Part 2
" Good morning sir ...Acp Jodha Jalal Mohammad khan reporting sir " ... saluting her superior officer with respect , she tossed a warm refreshing smile threafter , making the receiver reciprocate with equal fervor .
" Good Morning ACP , back from ur honeymoon eh ?? ", ...Greeting his junior he gestured her to take the seat in between noticing the blush that creeped on her cheeks with the mention of honeymoon .
To say the truth , he was surprised for a moment , ofcourse anyone who knew Jodha well , would be surprised watching this changeover in her ...only a few months of their marriage and she was a different women altogether ... undoubtedly , he was proud the way his Junior she carried both her duties as a dedicted officer and loving wife effortlessly ,credit goes to her husband offcourse who supported her everytime she needed ...and he was glad that she found her true soulmate atleast this time .
" ACP Jodha Jalal Mohammad Khan ", ...finding her lost in her own world he called her gracing a teasing smile ...stressing on each and every alphabet in turn...adding hue to her already tinted cheeks ...and asked , " what made u come here ?? ".
Back to the real world ...Jodha cleared her throat ...damn ...cursing herself mentally she sternly chided her traitarious blush that peeped every now and then unwantedly with the mere mention of new addition to her name .
"I uhuhhh ...sir ...I want to take Jay singh Rathore's case", ...she finally uttered clearly and cautiously .
" What ?? Her senior officer exclaimed doubting he misheard her .
" I want to take Tiwari sir's case", ...this time she cleared with a determination in her voice .
" U know this isnt any chocolate that i would snatch from his hands and give it to u right ?" The older man questioned raising his brows .
"Yes sir , i very well know ", ...came her confident reply looking straight into his eyes .
"Still u r asking ?? Like seriously , im not able to comprehend the reason behind ur interest in this case Jodha ", ...shrugging his shoulders the officer leaned back onto his chair trying to get into Jodha's brain ...it was pretty clear that it was a water tight open and shut case where even a blind man can tell that the accused is guilty ...the accused was caught on crime scene ...his fingerprints were detected on murder weapon and above all ...the motive of murder was pretty clear ...only a stupid would opt to step into a case like this where the accused is all doomed ...and he beleived Jodha is anything but stupid .
" Its simple sir " her words broke his chain of thoughts ...he looked at her amused while she continued ... " as per our jurisprudence we may let go 100 culprits free but no innocent should be punished ", ...She replied with a smile placing her hands on the table .
" And u think the accused Jay Singh Rathore is innocent ?? ", Getting a nod from her he asked further ..." and what made u think so ?? U dont even know him ? ".
" I dont know him sir but Maan singh does and he beleives Jay is innocent and I , trust Maan singh", ...she answered making her superior officer a utterly surprised .
I cant beleive Jodha , u want to take up this case just because of ur trust in Maan singh ?? Have u forgotten ...law beleives only in proofs and evidences Jodha ...not emotions? ...if u beleive the accused is innocent then u have to proove it... can u ?? His words more than challenging looked like warning to Jodha ..probably becoz he thinks she took a wrong decision but Jodha very well knew what she was doing and no way she was going to take a back step now ...she was determined to get to the roots of this case and so would she .
" I can , sir ...but for that u have to give this case to me , right ??", ...her lips curved up into a smile as she knew her work will be done now .
How smart !! u trapped me in ur words , haan ...he narrowed his eyes and looked at her sternly for a second ...and bursted into laughter the next moment. ...Jodha was capable of having her way out , if determined and on serious note ...no matter what his views are about the case , he still beleived Jodha ...for ...she has an amazing eye for detail .
He has seen her tearing toughtest cases to shreds . " so ACP khan , now tell me how do i ask Tiwari to handover this case to you ?? " he asked to which Jodha replied ...
That u leave on me sir ...she whishpered something into his ears to which his eyes beamed in acceptance.
****************
" ACP Jodha , u here ?? What made u visit the cell ", ...officer Tiwari asked in between beating the person in front to death ...his bruises turned blue making him look miserable .
" Stop torturing him like this officer ...he is a suspect not guilty " ...her words didnt seem to reach his ears as he continued his work .
" Officer ...officer ...can u stop beating him ...! ", Jodha almost screamed when she saw the person was knocked unconscious and bleeding .
