Murder at Crescent Point (8 page)

The attendant said politely, ‘This way, Miss,’ and escorted her to the first floor through rickety wooden stairs. Nikki saw a door at the other end of the landing. The attendant opened the door and said, ‘You must be tired. I will bring you a cup of tea.’

He went out closing the door from outside. Nikki looked around. There was nothing in the room except a bed and a small stool on which a glass of water had been kept. The ceiling of the room was very high. There were no windows but only two ventilators. Another door opened into the room. Nikki went in. It was a bathroom with a dilapidated bathtub and a wash basin with rusted taps. Apparently this place had not been inhabited for quite some time. The attendant soon returned with a cup of tea.

After half an hour, Mohan Lal came to Nikki’s room. He said, ‘Please come down with me, Ma is anxious to see you.’

Nikki said, ‘I will come but I am not going to tell her that I am her granddaughter.’

Mohan Lal begged, ‘Please come in just for five minutes.’

Nikki went with him. Mohan Lal took her to a corner room on the ground floor. The room was poorly lit. An old lady with dishevelled grey hair was lying on a bed. A chair was placed near the bed. Mohan Lal gestured towards the chair and said, ‘Please sit.’ He himself remained standing nearby. Nikki looked at the woman. Her face was haggard and sickly. She appeared to be in great agony. The woman turned towards Nikki. Her eyes were full of tears. She extended her arms towards Nikki. There was a strange pathos in her eyes. Nikki involuntarily extended her own arms towards her. The woman grabbed her and hugged her. She did not release her for a long time. Nikki’s face was getting drenched with her tears. After sometime Nikki released herself from the arms of the old lady and sat back on the chair. She was strangely moved by the affection of the woman who was now intently gazing at Nikki. After a while, the woman looked towards Mohan Lal and made a gesture asking who this girl was. Mohan Lal took out the letter of Asha Sayal which she had written to Jyoti asking her to meet her at Crescent Point and held it in front of the woman so that she could read it. She read it and again made a questioning gesture towards Nikki.

Mohan Lal said, ‘She wants to know whether you are Asha’s daughter.’

Nikki looked at the woman. Her eyes were watching her with great expectation. She was now making repeated gestures and looking more and more miserable. Mohan Lal gave a piece of paper and a pen to Nikki and said, ‘Please just write on it that you are Asha’s daughter.’

Nikki hesitated. Mohan Lal implored, ‘Please do this. It is a matter of life and death for her.’ Nikki looked at the woman then picked up the pen and wrote, ‘I am the daughter of Asha Sayal.’ The woman looked very happy. She again looked questioningly at Nikki. Mohan Lal said, ‘She wants to know your name. Please write down “Jyoti” here.’ He showed a place at the bottom of the paper on which she had written. Nikki again hesitated but looking at the mounting anxiety of the old woman, wrote down “Jyoti” and held the paper before her. The expression of the old woman suddenly changed. She became calm. Happiness oozed out of her eyes. Mohan Lal said, ‘Let us allow her to rest now. Please go back to your room.’

Nikki got up and the attendant took her to her room. She was completely shaken by this extraordinary experience. As soon as Nikki entered the room the man closed the door behind her. Nikki was bewildered but exhausted and almost immediately fell into a deep but troubled sleep.

— CHAPTER ELEVEN —

Tables are Turned

The next morning Nikki woke up with a start. Yesterday’s bizarre events came back to her in a rush. She leapt out of bed and went straight to the door. She tried to open it but could not. In panic, she banged the door. After some time the attendant came and opened the door. He said harshly, ‘Why are you banging the door?’

‘Why did you lock the door?’

The man laughed derisively and said, ‘So that you do not run away.’ He said this in a manner which Nikki did not like.

‘You were very polite yesterday. Why are you talking like this to me?’ The man replied, ‘Because yesterday we needed you. Today we have no use of you.’

Nikki said, ‘What are you saying. Let me go down and talk to Mohan Lal.’ The man said, ‘There’s no one in the house except you and me.’

‘What about the old sick lady?’ asked Nikki.

‘Ha, ha, ha!’ the man laughed and said, ‘Mohan Lal was always a good actor but that woman my god, she is a born actress!’

Nikki was baffled, ‘I don’t understand what you are saying. What is going on? Can I come down and see for myself.’

‘As you wish,’ said the man sarcastically and led the way to the ground floor.

Nikki went to the corner room where she had met the old lady the previous evening. There was no one there. Even the bed had been removed. Nikki turned and asked, ‘Where is the old lady?’

