— CHAPTER THIRTEEN —

A New Lead

 

As soon as Nikki returned, Mrs Taneja said, ‘Inspector Rajan called up. He is in Somabad,’ she sounded quite nervous.

‘Did he say he will come here?’

‘No, he was enquiring about you and wanted you to call him at this number,’ she said handing over a slip of paper to her. ‘What does he want from you?’

‘I don’t know. May be something about the incident regarding Jyoti.’

Nikki went upstairs and called Inspector Rajan, ‘Hello, Mr Rajan, Nikki here.’

‘Oh, hello. You didn’t contact me. Inspector Vinod also tells me that you did not get in touch with him. How are things at your end?’

Nikki said, ‘Can I come and meet you? There are some developments about which I need to talk to you in person.’

‘Hmmm…have you got a mode of transport or shall I send my jeep?’

‘Please give me the address. I will manage to come on my own.’

Soon enough, Inspector Rajan warmly greeted Nikki. When they settled down, Nikki asked, ‘Sir, any breakthrough…?’

‘No, not yet. We, however, have a lead and that is why I am here.’ Nikki looked at him. He continued, ‘A few days ago, we caught a small time criminal who was hired by a tough looking man in Sangalina for `500, to keep surveillance on the woman. This man kept a watch on the woman and informed him about her movements from time to time including the day when she went to Crescent Point.’ The inspector then took out a pencil sketch from his file and placed it before Nikki. ‘Based on the information provided by the man we arrested, we have a sketch of the person who hired him.’

Nikki looked at the sketch of a bald man with a thick moustache. There was a scar, a deep cut on his right cheek, presumably caused by an injury, which was partly hidden by his moustache. Perhaps he kept the moustache for that purpose. The inspector said, ‘This guy was not a local. We presume that he may have come from Somabad. That is why I am here.’ Then changing the subject he said, ‘You mentioned that there have been some developments.’

Nikki replied, ‘I’m sorry that I did not share some documents which I had come across at Sangalina. These papers pointed to some involvement of the Tanejas in the case. Since I was accompanying them to Somabad I thought I would get some first-hand information before I speak to you about it. As it happens, I got the information which I was looking for, but unfortunately I lost those documents including the paper you gave me at Sangalina. That is why I could not contact you even when I was in trouble.’

‘Trouble! What sort of trouble?’ asked Inspector Rajan anxiously. She recounted her experience at the Evergreen, her encounter with Mohan Lal and how she confronted Mr and Mrs Taneja.

Inspector Rajan looked at Nikki with amazement, and said, ‘My God, you are impressive! You obtained so much information in such a short time. The police here have not yet been able to even verify the antecedents of Asha Sayal.’

Nikki looked pleased. ‘Thank you. I told you I’ll do anything to get my best friend’s killers nabbed.’ She added, ‘I lost the bank statement, but you could check with the bank about this. Also, Mohan Lal appears to be a slimy character. You may get some more information about the case from him. I was told by the attendant at the Shyamabad house that he and his associates live around Bus Stand Road. I am not sure though that he would still be there, having got hold of such a lot of money.’

Inspector Rajan assured her, ‘Don’t worry, we will find him wherever he is. Wait here. I will return in a moment.’

Inspector Rajan returned with another officer accompanying him. ‘Nikki, meet Inspector Vinod. He is not only my colleague but also my batchmate.’ Turning to Vinod, he said, ‘This is Nikki. She is way ahead of her age. In a span of a few days, she collected extremely useful information about the double murder case in Sangalina Hills.’

Inspector Vinod looked at her admiringly and said, ‘Hello. I am happy to meet such a brave and resourceful girl.’

Inspector Rajan said, ‘Nikki, I hope to make some progress on the leads given by you by tomorrow afternoon. Will it be possible for you to come back tomorrow?’

‘Sure, Sir! I’ll see you tomorrow.’

When Nikki returned to Jyoti’s house, Mrs Taneja asked anxiously, ‘What did the inspector say? Will he come to make an enquiry?’

Nikki responded, ‘He did not tell me that. He just wanted to find out whether I was able to get any relevant information from Jyoti’s belongings in the hostel.’ Mrs Taneja kept quiet. Nikki went up to her room.

The next day, when Nikki went to the police station, Inspector Rajan was waiting for her. As soon as she sat down, he placed her ID card with her photograph and

the name Jyoti typed and pasted on it in front of her. He also showed her the paper on which she had written that she is the daughter of Asha Sayal and signed her name as Jyoti. He said, ‘Yesterday, we nabbed Mohan Lal and his gang. He is a small time thug who cons unsuspecting passengers at the bus stand. After your confrontation with Feroz, he (Feroz) had panicked and wanted the photograph and his pencil sketch back from you. Mohan Lal obliged since Feroz is useful to him. He sent his associate Abdul to search your room. Among the papers was the bank statement. When Mohan Lal came to know about the huge deposit in Asha Sayal’s account he decided to hatch a plan, and you became his scapegoat.’

‘So Mohan Lal has nothing to do with the murders?’ said Nikki.

‘No, he is basically a conman. This was an isolated act. The only difference being that this time it was big money and hence he planned all the drama in Shyamabad.’

Nikki looked dejected, ‘We seem to be moving nowhere.’

‘No, not exactly. You have found out that the woman had met the Tanejas. And Mr Taneja had paid her money to hush up the matter. This time also the transaction was done with the help of the trusted Khanna. There is one thing though,’ he continued, ‘if the woman had accepted the money to forego her claim on her daughter, why did she go to Sangalina?’

Nikki said, ‘Perhaps just to see her. That is also what she told Mrs Taneja.’

‘Or someone encouraged her to go there?’ added Inspector Rajan. Nikki kept quiet. She had not considered that angle. Their meeting point at a deserted place may have been fixed by someone with murder on his mind. And that someone must be known to Asha Sayal. But who?

Inspector Rajan asked, ‘What are you thinking?’

‘Nothing. I should be going now.’ As Nikki got up to leave, Inspector Rajan asked, ‘What do you want to do now?’

‘I have a standing invitation from Mr Khanna’s daughters to spend a few days with them. I think I will go to their place tomorrow morning.’ Inspector Rajan said, ‘Fine, but this time, keep in touch.’