" ACP Jodha Jalal Mohammad Khan ...i see u have changed a lot " , ...pausing , he turned around to see the women standing in front ...his eyes travelled all over her body making Jodha grit her teeth ... " I mean ... ur heart turned soft after marriage ,isnt it ?? cant see violence and blood in front of ur eyes , haan ?? But this is the way to treat the guilty , forgot ACP khan ?? ", He kicked the unconsious man in his stomach making Jodha fist her plam ...he was crossing the heights of being ruthless .
Keeping a calm demeanour , Jodha uttered ..." Changed or not , time will tell officer ...for now im scared you have to leave , coz u r no more incharge of this case ", ...she said crossing her arms across her chest .
" And who said that ? You ?? ".
" I said that ", ...a voiced reverbrated in the four walls from behind ...a silhoutte emerged out making both Jodha and Tiwari salute in respect simultaneously .
" Officer Tiwari we have orders from higher officials to handover the case to ACP Jodha " ...
" But , but sir ", ...he tried to protest but was cut short by the senior officer .
" Im not yet done officer ...let me complete first ", ...his heavy voiced boomed making the former silent .
" Good ...u have a high profile case to handle Officer in a limited period of time...they beleive only u r capable enough of handling this case ...so get into work asap ...and remember thats an order ", ..he said with finality in his voice to which officer Tiwari couldnt refuse .
Though Tiwari suspected Jodha's hand in all this but he couldnt say much coz he cant go against his higher officers and risk his job , thus he left swearing , that reached Jodha's ears ...but she was least bothered about them ...she has a case in hand and she better not disturb her mind with unnecessary things .
Jodha quickly called Maan singh to accompany her to the crime scene ...before sending the accused to hospital for treatment ...he definetly needed it first .
Victims in laws house ...
Jodha made her way into the room where the murder took place , though the body was already sent for autopsy by the investigative team and the bed sheet covered with blood was sent to forensics laboratory ...still there were some marks of the dried fluid spattered on the marble floor . The once decorated room with heavily fragrant fresh flowers was now wilted ...giving the room a dull , gloomy apprearance .
The tiny broken peices of flower vase laid scattered on the ground ...the room had one entrance with a french window on the opposite side ...Jodha was studying every nook and corner of the room when Maan singh approached her with a man in late twenties .
" Mr sudeep mishra...Maan singh introduced Jodha to the victim's husband ...
Sporting a serious demeanor , stone cold eyes and a very intimidating stance ...Jodha gazed the so called husband whose face was devoid of any expressions .
Who saw the corpse first ?? She asked keeping up the same demeanor .
I saw the body first !! Replied Sudeep .
where were u at the time of murder Mr Mishra ?? " , Jodha started her interogation with sunaina's husband as he was the prime suspect according to Maan singh .
" Officer ...i was on the way to my room around 10 ", he began in a complete normal way like nothing serious happened ..." " " where my bride sunaina was waiting for me ...u know for First night , when some of my relatives and cousins stopped me mid way teasingly ...to put forth their demands ...sort of through fare for going to my room , after a little bargain i finally gave up to their demands and was about to reach my room when my Boss and colleagues cum friends stopped me again ...they wanted me to join them for a drink ...i couldnt refuse since it was a matter of only few drinks ... i informend sunaina about the dealy and went with them ...i then came back late night around 11:30 ...the door was closed from inside ...i knocked but there was no responce ...i wondered if she was slept ...so i knocked the door a little harder ...but again she didnt respond ...so i decided better not to disturb her and was about to go back when i heard sunaina's loud scream followed by some cracking sound ...i sensed some trouble and started kicking the door ...by that time everyone gathered around and helped me break the door ...once opened ...we saw sunaina's body covered with blood on bed , down lied a man unconsiously with the broken peice of vase in his hand which had blood over it ...he paused momentarily to breath and continued ...
sunaina's cousin chandini who stayed at our home for the night identified him as Jay singh Rathore ...sunaina's ex , she also suspected him to be the murderer as sunaina turned down his marriage proposal ...threafter we called the police and rest u know better then me .
" Hmm", ...Jodha hmmped after hearing each and every word uttered by him carefully and asked ...
" Was ur marriage love or arranged ?? ",
" Arranged ofcourse ", ...came an instant reply .
