The Nidhi Kapoor Story (22 page)

Her hands were clenched in a fist and stuck in it was
yet another letter. Prakash hastily took a picture of Payal holding onto the letter and then snatched it away.

∗∗∗

He spent twenty more minutes in the van and lit a Stikk when he stepped out.

“
Saab
, do I send the forensics team in?” Tambe asked.

Prakash nodded at him, handed him the letter and said, “Put this in the evidence bag. Ask Ashok to look for fingerprints and hair samples in the van. She has long nails. If they indeed fought in there, we may get some clue. Make sure they check her nails carefully. I’ll come to office in a bit and when I come back, I want everything on my table.” Ashok was a part of the forensics team attached to Prakash’s division.

Tambe knew what that meant. Prakash needed to think about something and he would wander aimlessly on a bike until he’d be exhausted or had found the answers.

Rujuta took the letter from Tambe and started reading it.

Dear Nidhi,

I am so sorry. I made a mistake.

Just that your sister happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Just like your pets were.

I knew you would be in your vanity van after the shot. I really wanted to speak to you. When I went in
the van, your sister was sitting with her back to me. I locked the door and started talking. I poured my heart out. I told her all that I wanted to say. But when she turned, I was shocked. I was not expecting her. Things have to remain between you and I. No one can know about it. Not even your sister.

How could I let someone else know about us? I had to remove her. I had to. You understand me. Right?

She was a pretty strong girl you know. She struggled really hard. I had to put in a lot of effort to strangle her.

Nidhi, I am so sorry that she had to go. I know that she was your constant companion since you were a child. I did not want to kill her. You know, when I tied her hands behind her back, I asked her if she would stay quiet and not tell the world about me. I promise Nidhi I would have left her alone. I wouldn’t have hurt her. But she refused to cooperate. She kept fighting. Bitch!

It was over in a few seconds. I made it quick. I knew she was important to you and I made sure that she did not suffer much. The silk scarf was surprisingly helpful. It got tighter as I pulled harder.

Nidhi, please do not tell your father that Payal is dead. He would be devastated. I know he loved Payal more than you. Right?

You know Nidhi, you ought to be really happy that Payal is gone. After all, you are now the sole heiress of Nishant. You will now get all his love and affection. I know you’ve craved for it since you were a child. You must thank me Nidhi. You must.

OK, I have to go now. But we would be together
soon. I promise.

Oh, one more thing. Thank you for selling Ronak. I read about it. Good decision!

After she was done reading it, she looked at Prakash. He had lit his second cigarette and was puffing away on it. Since the Nidhi Kapoor case, he had started to smoke lot more. Rujuta knew the ill effects and wanted Prakash to quit, but it was a conversation for a different place, a different time. “What’s the meaning of this letter? How sick can a man get?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go.” With that, Prakash held Rujuta’s hand and led her to his bike.

The bike rides late at night were Prakash’s comfort thing. Lately, he had started using Rujuta’s pad but nothing like a ride on the streets of Mumbai after midnight. Just that in recent times, he had started taking Rujuta along for these nightly quests.

∗∗∗

“Prakash, I have a thought. Every time, every fucking time, the bastard has had access to every place that Nidhi has been to. At times I want to blame it all on Nidhi herself. It would be so convenient for her. No? Just go kill people, come out screaming of the room and blame it on someone who was never there.” Rujuta was talking into the oncoming wind.

“And since she is such a good actress, she can pull this
off without major hiccups. Right? You are so stupid, Rujuta!” Prakash had to yell over his shoulder since he was riding the bike.

“Yeah, I know. But I am just wary of her now. She seems to be occupying your head all the time.” Rujuta pressed herself hard against Prakash and gripped him harder around his chest.

“Oh! Come on. OK listen. Now that we are talking about homicide, we need to be lot more careful about Nidhi’s security. Is this guy just being an envious stalker? Or there is more to what meets the eye? If it is about Ronak, then why kill Payal? The murder somehow does not make sense.”

“I am sure we’d catch him sooner or later. There is nothing called the perfect murder. Damn! How many such men have you encountered Prakash?” Rujuta asked.

