Author's note: Thank you for the reviews :D
AN: You have being warned!
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Characters
*Tarika: Age : 32 : Started her career as Forensic expert's assistant but soon she realized that it's not her thing so switched back to the law field, did her best in it, raised to fame as prosecution lawyer. She is quite determined, intelligent and calm in demeanor in her professional life.
*Abhijeet: Age:33 : Ex- CID Officer. He retired at the age of 30 due to a massive accident while apprehending the culprit, it resulted that his right leg got severed injured which cost him to limp while walking due to which he has to quit his job due to proven medically unfit, he is now retired and kind off work as trainer for the new officers. Short-tempered and Angry man but at the same time a very efficient officer.
*Ananya: Tarika's Childhood friend who is fashion designer, got married to a quiet rich business tycoon and Now is a joint partner in their chain of companies.
*Mayank: Ananya's husband, a business tycoon.
New Entrants in this chapter
Mr Ferguson : (65)Main servant of sahani's family. He has the highest authority in the servants and keep and eye on everyone's activity. He has been working for Sahani's for the last 30 years.
*Vaibhav (32) Forensic Expert: He is simple and helpful in nature, often helps people in need without expecting any much from them.
*Divyana: (32) Ex- CID Officer: After her fear for blood got worse, she took an early retirement from CID and joined a local NGO, who works for the education of poor kids.
* Marucs Smith (24) : Son of a small scale industrialist Mr Smith Dsouza , who was murdered in his house and the son was arrested as the prime suspect in murdering his father, she remembered defending the case in court a two years back . The son was a crooked swindler who had got involved in all sorts of fishy business ever since he was fifteen, but in that case he was innocent. He is an idle person who lives on the money left by his father. He works as a side kick for Vikram.
* Vikram Rajadhyaksh (35): Son of a politician. A money greedy person,and quite immoral in values. He works as a finances and funds for various researches and study.
* Rajat Kumar (34) well-known lawyer : A well-known Prosecution/ defense lawyer. Has earned reputation and fame after he defeated many of the Top notch businessman and poisonous pharmaceutical companies due to their illegal activities.
* Arundhati Iyer (46) Journalist : She has received many awards after she brought the issue of child-trafficking cases
* Sukriti Roy (55) Forensic Practitioner : An expert and the head of Delhi Forensic Departments.
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Unveiled Murderer
Part II
"Tarika..I didn't know you were supposed to be here, or do you intend to solve our local mystery?" a familiar voice cried out. Tarika turned in that voice direction and noticed her former partner, Forensic assistant smiling brilliantly back.
"Vaibhav! I didn't know you were there, as well…"
"I have come few days back," was his mere response. He hadn't changed much in the five years they had not met, his features had sharpened and there were small crow's-foot wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, making him look just older and more experienced. "I trust you remember my wife"
Now Tarika was on for a surprise. She remembered Vaibhav mentioning about he seeing Divyana who was also former CID Officer but she didn't knew that they got married, so she was quite surprised at the latest information supplied. Divyana who was also former CID Officer, took an early retirement after her fear of blood got worse after every case. After retiring with CID, she started working with an NGO who were working for education of street kids. As Tarika glanced at her she noticed that she had grown into a young mother of thirty-two, beautiful in her sort of way, with a sweet smile, a swollen belly, and in her attitude remnants of her previous diffidence.
The following minutes were pleasant enough. They recalled their former meetings, and though Vaibhav's presence could not help but remind her of certain senior officer but quickly brushing her thoughts aside she began inquiring about the routine stuffs like how her work with NGO was going, when the baby should be born, something about her life, so many questions and enquiries she was glad to make or answer to.
Two people passed them as they talked, deep in conversation (one of those she recognized was well-known lawyer ) before they were interrupted by the man-servant, who, informed them that he had carried Tarika's luggage into her room, and suggested that they should depart into a nearby sitting-room, where he should then be able to bring them refreshments.
After getting seated in the drawing rooms and while occasionally taking sip from their tea-cups, Tarika spoke,
"I came here once when I was younger, but the buildings have greatly changed. I did not know the manservant who welcomed me. Such a grand mansion must require a huge lot of attendance. I wonder how many people must be needed for its maintenance"
Only eight servants' over-all. " Vaibhav answered thoughtfully. "There's Mr Ferguson of course – that's the man-servant whom you met yesterday and today – who knows everything and takes care of everything, he is kind off the main in charge then at the gate, two security, three cooks in the kitchen and two maids, I think."
