Murder at Crescent Point (14 page)

Nikki took a taxi but instead of going to the hostel, she gave the address of the Taneja Mansion to the driver so that she could check out their place. She was curious to know what had actually happened after the kidnapping incident. Nikki got down from the taxi and looked at the house. She was taken aback to see that instead of Taneja Mansion, the nameplate boldly stated ‘Khanna Mansion.’ She rang the bell. A servant opened the door. Nikki said, ‘I want to meet Mrs Taneja.’

‘Mrs Taneja does not live here. This is the house of Mr Khanna,’ the servant informed.

‘Are Seema and Tina in the house?’ asked Nikki.

‘No, Seema has gone to college and Tina to school.’

A lady asked from within, ‘Who is it, Kishan?’

Kishan said, ‘There is a girl at the door, asking for Mrs Taneja.’ Mrs Khanna came to the door, but could not immediately recognise Nikki.

‘Aunty, I am Nikki, a friend of Jyoti’s. Do you remember me?’

Mrs Khanna said, ‘Yes, yes, now I remember. Come inside.’

She took her to the living room. Nikki said, ‘Actually, I came to meet Mrs Taneja.’

The lady said, ‘You must be coming to Somabad after a long time. Mr Taneja sold his company a few years back. He and his wife have left the country.’

‘Where are they these days?’

‘I am not sure but I believe they went to America where Mrs Taneja’s brother lives.’

‘Oh I see. Did Mr Taneja sell this house to you when they were leaving?’

‘Not really, he actually sold the house to the company, but now it belongs to us.’

‘I thought having come here, I could meet Seema. Where is she?’

‘She has gone to college,’ Mrs Khanna said.

‘Which college is she in?’

‘The Commerce College.’

Nikki’s eyes perked up. ‘Oh, it is in the university campus! I’ll meet her there.’

‘Would you like a cup of tea
Beta
?’ Mrs Khanna asked tenderly.

‘No thanks Aunty, some other time.’

Nikki left the house deep in thought. Perhaps she could get some more information from Seema. She hailed a cab and asked the driver to take her to the university.

After reaching Commerce College, she went to the office to get information about Seema Khanna. She was a student of first year commerce and was attending a class on the second floor. Nikki went there and checked. Seema was in the class. As soon as the period was over she came out with other girls. Nikki approached her and said, ‘Hi Seema! Remember me? Nikki?’

‘Oh hi!’ replied Seema warmly. ‘It’s been ages! You never kept in touch! What brings you here?’

‘I am in the Science College. This morning I met your mom and she told me that you are in the Commerce College. I wanted to see you.’

‘Great, it is so nice to see you, do you have some time?’

Nikki said, ‘I have no classes today.’

‘I have only one class left which is going to start. If you could wait in the library at the ground floor I’ll meet you there as soon as I finish.’

Seema came to the library shortly and the duo decided to have a chat over coffee in the cafeteria. Nikki noticed a great transformation in Seema. She was no longer the shy and simple girl Nikki had met years ago. Now she seemed a stylish, expensively dressed and a vivacious person. She looked rich and well groomed, dressed in the latest designer wear. As soon as they settled down, Seema asked, ‘So tell me what’s new? When did you come here?’

‘I came a couple of months ago when the session began. I must say you look really nice.’

‘Thanks. Where did you meet Mom?’ asked Seema.

‘Actually, I went to the Taneja Mansion to see the Tanejas. I didn’t know that you had moved house,’ said Nikki.

Seema said, ‘Something strange happened after the kidnapping incident and Mr Taneja had to sell all his properties and leave the country.’

Nikki asked, ‘Where is your dad working these days?’ Seema was surprised, ‘Didn’t you know, he is now the Managing Director of Mr Taneja’s company?’

‘Really? Wow. Does he own the company now?’

‘Not really. I think the owner is someone else. That fellow asked Dad to run the company on his behalf and also gave Taneja Mansion to us.’

They had finished the coffee. Nikki said, ‘Thanks for the coffee. It was a pleasure meeting you. I must go now.’