The man said, ‘She vanished last evening…the moment you went upstairs.’

‘Vanished!’ exclaimed Nikki, ‘Where could she go? She was so sick!’

The man chuckled, ‘That is why I said she is a born actress.’

Nikki cried out, ‘I am very confused. Where is Mohan Lal?’

The man laughed again, ‘By now he would be in Somabad in the Apex Bank.’

‘When did he go to Somabad?’

‘Same time as the old lady vanished.’

‘Why are you talking in riddles? Why don’t you tell me what happened? I must be your daughter’s age.’

The man now looked irritated. ‘My daughter would not have done such a foolish thing. She would not have written and signed a statement that she was the daughter of Asha Sayal.’

Suddenly an awful realisation dawned on Nikki. ‘So I have been tricked?’

The man gave an ugly laugh. ‘Exactly what we wanted! Look girl, we all belong to Somabad. We live around the Bus Stand Road. We knew that Asha Sayal was staying in the lodge for a long time. We read the news about her murder in Sangalina Hills. When you came to the lodge and told Prasad that you were her niece, we became suspicious. A girl like you does not stay in such a lousy place. So we kept a watch on you. When you went to the bank yesterday morning we became alert. Mohan Lal knows some people in the bank. He went to the bank and was told that a girl who says she is the daughter of Asha Sayal, had come and made some silly queries about her account. Feroz Khan told us that Asha Sayal had a daughter by the name Jyoti. According to the newspaper report, she had also been found murdered with Asha. This made us more suspicious. The search conducted by Abdul in your room turned out to be a gold mine. He got hold of the bank statement showing an amount of
10 lakhs in the name of Asha Sayal. The letter written by Asha to her daughter Jyoti gave us an idea. We hired this place and also that theatre actress. The rest is all thanks to you.’ The man continued, ‘You perhaps did not notice that you had written about your being the daughter of Asha Sayal on the upper portion of the page but Mohan Lal made you sign the name “Jyoti” at the bottom of the page.’

‘What difference does that make?’ asked Nikki.

The man said, ‘In the blank space he will write “Received
10 lakhs” and get the money from the bank.’

‘The bank people are not that naïve! They will not give money just like that!’

The man gave another crooked smile. ‘Yesterday when Mohan and Abdul brought you here, one of our men was sent to Sangalina Hills to collect the death certificate of Asha Sayal. Mohal Lal would have got the death certificate by now. With your letter and the death certificate he can put a claim on your behalf.’

Nikki asked, ‘Would they not want to see the person who has actually signed the claim?’

He replied, ‘The name in your school ID has already been altered. Mohan Lal is going to say that you are sick and can’t come. Don’t forget, only day before yesterday you told the bank clerk that you are the daughter of Asha Sayal. He has only to see your photograph and certify that the person in the photograph is the daughter of the account holder. Moreover, with Mohan Lal’s connections at the bank, he will be satisfied with these documents. In fact the procedure was suggested by the bank itself.’

Nikki felt sick, ‘This is such a huge fraud! That means you are also behind the killing of Asha Sayal and her daughter.’

The man said with force, ‘Wait a minute! We have nothing to do with the murders. We read about her death in the newspaper. We became interested because she lived in Evergreen Hotel and some of us, particularly Feroz Khan, knew her.’

Nikki asked, ‘Is Feroz Khan also one of you?’

‘No,’ replied the man. ‘He is fond of drinking and when he gets drunk he tells us all the information about transit passengers who stay in the lodge.’

Nikki asked, ‘Then why did he get Jyoti’s photograph for her in such a clandestine manner?’

‘Feroz Khan is a softie. He said her story touched his heart.’

Nikki’s mind was racing. She could not believe such an unfortunate turn of events.

Then the man ordered rudely, ‘Go back to your room. I will bring food for you there.’

Nikki said, ‘Now that your purpose is served, why do you want me to remain here?’

‘You cannot go anywhere. When Mohan Lal returns he will decide what to do with you.’

Nikki kept quiet and went to her room. The man followed her and locked the door from outside.

Nikki felt numb. The sinister disclosure made by the man left her humiliated and repulsed. She felt cheated by these people who had played on her sentiments. But when she thought deeply about the whole episode, another point emerged quite clearly. These people were thugs who had got the scent of big money and gone after it. They did not appear to have had anything to do with the murders. There was no reason to disbelieve what the man had told her. Moreover, from their appearance and behaviour they would not have had the means to pay such a big sum of money to Asha Sayal. If they were not the murderers, then
who killed Jyoti and Asha Sayal?