Murder at Crescent Point (16 page)

Interrogator: Look at this picture and tell me if this is the man, Mr Khanna, who asked you to kidnap the lady.

Farooqi: Yes, he is Mr Khanna. I have no doubt about it.

As the tape ended, ACP Rajan turned to Nikki, ‘What do you say to this?’ Nikki responded, ‘If this man is telling the truth which I think he is, then who negotiated the ransom?’

‘None of these voices match the one in the tape sent by Mr Taneja. Mr Khanna kept these people out of ransom negotiations fearing that they may not give him the money. He must have set up someone else for this job.’

Nikki asked, ‘Are you going to proceed against Mr Khanna?’

The ACP responded, ‘Based on the banking transactions and Farooqi’s evidence we are now in a position to prosecute Mr Khanna and his associates.’

— CHAPTER TWENTY —

The Retribution

The next morning Nikki saw the following headlines in the newspaper:

‘MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PIONEER MANUFACTURING AND MARKETING ARRESTED ON A KIDNAPPING CHARGE’

‘WELL-KNOWN INDUSTRIALIST SETH GHANSHYAM ARRESTED FOR ACQUIRING THE CONTROLLING SHARES OF PIONEER MANUFACTURING AND MARKETING USING FRAUDULENT MEANS.’

Nikki was thrilled to read it. She wanted to share her happiness with someone. She rang up Mr Taneja, ‘Uncle, excellent news. Mr Khanna and Seth Ghanshyam have both been arrested.’

‘Yes, I heard! This is great news! ACP Rajan rang me up last evening to inform me about the developments. In fact he wants me to come to India at the earliest.’

‘Excellent! I look forward to meeting you.’

Nikki then dialled the ACP’s number, ‘Congrats, Sir. The newspapers are all talking about you. It is a great achievement to have those thugs in your dragnet.’

‘Thanks. But one important character has escaped.’

Nikki frowned. ‘Who?’

‘Jeevan Das. He somehow got the wind of the matter and gave us a slip. He is absconding.’

Nikki said, ‘You remember when you wanted to have a lead on Asha Sayal you had put a newspaper insertion with her photograph. You could do so in this case as well. People will be talking about this sensational case for some days. With this kind of interest amongst the public, someone may spot him and provide a lead.’

‘Yes it is a good idea. We can try this also, along with checking his other contacts.’

The next day Nikki saw the bald moustached man appearing prominently in a police advertisement which said:

Wanted

The public is hereby notified that the person in the photograph named Jeevan Das, an employee of Pioneer Manufacturing and Marketing is wanted by the police department of Somabad in connection with a double murder committed by him four years ago in Sangalina Hills. Anyone having information about him and his whereabouts may immediately inform the police at the following telephone number…

Things moved fast. On the afternoon of the following day, ACP Rajan rang up Nikki, ‘Surprise of surprises! Jeevan Das himself turned up today in the police station and surrendered.’

‘He surrendered? Unbelievable!’

‘Yes, we are working on him. If you have time, come tomorrow morning.’

‘I will certainly be there.’

When Nikki reached his office, the ACP was inserting two tapes in a player, one after the other. He kept listening to both for a while. Two other people were standing in the room. When he saw Nikki he said, ‘Listen to this.’ He played the tape sent by Mr Taneja for half a minute. He removed it and put the other tape. After playing it for a while he switched it off, ‘Do you hear the same thing that I do?’

‘Yes, the two tapes have the voice of the same person.’

‘The second tape is the recording of the statement of Jeevan Das.’

‘Oh I see!’ exclaimed Nikki. ‘So Mr Khanna was working in a closed circuit.’ She added, ‘But how come Jeevan Das surrendered voluntarily?’

‘Listen to this. You will understand,’ said ACP Rajan.

Interrogator: Why did you abscond and what is the reason for your surrendering voluntarily?

Jeevan: I got the news that Mr Khanna had been arrested. Since I have been working closely with him I thought I may also be arrested. So I made myself scarce hoping that things will settle down in a few days time. But what has brought me to the police on my own is the advertisement which you issued in the newspaper yesterday. It levelled a charge of murder on me which I never committed. I thought if I remained underground it will be construed that I was in fact the killer, which is not correct.

Interrogator: Do you deny that you went to Sangalina Hills and hired a person to keep tabs on a woman named Asha Sayal?

Jeevan: No, I do not

Interrogator: Do you deny that you went up to Crescent Point where the woman and the girl Jyoti were later found murdered?

Jeevan: I do not deny that either. I did go that afternoon to Crescent Point. But when I reached there, Asha Sayal had already been killed. Someone had strangled her to death and thrown her body behind a bush.

Interrogator: What about the girl?

Jeevan: I did not find the girl at Crescent Point.

Interrogator: If you say you did not kill them, then what was your purpose of going to Sangalina and hiring a local man to keep a watch on Asha Sayal?

