The Hunt for Truth

by Sury Patru Viswam

  Julia flipped open the blue binder in front of her and raggedly pulled a few photos from it.

  “Here….” She dropped the photos across the table, facing the detectives for them to take a look.

  Arya and Edgar were taken aback by the sudden outburst by Julia. Both of them leaned in to take a closer look at the photos.

  Edgar picked up one of the photos in his hand, and he intently studied it. There were two people in the picture sitting on a bench, probably in a park, having an intense discussion. In his mind, there was no shred of doubt that the woman appearing in the photo was Sania. He picked up another photo that was laid on the table, and it showed the same two people embracing each other in a hug, near a parking lot.

  Edgar exchanged a glance at Arya, who seemed to be lost in her own world. Arya’s eyes were glued to the photo on her hand, but her mind was clearly somewhere else.

  Edgar cleared his throat rather loudly, which pulled Arya back from a distant world to reality. Edgar gestured with his eyes to ask for Arya’s opinion, but Arya remained still. She had a blank stare, like someone who has seen a ghost.

  “Are you alright?” Edgar whispered, leaning closer to Arya.

  “I don’t think so,” Julia replied, leaving Edgar stunned.

  “What did you say?” Edgar asked, shifting his gaze towards Julia. He seemed quite surprised by Julia’s response to his question towards Arya.

  “I said she is not okay,” Julia gestured towards Arya.

  Edgar was flabbergasted with Julia’s response, and he turned towards Arya, looking for her response. “Arya?” he said with a hesitant voice.

  For a moment, it looked like a dark cloud just lifted from Arya’s mind. Arya lunged forward and pulled the blue binder closer to her. She hurriedly flipped open the binder and ruffled through the photos in it.

  “What is it?” Edgar asked. He was utterly taken aback by Arya’s reaction. Arya seemed to be acting irrational as she ruffled through the pages in the binder.

  Arya picked up multiple photos from the binder, and it all confirmed what she didn’t fathom a moment ago.

  “How is this possible?” Arya whispered. “Why did she lie?”

  “Who lied?” Edgar shook Arya’s shoulders to break her from a spell.

  “I will tell you who lied,” Julia’s voice rang confidently.

  “What?” Edgar turned towards Julia.

  “Sania. Sania Tariq lied to her,” Julia said, leaning back on her chair.

  Edgar was astounded by Julia’s audacity, but Arya’s silence revealed that there was truth to Julia’s words.

  Arya flipped open her phone and dialed Sania’s home phone number. The phone kept ringing, but no one answered.

  “Who are you calling?” Edgar asked.

  Arya hit the redial button, and the incessant phone rings were heard. There seemed to be no one on the other end of the call.

  “Arya….” Edgar began to ask his question again before Julia’s voice interrupted him.

  “She is calling her friend, Sania.”

  As Sania’s voice came on the voicemail, prompting to leave a message, Julia jumped in. “She won’t answer.”

  Arya turned towards Julia to find her shaking her head.

  “How do you know that Sania won’t answer the phone?” Arya asked, shifting her gaze squarely at Julia.

  “Because she is not at home,” Julia said, shifting her glance from Arya to Edgar and then back to Arya. “She hasn’t been home from the morning or…,” Julia hesitated and shrugged her shoulders, “or maybe from late last night.”

  “How do you know?” Edgar asked, staring at Julia.

  “I had her watched by my Private Investigator,” Julia answered curtly.

  “PI! Who?” Arya asked.

  “Y’all know him. He is one of you.” Julia paused for a moment and said, “Carter.”

  “Raymond Carter?” Edgar asked, wondering if Julia was referring to a name well-known in the Philly police force.

  “Yes.” Julia nodded.

  Raymond Carter was a name that was well known in the department. He was a no-nonsense detective who served out of the Center City precinct, and he went by the nickname of ‘Tugger’ in the force – like the baseball player. Tug McGraw (Tugger) was one of most loved pitchers in Philly history, and he was well known for his ability to close out games in the toughest of situations. Who could ever forget his contribution to Philly’s run in the 1980 World Series title? Even today, you could see his name emblazoned upon the back of t-shirts and jerseys; he is a fan favorite. Similar to McGraw, ‘Tugger’ Carter was known to close out cases, and almost all of them translated into convictions. He not only closed his cases but helped with other detectives’ cases, making him beloved in the force – just like ‘Tugger.’

