘Everybody OUT!’
DGP Krishnan was talking to the general manager of the hotel outside the room. Upon hearing the commotion he walked in to see what the matter was.
‘No more corrupting my crime scene. Get the hell out of here. ALL OF YOU!’ Kabir was furious.
‘He has a problem,’ Vikram Rai tried to explain. ‘Unstable bladder. It is a long-standing problem.’
Ranjit was terrified. ‘I . . . I’m sorry, I couldn’t control . . .’ he stammered as he exited the room.
Kabir just threw up his hands in frustration and waited until everyone had left.
‘What do you think?’ Krishnan asked him when they were alone.
‘Murder? This seems to be one of those cases where the motive is far more important than the murder itself.’ He turned and looked at Krishnan. ‘What’s your take?’
‘Were I not in possession of a vital piece of information that you don’t have I would’ve said it’s a freak case. Maybe even a heart attack. But . . .’
‘But?’
‘The CCTV camera on this floor has not been working since last night. The service engineers haven’t come by yet. I don’t believe in coincidences, Khan,’ Krishnan finished thoughtfully.
Kabir was shocked.
‘Interesting, isn’t it, Khan? There is a lot more going on here than we realize.’ He scanned the room as he spoke, his eyes flipping past something shiny in a corner. It took him a moment to realize that he had missed something. He walked to the corner and looked behind the floor lamp. Hidden there were three strips of Alprax. Three empty strips of Alprax.
‘Ah! Whoever killed him wanted it to look like a suicide,’ he said, showing Kabir the strips of Alprax, an anti-anxiety, sleep-inducing drug—an overdose of which could be potentially fatal. ‘I am sure you will find traces of Alprax in his bloodstream as well.’
56
‘Mr Dubey!’ Kabir called out. A nervous Ranjit stepped away from the rest of his team and walked with Khan to the lift lobby and sat down on a sofa.
‘Any idea where Mr Parikh was headed?’ Kabir asked once they had settled down on the sofa.
‘Not sure,’ he said. ‘I just heard him speak to someone about his trip. He said he would do the needful when he got there. He did rent a car for two days.’
‘Does he have an office in Mumbai?
‘I remember him saying once that whenever he was in Mumbai, he operated out of a hotel. He has a skeletal operation in Gujarat. The main operations are based out of New York City.’
‘Understood. Would you know who he was talking to?’
‘No, sorry!’
‘Okay. If you do remember something else, do call me.’ Kabir got up, feeling more frustrated than enlightened after that conversation.
‘Certainly,’ said Ranjit. ‘But—’
Kabir Khan turned around immediately. So there was indeed something else.
‘Yes?’
‘I am very worried for my life.’
‘Oh?’ Kabir had expected some sort of revelation that was pertinent to the case
, not the imaginings of a scared man. ‘Don’t. We are all here to take care of you and the team.’
‘Forgive me if I don’t put much trust in your security measures. First Kannan. Now Subhash. God only knows what’s in store for all of us. I have half a mind to quit this assignment. Why would I knowingly put my life in danger?’
‘I couldn’t agree with you more.’ Dharmaraja Varma had arrived on the scene.
‘Thirumanassu?’ DGP Krishnan walked up to him. ‘I was about to call and brief you.’
‘Yes, well, that’s thoughtful of you, but Mr Rai already called and informed me,’ he said dismissively. Turning to face Ranjit Dubey, he said, ‘Mr Dubey, you are a mere human. Everything is in the hands of the mighty Anantha Padmanabha Swamy. Whatever he wills, will happen. That day, when Mr Parikh slipped on the mandapam, I knew it was only a matter of time before the lord claimed him. You see, Mr Dubey, in our part of the world, we believe that anything which is dropped on the mandapam belongs to the Almighty. As I said, it was only a matter of time. And when the team continued to insult and challenge the lord by defiling the temple vaults, He was bound to get angry. Anything is possible when the lord is upset. Cyclones, winds, floods, earthquakes are all a consequence of the lord’s anger. Once Padmanabha Swamy made up his mind, Subhash Parikh never stood a chance.’
‘We’ll be the judge of that, Mr Varma, if you don’t mind,’ Kabir retorted. The king’s lecture was beginning to infuriate him.
‘Well, Mr Khan, your religion, possibly your religious leanings, will not allow you to understand what goes on in ours—’
‘Then I am reasonably safe,’ Kabir interrupted. ‘Your lord’s jurisdiction does not extend to my religion. So regardless of what I do, He won’t be able to get back at me,’ he said with a smirk and walked away, leaving a red-faced Dharmaraja Varma to glare impotently at him.
‘Look for his phone,’ Kabir instructed the forensic team combing the room for clues. When DGP Krishnan entered, after having spent several minutes pacifying Dharmaraja Varma, Kabir simply rolled his eyes. ‘Jerk!’
In the Name of God Page 14
