LOVE IS BLIND- A LUCIFERA INDICA NOVEL

In a small olde worlde cafe, the coffee machine spewed out warm, aromatic, freshly-grounded coffee with its typical swishing sound. The customer on the counter vaguely tapped his fingers on the newspaper as he waited for his cup of joe, his eyes fixed on a black and white Beatles poster. This poster has been at the same place on the same wall in the cafe for the last thirty years. At that time, Rodriguez cafe was known as Rodriguez coffee house and was managed by a staff of just two people- Mr. & Mrs. Rodriguez. Mrs. Rodriguez loved baking and hence she converted her hobby to business which was fully supported by Mr. Rodriguez. Business was simple- Mrs. Rodriguez used to bake and Mr. Rodriguez attended the tables. But today, when Mrs. Rodriguez had passed away, the cafe was run by his husband- Mr. Rodriguez who now resembled an old turtle wearing round black glasses and despite holding a staff of six men always complained about their inefficiency. For him, nobody can bake cakes as good as Mrs. Rodriguez and no one can serve them better than him.

Being the only cafe in the town that provided affordable, delicious food and beverage, it was the favourite spot of college students who’d come with their mates to enjoy bun and cheese omelette, a speciality or pastries if they are on a date. One could hardly converse on audible volumes when the cafe livened up with a bunch of excited students who had bunked their classes or celebrating special occasions. The cafe was also popular amongst the professionals as it provided the facility of a free wi-fi (for one hour) and a silent zone if they wished to commit for a meeting.

But today, the cafe stood hushed as the rain drops spattered the windows. And not many people ventured out to the cafe when it rained in Ooty. Mr. Rodriguez was also at peace today because he liked the rain. He politely signalled the waiter to deliver the masala chai to a round wooden table where a girl was pondering over a pile of comics. She was not a regular customer but Mr. Rodriguez knew her very well, having served masala chai to her grandmother, mother and now the daughter. This girl was dressed in beige top, blue jeans and was donning an olive-coloured jacket. Her straight hair was black and sleek but snipped so short that it just reached above her shoulders which for some unknown reason, she had tied in an endearing small pony that danced when she nodded her head to thank the waiter. Her lips curved into a dimpled smile as she took the first sip of the tea and her eyebrows formed a cursory frown as her glasses became foggy. She took out her unusual turquoise-rimmed, rectangular spectacles and with a clean tissue paper wiped off the condensed vapour from the lenses. It was no ordinary glasses; its rim was sprinkled with sparkling stars which glowed in the dark and the unusual name- Lucifera Indica was etched on the end. With a certain pride and satisfaction, she put on the glasses again on her slightly chubby face, flattening them with her index finger on the bridge of her small, almost flat nose and dived again in the adventures of Phantom.

However engrossed Lucifera was in her comics, her faculties was well aware of her surroundings. She was particularly interested in a group of girls sitting behind her table; who probably had ventured out of the school for the very first time. There was a tone of nervousness as they talked in whispers and an undercurrent of unbelievable enthusiasm in their giggles (which flared-up at regular intervals) as their first attempt to defy a rule, to elude authority had succeeded. They had ordered a single small-sized pizza between them and after finishing it a long time ago were now dedicating their powers of attention to their school teachers, fellow girls and boys and troubles of young, inexperienced life.

‘I am going to demand more pocket money from now on,’ said one girl firmly, ‘after all, everything is so expensive these days with GST.’

‘Oh yes, me too,’ supported another girl.

‘I am going to ask for a scooty from my dad,’ said a girl, sitting by the window, haughtily. ‘The cycle stage is long gone now. I need a two-wheeler to commute.’

She was supported in her endeavour by all the other girls as they made plans of using the two-wheeler in various activities. They were still in the middle of discussing who they would like to take for a long drive when all of them collectively became quiet.

With a small tinkling noise, the door of the cafe opened. A tall, athletic, rigid-faced man stood on the door and looked around. He found his focal point in less than a second and with graceful stride moved towards the table which was occupied by the girl in the turquoise specs. He didn’t ask for permission to sit and with authority pulled out a chair and sat opposite to Lucifera Indica.

‘You will never learn manners. Will you?’ asked Lucifera keeping down her comic.

‘What’s the point of displaying manners to your old college mates?’ the man asked unabashedly.

‘Mates? I don’t remember you hanging out with me...mate,’ said Lucifera with a sly smile.

‘Oh, come on Lucifera, I know you enough to call you mate,’ said Sid.

‘Is that so?’ challenged Lucifera.

‘Aha!’ said Sid confidently. ‘I know for sure that you still wear that age-old, large, brown-strapped grandfather watch in your right hand, which is as of now hidden under the cuffs of your jacket and nobody in this world, yet, knows the meaning of your name, except of course you,’ he said and drank a sip of tea from the cup.

‘I have been drinking from that cup,’ pointed Lucifera.

‘I don’t mind. It’s the best tea I ever had,’ said Sid with a shameless grin.

‘It’s a mystery,’ said Lucifera shaking her head, ‘how Sid Tamir, the most reckless, flirtatious, mischievous boy of the college ever got into the police force?’