  It had been a few years since Tugger had retired from the force, but his name still carried a lot of weight in the department. Once Edgar and Arya realized that Tugger was involved in the case, they knew that they needed to change their approach towards Julia.

  “Was this from Tugger?” Edgar gestured towards the photos.

  “Who?” Julia looked confused.

  “I mean Carter,” Edgar corrected himself and provided Tugger’s real name.

  “Yeah. Carter was the one who gave me all this stuff.” Julia pointed at the photos.

  Edgar shifted in his seat and tried to poke a bit into Julia’s theory. “Julia, to be honest with you, these photos don’t show much.” He picked one of the photos on the table where Eli Berg’s hands were rubbing on Sania’s shoulders. “I can see that they were friendly, but affair -” He let that sentence hang for a moment before adding, “-seems like a stretch.”

  Julia held her gaze on Edgar as she leaned back on the chair. “You think I am imagining?”

  Edgar hesitated, “I am sure you know your husband better…”

  Julia interrupted Edgar as she turned towards Arya and asked, “What do you think?”

  Arya’s gaze was still on one of the photos where Eli Berg was seen walking back with Sania.

  Edgar was expecting Arya to join him by probing Julia, and her silence surprised him.

  “Arya?” Edgar gently called her name, trying to pull her back from her dazed state.

  “She is telling the truth,” Arya said, surprising Edgar.

  Arya turned the photo towards Edgar and pointed her finger at Eli Berg. “I know him. This is Reza Tariq – Sania’s ex-boyfriend.”

  34

  Edgar was taken aback by Arya’s revelation. He was expecting a reason for Arya’s dazed state, but he didn’t fathom the surprise would be of this magnitude.

  “This changes the equation,” Edgar summarized, clearing his throat.

  “No kidding,” Julia quipped.

  “How long did you know this?” Arya turned her attention towards Julia.

  “Jesus!” Julia exclaimed, throwing her hands. “You think I would have lived with him if I had known earlier? He not only cheated with another woman, but he also lied about his religion. He is a fraudster,” Julia said with disgust in her voice.

  “I guess you didn’t know for long,” Edgar remarked.

  “Yes. I came to know last night,” Julia answered.

  “Carter?” Edgar asked, trying to confirm the source.

  Julia nodded.

  “You said that Sania was not at home. How did you know that?” Arya brought the focus back to the conversation they had earlier.

  “I said Carter was watching her,” Julia flippantly replied.

  “Was?” Edgar narrowed his eyes.

  “Yes. Carter was watching Sania till last night. But she disappeared this morning.”

  “What do you mean by disappeared?” Arya asked.

  “She is not at home. Her car is in the driveway, but no one is answering her door.”

  A sudden thought flashed through Arya’s mind. “Oh, God! She is having a baby.”

  “No. She is not. At least not yet.” Julia shook her head; her vo
ice, eyes, and expressions were all soaking in disgust towards Sania.

  “How do you know?” Arya jumped in.

  “Carter checked the hospital, and she was not there.”

  Their interview was interrupted by the incessant sound of Julia’s cellphone.

  Julia fumbled through her Coach purse and pulled out the cellphone.

  Edgar and Arya looked on as Julia flipped open the phone and answered the call.

  Julia’s eyes shifted to Arya as she slowly brought down the phone. “Carter.”

  “Put him on speaker,” Arya quickly replied.

  There was a spring in Arya’s voice as she leaned forward and started the conversation. “Carter, this is Arya Martins, and I also have Edgar James in the room. We are…”

  Carter, in his deep baritone voice, interrupted, “I know you guys. How is Jimmy doing? Still giving out tickets like candy on Halloween day?”

  “Nah. Jimmy is doing desk duty; the roads are safe now,” Arya replied, evoking a chuckle from Carter.

