Murder at Crescent Point (9 page)

Her own situation made Nikki very nervous. Mohan Lal would probably take a couple of days to get the money from the bank and stash it safely somewhere. What would happen when he returns? They may not be killers but they will not risk the money by letting her free. She must flee.
But how?

Nikki took another look at the room. It appeared impossible to get out from there. She went to the bathroom. It had a window above the wash basin. Further up the window was a ventilator. A horizontal iron rod held the glass pane with wooden frame in the ventilator. She brought the stool from the room and looked through the window. It opened at the back of the house. She put her arms out of the window first to the left and then to the right. Her fingers touched a pipe which was probably coming from the roof to drain the rain water. The window was barred by iron rods. She would have to try the ventilator. But it was too high. From the stool she jumped to the skirting of the window and stood up holding the opening of the ventilator. She shook the iron rod of the ventilator vigorously. After a lot of effort, it started rotating and soon the rod gave away and came down crashing on the floor along with the glass pane. The pieces of broken glass were scattered on the floor of the bathroom. She carefully climbed down and swept the glass splinters to one corner. Her heart was pounding. Hopefully the old man hadn’t heard anything. She went back to the room taking the stool with her and lay on the bed. After sometime the man came with her breakfast. He kept it on the stool and went out without saying a word. Nikki heard the click of the lock.

After breakfast, Nikki again went into the bathroom and looked at the now gaping hole of the ventilator. Escaping through the hole would surely be suicidal, she thought. The pipe coming from the roof was a good two feet away on the right. Climbing up the ventilator itself will be a problem and it would be impossible to clasp the pipe outside from that distance. She had to think of some other way. She came back to the room. The next imposing question facing her was the time of escape. Daytime was ruled out and night was too dangerous. She decided to make a bid early in the morning the next day.

She opened her handbag. Her decision to spread her money proved useful. Even when Abdul had ransacked her belongings, the money in the pockets of her jeans was intact.

The next day, as dawn was breaking, Nikki went with her bedsheet, handbag and a stool to the bathroom.

She bolted the bathroom door from within. She then tied one end of the bedsheet with the iron rods of the window. Standing on the stool, she threw the other end out of the ventilator hole. She picked up her handbag and threw it as well. Then standing on the skirting of the window she got hold of the gaping hole of the ventilator and heaved herself up. Nikki took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking. ‘Come on! This is no time to be afraid!’ Nikki boosted herself. After a great deal of effort she got a foothold in the opening. She caught hold of the bedsheet, twisted her body and went clear out of the gap hoping that it will not give way. She looked down. The ground was still far away. The question of jumping from that height did not arise. She started swinging with the bedsheet and reached close to the pipe, holding it with one hand. She stayed put there. Then with a swift move, she left the bedsheet and grasped the pipe with both hands. It was a dangerous manoeuvre; a slight misjudgement would have thrown her to the ground. Perhaps because of her determination to get out or perhaps she was just plain lucky, she thought to herself. It was not difficult to slide down to the ground now.

She picked up her bag and ran out of the gate. It was still a little hazy outside. The narrow road was deserted. But she did not take the risk of walking on the road. Instead, she chose the dirty path going parallel to the road which passed through trees and green foliage. On the main road she took a turn towards the town which, according to the milestone, was two kilometres away. There was hardly any traffic on the road at that time in the morning. She quickened her pace and made it to the town in less than twenty minutes. A passer-by directed her to the bus stop. She took the first bus leaving for Somabad at seven in the morning. She thought that the man usually came with breakfast around nine by which time she should be well on her way to Somabad.

The bus reached Somabad late in the afternoon and soon Nikki was on her way to Jyoti’s house—hungry, tired; with lots of doubts driving her crazy.

— CHAPTER TWELVE —

Hidden Facts

Nikki reached the Taneja Mansion (as the house was called) in the evening. Mrs Taneja was in the living room watching a television programme. She saw Nikki and said, ‘Hello, dear.’ Then looking at her face she seemed shocked, ‘Why, you look haggard! What is the matter?’

‘I took a road trip with my friend. It was very exhausting.’

Mrs Taneja frowned looking a little disbelieving. ‘It is almost dinner time. Why don’t you freshen up and join us for the meal.’

‘Aunty, can I have dinner in my room? I am very tired and want to sleep early,’ said Nikki.

‘No problem. I will ask Savitri to take your dinner to your room.’

‘Thanks Aunty,’ said Nikki.