" And u claim that werent aware of sunaina and Jay's love affair ?? Infact u saw Jay for the first time in ur life ?" , Jodha queried as she somewhere beleived he wasnt completely ignorant of the facts .
" Ofcourse i didnt madam !! I wouldnt have married her if i had even an iota of her love affair ", ...he replied keeping his calm .
" I agree ...if u had known , u wouldnt have married sunaina ...not even for the money ?? Eh ?? " , ...she grilled to which his face went pale for a second ...but the next moment he composed himself bringing back his cool attitude .
What r u pointing at madam ?? He asked feiging innocent .
Im pointing towards the huge lump of money invested by ur father in law in ur business ...correct me if i am wrong ...didnt u agree for this marriage just for this deal ? Did u or did u not ...her voice raised by a notch scaring the former like anything .
" Yes , yes i did ", he admitted as there was no pointing in hiding things now ...his lie was caught , indeed he married sunaina for money " but whats wrong in that ?? " He attempt to protest ..." Dowry isnt a new thing in our society ...everyone demands for it according to their status ...and just to inform u ...it was sunaina's father who came up with the offer ...we didnt ask for it , but just agreed and who wont ? Right ? Did i do anything wrong ?? ".
" Definetly not Mr mishra ...u did nothing wrong ...eventhough its illegal and several laws have been issued against dowry u did nothing wrong " , ...she gritted her teeth under her breath inbetween saying the words .
" The nerve of this man ", ...she glared at him furiously , how casually he said he wasnt wrong ...when most of the times its because of this dowry women undergoes harrasment or worst suicide .
She felt disgusted that how dowry has become a matter of pride instead of being regarded as a crime ...her thoughts broke on hearing Sudeep's voice .
Ok fine officer ...i agree its a crime ...but it has to do nothing with sunaina's murder ...im innocent...neither i know Jay before nor i knew about their affair ...if that's what u think my motive of murder could be ...he added further totally shocking Jodha .
That u leave upon me to decide Mr mishra for now im scared u cant leave this city , state or Country for that matter ...ordering , she turned around only to be stopped by him .
But ...i have a business meeting in banglore after two days which is important for my company and besides dont u think u r being ridiculous for leaving the murderer and running behind innocent ?? His comment triggered her anger ...he was no one to teach Jodha , her Job .
Mr Mishra i didnt ask for ur character certificate ohk ", facing him Jodha added " having said that i would like to see your presence in station when asked for , ohk ? .
" Whatever !!", He rolled his eyes while Jodha completely ignored him and proceeded further to have a talk with other family members .
Mr pratap mishra...(sunaina's father in law )
Where were u at the time of murder ?? Maan singh asked the old man in early sixties making him shudder .
I ... I ...he stammered to which Maan raised a suspicious brow .
Old man took a minute to compose himself and replied ... " i was sleeping in one of our guest room upstairs ", he pointed his finger up where few rooms located and continued ..." i was exhausted with the long day events so took my medicines and drifted into deep slumber ...my sleep broke on hearing the noises coming from downstairs ...i got up and marched towards the source of noice and found people gathered around sudeeep's room ...i stepped inside making my way theough the crowd and was utterly shocked to see dead sunaina ".
Anything else ?? Asked Maan
No sir ...was the plain answer .
" Mrs mishra ...where were u at the time of murder ?? ".
The lady in early fifties started weeping as soon as she heard the term murder ... officer ... she started in her sour voice .
.." .after wrapping my leftover tasks ...i went upstairs ...to meet our guests resting upstairs in the other room ...just to assure if they were comfortable and then i sat there chatting with them for a while untill i heard someone banging the door ...i came down with everyone to see the matter ...and " ...she sobbed leaving her sentence incomplete ..." whoever is the murderer he should be punished seriously ",...she sneezed into her saree pallu when Maan asked further .
" Where is ur daughter Mrs Mishra ? Wasnt she supposed to be here right now ? ", Asked Maan singh finding her daughter missing .
" My daughter Rashmi has nothing to do with all this officer ...she wasnt even in house when all this happened ...she is doing her masters in business administration from cambridge university , she had to appear for some exam the next day ...so after her brother's marriage she left the house around 9:30 , to catch her flight ...but we informed her about the news and asked her to come back soon", ...she finished weeping more .
" Ohh i see ... thats good Mrs mishra ...we need to interrogate each and every person related to this case", ...she nodded her head in yes ...
