by UD Yasha
We could smell the adrak from the tea that Rahul had kept on the stove. I got up and went to the kitchen to strain the tea. I poured it for us and brought it out.
‘I haven’t put milk in maa’s cup,’ I said to Radha.
‘She’ll wake up soon,’ Radha said, referring to the wall clock behind her.
‘We’ll move the proceedings to the garage after we finish tea,’ I said.
I went to the dining table and flipped open my laptop. It was better to type such letters as they could not be traced back to the sender. I finished drafting it and gave Rathod a copy of it on a pen drive.
As I took the final sips of my tea, I wondered what we were going to tell maa. She would know something was up given all the activity. But could she bear knowing that her husband could still be alive? Ever since we got her back last year, her resilience and fortitude had surprised me each time. But I knew there was a limit to everything. Radha probably sensed what I was thinking. She put a hand on my back.
‘We won’t tell her anything right now,’ she said. ‘Let’s first get to know what’s happening and then we’ll tell her what we know if there’s anything worth telling.’
Listening to Radha assured me as I was thinking along the same lines. I placed all our cups on the same tray that I had used to get them. I put them next to the sink.
‘I’ll ask my team to look up Dr. Niyati Jathar and her husband Malhar. Maybe we’ll find a direct link between them and the dead woman.’
‘That's a good idea. In the meantime, we’ll also look into them by talking to their friends and family.’
‘I’ll hand over copies of their records once we get the warrant for them,’ Rathod said. ‘We should have the warrant by noon. It will take at least another hour to get all the documents. In the meantime, my team is trying to identify the man who was murdered along with the Jathars. Dr. Sonia will give us something substantial about him through what she finds on his body and that’ll help us with a starting point in identifying him’
Radha said, ‘I can help with getting more information on the couple.’ She looked at Rathod and continued. ‘Once you hand over their papers and bank information, I’ll look at their finances and see if there’s anything odd there.
Rathod got up to leave. ‘We’ll touch base again,’ he said and referred to his wristwatch, ‘In five hours at two o’clock.’
Rahul gave Rathod the bullets he had taken from Stan Mills before Rathod left.
‘I am heading to the garage,’ I declared and stepped out.
The garage had been my investigation room for many years. It was the place where the neurons in my brain started to scuttle harder.
It held special memories. I had cracked maa’s disappearance and narrowed in on Kishore Zakkal while sitting in the garage. It was also the place where I had got to know that maa was alive. I remember how elated I had been to know that a year back.
Even though I had stopped practicing law three years ago, both Radha and I had an unsaid rule of not disturbing the garage much. It remained closed for three years except for when Radha got it cleaned every Diwali and New Year. We used to keep our car outside to keep the garage vacant.
When I pulled up its shutter, Shadow ran behind me. He liked the garage too as it gave him one more place to sniff around.
The setup inside was pretty basic. An L-shaped desk hugged the wall right in front of the shutter. There was a coffee machine at one end and then stacks of paper on the other. It had useful things like stationery. A water cooler lay in one corner. We had got it when we were investigating the kidnapping of Rucha Sinha a few months back.
The most important piece of furniture in the garage was a large Godrej closest. Next to it was a pile of boxes. Both had the papers from all known crimes that involved Kishore Zakkal, including files on maa. It also had some of dad’s papers and books.
I knew all of Zakkal’s cases very well. But I was aware that I would need to refer to them again if and when Zakkal decided to come out of hiding and do something nasty. I felt it was just a matter of time before that happened. This time around, Zakkal had the benefit of time on his side to set up an elaborate plan. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
Thinking of the Zakkal’s old cases got me wondering about the circumstances around the time of dad’s disappearance. The cops had left no stone unturned to investigate his last movements. I had gone through them myself when I had got older to see if I could spot something that the cops had missed. But there was nothing. Dad had left the house one morning, the way he always did, and then just vanished.
No warning, no clue and no trace. Into thin air.
I had always asked myself if the cases he was working on at the time he went missing had any connection to his disappearance. At the time dad vanished, he was the Deputy Inspector General of Police, which was a high rank. Just three rungs below being the Commissioner. Which meant that he did not just have his cases to look after but also pretty much the entire state’s workload to monitor. He had other people to share the responsibility with but he was still the person who led a large team. That tremendously widened the scope of cases he was working on.
I had gone through dad’s cases multiple times. There was a bank robbery whose culprits had been arrested just before dad vanished. Then there was a case of dowry where all the family members of the groom had been arrested.
One of the bigger cases involved a spate of murders committed by an industrialist who used a hitman. By murdering some key people, he coerced a few government officials into handing him big contracts for his firm. He had literally killed his competition. But now he was serving a life term.
Another huge case was that of a stud farm owner who was laundering money for many years. Dad had spotted some suspicious dealings that had brought this person under the police radar. Dad’s investigation had revealed that the man had laundered crores of rupees and evaded tax for the past twenty years. The case had irked several people. But the hawala network, that the man had used was complex and people across the world were a part of it. They didn’t want too much attention on themselves, so that they could continue their transactions for other people. Because they wanted to stay under the radar, there was no reason to believe that the money laundering case had anything to do with dad going missing.