Seema asked, ‘Where do you live?’

‘I live in the university hostel for girls.’

‘You have transport?’ asked Seema.

‘No, I will take a bus.’

‘Your hostel is on my way. I’ll drop you.’

‘Thanks.’

Seema went to the parking lot and came out driving a shiny new red twin-seater sports car. Nikki was taken aback by the expensive car.

Nikki sat in the car, remarking, ‘This is a lovely car.’

‘Yes, Dad gave it to me on my eighteenth birthday.’

‘Great,’ said Nikki wondering how in such a short span of time the Khanna family had become so wealthy.

— CHAPTER EIGHTEEN —

Another Case Opened

On day three, Nikki got a call from ACP Rajan. When she met him he appeared quite enthusiastic. ‘We got that guy from Somabad and he has recognised the bald man as the person who had hired him for the trailing job. I am going to get formal permission to apprehend him on suspicion of committing murder. Thereafter, I will re-open the case.’

Nikki said, ‘There is something else which you ought to know. A few days after Jyoti’s murder some people kidnapped Mrs Taneja.’

‘Kidnapped Mrs Taneja?’ he was stunned.

‘Yes, the kidnappers asked Mr Taneja to pay `20 crores and threatened that if they did not get the amount within five days his wife would be killed.’

‘Did he report the matter to the police?’

‘No, having lost his daughter he did not want to lose his wife too. So he sold his company shares to pay the ransom.’

ACP Rajan became pensive. ‘Oh I see. When did you come to know about the kidnapping?’ ‘On the same day. As a matter of fact on the following day two of the kidnappers also picked me up because I had seen the face of one of them.’

‘What?’ asked the ACP now looking incredulous and curious at the same time.

‘I was released after four days. When I reached Taneja Mansion, Mrs Taneja was already there. It appeared that Mr Taneja had paid the ransom. I left their house soon thereafter and came back to Sangalina Hills.’

‘You spoke to me on your return, why didn’t you tell me then?’ the ACP asked.

‘I am sorry, but at that time I thought informing you would have jeopardised the Tanejas as the kidnappers belonged to a mafia and they could harm them further.’

‘But what is the connection between Mrs Taneja’s kidnapping and the double murder?’ asked the ACP.

Nikki said, ‘Mr Taneja was forced to sell the company and leave the country and this bald man is the Chief of Security of that company.’

‘I still don’t quite understand the connection.’

Nikki explained, ‘Mr Taneja had a personal assistant Mr Khanna through whom he had done the child swapping. Four years back, when I came here, Mr Khanna had become a manager in Mr Taneja’s company. He was his most trusted aide. He is the one who advised Mr Taneja to sell his shares in order to pay the ransom. Mr Khanna is now the Managing Director of that company and also lives in Jyoti’s house, Taneja Mansion.’

‘Oh I see...I smell a bigger conspiracy.’ He pondered for a while and then asked Nikki, ‘But how do you know all this?’

Nikki said, ‘After meeting you, I went to Taneja Mansion and was surprised to see the new nameplate stating “Khanna Mansion”. I met Mrs Khanna there. She gave me some information and the rest I learnt from their elder daughter Seema, who is studying in the Commerce College. I feel if you re-open the kidnapping case, you may get information about the murder case as well.’ She added, ‘One more thing, I can recognise two of the kidnappers. Their names were John and Albert.’

‘But how can I re-open the kidnapping case without a formal complaint from the party concerned, in this case either Mr Taneja or his wife? You said they have left the country.’

‘Let me try and trace Mr Taneja. In the meantime, why don’t you go slow on the bald man?’

‘This is a four-year-old case. There has to be some concrete evidence that this incident actually took place. Someone can say that Mr Taneja sold his shares and his company in order to go abroad.’

‘I understand. Still, let me try,’ said Nikki.

Nikki went back to her hostel and rang up Mr Taneja’s erstwhile firm. The receptionist came on the line, ‘Pioneer Manufacturing and Marketing, can I help you?’ Nikki said, ‘Hi my name is Lucy. Can I please talk to Mary?’

