Rue - The Jury is Out

Heavy fog had enveloped the long stretch of Sohna Road. It was 4:00am and yet it was dark. Visibility was less than 1 feet ahead. Dim streak of light from streetlamps were fighting a lost war. They were lost in the sea of smaze that was cloaking the vast stretch of land on either side of the road, which the real estate moguls had brought but were still to develop waiting for the right economy. Orange balls of faint fire were floating on the muddle air of fresh grass, sleepy red soil and faint smell of petroleum. It was this foggy since last one week. People of Gurugram had love and hate relationship with fog. They love it from the comfort of their homes but driving through fog in 2°C[1] was another thing. All the turnings looked alike, no landmarks visible, no street name or the familiar houses to spot on. The world that was home few hours ago was alien now. Everything looked surreal. A page out of Death’s diary, when everything had forgotten to breathe. Nobody in their right mind would venture out at that ungodly hour. It was the hour for daredevils or romantic hearts to venture out to either conquer the haze or get lost in it. Few bikes and cars were crawling with their taillights on. Bijlee was neither a daredevil nor a romantic heart. If she could avoid it, she would have. Abhishikta was not answering her phone. She was supposed to start for Indira Gandhi International Airport. Flight’s departure time was at 9:00am. She had asked her aunt Bijlee to give her a wake-up call at 4:00am. Abhishikta wanted to say goodbye to her and to rest of the family before hitting the road at 5:00am. She would still have some time to take a small detour from IFFCO chowk to Maruti Udyog to have one last time the nukkad-wali chai[2] before flying.

A sense of foreboding was gripping Bijlee as the car was reaching Abhishikta’s farmhouse from their villa in Golf Course Road. She looked at her brother Dr. Divyansh with irritation. He was dozing off in the car. He accompanied her so that she would just shut up. He did not feel anything was amiss. But Bijlee loved nothing more than theorizing the worst-case scenario for everything in life. She thrived on such negativities.

There was uneasy calmness that reflected through the windows. Did Abhishikta leave without saying a goodbye? Why was her mobile switched off? The windows were ajar. There was feeble light and faint sound of music floating from the bedroom window. Dr. Divyansh was suddenly alert. He reached his pocket to fish out the keys, but it was not required. The door was unlocked. Cautiously they entered the house calling out her name.

“Abby, Abby are you there?”

“Abby, is everything okay? Abby, are you home?”

One after another, they switched on the lights in the room they entered. Watchfully they entered the bedroom where the lights were on. There she was! Sleeping! Bijlee lumbered towards the bed, apprehensive. Dr. Divyansh held her by hands to stop her. Abby was not to be disturbed. She was sleeping peacefully. Sleeping on her bed. She did not hear them call out. She was in deep eternal sleep of death.

Quietly the brother and the sister moved out of the room. Switching off the lights. Bijlee was cowered in a corner of the settee looking dazed. Her small stature of 4 ½ feet with short hair colored pitch black in fine cotton saree looked like a disfigured football. Her brother Dr. Divyansh was pacing up and down making some calls.

Every ten minutes Bijlee would wail, “Divyansh, why can’t we call a doctor. Who knows she is just in coma? We will be in a lot of trouble if she dies.”

Impatiently, Dr. Divyansh would reply the same thing again and again, “I am a doctor and I know nothing can be done now. She is gone. Dead! Dead as a door nail. Like it or not. We are in trouble. But before I call the authorities and make this public. I need to understand what happened here and how much trouble we are in.”

“Are you trying to dispose the body?”

“Hell No! Bijlee” Have you lost it. I just want to understand what went down here and gather ourselves before we make that call. Can you just shut up till I do that?”

Dr. Divyansh’s next call was to Irina, Abby’s personal assistant.

Irina was not expecting any call at 5:45am in the morning. Trying not to open her eyes, she replied. The next second, she was wide awake. Her place in sector 56 was hardly 10 mins drive. Reachability was one of the factors Abby considered while hiring her. And she was never disappointed. Irina could quickly reach all places from where Abby needed her in under 40 mins except one.

Dr. Divyansh slumped on another settee. Unlike Bijlee who had taken care to change to saree, comb her hair and apply basic make-up before starting; Dr. Divyansh had thrown his dressing gown over his pajamas. He did not even care to brush his tangled hair and was looking like a mess. He had made few calls. Before he called the cops, he needed to catch his breath.

The first to come in the hall was the caretaker. He was sleeping in his room in the servant’s quarters. His eyes were blood-shot, and his breath reeked of some cheap liquor and puke. He was standing behind Divyansh. Irina reached in 10 mins. She was trembling. Divyansh gave her a glass of red wine to calm her nerves. They were now waiting for the cops to arrive.

**************************************

15 kms from there in Palam Vihar, inspector Jai Prakash Chautala was sleeping peacefully when constable Hari Krishna called. Death of owner of six theme restaurants would bring in some amount of scrutiny. He had to wake up Jai.

In a sleepy voice, Jai asked, “Who died, Hari that you had to call me? Is a man not entitled for few hours of sleep?”

“Sir, the owner of Cena Cosmica, Abhishikta Vats is dead. Please rush to her farmhouse in Sohna Road. Her uncle Dr. Divyansh called.”

Jai woke up in a jiffy. Barely he had an hour or two of sleep. Last night he had accompanied patrol team to various malls. 31st Dec night increases the incidents of drunken driving and eve teasing. Jai reached home around 3:00am. He switched off his TV that was still playing “NCIS”[3] and started getting ready.