Nikki took a shower and changed. Trembling, she sat down on the bed and started thinking about the nightmarish experience she had been through in the last two days. She was lucky, for the Tanejas thought she was with friends! Not only had the last couple of days been an emotionally traumatic experience, she had also lost all the evidence: Asha Sayal’s letter, her bank statement, Jyoti’s photograph, Feroz’s pencil sketch and even the contact details given by Inspector Rajan. Everything. And she had unwittingly got herself implicated in an impersonation case.
What to do now?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Savitri, the maid, had brought her dinner. Nikki got up and asked her to keep the tray on the table. As she was turning to go, Nikki asked, ‘Savitri, could you please sit down. I want to talk to you.’ When Savitri sat down, Nikki asked, ‘How long have you been working here?’

Savitri said, ‘Oh, a long time, ever since baby was born.’

‘Baby?’ asked Nikki.

‘I always called Jyoti “baby” even after she became a big girl like you.’

‘You must be close to her?’

‘I practically brought her up. Madam was always busy with her parties or social service work. Baby used to spend most of her time with me. I really loved her. Even now I often feel that she will enter the house and greet me with a smiling face.’ Savitri started crying.

Nikki held her hand and said, ‘I can understand your feelings. She was a very lovable person.’

When Savitri composed herself, Nikki asked, ‘Can you tell me whether in the recent past you had seen Aunty meeting any stranger in this house?’

‘Well…there was one Madam, a simple looking woman, maybe a widow…’ Nikki looked questioningly at the maid. ‘She was dressed in plain white sari and she visited Madam twice,’ said Savitri.

This was unexpected. Nikki asked, ‘What did the woman want from Aunty?’

‘I really don’t know. Both times Madam took her to her own bedroom. I was a bit surprised because she never takes strangers there.’

‘Did you hear anything that the woman said?’

‘Not really, but during her first visit Madam asked me to give her a glass of water. When I entered the room the woman was crying and saying, “Don’t be cruel. I have already suffered a lot…” Madam immediately took the glass from me and asked me to leave. I was taken aback. Why do you ask me about that woman?’

Nikki replied, ‘…that woman was also killed on the same day when Jyoti was killed, and at the same place.’

Savitri’s face turned pale. She started crying again. Nikki tried to console her, ‘I know how you feel. The mere mention of Jyoti’s death causes you distress. Savitri, please do not talk about our conversation to anyone… not even to Aunty.’

Savitri nodded between sobs. ‘You were her friend, but baby was like my own child.’

The next day Nikki got up to see the entire household buzzing with activity. Soon she realised that the arrangements were being made for a puja—to offer prayers for the peace of the departed soul. A number of people were expected to come. The puja was to be held in the afternoon but preparations had started from early morning. Nikki noticed that a well dressed man was supervising everything. Nikki asked Mrs Taneja who he was.

‘Mr Khanna. He is the manager of our company.’

Nikki recalled Mr Taneja saying that all the arrangements for the ‘baby swapping’ were done by his personal assistant who was now a manager. Nikki looked at Mr Khanna again. He was middle-aged, with medium height and a receding hairline. He seemed quite energetic.

In the afternoon, the guests started arriving. Nikki noticed that they mostly sat in two sections, ladies on one side and men on the other. She saw two young girls entering the house with a middle-aged woman. Their faces looked familiar. After a while she realised that they were the same girls who were in the photograph with Jyoti. Nikki became alert. The woman who Nikki presumed was their mother sat near Mr Khanna in the second row from the hearth. Mr and Mrs Taneja were sitting in the first row close to the priest. Soon the priest started chanting mantras.The two girls sat at the end of the ladies section. Nikki drifted there and sat close to them.

After the function, everybody helped themselves to refreshments. Nikki addressed the older of the two girls, ‘Hello, I am Nikki, a friend of Jyoti’s.’ The girl’s face lit up. She said, ‘You are Nikki? Oh, Jyoti was never tired of talking about you! She praised you a lot. She told me that you were her best friend. I am so happy to finally meet you!’ She extended her hand and said, ‘I am Seema and this is my younger sister, Tina.’

‘Were you also a friend of hers?’ Nikki asked.

‘We both did our pre-school here together. In fact, Dad and Anurag Uncle work in the same company. Our families are quite close,’ said Seema.

‘I know…I saw both of you with Jyoti in a photograph.’

‘In a photograph?’ asked Seema somewhat surprised. ‘I don’t remember a photo of the three of us being taken recently.’

Nikki corrected herself, ‘Maybe someone else took that picture. You were walking in a park. There was a rain shelter in the background.’

‘That must be Central Park. It’s quite close to our house,’ said Tina.

‘Where are you staying?’ Seema asked Nikki.

‘I came along with Mr and Mrs Taneja and I am staying here with them.’