Then there was the case of a don named Javed Javehiri in Mumbai. Javed was the cousin of Hussian Javehiri, a big don who was known to smuggle drugs into Mumbai through the port. It was a well-known fact that Hussain lived in Karachi and that the Pakistani government gave him unofficial protection. But he had people like Javed who ran the day-to-day operations in India. Back in the 90s, bribing port officials was as easy as buying a pack of gum.
There was once an issue with a delivery, which resulted in some gunfire that killed a Canadian tourist. Because of pressure from the Canadian Embassy, the investigation was fast-tracked. Dad’s team had found that Javed had fired the bullet. They had taken him in right away. The moment Javed was arrested, a hitman killed him to keep him from spilling the secrets of the smuggling operation. For Hussain, losing Javed wasn’t a big deal. Some investigation of my own along with insights from a few cops who worked sophisticated crimes told me such assassinations were a nuisance to bust operations, but still common.
I also knew that when any syndicated crime network was hit, the people running it wanted to send out a very public message by killing the key investigating officers. It was like making a statement. “Stay away or else you will be killed”. If they had taken or killed dad, they would have let the world know it was them. That they had not even claimed responsibility meant they were not behind dad’s disappearance.
I had gone through other cases dad had been working on or was a part of for the five years prior to his disappearance. Nothing there had indicated that any of those cases were responsible for what happened to him.
If my analysis was true, then something else altogether was behind dad’s disappearance. It had nothing to do with a
ny known cases, but something that was being kept hidden. A discreet matter that needed to be kept away from any attention. By seeing dad’s name in Mule’s corrupt list, I thought if that was the missing link. Maybe he got himself tangled in something bad.
To know if something fishy had been happening, I decided to speak to the people who worked with dad back then. Three of them came to my mind. Even though nothing had come out of talking to these people earlier, I was now feeling hopeful. I had fresh information. There were four dead people, any of whom could trigger new connections and leads.
Any one of the three people I planned on speaking to could know them. Plus, I had one new piece of information on dad himself. I didn’t know then how much of it I would share with anyone. I decided I would play it as it came, gauge the situation and then take a call.
I made a list of the three people.
The current CID Chief Siddhanshu Shukla was the first name on it. Dad was Shukla’s boss. They knew each other well. But I had been told that they didn’t get along well. That’s why even today, Shukla spoke poorly of dad at every chance he got. Shukla always pinned the blame for maa’s disappearance on dad. Then, when it was eventually proven that Zakkal was behind the murders and maa’s disappearance, Shukla was disappointed.
It had also not helped that Shukla had tried to claim the responsibility of solving maa’s disappearance, but a leaked article by a reporter had proven it was my work that had nailed Zakkal. The report had shown him in a bad light and stalled a promotion he was going to get to the CBI.
I hoped Shukla would cooperate with me despite our strained relationship. Through a few experiences in the past, I knew Shukla valued the truth. So even though he genuinely didn’t like dad or me, I hoped he would not hold anything back if he thought it was going to aid in finding what happened to dad.
The second name on the list was of dad’s long-term partner. A guy named Shrinivas Kulkarni. He was now seventy years old. He had visited our home many times when I was a kid. I remembered him as dad’s friend who always got an Alpenliebe toffee for me. I hadn’t crossed paths with him professionally, but dad and Shrinivas used to get along well, so maybe dad had told him something off the cuff that could aid my investigation.
The third person on my list was Vikram Badami, the then Head of Maharashtra Police. He had retired soon after I started practicing law so we had not interacted much. He did not have any hostile feelings towards me either. I had spoken to him once about dad’s disappearance but it hadn’t led to anything fruitful.
I texted the list to Rathod to keep him in the loop. I sat back in my chair. A sense of trepidation rose. A thin layer of cold sweat cloaked my body. I was opening the case of my dad’s disappearance once again. Something told me I was going to get more answers this time.
Chapter Thirteen
23rd December 1999
Nights were my favourite.
Everyone would always be home then.
Usually, Karan, Radha and I would play through the evening with our friends who lived in our colony. We had just started playing hide and seek and I absolutely loved it. Radha and I would always team up and try to fool the person who was trying to find us. We were amongst the youngest. That’s why we had realized that we were stronger together.
Almost every evening when we got back home at around seven-thirty, Karan would throw a tantrum about how Radha and I would team-up. But he used to cool down after he took a bath.
Most days, dad would be back home by then. Maa would get back earlier at five.
We always had dinner together. The rule was no TV while eating. But we made an exception to it when India played a cricket match or Shahrukh Khan’s movie was playing on any channel. Both maa and dad loved him, and by default we loved him as well. After we finished dinner, we would usually return to our rooms, study for thirty minutes and then read storybooks.
That day was different. Dad was extra happy. I could sense it while we were still having dinner.
