Bankerupt (Ravi Subramanian) (31 page)

58

8th June 2008

Boston

It was the second time that day that Lieutenant Windle had come to meet him. He had come once in the morning to take charge of the crime scene and make sure that his boys were in control of everything. This time, he had come to interrogate Aditya.

‘Hmm. So it’s Cambridge Partners that you think could be involved.’

‘I don’t know. They had categorically said that if Cirisha does not back off from poking her nose into the
Staring Down the Barrel
-related research, they will do what they have to. It was a clear threat. I had mentioned this to you a few days back. And then they called me yesterday to meet them. All this happened while I was in their office. Isn’t it too much of a coincidence?’

‘Yes, it is.’

‘They have everything to lose if the research gets retracted. The valuations of gun-manufacturing units will come down dramatically. This will have an impact on their investments. But more importantly, it will be a loss of face and credibility for them in this long battle. And more than any other battle, in this one, he who loses credibility loses everything. Cirisha had told me about Lucier, who had first spoken to Michael Cardoza, soliciting him for this research project. On being turned down, Lucier went to James Deahl. The same Lucier, who is from the NRA, met me at Cambridge Partners both times.’

‘What do you think they were looking for?’

‘I guess it’s the research data. The raw data that Cirisha had in her possession. Those papers could have seriously embarrassed them.’

‘Where are the papers now?’

‘I don’t know. They were with Cirisha. I hunted for the papers whole of yesterday and the day before. They’re not here.’

‘That’s really strange. And by the way, what were you doing when she was on her jog?’

‘I was asleep.’

‘And you didn’t realize she was leaving?’

‘No. I was sleeping outside, on the living room couch. She was in the bedroom.’

‘On the couch? Was everything all right between the two of you?’

‘Yes, lieutenant.’

‘Then why on the couch?’ Windle asked him and turned towards the couch in the living room. ‘It doesn’t look particularly comfortable.’

‘We had an argument.’

‘Hmm … I’m listening.’

‘It was a regular husband–wife squabble. She was not happy with me losing my job in India,’ Aditya lied. He could not think of anything else.

‘You know, Mr Aditya Raisinghania …’ and then he stopped. ‘By any chance do you have a short and easy word for that?’

‘Adi.’

‘OK. By the way, Adi, the world thinks it was a cardiac arrest. An excited, overtired jogger, whose heart stopped pumping. I don’t believe it. And that’s why I had impressed on the coroner to do a toxicology test. Let’s see what it throws up.’ He had mentioned this to Aditya earlier. But it was what Windle followed it up with that stunned him. ‘She was killed by someone known to her.’ It was more the way he said it that surprised Aditya.

‘How can you say that?’ And suddenly he realized what Lieutenant Windle was implying. His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Are you saying that I am a suspect?’ It dawned on him that though Cirisha had died three days ago, Windle had stayed away from interrogating him purely on humanitarian grounds. He was always on the list of suspects.

‘That possibility has not been ruled out yet, Adi.’ And his face became stern. It scared Aditya to see the transformation. ‘Adi, you need to be in town till you are cleared. In case you need to travel either out of this county or even back to India, you need explicit permission. I am just communicating the coroner’s order to you.’

‘But how can you be so sure that she was killed by someone known to her?’ Aditya was beginning to get worried. The moment he asked the question though, he realized that it was a mistake. It would now appear to Windle as though he was trying to cover his tracks.

‘Because leading up to the place where we found her body, there were two sets of footprints. We were able to see them because the ground was wet on account of the drizzle. One of them was Cirisha’s. The other one we don’t know yet.’

‘It could have been anyone!’

‘That he,’ and he paused, ‘or she, was known to Cirisha Narayanan is clear, Adi. The footprints were right next to each other for a good half a mile. The span of the steps was large, which means that they were walking next to each other. If someone is jogging, the span is relatively smaller. People tend to take longer steps while walking. If she had any inkling of what was coming her way, she would have broken into a run. Which she didn’t. Tell me, Adi, under what circumstance would you walk half a mile with someone who was about to murder you? It can only be if you know the person and don’t have the faintest idea that he or she could harm you.’

‘But how does the question of my involvement come up?’

‘Simple. You had a fight the night before. She was vehemently against something you were doing. Depending on how important it was to you, you could have wanted her dead.’

‘Oh, come on.’

‘We will see, Adi. We will see.’ And he got up. He opened the door, looked outside and said, ‘Two officers from Boston Detective Corps will be in the area 24 × 7 for the next few days.’ He walked out, letting the door shut on its own.

59

9th June 2008

Boston

‘Noooooooo!’ squawked Aditya as he crumpled and flung the morning newspaper with all his might. He was livid when he saw the headline on the front page. Red eyes marked his helpless fury.

A little later, when the anger subsided, he picked up the newspaper from the floor, stretched it out and read it again. ‘James Deahl’s
Staring Down the Barrel
wins Bancroft Prize.’ Aditya’s sense of frustration and outrage was driving him insane.

He sat down on the living room couch and held his head in his hands. There were tears in his eyes. The newspaper article had reminded him of Cirisha and her struggle. He was reasonably sure that she was murdered in connection with the research that had gone into
Staring Down the Barrel
. But what it was, he couldn’t say. His obsession with Cirisha’s death made him almost forget about Narayanan, who was still not out of danger. It could take days for him to come out of coma.