The receptionist said curtly, ‘Who? There’s no Mary here.’

‘How come? I met her in this company four years back.’

The receptionist’s voice was clearly annoyed, ‘But she does not work here now.’ Nikki pleaded, ‘Please don’t disconnect. I am an old friend of hers. She was definitely working as a secretary in this company. Could you kindly connect me to someone else, a secretary in your office? Perhaps she may know her whereabouts. Please?’

‘OK, I will connect you with Julie. She has been working here for the last ten years.’ Soon Julie came on the line, Nikki cleared her throat.

‘My name is Lucy. I am an old friend of Mary’s. She used to work as secretary to the Managing Director. I live in the US now, but thought I’d catch up with Mary since I’m visiting after years. I believe she has changed jobs. Could you kindly tell me her new contact number if you have it?’

‘Well, the last time she contacted me she said she was working in Capital Investment Inc. You can get their number from the directory.’

‘Thank you very much. I am much obliged.’

‘You’re welcome.’ The line went dead.

Nikki found out the number of Capital Investment Inc. and asked for Mary. She was lucky; soon Mary came on the line. Nikki got straight to the point, ‘Miss Mary, I am Nikki, Jyoti’s friend, Jyoti—the late daughter of Mr Taneja. You may probably not recall, but after Jyoti’s death, I had come to your office with Mr Taneja and met you.’

‘Yes, I think I remember now. Tell me, how can I help you?’

Nikki said, ‘Miss Mary, I want to meet you for a few minutes. This is something personal.’

Mary sounded a bit taken aback, but agreed, ‘I finish at 5:30. You could meet me at 6:30 at my house. The address is no. 27, Old Mint Road.’

Nikki went to see Mary that evening. Mary greeted her in a friendly manner. Nikki began, ‘Thanks for seeing me. I believe Mr Taneja is in America. I have to contact him urgently. I was wondering whether you would know his contact number?’

‘I have not been in touch with him ever since he left the country. I don’t even know where he is in America.’

Nikki said, ‘He might have, at some point, called a relative or a friend in America through you. That could also help.’

Mary said, ‘Let me check my old papers. I will be back in a moment.’ Nikki waited with her fingers crossed. Mary returned after ten minutes holding an old diary in her hand. She said, ‘Mrs Taneja has a brother in the US called Mohan. Mr Taneja called him several times before he left the company. Note down his number. Maybe he could help you.’ Nikki noted the number, thanked Mary and returned to her hostel.

That night Nikki went to an ISD phone booth to make the call. A man came on line, ‘Hello, Mohan here.’ Nikki spoke loudly and clearly, ‘My name is Nikki. I am calling from India. I was a classmate of Jyoti, the late daughter of Mr and Mrs Taneja. I have to speak to Mr Taneja urgently.’

Mohan said, ‘Mr Taneja does not live here. You could call him at 235-568-9310.’

Nikki dialled again. Mr Taneja came on the line. Nikki said, ‘Uncle, this is Nikki, Jyoti’s classmate.’

‘Oh! My goodness, Nikki! It’s been so long! Nikki, how did you get my number?’

‘Never mind, Uncle, it is good to speak to you. How is Aunty?’

‘She is fine. Do you want to talk to her?’

Nikki said, ‘Later. Now I want to talk to you about something important. I need to stir some things up from the past. Four years ago, during the investigation of the murder of Jyoti and Asha Sayal, the police had found out that a man had hired a local goon to keep a watch on Asha. Based on the description of the man, the police had made a sketch which was shown to me. The police, however, could never trace him. A few days back I went to your old office and found that the man in the sketch was working as Chief of Security of the company. His name is Jeevan Das. He has been recognised by the man in Sangalina Hills. The police have re-opened the murder case. They suspect that there could be some link between Aunty’s kidnapping, your selling the company and the murders. They want to re-open the kidnapping case also, but they cannot do so without a formal complaint from you.’