IPKKND FF:Justice Comes At A Price[Epilogue Upd!] - Page 38

"How could you do this Payal?"

Anjali gazed at her sister-in-law, anger boiling inside her. NK and Lavanya held onto Anjali from two sides, in fear that she might launch herself on Payal in a fit of rage.

"How could you do this to your Bhaiya?!"

Khushi looked alarmed as the voices from downstairs started escalating. She nudged Arnav and asked her to go down and try and get a grip on the situation. Arnav was hesitant as he didn't want to leave Khushi alone even for a little bit. But he could hear the situation getting worse downstairs and grudgingly made his way downstairs but not before kissing Khushi softly on her forehead.

Once downstairs, he was greeted by the most startling sight.

Payal was standing at the doorway with a wedding garland around her neck, sindoor in her parting and a mangalsutra around her neck. Akash was standing next to her, clearly shaken by the entire scene unfolding in front of his eyes. He was a quiet person and he barely ever raised his voice. This was definitely a new experience for him and Arnav felt sorry for him. Now that he no longer had an irrational grudge against Khushi, he saw Akash as a good person – someone who Payal was ideally suited for. He felt guilty for trying to convince his Di and Jeejaji against him. He was definitely responsible for what was going on right now.

"Di, please calm down."

Anjali looked towards the stairs and relief flooded her as she saw her brother coming towards them. Finally she would have someone to completely support her.

"Congratulations Payal. Congratulations Akash."

He smiled at the newly married couple, fully aware of the astounded looks he was getting from everyone around him.

"Chote? What are – "

"It's time we accepted Payal's choice Di. Akash is a good guy and frankly I think they make a great pair."

Payal gave him a bright smile while Akash looked relieved. NK gave him a thumbs up and Lavanya nodded her head in approval.

Anjali was just about to retort when the front door swung open revealing a smartly dressed man in uniform – Detective Inspector Kashyap.

"Mrs. Jha, I think we can leave the family disputes aside for a while. I have something to discuss with you all."

He walked in and was followed by two more officers and NK's sister.

"I will begin the discussion as soon as everyone arrives. Where are Ms. Gupta and Ms. Joshi?"

"Malini just texted me saying that she's on her way here."

Inspector Kashyap nodded at NK's reply and turned towards Akash, hoping to get some news of his sister's whereabouts. But he received the answer from a different source.

"Khushi's in her room. I'll go and get her."

Everyone gaped in astonishment as Arnav walked up to the third floor and soon returned with a slightly pale looking Khushi. He was supporting her by the shoulder as she leaned against him. Inspector Kashyap raised his eyebrow slightly but made no comment while Anjali's mouth was wide open. NK, Lavanya, Payal and Akash just stared at them and Parvati kept clenching and unclenching her hands, all the while muttering curses under her breath.

By the time they had come down to where everyone was sitting, Khushi had began to blush slightly. Everyone's eyes were on them and she felt very conscious against Arnav's masculine form.

Before anyone could comment, the doorbell rang and in walked in NK's pretty fiance.

"Let us begin."

…

"I have gathered everyone here because I have just gotten hold of some valuable information. A perfect motive for murder has been found and it helps us tie up a lot of facts. Frankly this theory is flawless and I'm pretty sure we'll be able to unmask the murderer now."

Shocked and apprehensive looks were exchanged and Arnav squeezed Khushi's hand reassuringly.

"Shyam Manohar Jha was working on a top secret case when he was murdered. He was fighting a case of embezzlement against Mehras Inc. And he was winning. So it stands at this – on the night of the murder the case was poised in such a position that one more court date and Mr. Jha would have won the case against the company. This would mean that the company would face ruin. Now who would be most affected by that? Quite obviously Mr. Mehra. But Mr. Mehra was not on the crime scene."

Arnav could feel the tension growing as he watched a frown settle on NK's face.

"True but his son was definitely there. In fact, Mr. Nand Kishore Mehra happens to be a close family friend and he often comes here for dinner. Now we have the motive. Let's consider opportunity."

"Frankly, everyone in this room had the opportunity to murder Mr. Jha. So we can skip that part. Now coming to the means. Ms. Gupta, would you kindly show us what you found in Mr. Mehra's room a couple of days ago."

Arnav watched in astonishment as Khushi calmly got up and took out a small bottle from her pocket. She handed it over to the Inspector who held it up for everyone to see. It contained colorless crystals.

"Strychnine."

One word and a deathly silence filled the room. Payal, Akash, Anjali and Laxmi looked at NK in shock. Khushi's face was grim while Parvati's had gone pale. Arnav could feel his temper rising as the implications of the Inspector's words settled into him. Lavanya had an incredulous look on her face while NK just stared at the Inspector as if he had gone mad. It was Malini who broke the silence.

"I'm sure I'm mistaken but it seems as if you're trying to say that NK murdered Mr. Jha?"

"That is correct Ms. Joshi."

Everyone watched, stunned, as the neat and trim Malini Joshi lost her cool.

"You are insane Inspector! NK couldn't do such a thing!"

"You have the facts before Ms. Joshi. We are sure beyond a doubt that Mr. Nand Kishore Mehra murdered Mr. Shyam Manohar Jha."

Anjali started shaking and Payal quickly began comforting her. Both of their eyes were welling up with tears as they stared at NK unbelievingly.

Arnav clenched his fists, finding extremely difficult to believe that his best friend had murdered his brother-in-law. Lavanya was uncharacteristically quiet and she kept shaking her head in disbelief. Parvati once again proved what a selfish sister she was and gave her brother a disgusted look.

"I don't believe you for a second! NK say something! Tell them that you're company was in trouble but you would never kill someone to fix the problem! I know you're not that kind of person who would stoop so low and kill his best friend's family just so that your company doesn't face ruin!"

