— CHAPTER ELEVEN —

Tables are Turned

 

The next morning Nikki woke up with a start. Yesterday’s bizarre events came back to her in a rush. She leapt out of bed and went straight to the door. She tried to open it but could not. In panic, she banged the door. After some time the attendant came and opened the door. He said harshly, ‘Why are you banging the door?’

‘Why did you lock the door?’

The man laughed derisively and said, ‘So that you do not run away.’ He said this in a manner which Nikki did not like.

‘You were very polite yesterday. Why are you talking like this to me?’ The man replied, ‘Because yesterday we needed you. Today we have no use of you.’

Nikki said, ‘What are you saying. Let me go down and talk to Mohan Lal.’ The man said, ‘There’s no one in the house except you and me.’

‘What about the old sick lady?’ asked Nikki.

‘Ha, ha, ha!’ the man laughed and said, ‘Mohan Lal was always a good actor but that woman my god, she is a born actress!’

Nikki was baffled, ‘I don’t understand what you are saying. What is going on? Can I come down and see for myself.’

‘As you wish,’ said the man sarcastically and led the way to the ground floor.

Nikki went to the corner room where she had met the old lady the previous evening. There was no one there. Even the bed had been removed. Nikki turned and asked, ‘Where is the old lady?’

The man said, ‘She vanished last evening…the moment you went upstairs.’

‘Vanished!’ exclaimed Nikki, ‘Where could she go? She was so sick!’

The man chuckled, ‘That is why I said she is a born actress.’

Nikki cried out, ‘I am very confused. Where is Mohan Lal?’

The man laughed again, ‘By now he would be in Somabad in the Apex Bank.’

‘When did he go to Somabad?’

‘Same time as the old lady vanished.’

‘Why are you talking in riddles? Why don’t you tell me what happened? I must be your daughter’s age.’

The man now looked irritated. ‘My daughter would not have done such a foolish thing. She would not have written and signed a statement that she was the daughter of Asha Sayal.’

Suddenly an awful realisation dawned on Nikki. ‘So I have been tricked?’

The man gave an ugly laugh. ‘Exactly what we wanted! Look girl, we all belong to Somabad. We live around the Bus Stand Road. We knew that Asha Sayal was staying in the lodge for a long time. We read the news about her murder in Sangalina Hills. When you came to the lodge and told Prasad that you were her niece, we became suspicious. A girl like you does not stay in such a lousy place. So we kept a watch on you. When you went to the bank yesterday morning we became alert. Mohan Lal knows some people in the bank. He went to the bank and was told that a girl who says she is the daughter of Asha Sayal, had come and made some silly queries about her account. Feroz Khan told us that Asha Sayal had a daughter by the name Jyoti. According to the newspaper report, she had also been found murdered with Asha. This made us more suspicious. The search conducted by Abdul in your room turned out to be a gold mine. He got hold of the bank statement showing an amount of 10 lakhs in the name of Asha Sayal. The letter written by Asha to her daughter Jyoti gave us an idea. We hired this place and also that theatre actress. The rest is all thanks to you.’ The man continued, ‘You perhaps did not notice that you had written about your being the daughter of Asha Sayal on the upper portion of the page but Mohan Lal made you sign the name “Jyoti” at the bottom of the page.’

‘What difference does that make?’ asked Nikki.

The man said, ‘In the blank space he will write “Received 10 lakhs” and get the money from the bank.’

‘The bank people are not that naïve! They will not give money just like that!’

The man gave another crooked smile. ‘Yesterday when Mohan and Abdul brought you here, one of our men was sent to Sangalina Hills to collect the death certificate of Asha Sayal. Mohal Lal would have got the death certificate by now. With your letter and the death certificate he can put a claim on your behalf.’

Nikki asked, ‘Would they not want to see the person who has actually signed the claim?’

He replied, ‘The name in your school ID has already been altered. Mohan Lal is going to say that you are sick and can’t come. Don’t forget, only day before yesterday you told the bank clerk that you are the daughter of Asha Sayal. He has only to see your photograph and certify that the person in the photograph is the daughter of the account holder. Moreover, with Mohan Lal’s connections at the bank, he will be satisfied with these documents. In fact the procedure was suggested by the bank itself.’

Nikki felt sick, ‘This is such a huge fraud! That means you are also behind the killing of Asha Sayal and her daughter.’

The man said with force, ‘Wait a minute! We have nothing to do with the murders. We read about her death in the newspaper. We became interested because she lived in Evergreen Hotel and some of us, particularly Feroz Khan, knew her.’

Nikki asked, ‘Is Feroz Khan also one of you?’

‘No,’ replied the man. ‘He is fond of drinking and when he gets drunk he tells us all the information about transit passengers who stay in the lodge.’

Nikki asked, ‘Then why did he get Jyoti’s photograph for her in such a clandestine manner?’

‘Feroz Khan is a softie. He said her story touched his heart.’

Nikki’s mind was racing. She could not believe such an unfortunate turn of events.

Then the man ordered rudely, ‘Go back to your room. I will bring food for you there.’

Nikki said, ‘Now that your purpose is served, why do you want me to remain here?’

‘You cannot go anywhere. When Mohan Lal returns he will decide what to do with you.’

Nikki kept quiet and went to her room. The man followed her and locked the door from outside.

Nikki felt numb. The sinister disclosure made by the man left her humiliated and repulsed. She felt cheated by these people who had played on her sentiments. But when she thought deeply about the whole episode, another point emerged quite clearly. These people were thugs who had got the scent of big money and gone after it. They did not appear to have had anything to do with the murders. There was no reason to disbelieve what the man had told her. Moreover, from their appearance and behaviour they would not have had the means to pay such a big sum of money to Asha Sayal. If they were not the murderers, then who killed Jyoti and Asha Sayal?

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.