by UD Yasha
‘Yes, you are.’
‘So, do you think anything will happen to me?’
‘No, you will be okay.’
‘That’s right, my lovely girl.’
It was my time to hug dad back. ‘Can I please sleep next to you today?’
‘Of course,’ dad said.
Once we got to the room, he said, ‘Can you please repeat what I say?’
‘I will.’
‘Now say this with me. Even when I cannot see daddy, I will remember him and I will be okay.’
I said it. ‘Even when I cannot see daddy, I will remember him and I will be okay.’
‘Even when I cannot see daddy, I will remember him and I will be okay.’
‘Even when I cannot see daddy, I will remember him and I will be okay.’
‘Even when I cannot see daddy, I will remember him and I will be okay.’
‘Even when I cannot see daddy, I will remember him and I will be okay.’
‘Even when I cannot see daddy, I will remember him and I will be okay.’
Chapter Fourteen
Present Day
The stroll down the memory lane left me smiling. It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts and realize I was in 2020. I still pictured dad’s smiling face and remembered the way he planted a kiss on each of his kids’ heads before he dropped us at school.
I had just about gotten to the age where my dad dropping me to the school’s gate had started becoming embarrassing. I felt bad about it for a moment, only to realize that feeling was a part of every child’s life. I was amazed at how dad had recognized that and then used to drop us a few metres away from the school’s gate.
I was proud of my father, and not only in a ‘My-father-is-the-best’ kind of way. He was a kind man and never thought ill of anyone. He never raised his voice. He always supported his kids in the most unique way. I wondered how he knew stuff from the now-famous ‘parenting books’ all those years back about being kind while not spoiling kids too much by pampering them. He always offered a glass of water to anyone who ever rang the bell of our house.
I had seen him talk to our house help, whose presence was common in almost every middle-class Indian household. He always prepared food and tea for them if they were home while we were eating. I had perceived this behaviour as common until I had started going to my friends’ houses, where offering food to the help was not even considered.
The few times they were given food, it was in separate plates than the ones the family members used. I had asked dad about it once, and he had told me that the practice stemmed from an ancient Indian tradition where a class of people were deemed to be untouchables. They were considered the lowest class of people, and it was believed that even breathing the same air as them was bad. Such discrimination and the use of the untouchables phrase had been outlawed. Over the decades and centuries, its usage had waned down a lot, but still its remnants played out at times when the help was given food in different plates or was asked to enter the house from the back door of a house.
I knew dad was a good man. Thinking about how he used to be served as a useful reminder that if indeed he had taken a bribe or harmed anyone, there was more to the story than what met the eye.
I walked over to the large boxes placed on top of each other next to the Godrej cupboard. I absently flipped through the papers at the top. Most of them from the top box were from the cases I had researched for maa’s disappearance. I placed the topmost box away and started rummaging the lower boxes. They had dad’s files. All of his personal paperwork from the cases he was working on. I wanted to check out the lowermost box that Radha had labelled ‘Siya’s research’. It contained copies of dad’s notes, diaries and a compilation of the information that I thought was relevant from dad’s cases. I had not been able to spot anything useful in them.
Just as I opened the copies of dad’s notes and diary, Radha knocked on the garage shutter. Rahul was right behind her.
‘We were wondering how we can be useful until we get the papers from Rathod,’ Radha said.
‘The doctors…you can start looking them up,’ I said. ‘There’s still a chance that Niyati Jathar being a cosmetic surgeon, and Jane Doe’s plastic surgery, is a complete coincidence. But we cannot afford to waste time if it’s not. In that case, we need to know everything we can about them. You could check their credibility by speaking to their neighbours who called the police. Also call up their old friends and medical school batchmates to know as much as you can about both the Jathars.’
‘I’ll be on it,’ Radha said, and then exchanged looks with Rahul.
‘We also think you need to get those brain scans,’ Rahul said.
‘I’m fine,’ I said.
Radha took a step towards me. ‘And we need to be sure you stay that way.’
‘I wouldn’t have been feeling this well if it was anything serious.’
‘When a doctor tells you to go get a scan, you go and get it done. There’s no debate.’
‘It’ll be a waste of time.’
‘You will waste more time if it turns out to be something serious.’
I said nothing.
‘She’s right,’ Rahul said. ‘Radha can look into the doctors while we go to the hospital.’
I checked the time. It was a few minutes past ten. ‘You aren’t going to let me off the hook, are you?’ I said.
Radha shook her head and I realized it was probably the best to rule out anything serious.
‘Let’s go,’ I said to Rahul, getting up from my desk.
I paused for a fraction. ‘There’s one thing I have to do before,’ I said and opened the drawer under my desk.
I pulled out an old pocket-sized diary. It had all the contacts I had made from the days I used to practice law. As a criminal lawyer, the onus of putting the seed of doubt into the prosecution's mind was my job. No one could be punished if there was any sort of doubt. That’s why I had made friends with people of the most unique professions. I flipped to the letter ‘K’, and looked up Dr. Kedar Sathe’s number.
