From the author's desk: Hello dears! Happy holidays to all of you... I went through each of your messages... Thanks for sharing your stories and opinions here all of which is nothing short of heroic... I hope that these story will inspire someone out there who needs that support.
So here is the bigger picture, a little more of Anjali's story... Happy reading
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Chapter 15 : Trials of truth
Part 4: Portents of evil
It was 3 am in the morning. Both Arnav and Khushi were seated at the hospital lobby next to the ICU.
“ACP is here” Khushi whispered to Arnav as he looked towards the direction she indicated.
Abhi was in his casuals as he made his way to the place where they both were seated.
“How is she now?” he asked the moment he reached them.
“Stable” Arnav sounded weary.
“Did you get to speak to her?”
Arnav shook his head “Not yet”.
“How did you find out?”
“Khushi found her first”
Abhi turned to her
“How did it happen?”
“I don’t know, she was upset. You know about the episode in the King’s courtyard right?”
“Arnav told me about it. Did she tell you anything after that?”
“Nothing much, I only know what she told us both in the evening. By far, she was avoiding the topic.”
“You didn’t probe further?”
“No. She was Ok by the time we reached home. We didn’t want to start that conversation again considering that she was alright.”
“What made you go to her room?”
“It was some intuition”
“Any last communication from her which directed you to that intuition?”
Khushi hesitated a bit before she answered him.
“It was a message from her”
Arnav looked up surprised at Khushi along with Abhimanyu.
“you got a message?” Arnav asked
“May I see that Khushi?” Abhi asked.
“Actually it was kind of intuitive… nothing in the message hinted at anything” Khushi hesitated.
“Khushi, we don’t know why she attempted suicide, perhaps that message can give us some clue, please show it to me” Abhi insisted as Arnav looked at her bemused at why she should hesitate to show a message to them
Khushi bit her lip “There is nothing in that message, if it was, I would have told you.” she said.
“May I see it?” Arnav asked.
“It’s kind of… it is not indicating anything”
“Khushi, please” Arnav urged her.
“It’s a bit personal” she pleaded.
The two looked at each other, after a few seconds of reluctance, she pulled out her phone and opened her messages.
“It isn’t what you think, there is nothing in there” she said again as she handed it over to him.
Arnav stood staring at the message in front of him for longer than necessary and then he slowly looked up at Khushi.
“I told you, there was nothing.”
He gave an awkward nod
Abhi who stood there looking at the scene in front of him, waited for his friend to pass on the phone to him. But since there was no inclination from Arnav to that effect, he leaned in to read the message. But just as he leaned in, Arnav promptly closed the screen and handed the phone back to hi
“Excuse me!” he said unbelievingly.
“It is a personal message”
Curiosity killing him, Abhi persisted.
“it was the last message sent by your sister. You know I may demand to see it in the name of law if it gets down to that”
“Abhi, trust me, it’s just a normal message” Arnav told his friend.
“which made her run up to your sister’s room?”
“I don’t know what in that message gave her that instinct but…”
“There are certain things that a trained eye can catch” Abhi said extending his hand towards Khushi, demanding her phone.
Khushi was steadily looking at Arnav who let out a sigh as she gave her phone to Abhi.
“Khushi, I am not really sure if there is someone else in your life. I sincerely hope there aren’t any but Arnav. And I just know that you both will make a great life together and I wish you both realize that soon… how I wish I could see that happen in my lifetime… Take care of him for me Khushi…”
Abhi raised his eyebrows as he read the message. Looking meaningfully at Arnav he returned the mobile back to Khushi.
“So, hmm, this message made you want to see her?”
Khushi nodded
“To discuss this message?”
“Not really. I..”
“By the way, you are ok with this message or not ok?”
“Abhi!” Arnav was irritated.
“Should I also answer this in the name of law?” Khushi asked him shrewdly.
A slight trace of smirk escaped Abhi as he glimpsed at his friend.
“No, I am asking this at my own interest” Abhi said. “You are free to choose not to answer it”
“I felt it somehow had a tone of finality in it” Khushi told him, trying to ignore the innuendo in Abhi’s question “I was scared that she was going to do something. I was right, wasn’t I?”
“of course!”
With an awkwardness that had peeped in the three stood there silently for a few minutes.
“Excuse me. I will be back” Khushi said as she moved towards the restrooms.
“That was insensitive” Arnav snapped at his friend the moment Khushi left.
“I wanted to understand why anyone would want to discuss a message like this in the middle of the night.”
“Why don’t you flip the question. Why would Anjali want to send a message like that in the middle of the night? I would have done the same thing if the message came to me…”
“That’s my next question…Why not you and why her?”
“I don’t know. May be it was a girl to girl talk” Arnav guessed.