Halfway through, dad said, ‘Who wants to have some fun before sleeping?’
All of us siblings glanced at each other. We knew what that statement meant.
‘Unlimited ice-cream!’ yelled Radha.
‘Smart girl,’ dad said, stroking her head. ‘So, keep some extra space in your tummies.’
After dad said that, Radha and I only had a few bites and finished whatever was on our plates. I had observed that Karan had the appetite of a monster. He could have a full dinner and then still eat unlimited ice-cream.
Once we were done, maa said, ‘Okay, kids. Remember that it's cold outside. Put on your sweaters and caps.’
‘And get ready to enjoy ice-cream,’ dad said as we ran out to our car.
‘I forgot something,’ Karan said and bolted into the house. He returned with his Casiotone, his latest fad.
‘Even I want to play. Teach me, dadu,’ Radha said to Karan, not realizing that the Casiotone was much taller than her.
On that note, we got in the car. I used to love our drives together. We had once driven to Goa to enjoy the beaches there and I didn’t want that trip to end.
Out of nowhere, dad started singing an old Kishore Kumar song. Maa joined him for the female part while Karan played the Casiotone, which when I now think about it, was out of tune. But we still enjoyed it then. While Karan would play it, Radha and I pressed an odd button every now and then because it was fun and it also irked Karan. We knew only a few words from the chorus of the song that dad and maa sang. Getting excited, we would say those words a little louder.
‘Okay kids,’ dad said, pulling the car over to the side of the road. ‘Time to pick your ice-creams. Remember to only buy what you can finish eating. We’re going to be here till all of you tell me that your stomachs are full.
We stepped out. We saw dad rub his hands and blow air into them, so we did the same. Dad picked me up and showed me a trick that amazed me. Every time he opened his mouth and blew air out, I could actually see it!
‘How did you do that?’ I asked him.
‘Do you want to do it too?’ dad said.
I nodded vigorously.
‘It’s magic,’ he said and then twirled his hand over my head. ‘Now you try.’
When I blew air out of my mouth, to my surprise, even I could breathe steam!
‘Even I want to,’ Radha said and dad did the same thing for her.
‘We’re dragons!’ I said to Radha, discovering a cool trick that we later learnt was just the way our breaths condense in cold temperatures.
‘I want butterscotch,’ I said.
‘Me too,’ Radha cried.
We saw Kunal having chocolate so we decided our next one would be chocolate. Maa and dad were having some fruity flavours that we didn’t like much.
No one spoke much while eating ice-cream. Our mouths were enjoying something more than just talking.
Just as we were enjoying the last bites, a loud sound emanated from behind where we were sitting. All of us turned around.
Two men were hitting each other. They were punching each other in their faces. One of them was bleeding. The other had blood on his clothes. Scared, I dropped my ice-cream cone.
‘I’ll be back,’ dad said to mom and stepped to break the fight.
The ice-cream parlour owner and dad held the two men back. Dad pulled out a pair of handcuffs and locked the hands on the man who was throwing more punches. He started making some calls using the ice-cream parlour’s landline phone.
‘You should go back home and take the kids,’ dad said out loud across the sitting area.
Maa drove us back. All of us were silent, too afraid to say a word. Radha and I had five cones each. Two of chocolate, one each of butterscotch, mango and strawberry. But we weren’t feeling as excited as we usually were after an unlimited ice-cream night.
‘There are some bad people in this world,’ maa said. ‘They try to harm other people. Dad is a police officer and punishes the bad guys for what they do.’
; ‘Will he be okay?’ Radha said.
‘Of course, he will be.’
‘Didn’t he teach you a magic trick some time back?’
Radha blew air out of her mouth again, but no steam came out. ‘It’s not happening anymore.’
‘You can ask dad why once he’s back.’
‘When will he come home?’ I said.
‘Soon, my girl, soon,’ maa said.
Karan, Radha and I shared a room. Maa tucked us in our beds. She sang a lullaby for me and Radha. I heard Radha’s breaths even out, which I had learnt was a sign of a person falling asleep. My eyes were closed but I could not sleep. I was thinking about dad and those two men who were hitting each other. What if they hurt dad?
Once I was sure that maa was not in the room anymore, I opened my eyes. It took me a little while to get used to the darkness. I got up and walked silently to the door of our room. It was open and I could see a light in the living room. I went to the edge of the staircase and saw maa sitting still on the couch. She was probably waiting for dad, just like I was.
I sat near the stairwell with my back against the wall. I didn’t realize when I fell asleep. I only opened my eyes when two hands, that I knew far too well, picked me up.
Dad said, ‘How did you get here, champion?’
‘I was waiting for you like maa.’
Dad held me close.
‘I was afraid those men would hit you,’ I said.
‘That’s the last thing you should be worried about.’
‘But I was. I know what blood means. I was watching a show on the National Geographic channel. A person bled too much and died. I know what blood means,’ I said, tearing up.
Dad stroked my hair. He pulled out of the hug and said, ‘Isn’t dad very powerful?’