Kedar was an expert in facial reconstruction. ‘Give me facial bones and I can tell you how the person looked right away,’ he had told me the first time we had spoken four years back. I had only required his services once before, but it was important evidence in the case, one that swung it in my favour.
If Jane Doe had gone to great lengths to change the way she looked, I needed to know how she looked before. Finding out who she was would open up new lines of investigation. I called Kedar Sathe, and to my surprise, he remembered me as soon as I introduced myself. He sounded excited when I told him about Jane Doe. Like all great people, a challenge got the adrenaline in his body flowing.
‘Send me the X-Rays right away,’ he said. ‘I’ve meetings through the morning and afternoon. But I will look at them after that.’
I thanked him and hung up, knowing that if we got to know Jane Doe’s identity, we would get a step closer to knowing who had called me.
Chapter Fifteen
At ten-thirty, Rathod pulled into the parking lot of the CID office in Pashan. He signed himself into the building with his access card, wary that his movements might be tracked. He headed straight to the basement that housed the morgue and Dr. Sonia Joshi’s office. He felt a strange disconnect every time he climbed down to the basement. It was perhaps just the thought that he would soon have dead bodies around him. The cold floor and a whiff of formalin in the air didn’t help drive the uneasiness away.
Rathod also realized that the jumpy feeling was magnified as he did not know which way the conversation with Dr. Sonia would go. He trusted her, but he had only known her for the past four years. Could you ever truly know someone well in that short a time? He also knew Sonia was a stickler for rules. Trying to circumvent the system, or not report tests conducted in the CID Lab might not be okay with Sonia.
He took a deep breath and stepped forward.
‘I wasn’t expecting you to come around,’ Sonia said
, almost taking Rathod by surprise.
Rathod turned around and saw Sonia walk out of the ladies room.
‘I thought I would swing by to know if you found anything on the bodies from the morning’s crime scene,’ Rathod said.
Sonia looked surprised, like she should have as she usually told all investigating officers when to come by. Before she could say anything, Rathod stepped closer and said, ‘Can we talk in your office please?’
Sonia nodded, her forehead still creased. She led the way through the corridor and then hung the second right. Her office was pleasantly warmer and a window panel at the ceiling brought in fresh sunrays that fell on Sonia’s desk. Rathod felt much better just looking at natural light.
Sonia beckoned Rathod to sit across the table and then stepped out of her office. She returned a minute later with two steaming cups of coffee. She set them on the table and said, ‘It’s not even noon and yet it has been a long day. I thought this would help.’
Rathod’s grin confirmed that. He sipped on the hot beverage. He had observed that for some strange reason, the coffee from the machine in the Medical Examiner’s office tasted better. Probably because the rest of the surroundings were so bleak.
‘I don’t know how else to bring this up,’ Rathod said. ‘So, I’m going to be upfront about it.’
‘I’m all ears,’ Sonia said.
‘I have seen you work from close quarters for the past four years now. I know you’re good. I also know you work hard and honestly.’
‘You’re beginning to scare me,’ Sonia cut in.
‘Yeah, you’ll know why I am saying all this in a bit,’ Rathod said and took two more quick sips of the coffee. ‘I have some bullets with me that I need you to analyse.’
‘From today morning? I was going to do that.’
‘No, not them.’
Silence.
The air conditioner suddenly seemed noisy.
Rathod went on. ‘These are bullets from another crime scene.’
‘Why do you have them?’
‘That’s why I wanted to talk to you.’
‘Is it something shady?’
‘Depends on how you look at it.’
Sonia leaned forward, pushing her coffee cup away.
‘Would it be okay if I just tell you that I got them from a crime scene that needs to be kept a secret? And that you need to trust me that I’m doing the right thing.’
Sonia said nothing but her eyes narrowed. The draft of the air conditioner seemed to get louder and colder.
‘I’m not comfortable with that,’ Sonia said. ‘Why do you want to keep it a secret?’
‘I’m afraid corrupt cops are involved.’
‘But you trust me enough to tell that. So, you clearly don’t think I am corrupt.’
‘Yeah, that’s true. But the more you know, the deeper you would get involved in what is happening. At this point, I'm not sure what it is. But it can get deadly.’
‘I don’t want to conduct tests that are unauthorized. Especially if I don’t know why I’m doing it.’
It was Rathod’s turn to go silent. He remembered his mother telling him to pray before he stepped out that morning. He took a deep breath again.
‘So, today morning,’ he said and took a leap of faith. He told Sonia everything, including the calls Siya got. ‘We think her father’s corruption record is behind everything. If you run tests and we’re being tracked, then whoever killed the woman can try to hurt us too.’
‘I don’t know Siya Rajput well enough. We’ve hardly interacted,’ Sonia said. ‘Are you sure you can trust Siya?’
‘I am,’ Rathod paused. ‘I trust her with my life,’ he said, surprised at his own choice of words.
Silence.
‘Are you in?’ Rathod said.
Sonia’s face and eyes gave nothing away. ‘I’m caught in a moral dilemma.’
Rathod thought hard. He had to find the right words.
‘I could report you for making this request,’ Sonia said.