“Is that what a girl would think when she is about to commit suicide? Let me fix my brother’s life before I go…”
“Abhi, you are reading too much into this”
“No, I am just wondering why your sister wouldn’t message you but her”
“I haven’t checked my messages” Arnav said remembering that he had indeed got a message just before Khushi called him. Thinking of it now… Khushi would not have messaged him at the face of such crisis. As Arnav opened his mobile he saw one unread message was from Anjali and not Khushi as he had guessed.
“She sent you a message too”
Arnav clicked it open.
“I am sorry Bhai, Sorry for so many things…good bye.” read the message.
“You didn’t tell me this”
“I didn’t see it until now”
“I have a sinking feeling, but you can call me a paranoid”
“About what?”
“About these messages. How is the possibility of Khushi sending these messages from Anjali’s mobile?”
“I am not calling you paranoid, I am calling you mad!” Arnav gritted his teeth angrily
“blame it on my job. But give me a sensible justification to negate it”
“This is totally absurd. Why would she send message to herself when she finds Anjali dying?”
“I don’t know, may be that you are a pricey catch and if Anjali does not make it, at least, you would fulfill her seemingly last wish”
Arnav balled his fists.
“The only reason I am not punching you on your face is because you are in the police service” he told him angrily. “If Khushi was that interested, she wouldn’t be discounting my advances”
“She is?” Abhi was surprised.
“That could also explain why that was in the mind of my sister at that crucial moment”
“you were discussing it with her last evening?”
“a bit”
“hmm. That could also explain why you try so hard to please her. That should be a first, at least as far as I know”
“Why are you so hell bent on making me annoyed and angry? As if there is not enough on my plate already. Are you trying to test my threshold?”
“truth hurts my friend”
“If you are still holding against her for Sameer case…”
“You know the backlash I had to face because of that?”
“She is not responsible for it Abhi”
“She is back” Abhi warned Arnav as the two stopped discussing.
“What happened? You both look tensed”
“Nothing, we were just discussing”
“Did you get the CCTV recording?” Arnav asked him, changing the topic.
“Rajesh has already got it. He is working on pulling out the strip corresponding the approximate time that you have mentioned… He is supposed to give me a call once he gets it”
“I want to make sure that Bas***d rots in hell”
“I only wish the tape could give us enough clue” Abhi said “so that we could get the complete picture”
“What do you mean?” Arnav asked
“Do you suspect there could be something else?” Khushi asked.
“I don’t know, with what she told you both, I don’t see a strong reason for her to take that extreme step. I have a strong suspicion that there is more.”
“You think she lied to us?”
“I think she hasn’t told you everything”
Arnav glared at Abhi
Just then Abhi’s phone rang, indicating Rajesh’s call. He picked up the call, spoke to him briefly telling him of the location he was in
Soon, Rajesh walked up to them.
“You got the tapes?”
“Yes Sir, I think you should see it”
“What happened?” Arnav asked him
“You have the recording with you?” Abhi asked
“It’s here with me” he said pulling out the device.
As the three men and Khushi made their way to the pantry area of the hospital, Rajesh played the muted black and white video strip.
The video snippet showed that the sequence where Anjali was shopping inside the shop and then she being approached by a man whom Khushi recognized with the black blazer.
The demeanor of the man and Anjali’s reaction to him- clearly indicated that she knew him before and she was at first clearly repulsive and annoyed as she tried to move out from there and then he grabbing her and pulling her back towards him and she punching and shouting at him. The sequence then showed then the man’s menacing look as he pulled out his mobile and showed her something, and Anjali’s behavior changing completely after that. She looked trembling at what was showed to her as the man jeered at her gesturing her to call him as she ran out, crying bitterly.
“looks like she knew the man before and she was being threatened” Rajesh concluded as the three finished watching the strip.
“thought so” Abhi said thoughtfully as Arnav stood there in shocked silence.
“Do you know if this was one of her friends?”
Arnav nodded in negative “Never seen him before”
“Sir, We have already identified the man in the video. He is Sandy, a petty criminal” Rajesh told Abhi
"Dispatch a team to nab him" Abhi instructed.
"Done that already sir"
“Any time did she say that she was being troubled by anyone?” Abhi asked Arnav
“No, not a clue.”
“And to you Khushi?”
“No, she didn’t say anything”
“Her phone… It may have some signs of pester if there was any” Rajesh told them.
“I checked it, there wasn’t anything, I did that the first thing when she came back crying yesterday”
“Where is it?” Abhi asked.
“It should be at home” Arnav told
“I have it with me” Khushi interrupted him
“You have her phone with you?” Abhi asked quickly glancing at Arnav
“Yeah” Khushi said casually “It was with her when I found her. I think she must have slashed herself first and then started to message me. Took it with me as I thought it may come useful”
“Did it come useful?”
Arnav glared at his friend gesturing him to shut his mouth
“No, I couldn’t go through it. Don’t know the pattern.”
Arnav looked at his friend with a smirk of satisfaction as he took the mobile from Khushi
“I know it”
The three went through the call logs and message logs. There was no message listed from any unknown number, not even her friends… which could be hinting at menace.