‘Guess, they were looking for these qualities,’ said Sid in a mocking smile and drank another sip from the tea.

‘Hmm...But I am sure you have not called me here to remind me of your ace qualities,’ said Lucifera.

The girls sitting behind their table suddenly giggled loudly and after receiving Sid’s amused glance, became quiet again. Sid leaned forward with his elbow on the table and pulled out an envelope from the inside seam of his black leather jacket.

‘Well...I need your help,’ he said and drew out a picture from the envelope. Lucifera stared at the black and white profile picture of a girl.

‘Zuri Dinshaw, the famous pianist,’ said Sid.

‘The celeb missing for last seven days?’ asked Lucifera.

‘That’s the one. We found her body yesterday morning, in the swimming pool.’

‘It’s a murder?’ asked Lucifera raising her eyebrows. ‘That’s the trouble. We don’t know.’

After ordering a breakfast of ‘crown sandwich’ with chips and hot chocolate, Sid disclosed the intricate details of the case. Zuri Dinshaw was a notable pianist who had gathered fame and fortune from a very early age. She was a popular figure amongst the youngsters not just because of her sheer talent but also because of her maffick wedding to ultra-rich entrepreneur Mihir Dinshaw.

‘She was 24 when she married Mihir and settled with him in Pali Hills in Mumbai,’ said Sid. ‘Her husband, Mihir Dinshaw reported her missing seven days ago, that was on 14th Feb. - Valentine’s Day, when she didn’t return from her parents’ house. However, her family said she never came to visit them. We tried tracking her phone but couldn’t get any clue and then on 23rd morning we received a phone call from the caretaker of this secluded farmhouse.’

‘She went to her parents on Valentine’s day?’ asked Lucifera.

‘Yes. I raised the same question to Mihir Dinshaw but he said she always went to her parents’ house on Valentines. God knows why!’ sighed Sid and continued- ‘But the interesting point is that the husband blames the family for her death and the family blames the husband.’

‘Blame game?’ asked Lucifera.

‘Yes. The family claims that the husband had an affair which was the reason she eluded him and the husband says that the family was the reason behind her escaped solitude- which eventually resulted to her death,’ said Sid and took a sip of tea from Lucifera’s mug.

‘And what does the force say?’

Sid smiled at Lucifera. It was her age-old habit of addressing police force as ‘force’.

‘My team has come up with three general possibilities,’ said Sid. ‘The first one, which is also supported by the examining doctor is- accident. Say, in the middle of the rainy night, mind you, it rained heavily that night; she strolled to the pool, slipped and because she couldn’t swim, drowned. As there were no signs of attack on the body and she was all alone, this theory is strongly believed by the team. The second possibility is suicide,’ said Sid with a slight grimace, ‘which surfaced because Zuri’s valise was full of anti-depressants and sleeping pills and there was a card of a renowned psychiatrist. Supposedly, she was immensely depressed and decided to jump in the water on this rainy night.’

‘But you don’t buy that theory?’ asked Lucifera, amused at Sid’s words.

‘Nope,’ said Sid instantaneously. ‘First of all- there was no suicide note; secondly, why to jump in water when you can’t swim and thirdly, Zuri was a star- successful, wealthy and beautiful. What is there to kill yourself? Tell me.’

Lucifera smiled slightly. ‘Success, wealth and beauty have proved a strong stimulant in suicidal cases. But people kill themselves for more than that. It’s just a moment of weakness...where your fear and insecurity overpowers you,’ said Lucifera.

‘Yes, you’re right,’ said Sid agreeing with Lucifera, though not entirely convinced in this case. ‘But, my theory is,’ he persisted, ‘what if she was pushed. A swift push will give no assault marks on the body and the deed will be done.’

‘Which in that case will become a murder,’ said Lucifera.

‘Exactly.’

Lucifera frowned, looking at Zuri Dinshaw’s picture as Sid leaned back from the table when the waiter arrived with his food.

‘She has a very expressive face but looks very simple,’ said Lucifera when the waiter was gone.

‘In picture, yes. But, she is the most complicated personality I have ever come across.’

‘Meaning?’ asked Lucifera.

‘We have been through the first interrogation and I can’t sum her up. She is like this social media star and you find her attending so-and-so parties and you think people know her very well. But nobody in her life knows anything about her as a person. She had practically no friends and was immensely reserved. And that’s the reason we couldn’t find her when she decided to disappear.’

‘Who does the farmhouse belongs to?’

‘It’s her friend’s farmhouse. She lives in London and gave her a duplicate set of keys sometime back. But, she had no idea- Zuri was there.’

‘Right...,’ said Lucifera thoughtfully.

‘What do you want me to do?’ asked Lucifera suddenly, as the wind howled outside.

‘Work with me on this case,’ said Sid gravely. ‘I strongly feel her death was no accident.’

Lucifera placed the picture on the table and crossed her arms. A pair of innocent black eyes stared back from the picture.

‘Then let’s investigate her death as a murder,’ said Lucifera.