"It's not two, there are four maids," Divyana corrected. "So that means over all ten servants
"ohh.." Vaibhav replied.
Tarika left them to it and relaxed in her seat, sipping carefully the remaining contents in the cup. While sipping the content, Tarika's mind was still occupied with the thoughts about the poison-pen. She was narrowing down the suspects for some reason she left Vaibhav and Divyana from her suspect's list, she refused to picture them as the insane writers of those anonymous letters.
She thought she could rule out the servants, as well – for the moment, at least. The letters showed a close knowledge of all the guests' reputations and works, and somehow she thought that maybe the servants wouldn't be informed about them but there would also be a possibility of one of the servants had got hired under some false name and pretended to be someone else. So Tarika made a mental note to ask Ananya about the past history of her servants and to check whether one or other servants had entered recently at their service.
Those were the first moves. After that she has to survey each and every of the person closely to see if anyone of them shows any weird actions, of course she has to do it very secretly and in alert manner after all Ananya didn't want any of this thing to leak out in media thus creating a scandal and soiling the reputation of her family.
Her mind strayed away for a few moments, and then came back to the point. The best thing to do, for the moment, was to shut up and listen. In this state of things the only thing they could do is wait, wait till the insane maniac acts on his next step.
...
The first evening Tarika spent at the mansion was nothing like she had imagined, and certainly nothing like she had thought should be the reunion of personalities gathered for a study. The atmosphere, if anything, was relaxed. The guests were divided into groups; those seemed to have formed under the necessities of discussions and not the pressure of rivalries. Only Divyana seemed to be a bit excluded from the lot, but that was only because the subjects of conversation were no objects of interest to her; accordingly, Tarika went and sat by her, and engaged conversation about the baby. She caught the glance of gratitude her companion's husband sent to her, then, as the questions and answers on both sides were slow-paced, she let her gaze wander through the room.
The rest of the guests were strewn around the room in groups of two or three; often, as perfect hosts, Ananya and Mayank went from one to the other, and got their lot of smiles. By the window stood two rather tall men, both dressed in dark business suits; one of them was a politician's son, Vikram Rajadhyaksh and the other a well-known lawyer. His name was Rajat Kumar and Tarika had always admired him and his work; it had been a shock to meet him there.
Another journalist, Arundhati Iyer was presently talking to Vaibhav, and he did not look like he was having the time of his life. She probably disagreed with his entire argument and was busy breaking it point by point. A second woman sat alone beside the library, reading, - she was a strict-looking a forensic practitioner, Sukriti Roy, a woman with thick-mounted glasses encircling her dark eyes and an enormous book in her hands; she had barely looked up from it when Tarika had been introduced. Sometimes, one out of the group of three people who were animatedly talking right beside her right elbow turned to ask her a question, and she answered briefly and clearly before she dived back into her reading.
At this point the conversation with Divyana accelerated, and Tarika got interested. Her concentration was such that she didn't hear anyone approaching until long legs stretched under her nose and a hand was extended in front of her face, together with a pair of light eyes and a cheeky, unfaltering grin.
"Tarika mam?" said the youth cheerfully. "I'm really happy to meet you here. Look, I'm frightfully sorry to burst in and all that, but I think I owe you a BIG thanks."
He looked anything but frightfully sorry, seated comfortably between her chair and Divyana's, the hand she had bewilderingly shaken now tapping a rapid, gleeful rhythm on the chair's armrest. She was fairly certain she had never seen him before. "What should you thank me for?" she asked.
"Oh, well – you saved me from the gallows two years ago, Remember, two years ago, The case, in which all the money would go down to my other brother because of that bloody will but since you challenged the will it, the money was divided into two equal proportions." The youth supplied the information, "I owe you a lot for your help, Mam.." he said.
After hearing the case she recognized him, Marcus D'souza , he was the other son of a small scale industrialist Mr Smith Dsouza , who was murdered in his house and the other son was arrested as the prime suspect in murdering his father, she remembered defending the case in court a two years back . The son was a crooked swindler who had got involved in all sorts of fishy business ever since he was fifteen, but in that case, he had been innocent – though she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd done it. What his son was doing here right now, though, she had no idea.
