— 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.’

‘How long are you going to be here?’ asked Seema.

‘Till the end of the winter break. I was supposed to spend my holidays with Jyoti, but...’ Nikki trailed off grimly.

‘Why don’t you come and spend a couple of days with us?’ Seema offered, ‘We too have holidays.’ Before Nikki could react, Tina added, ‘Yes, you must come! You must be bored and lonely here.’

‘Thanks very much. I will speak to Aunty and make a plan,’ said Nikki. Seema wrote a number on a piece of paper and passed it on to Nikki, ‘Here is our phone number. Give me a call, both of us will come to pick you up.’

The guests were leaving now. Nikki saw Mr and Mrs Taneja standing outside in the portico with folded hands. Mr Khanna and his wife were also standing close to them. Nikki and the two girls were the last to go out. When all the guests departed, Mrs Taneja turned to Mr Khanna, ‘Thanks for all your help in organising today’s puja.’ Mr Khanna said, ‘Please don’t mention it. Jyoti was like my own daughter.’

‘Yes,’ added Mrs Khanna. ‘I can never forget that lovely girl.’

As the Khannas came to the portico to leave, Nikki was startled to see a big black car entering to take them. Nikki suddenly remembered what Lakshmi had told her. So he is in it too.

The next morning, when Mr Taneja had left for office, Nikki went to Mrs Taneja’s room, ‘Aunty, can I come and talk to you for a while?’ Nikki sat down and said, ‘Aunty, Inspector Rajan whom you met in Sangalina Hills, told me that the woman who was found dead along with Jyoti had told someone there that Jyoti was in fact “her daughter” who had been taken away from her by deceit. She also said that she had come to your house in Somabad to state her claim.’

Blood drained from Mrs Taneja’s face. ‘What else did the inspector tell you?’ She asked. Nikki informed her, ‘He told me that once his enquiries are over in Sangalina Hills, he will come to Somabad.’

Mrs Taneja started sobbing. She said, ‘Yes, it is a fact that the woman came to see me. She made a preposterous claim about some child swapping. I thought it must be the usual blackmail stuff and asked her to leave. That evening I asked my husband about it but he flatly refused any child swapping. He advised me not to let her in again. But she called me again after two days and implored that she just wanted to come for five minutes. At first I refused, but then hearing her pleas I softened and allowed her to come. This time she said that she just wanted to see Jyoti and wanted her address. I told her to go away. She seemed highly disappointed and left.’

Nikki asked, ‘If the woman had come to your house twice, why did you tell the inspector that you had never seen her earlier?’

Mrs Taneja said, ‘You are like my daughter. Please keep this to yourself. Before my delivery, the doctor had told me that the baby was not in good condition. When this woman talked about the child swapping, a doubt crossed my mind that she might be telling the truth.

When I saw her dead body, the first thing which occurred to me was that maybe my husband was behind her death and I did not want to create complications for him. To be honest, I thought at the time that if I recognise the woman, it would open up a Pandora’s box. We would be asked a lot of questions which we were not in the right frame of mind to answer.’

Nikki kept quiet. She felt that Mrs Taneja was telling the truth. But this did not explain the payment of 10 lakhs to the woman and ‘the big black car’ which Lakshmi had seen Asha Sayal in.

The next morning, Nikki decided to talk to Jyoti’s father just as he was getting ready for work.

‘Uncle, can I speak to you alone?’

Mr Taneja looked surprised. ‘Well…why don’t you come with me to the office? If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late.’

Nikki ran to put on her shoes and coat. When they had settled in his room, he ordered two cups of tea.

‘Now, tell me...what’s on your mind, Nikki?’

Nikki said, ‘Uncle, you will recall when we were leaving Sangalina Hills, Inspector Rajan was also in the hospital. He told me something which I thought I must share with you.’

‘Yes, go ahead,’ said Mr Taneja, encouragingly.

‘Asha Sayal told someone in Sangalina Hills that you paid her 10 lakhs to abandon her claim on Jyoti. Is this true?’

‘Yes,’ Mr Taneja responded, ‘I did not want to pay anything but Mr Khanna persuaded me to pay the money so that the matter could be closed forever.’

‘This opens up another angle. If having got the money, the woman did not abandon her claim and still went to see her daughter in Sangalina Hills, someone would be quite upset.’

‘But that someone would not plan the murder of his own daughter for whom he had paid the money.’

Nikki kept quiet. Mr Taneja felt sorry as he saw her crestfallen face. After a pause, he smiled and said, ‘If that is all you wanted to know, may I go on with my work, my dear?’ Nikki, lost in her thoughts, was suddenly awakened and nodded at his question. ‘I will have Mr Khanna ensure you are dropped home. You may look around till then if you want. Talk to my secretary, Miss Mary. She was quite fond of Jyoti, like everyone else.’

‘Sure, Uncle,’ said Nikki.

Mr Taneja spoke on the intercom, ‘Mary, could you ask Mr Khanna to come in?’ When Mr Khanna entered, he was introduced to Nikki. ‘This is Nikki, a friend of Jyoti’s. We asked her to spend the winter holidays with us.’

‘Yes, I met her yesterday,’ Mr Khanna said.

Mr Taneja continued, ‘Could you please ensure she is dropped home safe? She will wait with Miss Mary while you are ready.’

‘Okay. Please come, Miss Nikki.’

When both of them stepped into the ante room, Mr Khanna introduced Nikki to Miss Mary, a warm and genial lady sitting at a desk, working diligently. ‘This is Mary, secretary to Mr Taneja. Can you wait with her for a few minutes. I’ll be back.’

Mary smiled at Nikki and said, ‘Please take a seat.’

Mary said sympathetically, ‘Jyoti’s death has come as a rude shock to all of us. She was a very pleasant girl. We used to talk on the phone quite often.’

‘She was my roommate and my best friend. I can’t believe she’s gone,’ Nikki replied grimly, almost choking.

They were still talking when Mr Khanna came back.

The office was spread over two big floors. It appeared to be a very busy place. Apparently, the company owned by Mr Taneja was doing well. Mr Khanna explained various departments of the company. Nikki noticed that wherever they went Mr Khanna was greeted with respect by the staff. Nikki thought that his proximity to Mr Taneja must have earned him a good deal of influence in the company. Finally, when he came to leave her to the car, Nikki said, ‘I met your daughters yesterday. Seema invited me to come to your place for a couple of days.’

‘Yes, she told me. It would be a pleasure to have you with us!’ Nikki thanked him and entered the car.

Nikki felt happy that by directly confronting the Tanejas, she had solved the mystery of `10 lakhs. Mr Khanna would have paid the money on behalf of Jyoti’s father and the issue of the ‘big black car’ had also been resolved. However, the mystery of the murder was still looming over her head. Mr Taneja was clearly not behind this. Who else could kill them and why?