“What did you just say?” Prakash interrupted.

“I mean there is nothing called the perfect crime. There has to be a clue somewhere unless it’s a random act.”

“You know, Rujuta, there is a lot of difference between threatening to kill and actually doing it. Plus, with the coolness and perfection that the pets, and now Payal, have been killed, this is definitely not the first time our guy is killing someone. What if our mysterious man has killed other people in the past? You know, I think I will pull out all unsolved murder cases from around Juhu.”

“How would that help?”

“I don’t know. Investigative work is all about grinding and chasing threads that may or may not lead to a destination. I have this theory and I want to test it. Simple.”

With that Prakash halted his bike next to a bicycle. The
person manning the bicycle handed out a Stikk and poured a steaming cup of milky tea for Prakash. These makeshift, one-man kiosks popped up all over Mumbai just after midnight. They stocked cigarettes, tea and coffee. Some had Vada Pav and Idli. Students, professionals and others who worked late shifts used these kiosks often. Some said that these people were the lifeline of Mumbai in the wee hours.

^∗
Yama is the God of Death in Hindu Mythology. More at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama

20. Day 13, Morning. Police Station.

“What are you doing here?” Prakash eyed Naveen Verma and sized up a sharply dressed man sitting next to Naveen. He looked like an expensive lawyer but Prakash knew most lawyers that these
filmwallahs
worked with. This one had to be a new addition to the crop of gold-diggers.

“I thought I would make clear to you where I stand. I know that I am a suspect in everything that has been happening over the last few days,” said a jittery Verma. He was sitting on the edge of his seat.

“Suspect? Who said that?” Prakash asked flatly, giving nothing away.

“I am not a fool. Neither am I new to this. I know how you guys work. After your constable made phone calls to my office, I spoke to Commissioner Joshi.” He looked at Rujuta who was already in Prakash’s office when Naveen Verma had come in.

Prakash had asked his team to make rounds in offices and homes of everyone connected with the case and get whereabouts, alibis and other documentary evidence about each suspect at the time of three incidents. The wide net he had cast included security guards, servants, drivers, neighbors, Naveen Verma, Vicky Taluja. And even Kabeer Khan.

At the mention of Joshi, Prakash thought Verma was trying to push his way through. He was not going to get intimidated by such things. He picked up a file from his desk.
“Hmmm. Let me go through my cases and I would speak to you in a bit. I would take about half an hour. You may wait at the reception or come back later.”

“But it’s important!” Verma tried to protest.

“To you. Not to me.” Prakash turned away.

The lawyer had to talk to justify his presence and fee. He said, “We just want to clarify our position and if required, file for an anticipatory bail.”

Prakash sneered, “Bail? Are you conceding that you have murdered that poor girl and you tried to burn Nidhi Kapoor down? If this is a confession, should I ask my men to put your client under arrest? I will have 48 hours before I am required to file a charge sheet. It’s more than enough time for me to get a confession out. No? And if you’re not confessing, there’s a constable at the reception who takes requests for bails and other things. You may want to go meet him.” With that, he leafed through the file that he had picked up.

Before the lawyer could react, Verma held his lawyer’s hand. “We will wait for you,” he said.

When they shuffled out of the room, Rujuta said, “Come on Prakash, give him a break. We ought to hear his side of the story.”

“We will. But I have more cases other than Kapoors to worry about.” With that, he pressed a bell to call for Tambe and other beat constables and did his case allocations.

∗∗∗

“I just want to assure you that I have nothing to do with anything. I know that I am a suspect but I can never harm Nidhi. She is like a daughter to me,” Naveen was rambling.

Prakash had called for him after he was done. He delayed the interview by whiling away his time on a cup of tea and unnecessary phone calls. He then interrogated the three young boys who were locked up since last night.

“In fact, I am here to extend all cooperation that you may need. If there is anything that I could do to help you with your investigation, please let me know,” Naveen continued.

The lawyer was surprisingly quiet this time around. Rujuta guessed that Naveen had asked him to stay shut after the reaction he provoked from Prakash.