"Yes, of course – now I recognize you. And what are you doing down here, Marcus?"
"Just enjoying the climate." He punctuated this with a dazzling smile that probably sent many girls weak at the knees; it would not do for her, though. For one thing, she was several years older than him. For another, he could very well be the author of those letters.
"Very well – and what are you doing here, in this mansion at this time of the year, Marcus?" she repeated, mid-mocking, mid-severe.
"Damned if I know." He shook his head sadly. "The old bird sent me, but the reason – there! Is quite confidential, can't speak about it." he said while sealing his lips.
Though unable to determine whether he was very clever or very stupid, Tarika watched with amusement as he cocked his head to the side and called out to one of the two men who'd been talking by the hearth, "Hey, Vikram! Would you mind coming over for a minute?"
The said guy excused himself and approached them. He was a well-preserved man of thirty-five or so, with a smiling composure and smart readiness of attitude; he seated himself among them, helped himself to a slice of cake, and looked fit to answering questions.
"That lady here," Marcus said with a pointed look at Tarika, "demands to know what exactly we are here for. Do you have an idea, by any chance?"
"Not in the least," Vikram answered. "Nothing much. Just touring the area."
""That's what I said," triumphed Marcus with a gratified voice, and having thus proved his intellectual superiority over common mortals, extended his long legs further afield, got out a cigarette, and proceeded to feel his pockets for something to light it with.
"I've got matches," Marcus answered. He fished in his pocket, produced the box, and tossed it over to him. As he lit the smoke and took a big puff, Tarika could see Vikram's devilish grin through the light smoke.
At eleven, the party broke off without a hitch. Tarika exchanged a few words with Ananya, and was able to tell her that nothing suspicious had arisen from her conversation with the guests. She also asked the reason for the presence of the politician's son, Vikram Rajadhyaksh and Marcus D'souza, Ananya told her that, Vikram's dad are sponsoring some funds for the study, so as a supervisor whether the funds have been used for proper purpose or not, he is been sent by his dad here and as far as Marcus was concerned he is just free-loader, he was friends with Vikram so decided to join him on this excursion. After clearing her doubts, Tarika proceeded to walk up to her room when she was stopped in mid-staircase by Rajat's voice calling behind her, "I would like to have a word with you, Miss Tarika, if you can spare me a few minutes then."
"Sure.." Tarika nodded.
Tarika came down again and followed the lawyer to his rooms, which were large and well furnished, and whose window curtains their owner impatiently drew on the night outside.
"Do sit down," he said, remarking that Tarika had remained on the doorstep, hesitating. "Can I offer you anything? Tea or coffee?"
Tarika accepted coffee, feeling with some reason that caffeine, at this time of the night, would help her staying awake, and sat in silence while her host stirred up the cup of coffee, which was already kept prepared in the room and seated opposite her chair. He was a very handsome man with dark toned skin his hair were precisely cut and cleanly shaved. He was surely a brilliant person having depth knowledge of his subject and was dedicated to his work. He was calm in his demeanor and had a great level of patience, he had a severe look – the kind of person who can get more from you in ten words than you get from him in a thousand. And that's why Tarika used to admire him as a person.
"Tarika, I do not think myself mistaken when supposing your coming to visit Mrs Ananya at this precise moment is no coincidence," he got to the point immediately, his voice serious and grave. Behind those glasses, which hid the shade of his eyes, a razor-sharp mind must be at work. "I should not be surprised at all if she had called you for the matter of those anonymous letters."
Tarika might have fidgeted. Thirty-two or no, she felt like a disobedient child faced with a particularly strict teacher.
"Actually, she did," Tarika admitted. "And I should tell you that you are suspected of writing them, as well as everybody else." Tarika replied determinedly.
This, unexpectedly, brought a first, small smile on his face. "I should think very ill of you if you didn't suspect me," the lawyer said. He stood up to fill his empty cup, he also proposed some more to Tarika, who declined, and sat back down. "I have heard much about you, Tarika. I even went to one of our audiences once to see you in court. You are a very talented lawyer." He paused, for the necessary protestations to fill in, and continued, "I do not, however, think you are the fittest person for this particular matter, yet I will do everything in my power to help you."