Aditya was convinced that the papers they had found in Richard’s locker at the duPont Center held the clue to Cirisha’s murder and, possibly, his own innocence. The documents were not in the house—he had scoured every nook and corner after Cirisha’s death—so the chances of Narayanan’s killers having got them were negligible. Where could they have gone? Did the people who killed her get their hands on them? If they did, then why did they ransack his home and attack Narayanan? The papers had to be somewhere out there. Safely tucked away from the men who were after them. Unless … it was not the documents they were after.

Lieutenant Windle came calling again that afternoon. The two other detectives who had been patrolling the neighbourhood were with him. They grilled him for over two hours. By the end of it, Aditya was a nervous wreck. He had already told them about everything he knew, including the documents that they had picked up from the duPont Center.

‘Adi, our detectives went to Cambridge Partners.’

‘What do they have to say?’

‘I’ll skip the details. Most importantly, they said that they called you to offer a job. They had liked you when they met you the first time. However, they denied any suggestions that they threatened you.’

‘They have 22 per cent of their investments in gun-manufacturing units. Don’t they have reason to worry? If the anti-gun movement picks up speed, their investments will tank.’

‘They don’t have any investments in gun-manufacturing companies.’

‘Says who?’

‘We had someone verify their books.’

‘What the hell? This is ridiculous!’ screamed Aditya. ‘They told me categorically.’

‘Unproven,’ one of the detectives responded coolly.

‘Anyway, Adi, we have informed Mumbai Police through the Indian consulate. I’ve sought information from them on anything that could be relevant to this case. And just to check, Adi, do you suspect Mr Singh could have been involved?’ Windle asked Aditya as he got up from his chair.

‘He was baying for Cirisha’s blood. She was the cause of all his problems. But I always thought his bark was worse than his bite.’ Aditya knew that Shivinder was more worried about his money than taking revenge on Cirisha.

‘He was released a few days back.’

‘A big mistake.’

‘Well, Adi, we have as much reason to disbelieve you, as we have evidence to suspect him. So if he must be in custody, so should you.’ Aditya didn’t know what to say. He just stared vacantly out of the window.

Windle walked towards the door. ‘I have kept the security cover intact for the time being.’ Just before he reached the door, in what had become his trademark style, he turned. ‘And Adi, one last thing. What would you say if someone were to ask you the motive for travelling to Mexico two weeks ago?’

‘Mr Narayanan had some work.’

‘At a bank? Greater Boston Global Bank, Adi? A bank whose global headquarters are less than a hundred miles from where you are.’

‘That’s where he wanted to go. He is old so I just accompanied him there. I don’t know what business he transacted there.’ Aditya was sweating. He was getting drawn deeper into this. If they got to know that he had gone to GB2 to launder money into the United States of America, they would haul him to federal prison.

‘We will find that out. Soon.’ And the door shut behind Windle.

That’s when Aditya realized that the two officers patrolling the neighbourhood were not meant for his security—they were there for surveillance. He was their prime suspect now. His hands turned cold and he started shivering. Lying down on the stained carpet, he curled himself into a foetal position and clenched his fists. What had he got himself into? He didn’t even know when he passed out. Was it severe exhaustion from all the stress of the past few days? The only thing he realized, albeit much later, was that the doorbell was ringing. Repeatedly. He wasn’t expecting anyone. He got up. His head was still spinning. He stumbled to the door wondering who it could be.

60

9th June 2008

Boston

Windle’s next port of call was MIT. He met Antonio, who summarily dismissed Aditya’s suggestion that Cirisha was killed because she was poking her nose into activities related to Deahl’s book. ‘If what you are saying is true, lieutenant, more than half this country would have been dead by now.’

‘So what else could it be?’

‘I don’t know. But do you suspect anyone?’

‘Aditya heads the list. There were some indications of trouble on the domestic front. There is one more angle which we are investigating. But we don’t have anything concrete.’

‘Hmm … That is really sad. She was a great talent.’

‘We will soon get to the bottom of this. I need your permission to speak to people who have worked closely with her, her colleagues, supervisors and students. People she could have been in conflict with.’

‘Sure, lieutenant. You don’t need my approval for that.’

‘Just following protocol, sir. Yours is an institute of repute. I’ll make sure that I’m accompanied by the chief of MIT Police, or anyone he deputes.’

‘Thank you, lieutenant. Please do use your discretion and advise me in case you notice anything which is not the way it should be.’

‘Thank you, sir.’ Lieutenant Windle stepped out. On reaching his car, he pulled out his phone and dialled a number.

‘Can I speak with Simen Munter?’ He waited for a few seconds to be put through. ‘Hi Simen. Just called to check if there has been any progress.’ There was a moment’s silence. He was listening to Simen. ‘Tomorrow evening. Great, I’ll speak to you then. Thank you.’ And after a pause when he heard what Simen Munter had to say, he added, ‘Sure. The report can follow the day after.’

On hearing the bell, Aditya groggily found his way to the door. He drew the curtain apart and looked out. At the door, in full uniform, were the two officers from the Boston Police Department. Aditya stepped back and unlatched the door. And then he saw why they were there.