  “Jimmy, he is alright. He is a good man; say ‘hello’ from me.”

  “Sure, will do.” Arya gave a customary quick reply as she was eager to jump back on the meat of the case.

  “Okay, Detectives; I know you wanted to talk about the case.”

  “We have a lot of questions,” Edgar jumped in.

  “I can’t say that I will have a lot of answers, but let me tell you something….” Carter stopped talking, and an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

  “Carter, we can’t hear you. You still on?” Arya spoke on the phone.

  “Yeah, yeah… I don’t like what I see right now,” Carter gave a cryptic reply.

  Arya and Edgar exchanged a curious glance at each other.

  “What do you mean? Where are you?” Edgar asked.

  “I assume you all know that I have been tailing Sania the last few days,” Carter started.

  “Yeah, Julia filled us in with the details.” Arya shifted her glance towards Julia. “We have the pictures with us and …”

  “Then, you will know that Dar Marrakesh was the last place I saw Reza enter before he disappeared.”

  “Marrakesh?” From the investigation, Arya knew that Marrakesh was the Moroccan restaurant that Samir, Sania, Omar, and Nafisa met. She did not realize that Reza also frequented that restaurant.

  “Yes, the Moroccan restaurant in Norristown.”

  “Yeah, we know the place. But we didn’t know Reza also frequented that place.”

  “I can’t say that he frequented but… that was the last place I saw him enter before he disappeared.”

  “When was it?” Edgar wanted to get the timeline.

  “The night of September 10th.”

  Arya and Edgar exchanged glances. It was the same night Samir disappeared.

  “Was anyone with him when he entered the restaurant?”

  “I would say so. Samir and Sania.”

  Carter just threw a surprise that Arya and Edgar didn’t see coming.

  “Samir and Sania both met with Reza?” Arya blurted out the question.

  “Yes, I would say so.” Carter hesitated with his response.

  Both Edgar and Arya noted the hesitation in Carter’s response.

  Arya leaned closer to the phone. “Carter, I heard the hesitation in your voice….”

  Carter interrupted to clarify his position. “I know. Your question got me thinking. Let me back up. I was following Reza, not Sania before Reza disappeared. On the night of September 10th, I got a call from Julia that Reza was leaving their home late at night, and she was certain that he was going to hook up with Sania. She wanted to get a photo… how do I put it… in a rather intimate manner for her to believe that he was cheating on her.”

  Arya looked up to notice that Julia was nodding, gesturing her confirmation to Carter’s explanation.

  “I had followed Reza before, and I have always seen him meeting Sania alone. Most of the time, he met Sania on Kelly Drive. However, on the night of September 10th, I saw him drive in the opposite direction.”

  “Towards Norristown,” Edgar jumped in.

  “Yeah, he drove to that side of the town. At first, I thought he was going to shack up with Sania in some kind of a motel, but he surprised me by walking into a closed restaurant.”

  “What do you mean by closed?” Arya zeroed in on Carter’s description.

  “I must agree with Cooper. You are special! You jumped onto the point faster than anyone I have seen,” Carter praised Arya, making her feel uncomfortable.

  “What can I say? I am learning from the best.” Arya, feeling uncomfortable, did what she does best, passing the praise to a different person.

  “Yeah. Cooper is good,” Carter concurred, before jumping back to the topic of conversation. “The night when Reza walked into the restaurant, the board outside had a ‘Closed’ sign.”

  “Closed? How did he walk in then?” Edgar asked.

  “I said closed, but not locked. I guess it was not locked because Reza walked right in.”

  “Was Sania and Samir there?”

  “Not when Reza walked in. I was expecting Reza to go to a motel, not a restaurant. So, I waited outside.” Carter paused for a moment before he continued, “I waited for like thirty minutes before I saw some activity.”

  “Reza walked out with Sania?” Edgar asked.

  “No. I never saw Reza after that.”

  “What do you mean?” Arya asked. Carter had earlier mentioned that he saw some activity, and she assumed it was caused by Reza.