Her sent messages showed that she had sent her last messages to NK, Akaash, Khushi and finally Arnav
“She sent you also a message?” Khushi asked
“Yeah, just found it”
The messages to NK and Akaash were similar tones as in case of Arnav
“they are going to call once they see it” Khushi said.
“Never thought about that”
“tch, no clues what so ever” Abhi said “either, the man was careful not leave any trace or she deleted them all”
“Why would she delete it?”
“The same reason why she didn’t tell you about it” Abhi told his friend and then turned to Rajesh “Get all her messages and phone calls for the last six months traced”
As Rajesh left Abhi patted his friend’s shoulder. Arnav looked worried and thoughtful
“We will get him Arnav; we will get to the bottom of this” Abhi promised him.
“I am not worried about that…”
“I know, it’s the least of the worries now” Abhi admitted.
***
It was little over 6 in the morning as the three sat at the hospital café for a cup of coffee. They had already got a call from NK asking about the weird coded message from Anjali asking him to take care of himself. Arnav had managed saying that may be she got some dream and sent out a message to him in the night.
“Akaash might also call once the part of the world where he is wakes up”
“Have you informed your Dadi?” Abhi asked Arnav
“Not yet. I am not planning to tell her immediately. Not until I know the reason”
“hmm then she will start asking questions if she doesn’t find anyone there if she hasn’t already”
“I told Ramu Kakka to manage her questions”
“he knows?”
“yeah, Khushi felt someone in the family should know, at least to clean up the blood stains in Anjali’s room. We told him before we left”
“good thinking on letting some one know” Abhi commented "but it could be considered an act of evidence tamper."
"You are not thinking of filing FIR on this. Are you?"
"No dude. Hope it doesn't escalate to that"
While the two were discussing, Khushi was quiet lost. When she had told the old man, he had looked shaken. But he proved his loyalty and reliability to the family as he promised not to escalate the news any further and assured them to take care of the stains and answer questions appropriately. The only thing that puzzled her was when the old man had sent a small prayer to the heavens above just when they were leaving…
“Devuda, Please do not let the history repeat itself, please let it not repeat…”
She made a note to ask Arnav later about it.
“Rajesh should have called me by now”
It was exactly at that time that Rajesh’s call came in.
Abhi spoke into his phone for a brief moment as he flipped the bill and wrote as he spoke to Rajesh.
“Arnav” he said urgently after he cut the call “this looks bigger than we thought”
“What happened?”
“Does Anjali own any credit card?”
“yes, Why?”
“I just need the transaction details for the last six months”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“Anjali has been constantly threatened for almost three months. There are bank notifications where she has been sending lump sum to a specific account name. I would need her bank details to see which account”
“In the last three months?” Arnav asked surprised, “I would have known it if so, I have been seeing every single penny going out and coming in”
“No, not in the last three months, until a few days before you arrived from UK… no message from that perpetuator for almost 2 months – that’s the time period when you lost your father…”
“she never told me anything”
“Surprisingly, the messages from that number started again last evening”
“and she deleted it?”
Abhi nodded
“but why would she do that?”
“Only she can answer that. We should wait until 8 to meet her”
“What is the nature of threats?”
“Always the same- demanding money. Didn’t you notice the unusual withdrawals from her?”
“I thought she might have some shopping needs”
“It’s her own account?”
“No she operates on the family account. I can open up the transaction details.”
“Ok, check on these dates” Abhi said pushing the paper that he scribbled on while on call with Rajesh.
***
“Rajesh, Check this account number.” Abhi called out to Rajesh on the phone “and there is two more. Note it down. Tell me who owns it”
As Arnav and Khushi sat watching Abhimanyu waiting impatiently on the call, the answer came in from the other side.
“Oh Sh*t Sh*t Sh*t” Abhi said as he heard the name.
“What happened?” Arnav and Khushi asked getting tensed.
Gesturing them to wait, “Alright, Rajesh, thanks. I will call you back”
“Have you found out who that man in the video is?”
“It doesn’t matter; He is only a pawn. The mastermind is a whale still deep in the ocean”
“Abhi, can you please tell me all that you found out?”
“Arnav, remember I was telling you about the mafia gang I am after?” Abhi started.
“tell me already dammit!” Arnav shouted impatiently
“Looks like Anjali landed herself in a mess. This account to which she has been transferring amount to belongs to a mafia which targets young girls, take videos of them in compromising statures with their permission or without and then threaten them for money”
“Who is the whale?”
“He goes by a lot of names. But at least as far as I know, he is called Shyam Manohar Jha”
To be continued.
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tada... I know, all updates cannot be full of Arhi... I need to tell the story too...and how can my story not have Shyamjeee... so here he comes...
Until we meet again, cheers!
Vi
Edited by abavi - 5 years ago
Mangal Lakshmi
328