Maan was about to ask further when his mobile beeped with a message .
He went to Jodha who was studying the couple from far and whispered something into her ears ...and soon the duo left together taking their leave.
Hospital
" Hello Mr singh ...Hope u r feeling well now", ...
He simply nodded when Maan stepped ahead .
" Jay ...she is ACP Jodha ...she has taken up ur case from Tiwari sir ".
" Oh ", ...he feebly replied and tried to get up when Jodha stopped him from doing so .
" Its ok Mr singh ...no need to get up ", ...Jodha noticed tears at the brim of his eyes ...he was a completely broken soul ...and she emphathised with him .
" So Jay tell us what were u doing in sunaina's in laws house ? And what exactly happened that day ".
" Officer ...i ...i dont remember anything"... he averted his gaze as a lone tear trickled down his cheek .
Maan came and sat besides him rubbing his shoulder , providing him the much needed courage to speak up about the fatal night .
" I ...i really dont remember anything Madam ...i was heavily drunk that day ...to forget the pain given by sunaina ...i tried hard to forget her and let her go ...but i simply couldnt "... his voice choked while saying so ..." i couldnt take the pain more ...thus went to sunaina's house to talk with her or her father trying my luck for the last time ...but he threw me out of his house ...like i was some creepy animal ".
" I was enraged and...",
" And u went to sunaina's house to kill her , right ?? ", Jodha's words peirced his already broken heart .
" Madam ", ...Maan singh tried to defend his friend but stopped when Jodha singnalled with her hand .
" Like u said Mr singh ...u were enraged and not in ur senses too ...above all u had all the reasons to kill sunaina ...isnt it ?? ".
She asked deliberately a bit sharp ...agreed she trusted Maan singh ...but at the same time she cant be linient with a person who is somehow related to a murder...can she ?
Nooo...a shrill voice snapped her out of her thoughts ...
" I ...I ...didnt kill her ...trust me officer ...plss "...stream of tears rolled down his cheeks .
" I love her selflessly officer ...i cant think of harming her even in my dreams ...i agree she choosed her family over me and i was angry for that, at the same time ...i also beleived anyone in her place would have done the same ...i thought to forget her for the same ...but when the actual day came ...i dont know what got into my head that i went to sunaina's house ...i fell on everyone's feet requesting them to give me my life back .
But then sunaina came literally crying and asked me to get out of her life ... that time i realised ...how much pain i was giving to my love...the one who promised never to bring tears in her eyes was the reason for the tears in her eyes today ...i felt ashamed of myself ..how could i be so selfish .
I decided never ever to show my face to her , but again i knew i cant live without her, "ending my life " seemed the best option to me at that time ... i haplessly roamed on the streets drinking more mustering all the courage to commit suicide when i got a call from sunaina ...i was shocked first but picked up the call immediately ...she said she wanted to meet me and forwarded her address ... i dont know why but i decided to meet her against all the odds , may be for the last time ...but like i said i was drunk heavily ...i wasnt in a state to even walk properly ...forget driving ...i asked my friend cum business partner Varun to help me ...and after that im blank .
When varun dropped me to sunaina's house , how i reached her room ...who ..who ", ...his voice choked again while he tried hard to complete his words but failed miserably .
Killed sunaina ...she finished his words in her mind ...u take rest Mr singh and recover soon .
Saying so , she along with Maan singh left the room leaving Jay to rest .
The duo climbed the four wheeler all the way lost in their thoughts ...both felt bad for Jay ...and sunaina's sudden urge confused the duo to the core ...when everything was going well why on earth sunaina wanted to meet Jay ?
Any guesses why sunaina wanted to meet Jay , Madam ?? And do u really think Jay could be the murderer ? Maan singh finally voiced out his thoughts .
I dont know Maan ...the case is really confusing ...somewhere down the heart i beleive Jay is innocent ...but im not 100 % sure ...he was emotionally disturbed and drunken too ...people like him sometimes could be violent ...right ? ...she sighed doubting her own decision ...when someting popped in her mind .
Maan do one thing ... go and try to contact varun ( Jay's friend ) ...he might shed some light on this case .
Yes Madam ...Maan singh's face litted up ...for ...there was still some hope to save his friend .
The ignition started and the duo sped off hitting the roads .
...will be continued in next part 😊
Edited by avika444 - 7 years ago
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