“Really? OK. To start off, where were you when the dogs were killed? And when Payal was killed?” Prakash stared right into Naveen’s eyes and leaned forward in his chair.

Naveen was thrown off-guard. He did not expect Prakash to be blunt like that. He had an entirely different impression of Prakash from his previous meeting at Nidhi’s home. He stuttered. “I… I was home both days. I don’t have any proof or something but you can talk to my driver and my servants… See… I am being honest. Really.”

Prakash continued, “If not you, who do you think could’ve done this? Aren’t you the only family that Nidhi and Payal have? If something were to happen to them, aren’t you going to get their property? Trust me, I am going to get to the bottom of this.” Prakash was getting louder by the minute.

“I don’t know who’s doing this. If I did, I would drag him to you myself. It has to do with that madman who has
taken a liking for Nidhi. Every famous person has some or the other stalker. Even Nishant had so many women who could do anything to get his attention,” Verma said.

Prakash pointed a finger at him. “We think it’s someone you know.” He was still louder than the situation merited.

Verma paused for a minute. When he could follow what Prakash was implying, he said, “Someone I know? Who would want to harm us? And why? We don’t have any issues with anyone. We never hurt anyone. It was… it was Nishant who was mad. He did all those things and that too was a long, long time ago. After he went to that place in Panchgani, we’ve all been very happy. Nidhi and Payal have learned to live without their parents. Poor girls. It’s all Nishant’s fault. Nishant Kapoor was the worst thing to have happened to my sister and now I am being framed for these murders.” Naveen’s voice got cloudy and his throat was choked. There was desperation and resignation in his tone.

Prakash was about to fire yet another barrage of questions when Rujuta interrupted. “What? What happened long time ago?” She was listening to the conversation quietly all this while, observing Verma and the lawyer minutely.

Verma realized that he had fumbled. “No… no… nothing. Nothing. Nishant was just… rude to everyone. Yes. He was rude. It has to be a disgruntled fan. A stalker. I would get more guards for Ronak and I will ask Nidhi to be more careful.” He was now speaking slowly, trying to get away from Prakash and his accusations.

Rujuta knew they were onto something of interest about Nishant Kapoor and possibly, Nidhi. “Mr. Verma, if you really want us to help you, please do not hide anything
from us. Trust me, if you are not guilty, I will not let anything to happen to you, even if it means fighting with Prakash,” Rujuta said. Prakash realized what Rujuta was doing. It was the classic good-cop bad-cop at play.

“I don’t want to talk about him. Pl… pl… please,” with this, Naveen Verma, one of the most powerful men in Bollywood, broke down and started to cry.

Prakash was exasperated. He did not expect tears out of him. He knew that like other
filmwallahs,
Verma was a sissy and a mere loudmouth. But crying was something that Prakash did not understand.

The lawyer did not know what to do. He had actually advised Verma to go on the offensive and blame the police squarely for framing him. Verma had appeared very confident in his office last night. Or was it his whiskey that was exuding confidence? The lawyer wanted to dig a hole and disappear in it. When he couldn’t think of anything else, he took his phone out and started to dial a random number on it. He seemed to have conceded the case and let Naveen Verma work it himself. He had already moved onto the next client. He was the son of a famous lawyer and had been taught that every minute is important.

Rujuta said, “Verma
Ji
, you don’t really have a lot of options. There hasn’t been any headway in the investigation and there is a lot of pressure from seniors and media to close this case, especially after Payal’s murder. You know how thirsty our media could be. So far we’ve managed to keep things under control, but sooner or later people would find out. We have to have a suspect before the story breaks. Even if we somehow get just a name of a possible suspect,
it would appease them. Some seniors have flatly instructed us to point fingers at a family member and forget about the case. You know what I am saying?” Rujuta herself was surprised at the way she was talking.

The lawyer’s jaws were left hanging at this.

Prakash was suddenly proud of his choice. Rujuta had made such a blatant threat so openly and so effectively. Prakash realized that he could never break down suspects like that. All his life, he had relied on one thing and one thing only to make people talk. His brute force and indifference to other people’s pain. However, he was not averse to learning. He decided to talk to Rujuta about this after Naveen had left.