Tarika muttered a thanks and watched him pulling out a diary from the nearest bookcase and open it. "If, therefore, you cannot tell me anything of your personal deductions, I can tell you of mine, and provide you with intelligence others have no access to."
He displayed before Tarika's eyes a whole stack of letters, fifteen or twenty maybe, all of them identical in paper, size and printing to the anonymous letters Ananya had shown her. The messages they contained, however, differed: they were grimmer, nastier, and turned to downright obscenity towards the last two or three.
Tarika studied them closely, attentive to any distinctive detail, however small and insignificant, that might differ them from the letters Ananya had entrusted her with, but as far as she could see they were similar in every way. Size of the card, size and ink of the letters, grain of the paper – she could discern no difference.
"Do any other guests have received more letters they have not shown Ananya?" Tarika inquired.
"Not that I know of. But of course, I haven't told them about those, so they have really no reason for telling me." A pause ensued, which he spent watching into the hearth, the silence merely broken by the crackling of the fire and a log occasionally falling down, whipping up a whirl of sparks. Tarika watched his serious profile and wondered what kind of thinking was forming itself behind the thick, light-reflecting glasses.
"Tarika, all I can tell you is this," her host finally said, without looking at her at first. "That I have no reason whatsoever for assaulting with pointless anonymous letters such a respectable family as the Sahani's, but that I have no reliable defense to offer against me having done it. I can, however, give you my personal deductions in regard to the matter – unless you should think I could try to influence or impress upon you."
"I'm open to suggestions," Tarika said, a little waveringly. She did not wish him to be the author of the letters; her immense respect towards him and faculty both to reason and to foresee would make him a remarkable opponent, and it was likely she should never pin him down to anything. "You are innocent until proven guilty, in any case."
Rajat wasted no time on explaining the deductions. "Very well. I think our man, I tend to think it is a man, for the style of the letters is more masculine than feminine, unless it is a remarkable imitation and done purposefully to confuse us about the gender of the culprit. But right now, I would move forward with the culprit being man theory. (he took a pause and then once again continued with his observations)I think our man is a very clever person. His mind must have a capacity to reason and foresee," echoing without knowing it Tarika's own thoughts about the culprit a moment ago, "and a peculiarly developed insight ,too much, maybe, for him not to balance constantly on the thin edge between genius and mental decay."
Rajat picked his cup of coffee as he sipped its contents while Tarika's mind continued registering the details provided by him. While observing Tarika's face, Rajat spoke
"I think you ought to be very careful, Tarika."
…
After discussing with Rajat , Tarika returned to her room. As the night passed, she lay sleepless in her bed and considered thoughtfully the different conversations that had followed one another at day; it occurred to her that she should perhaps keep track of the dates and incidents, in case the matter was to be handed later on to the police or to an Ex- CID Officer. She got up and decided to pen down the details in a file, while sitting at the desk facing her bed; she took up Ananya's envelope containing the letters.
For a few moments, she considered them in silence; in the darkness only partly broken by the glow of her desk lamp, with the gloomy nightly noises and atmosphere surrounding her bedroom like a long curtain, the neat words stood out against their white background with nasty accuracy. It was no longer difficult to imagine the ghostly figure tiptoeing down the corridors as though draped in shadows, the lunatic mind at work, writing out grim messages and threat-like notes, slid under people's doors—
She started, her heart suddenly thumping hard against her ribs: a small white rectangle of paper lay on the parquet, just a few inches from the threshold.
After the first initial shock, and once the frantic in her chest had eased down, she found it was not so much of a surprise after all. In fact, she had been a fool not to expect it. Her assumed ignorance of the whole study-and-letters matter was easily see-through…
She picked up the card and read it carefully. "I'll keep that in mind," she murmured, as though her voice was by some miracle able to reach the author of the words.
On the white paper, black letters wrote out, disagreeably, "
DON'T COME CRYING AFTERWARDS AND SAY YOU WEREN'T WARNED."
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AN
So how was it? Liked it r hated it? Mention it in the review section.
Also, Vaibhav, Divyana and Rajat are the same officers from CID :)
Thank You!
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