Jeevan: I am an employee of the Pioneer Manufacturing and Marketing. One day I was called in by Mr Taneja, who was the then Managing Director. Besides him, Mr Khanna, my immediate boss, was also there. Mr Khanna showed me a photograph of Asha Sayal. He said this woman was not in a sound mental state and she had made some preposterous claims on Jyoti. According to his information, the woman had gone to Sangalina Hills the previous day, with a view to meeting Jyoti and force her to accompany her. He wanted me to go there and keep an eye on the woman and prevent her from taking Jyoti away.

I did have some questions on my mind about the assignment but being a junior person I did not probe the matter further and went there. Since Jyoti had seen me earlier in office, I asked a person at Sangalina to keep a watch on Asha Sayal. When I got the information that she had gone to Crescent Point I became suspicious and decided to follow her. It took me some time to reach. I did not go directly to the top but watched by moving behind the trees. When I did not find anyone, I went up to Crescent Point and looked around. It is there that I found her dead body. Jyoti was not there. I quickly retreated. On my return to Somabad, I reported the matter to Mr Khanna.

Interrogator: You said you were called in to the Managing Director’s office. Did Mr Taneja also say something to you?

Jeevan: No. He did not say anything but he was present.

ACP Rajan switched off the machine. Nikki was bewildered, ‘Do you think he is telling the truth?’

‘We can verify his statement from Mr Taneja who will be here in a few days. One could think that he may have been given the assignment to kill Asha Sayal. But what about Jyoti? There was no apparent reason for him to kill the girl. In view of this and in the absence of any eyewitness he may be given the benefit of doubt and set free by the court.’

‘If for a moment we assume that he did not commit the murders, who did?’

‘That is the million dollar question.’

Nikki soon left the office thoroughly dejected. She had felt they were close to solving the mystery behind the murders and yet once again, they were faced with a dead end.

After a few days Nikki got a call from Mr Taneja.

‘Oh! Hello, Uncle!’ said Nikki, surprised, ‘Where are you calling from?’

‘I am in Somabad sitting right in front of ACP Rajan. Both of us are talking about you. Do you have some time to come over?’

‘Yes I will be very happy to meet you. I should be there in thirty minutes.’

When Nikki reached the ACP’s office, Mr Taneja got up and hugged her affectionately, ‘All this has happened because of you. We lost Jyoti but have got another daughter in you. No one would have done as much as you have done.’

ACP Rajan beamed, ‘She is very keen and persistent. In fact she has been goading me! I wish I had an assistant like her.’

Nikki looked embarrassed, ‘Thank you both very much. I don’t deserve all that praise.’

Mr Taneja said earnestly, ‘What next?’

‘I was waiting for your testimony. Now all that is complete, I will file the case in the court.’

Nikki burst out, ‘This is all very well, but the main issue of the two murders still remains. All doors are closing upon us.’

Mr Taneja assured her, ‘Don’t lose heart. Now that I am back here, we will focus only on the murder case. You and I will work together and with the help of ACP Rajan, we will bring justice to my daughter. ’

Ten days later Nikki read a headline in the newspaper:

TANEJA RETURNS TO PIONEER AS CARETAKER MD

The court, taking cognisance of the evidence produced in the case and to safeguard the interest of shareholders and employees of the company, agreed to a suggestion of the prosecution lawyer to appoint Mr Taneja as caretaker Managing Director of Pioneer Manufacturing and Marketing till the case is finally disposed of.

Nikki rang up Mr Taneja in his hotel and congratulated him. He said, ‘My child, it is all because of your initiative. I have asked your aunty to come and once she is here, we shall all celebrate.’

— CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE —

The Revelation

After a couple of weeks Nikki got a call from Mrs Taneja.

‘Hello Nikki, how are you?’ Her voice was gentle.

‘I am fine. When did you return, Aunty?’

‘I came last week. I must thank you for what you have done for us. The way we were hounded, I never dreamt that we would ever return to India.’ Mrs Taneja’s voice was thick with emotion.

‘Don’t worry, Aunty. Things change and sometimes for the better.’

Mrs Taneja asked, ‘What are you doing this weekend?’

‘Nothing in particular, Aunty.’

‘We would both be very happy if you could spend the weekend with us.’

‘I would love to do that. Where are you staying?’

‘In the Taneja Mansion.’

‘Taneja Mansion?’ asked a surprised Nikki. ‘What happened to the Khanna family?’ ‘Mrs Khanna and her daughters have shifted back to their old house near the Central Park. And you know where Mr Khanna lives these days.’

Nikki laughed, ‘Yes I know,’ and added, ‘I will be with you on Saturday afternoon.’

When Nikki went to the Taneja Mansion, she received a warm welcome from both Mr and Mrs Taneja. They spent some time catching up on all the events that had followed Mrs Taneja’s kidnapping and how they were forced to leave the country.

Mrs Taneja said, ‘Khanna was the real traitor. He was a measly stenographer. Your uncle made him a manager. We also bought him a house and helped him with money from time to time. But look what he has done! There is no limit to one’s greed. And now his poor wife and daughters…,’ she trailed off.

At dinner time Nikki noticed that dinner was being served by a male servant. She asked, ‘What happened to Savitri?’