  “I saw a van drive off….”

  “Reza?”

  “I thought it was Samir.”

  Arya arched her eyebrows in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “Okay, here is the story. It was late at night, and I hadn’t slept in days, so I kind of dozed off. Not proud of it, but shit happens. When I woke up, I saw a man driving away in a Ford van. He was wearing black overalls; different clothes than Reza. I have seen Sania’s husband, Samir, before. The height matched, and, because he was wearing different clothes than Reza, I assumed it was Samir.”

  Arya and Edgar exchanged glances. From their investigation, they had learned that Samir was ticketed on the night of September 10th, driving a Ford Transit van.

  “Was it a white Ford Transit van?” Edgar asked, trying to connect with the information they had learned earlier.

  “It was definitely a white van, and it was Ford. I remember seeing a Ford logo on the back. But can’t vouch about the model. It could be a Transit. Why are you asking?” Carter replied.

  Edgar went on to fill in the details about the traffic stop on the night of September 10th.

  “Interesting. Do you have a sketch? It pained me that I couldn’t positively identify who drove out of the restaurant. The sketch could give insight into that,” Carter added.

  “The patrol officer who stopped the van was supposed to fax us the sketch this morning. We were out all day, so I am not sure if we got it. Let me check if the fax came through earlier.”

  Edgar excused himself from the discussion so that he could check on the fax.

  “Carter, what happened after the Ford van left?” Arya brought the focus back to Carter’s account of events.

  “I decided not to follow the Ford, and I waited.” Carter continued on, “After ten minutes or so, I saw Sania walk out alone. This was when things went crazy….” Carter paused to add more drama to his narration, like a prosecutor in front of a jury, before he continued, “She walked straight towards Reza’s car, Acura, parked outside. I thought she was going to wait for him, but she didn’t. She just drove away like she owned that car.”

  The conversation was interrupted as the door opened, and Edgar walked into the interview room.

  Arya turned towards Edgar, and, as she was about to ask about the fax, Edgar jumped in. “Ray is checking on it; he will stop by with details.” As Edgar sat in his chair, he asked, “What did I miss?”

  Arya gave a
quick rundown – Sania leaving the restaurant in Reza’s car.

  “Alone?” Edgar wanted to clarify.

  “Yeah, alone,” Carter confirmed. “I was debating with myself if I should wait for Reza or follow her. Because she was driving Reza’s car, I became curious and decided to follow her.”

  “Sania then drove all the way to Reza’s front door. I followed her. She just parked outside, got out, and walked towards the cross-section of First and Emory Street.”

  “What happened then?”

  “She hailed a taxi to her home.”

  “To her home?”

  “Yes. I followed that taxi straight to Sania’s home in East Falls.”

  “Jesus!” Edgar exclaimed. “Sania knew that Samir never got on that airplane!”

  Arya looked at Edgar, still reeling from surprise. “She lied, but why?”

  35

  Arya couldn’t believe that her friend Sania would lie to her face. Carter’s account of the evening of September 10th contradicts everything that Sania had mentioned earlier. Sania not only knew that Samir didn’t fly to Los Angeles that night, but she was with him till the wee hours of the night. But why? Why did she lie to Arya? What was she getting out of it?

  “What happened then?” Edgar picked up the trail.

  “I saw her walking into her home late that night and didn’t see her coming out till the next day.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence as Arya and Edgar were waiting for Carter to fill in on the details.

  “The next time I saw her go out, she walked into the Germantown police precinct.”

  “What?” Arya exclaimed in surprise.

  “Yup. I saw her talking to you in the coffee shop.”

  “So, you didn’t see Reza after that?”

  “Reza or Samir. I haven’t seen both of them after the night of September 10th,” Carter declared.

  Arya let out a deep breath. Interesting.

  “So… both Samir and Reza disappeared on the same night…,” Edgar said aloud.

  “Not just the same night… they were seen at the same place on the night they disappeared,” Carter added. Samir was spotted driving away from the Dar Marrakesh restaurant in a Ford van, and Reza was last seen entering that restaurant the very same night.