‘But I know you wouldn’t. Because deep down you know this could be a legitimate case. We joined the police force for a reason. We wanted to stand for justice. I know you can feel crippled by the system at times. Trust me when I say I do,’ Rathod said, and then remembered what Siya had told him when they first worked together. ‘We are cops, which gives us the power to seek the truth and punish the guilty. But at times, the guilty ones are deeply entrenched in the system. Hell, they are a part of the system. It’s impossible to fight them from within. Because if you try to do that, you’re thrown out. I am a part of the system, and I know what that means. We have to follow the protocols. Which at times gets in the way. But the law is not black and white. It’s all a shade of grey. I first worked with Siya when she was investigating a corrupt Bombay High Court Judge. He was neck-deep in illegal stuff. It’s not even funny how many politicians and cops were on the payroll. We could take him down and save many lives because someone from inside, not just me, had the courage to stand against the tide. I knew then that the judge was corrupt. The only difference now in this situation is that we are not sure if anyone is a rotten apple. But if they are, then many more lives are going to be lost.’
Rathod downed the remaining coffee and set his cup on the table. He blew air out of his mouth and looked sideways, not knowing what else to say to convince Sonia.
But she didn’t need any more convincing.
‘Give me the bullets,’ Sonia said, extending a hand.
‘Thank you,’ Rathod said, surprised.
He handed them to her along with the other samples that Rahul had taken from Stan Mills.
‘I’ll keep this out of the system and I’ll tell you what I find out,’ Sonia said in a matter of fact tone. ‘What’s going to happen to the woman who was killed?’
‘The doctor we took her to in the morning is going to conduct an autopsy.’
‘I can help with that too once I finish with the bodies from today morning.’
Rathod pulled out an envelope from his pant pocket and gave it to Sonia. He said, ‘If you find something, it wouldn’t be admissible in court without the right paperwork. This envelope contains a document. It is an anonymous tip with the bullets and the location of the body of the woman.’
Silence.
Rathod said, ‘It covers you from taking part in anything shady.’
‘Just like it covers your ass too.’
‘We’re thinking what would happen when and if this goes to trial. We need everything we can use.’ Rathod pointed at the envelope. ‘This makes sure that anything you find can be used. Anonymous tips can get tricky, but this is the best we’ve got.’
Sonia nodded and turned around to refer to some papers from a shelf behind her. He could read body language and tell her she wasn’t comfortable doing this.
He got up and walked to exit the office.
‘Rathod?’ Sonia said just as Rathod was going to open the door to step out. ‘I hope I’m doing the right thing here.’
Rathod could sense she had something more to say. He waited.
Sonia got up from her chair. ‘It’s my responsibility to tell you to be careful. I understand why you’re doing all this and have been helping Siya for so long. The corrupt cops you talk to would justify what they do because of how less they are paid, or they have a kid or mother who’s dying and they need money for the treatment. There’s always a reason to circumvent the law. The corrupt cops do it because they love their family. I know you want to seek justice. But that’s also the end justifying the means. As police officers, we have taken the oath to do everything legally. At times, the lines blur. I have chosen to help you out right now. But this is the last time I’m doing it. If it happens again, I’ll have to tell the ACP.’
‘I know. Thanks a lot for your help this time. I owe you one,’ Rathod said. ‘Also, I’m probably sounding paranoid. But let’s not talk about this on the phone.’
Sonia nodded.
Rathod gulped hard a
nd left, knowing that what Sonia had said made complete sense. Despite that, he couldn’t help himself even think about not helping Siya. Her fire to seek the truth stoked his consciousness. That excited him but it also scared him at the same time.
Chapter Sixteen
Dr. Rastogi referred me to a clinic that specialized in conducting brain scans. It was in Aundh. Fortunately, we were going against the traffic and it didn’t take us more than fifteen minutes to reach. Thanks to Dr. Rastogi’s referral, we didn’t have to wait for long.
The neurologist at the clinic conducted an independent examination and cleared me for any serious brain injury. But like Dr. Rastogi, he told me CT scan results would be useful to detect any damage. He also prescribed a painkiller in case my head started hurting again along with a tablet for the cut on my cheek.
‘The scan doesn’t help with detecting dementia or predicting its cause,’ the grey-haired doctor told me. ‘It’ll tell us if any part of the brain has been injured which may lead to future complications.’
We reached home just before noon. The doctor had told us that the CT scan result would be ready in an hour. Out of the hour, thirty minutes had already gone by. On reaching home, Radha opened the door for us with Shadow once again jumping behind her.
‘Maa’s up,’ Radha said. ‘I told her you needed to go to the university and even Rahul had some errands to run.’
I was glad that maa didn’t have to worry about this for now at least. She was sitting on an armchair inside. She smiled at me for a beat and then resumed reading on her new Kindle that Radha and Rahul had given her. eBooks weren’t a thing when she had been kidnapped. She had always loved to read and had been hooked on the idea of having books just a tap away. Maa read everything from cheesy romantic novels to hard core business stuff.
Seeing maa rekindled the memories I had of our family being together. For a second, I felt like I was going to break down. To hide my face, I bent down and pet Shadow for longer than usual. He enjoyed it and my sadness melted away.