Malini was speaking quite hysterically now and Arnav was very surprised. He had always thought her to be a person who kept her composure and nothing much could affect her. So why was she behaving like this now? Did she love NK that much that her love for him was blinding her?

Two police officers came up and proceeded to handcuff NK. He had remained quiet all this time and Arnav wondered why he was saying nothing in his defense.

"No! You can't do this! He's my fianc! He couldn't have murdered someone!"

"You're quite right Ms. Joshi."

…

Congrats to everyone who guessed that Payal had eloped 👏 I guess I wasn't too good at keeping it a secret 😆

Chapter ten soon!

"You're quite right Ms. Joshi."

Everyone wheeled around to face the source of those words. They were stunned to see Khushi standing exactly at the place where Malini had been sitting while the Inspector had been revealing the facts.

Malini had a puzzled expression on her face while everyone else wondered what was going on.

"I think that NK is innocent."

Multiple gasps were heard across the room as the Inspector's eyes narrowed. Arnav could see that he was getting angry and he wondered exactly what Khushi was up to.

"What do you mean Ms. Gupta? I have clearly proved how Mr. Mehra killed Mr. Jha."

"Well I have a different theory. In fact I have evidence which can clear NK's name."

NK gave her a slight smile while the Inspector gave her a curt nod telling her to proceed.

"I have with me, a file. And in it are the exact details of Shyam ji's last case."

"What? I already told you Ms. Gupta that we know the terms of the case Mr. Jha was working on."

"Yes but you don't have Shyam ji's personal file do you?"

Anjali's eyes widened in shock as Khushi produced a black file. She recognized it as the one her husband had been using for the last few days and which had gone missing.

"This file states that Shyam ji was fighting a case of embezzlement for and not against Mehras Inc."

"The case he was fighting was against a single person who had been embezzling the company's funds. An employee of the company. Someone who had access to the financials of the company. Someone like Ms. Malini Joshi."

All heads immediately turned towards a surprisingly cool Malini. She had her arms folded across her chest and she was looking Khushi up and down with one eyebrow raised.

"She got into the house with the help of her best friend Parvati, crept into the study while we were all in the living room having coffee and poured the poison into Shyam ji's coffee cup."

"Oh really? And he just let me put a deadly poison into his and then willingly drank it?"

Malini sneered at Khushi who gave her a small smile.

"Actually no. I had gone to the washroom straight after dinner and I saw him entering the study when I had finished and was coming back down to where everyone else was. I heard the clock strike a quarter to eleven just as Shyam ji walked towards the study. This means that there was about fifteen minutes in between when he left the dining room and when he entered the study. That would have given you ample time to poison his coffee."

"Aren't you forgetting what you yourself had said? You found the strychnine in NK's room."

"That's right. But I was lying. I didn't find the strychnine in NK's room. I saw you putting the strychnine in his room."

Malini's face paled a little but she continued in her condescending tone.

"Inspector, are you honestly going to believe someone who changes their statements at the drop of a hat?"

"I am, as a matter of fact. You see I told her to lie."

Astonished eyes turned towards the Inspector. Arnav was losing track of what was going on. It was all too complicated.

"You told her? Why would you do that?"

"So that we could distract you long enough for her to extract the original file from your bag. Not the one you had planted in Mr. Jha's office after you had cleverly dropped me a hint regarding Mr. Mehra's involvement in the case."

Malini's mouth was opening and shutting like a fish as she tried to get out of the continually dangerous situation.

"You- you have no proof that I killed him. All this that you're saying is not good enough to accuse me of murder. So what if a placed a file in Mr. Jha's office? That's not a crime is it? And I don't believe this girl ever saw me putting anything in NK's room. You can't pin any of this on me!"

"We can actually."

Khushi reached into her pocket once more and pulled out a piece of torn fabric.

"I found this in the study, wedged in a small gap between the window and the desk. It's obviously been torn off from somewhere. At first I thought that maybe it was a piece of the black dress Parvati had worn on the night of the murder. That's why I had gone to look around her room when I was knocked unconscious. Now I know that it wasn't part of Parvati's dress. It was from here."

Khushi got up and flourished Malini's black bag in front of her face. At first sight nothing seemed amiss but on closer inspection it was clearly visible. A piece of the black fabric had been ripped off. Khushi put the torn bit she had taken out from her pocket and placed it along the rip.

It matched perfectly.

"It's still not enough. I visited this house after the murder had occurred. It could have torn off then."

NK was beyond stunned and he kept looking between his sister and fiance wondering how they could have done something like this.

"Bhaiya, please help me! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do this! She-she made me do it!"

Parvati was wailing and clutching onto her brother's feet. Tears streamed down her eyes as fear of what might happen next got a hold of her.

"It's true. Everything Khushi said is true. Malu killed Shyam! And- and I let her into the house! That's all! Please don't let them take me away Bhaiya!"

"You stupid girl! How could you just give us away like that?!"

The policemen rushed forward as a maniacal Malini charged towards Parvati. They took hold of her and Inspector Kashyap came towards her.

"Malini Joshi, you are under arrest for the murder of Shyam Manohar Jha. Parvati Mehra is also arrested on grounds of assisting the murderer."

A fuming Malini and a sobbing Parvati were led away as everyone looked on stunned.

...

Tada!!!!! That's the story for you! Hope it was enjoyable! Good news is that I'm planning an epilogue. Just to get rid of any kind of confusion and give a proper ending to all the characters 😆

But that shall come later. Maybe tomorrow or if you'll are lucky, today itself 😉

Thanks so much for all the appreciation people! Love you all!!!! 🤗

Epilogue - Ever After