ArHi FF! The Cult [Completed] - Page 71

Chapter 21:

My disappointment was palpable when I found only two names in the address book. It's an old fashioned book that is sold on railway station platforms or bus stands. It smells of handkerchief perfume and secrets. One of the names in the address book is local and the other is outstation. It was two hundred kilometers away and I decided to tackle it first.

Things are heating up at the station and it all went to hell when Deshmukh made an enquiry to arrange a meeting with the ex-minister of external affairs. The minister's secretary made a phone call to the DCP the second Deshmukh hung up after which everything was just f**king messy. DCP had badgered me with phone calls all evening interrupting interview with Khushi. In the end Shukla had taken over my place and finished the interview.

"Why are we going outstation first and not local?" Khushi's voice brings me out of my stream of thoughts. We have been on the road for an hour and with Keith behind the wheel, we would either die a painless death on the road or get to our destination in half the intended time. Ironically it was Deshmukh who wanted Khushi to go with us: Keith, Shukla and I when we are to interview the person of interest. When asked, he had shrugged easily. "They will open up faster if they know Khushi is co-operating." It was sound piece of advice and I took it.

"It a thing with people to keep the best for last. And naturally one would interview the local person first. I think the first person exists just to send out information to the second person that their cover has been blown. Before we can reach second person, the second person is long gone and I don't want that to happen." Keith replies passionately.

Khushi looks at me wide eyed and her face tells me she clearly doesn't understand why I or Shukla are smiling a little.

"Keith is watching too many cold war themed spy movies," Shukla offers an explanation from the front. Khushi laughs easily and eases back in her seat. "We wanted to get away from the busy city, that's all Khushi." He replies truthfully.

"Keith may not be completely incorrect, you know?" She says biting on her lower lip. "We are secretive people and like to be left alone. Our networking is great and it wouldn't be impossible for them to interact about non-mundane things in plain sight." I can see she is trying hard to keep her lips from spreading and Shukla coughs violently masking his laughter.

Keith is intrigued. "Stop messing with him," I reply, snorting in process. Khushi mimics my laughter.

The tension exists between me...us and her. None of us are talking about it right now. Last night we decided to move along the investigation and keep Khushi in loop. I don't believe she has anything to do with the cult directly but indirectly our association is ticking off lot of people. She had claimed not have killed anyone before yet the ruthlessness she showed on her intruder was terrifying. I want to believe she is helping us solve murders but at times her words and actions seem to indicate she has deeper agenda than what she lets on.

"Venkat mentioned some elders went missing during the...helter-skelter but I think he was implying they were dead. Do you know how many or who they were? " I venture carefully.

Khushi shakes her head ruefully. "I don't think he meant they were dead, Arnav. I think he implied they joined the cult." Her shrug is non-committal but the tautness of her shoulders say otherwise. I don't press further.

"Have you met the person we are meeting before?" Shukla asks.

Khushi nods. "Saini used to teach me...stuff before he left and settled elsewhere. It wasn't uncommon in our community to go other places. We didn't keep in touch though."

"Venkat also mentioned that your father may be still alive." I tell her. It's best she is aware of this in advance and don't want her to be caught blindsided while interviewing Saini.

Khushi goes still for seconds but relaxes. "He is as good as dead."

"Are you suggesting you know where your father is?" I demand.

Khushi looks me in the eye and shakes her head. "There were whispers in our community surrounding his death. Everyone was told that he was excommunicated by death for the treachery he had done. There were people who argued that in this day and age such an act was atrocious. When some elders went missing, the whispers became louder. Somehow my father was back to avenge his death or some nonsense like that."

"That didn't answer my question." I have started to recognize Khushi's speech pattern. Her lies are covered in layers of truth or the words she chooses are ambiguous enough to pull us in and accept them but never really telling us anything. I wonder if she received training in smooth talking too.

"The answer is - my father is dead and that's what I choose to believe even though some people think he is still alive. If he is dead then he is dead. If he is alive then he is as good as dead because him coming in front of me suddenly won't make me to fall in his arms and try to make up for lost time." She is being dolefully ignorant about my implication but I let it slide.

Two can play this game. I simply offer her a tinny smile and she smiles back in return.

"But how does a cult and bunch of politicians mix? I mean, what do they have in common?" Khushi asks.

"We haven't been able to associate the victims with anyone except Ranvir. And Ranvir is like ghost; he doesn't exist in any of our system including a bank account or an address." Shukla replies.

"What do you mean? In this day and age it's hard not leave a tiny paper trail if not a long one. He could have used an alias?" Khushi persists.

Shukla smiles grimly. "Well, Ranvir managed to live like that and we are looking into the possibility of him owning more than one identity. Helen's handler identified him as Ranvir though."

Khushi is silent for several minutes. "So they are trying to be what the tribe was thousands of years ago."

The silence that follows her statement this time is heavy.

"And they have been at it for three decades Khushi," I reply. "It all started after your father told the other man about your community. If we find the other man, we find where it all originated. That will give us the starting point of reinvestigating old crime scenes and a new perspective to the recent ones. If we have to implicate the cult, we have to shake its core."

"How about a detour after we finish meeting Saini?" Khushi asks after several moments of silence.

"Where will be going?" Keith asks slowing down the vehicle searching for the house number. The local police are keeping an eye on the house and they have ascertained the man is indeed at his house.

"To meet people who are higher up the food chain than Saini or Venkat." Khushi doesn't look at us. Her eyes have settled on her lap and refuse to meet our eye.

Finally.