Abby’s aunt Bijlee, Dr. Divyansh, and Irina were sitting. Caretaker of the farm was standing behind Dr. Divyansh’s chair. Inspector Jai was taken to Abby as soon as he arrived. Medical Examiner was still on the way.

A draught of cold air greeted the team as they entered.

“Who would switch on the AC in NCR[4]’s winter?”, wondered Jai as the lights were switched on in the room. “Did any of you switch on the AC?”, he inquired.

AC in winter. Effective means to keep the body fresh.

Aunt Bijlee, Dr. Divyansh, caretaker and Irina nodded to confirm a “No”.

Abby was on the bed. Jai’s eyes were scanning every inch of the room. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Putting on his gloves, he moved towards Abby. Her body was pale, but rigor mortis had not set in. Abby was in red dress; red stilettos were carefully placed on one side of the bed. Her hands folded just under her breast. Small studs of diamond were in her ears and a simple solitaire in a plain chain was on her neck. Music was still on; the system was on a wooden cabinet above the bed. Above it was another cabinet filled with books.

“So, Ms. Abhishikta loved thriller novels”, exclaimed Jai as he picked up a half-read novel, “The Captive[5]” from her side table.”

Jai inspected the adjoining corridor, kitchen and dining space and guest bathroom that connected to her room. Everything was arranged in place. No signs of any struggle, though the front door not being locked raised few doubts. Medical Examiner with few cops arrived and processing of the body and crime scene commenced as Jai followed the group to the hall to get few answers.

Suicides are generally behind the locked doors. No struggles. Did she trust the perpetrator? Did she let the perp in? Prep could be someone known to her.

Jai took out his notebook to start his routine investigation, “I am aware, Ms Abhishikta has few theme restaurants. Is there anything else she was involved in?

Irina was first to answer, “AV, I mean Abhishikta’s world revolved around her theme restaurants. When she inherited the business, it was just restaurants in sector 56 and in United Cyber Park. She put a soul in these and converted them to Space Theme Restaurants, “Cena Cosmica[6]”. Very soon, she opened branches in Mall Road, in Gold Souk, in Leisure Valley and in Ambience Mall. She was that good, her life revolved around her work.” There was a sense of pride in Irina’s voice as she recalled AV’s accomplishments.

“Were there any threatening calls made to the deceased?” All of them looked at each other and replied in negative. They had no such information.

“Dr. Divyansh and Bijlee ma’am, was your niece involved with anybody…romantically?”

Dr. Divyansh replied quickly, “She was in love with her work”

“Did AV have any enemies?”

Irina added, “In business world, she had loads of rivals, but I don’t think she had any enemies. She had no enemies.”

A new voice added, “Whole world was her enemy, and she was the same to the world. She hated everybody”. A drunken young man in his twenties, with unkempt appearance came in. Seems he had been drinking the whole night.

“Inspector, want to know about her enemies? See around yourself, each one of us, me …”, before he could complete his sentence Dr. Divyansh stopped him. Color faded from his face, when he saw Shay, his only son standing on the entrance of the hall, drunk and spiteful. He hurried and took Shay away on the pretext of him being too drunk to talk any sense.

Bijlee kept on adding a little wail, “Oh, my dear girl, why did you leave us alone.” after each of her answers. If she was acting, it was bad. Irina was sad but tried to sound as professional as possible. Dr. Divyansh seemed normal till his son showed up. After that, he was shaky when he returned to the hall.

The specialists were bagging and tagging the evidences. Assistant ME was accompanying AV’s body to the autopsy. Jai’s work here seemed to be done for today.

From the first interview Jai could sum up

Cause: Murder or suicide – not yet confirmed.

People close: Aunt - Bijlee, Uncle – Dr. Divyansh, Cousin - Shay, Personal Assistant - Irina

Enemies: Not disclosed

Suspicious activities as of now: Cousin Shay

Reason for suspicion: Still unknown

It was around 8:00am and Sun was still struggling to tear through the thick fog. Jai needed a smoke. He stepped out. Few women draping themselves in shawls over sweaters were walking with rapid pace from other villas in the vicinity. Most of them had migrated to this city from West Bengal to work as part-time maids, while their husbands took jobs as carpenters, plumbers etc. The city of Gurugram had work for everyone, it accepted people from all round the country. He called out a few of them. Nervously, they came. Their network would put any detective agency to shame. They knew everything that was happening in lives of people who lived there.

They told Jai that the farmhouse was mostly vacant. Only the caretaker would be around maintaining the house. But last night, it seemed there was a small party. There was music and lights were on. While they did not see anybody, they did assume, that there must be some party as it was the last night of the year.

Jai felt good with his initial work. It might not be a celebrity case but was definitely enough high profile that could land him a promotion. He smiled, imitating Agent Booth. The co-protagonist of the series that he was watched some time back, “Bones[7]”. Ever since, he had chanced upon “NYPD Blue[8]” as a teenager, there was no looking back. The charisma of the detectives and cops caught his fancy. He had found his goal in life. Police procedural drama became a part of his life, his ritual. He would watch a police procedural drama every day till sleep overcame. Those were his inspiration.

Today, standing in AV’s farmhouse, looking out at the hypnotic magical morning of Gurugram, he felt like a detective that he had so often seen in the series.