chapter 4
883 Words
‘Been in a police Gypsy before?’ Singh said.
Saurabh and I sat squashed in the backseat with two other cops in the
overcrowded vehicle. I had taken my grocery bags with me. One of the
constables drove the Gypsy. Inspector Singh sat in the front.
Saurabh didn’t answer. He still seemed to be in a daze.
'Yes, sir,’1 said.
‘When?’ Singh said.
‘We helped the police solve a case last year.’
‘Really? Which case?’
‘Zara Lone’s case. Hauz Khas Police Station handled it. Inspector
Rana.’
‘Rana sir? You know him? He’s ACP Rana now, by the way. Thanks to
that case.’
‘Inspector Singh, we helped him with it... Where are we going?’ I said
as I noticed him take a left on the main road.
‘My station is just around the corner. The tea isn’t bad there.’
I looked at Saurabh. He was sitting with his hands covering his face. He
seemed to be in distress.
‘We can talk here, sir,’ I said.
‘Why? You have a problem going to the police station?’
‘No, whatever,’ I said and became quiet.
Inspector Singh sensed my displeasure and gestured for the constable to
stop the car. It was an empty and dark lane.
‘Fine,’ Singh said. ‘Let's talk here.’
He signalled for his constables to exit the vehicle and looked at me,
waiting for me to leave as well.
‘What?’ I said.
‘I want to talk to your friend.’
‘Please go ahead. I can be here. Saurabh you want me here, right?’ I
said. I looked at Saurabh. He took a few seconds to nod in response.
‘Okay,’ Singh said. ‘Let me ask this straight off. Why should I believe
you didn’t push her over?’
‘What?’ Saurabh said. Within a second, his sadness turned to shock.
‘You expect me to believe she just fell down?’ Singh said, scratching his
stubble.
‘I don’t know, sir,’ Saurabh said.‘People don’t just fall off terraces. When we left the family, I inspected
the terrace. The ledge is four feet high. No way did she just trip over,’ Singh
said.
‘It seems unlikely to me too,’ Saurabh said. ‘But when I reached the
terrace, she wasn’t there.’
‘You believe him?’ Singh said to me.
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘If he’s saying she wasn’t there it means she wasn’t
there.’
The inspector heaved a huge sigh.
‘Either that,’ Singh said, ‘or when you reached the terrace, she didn’t
notice you. You found her looking at the sky, trying to find the moon. And
you gave her a little push, and, well, that’s it. Dhum.’
As Singh said this, he made a pushing gesture in the air.
‘I pushed Prerna? I killed her?’ Saurabh said. 'Are you serious,
Inspector? I killed the love of my life?’
‘You would be surprised how often that happens,’ Singh said and
smiled. Everyone became silent. We could hear the sound of crickets in the
night. The inspector spoke again.
‘What do you do, Saurabh?’
‘I work in CyberSafe, a software company.’
‘Engineer?’ Singh said.
‘Yes.’
'How about your friend?’
‘I work in CyberSafe too. We also have a small detective agency on the
side,’ I said.
‘What?’ Singh said, surprised.
I told him about Z Detectives, and our tiny scale of operations.
‘Oh, so I am dealing with professionals here,’ Singh said and laughed.
‘You are not going to tell me the true story, isn’t it?’
‘Sir, we are telling you the truth,’ I said.
‘How do you know? You weren’t even there,’ Singh said. ‘Or were you
also with him?’
‘No, sir. I wasn’t there.’
‘So? How can you say? How well do you know your friend?’
I know him too well, I wanted to say, but didn’t. Annoying the police is
never a good idea. Saurabh finally spoke up.Ask me whatever you want, sir. I am disturbed, but I will tell you
everything. You can see my chats with Prerna minutes before I reached the
terrace. We had so much love between us,’ Saurabh said. His eyes welled
up again.
‘Control yourself,’ Singh said.
Saurabh nodded and composed himself. The inspector spoke again.
‘You don’t understand. This is a high-profile case. New Friends Colony,
posh area. Business family. Young girl. Karva Chauth. The family may kick
us out now, but soon everyone will be all over it. Cross-examinations, post-
mortems, media nonsense, it is all going to happen. Just because we are in a
quiet vehicle right now doesn't mean it is going to stay this way.’
‘I know, sir,’ I said.
‘I can take you to the police station right now. File an FIR against your
friend. It will really help my case tomorrow morning when the media
arrives at the police station.’
‘FIR? Sir, what are you saying?’ Saurabh said.
I thought about what to do next. Only one name came to mind.
‘You can speak to ACP Rana. Ask him about Saurabh and me. If
anything, we can help you find the real culprit, sir,’ I said.
‘Rana sir knows you well? He will vouch for you?’ Singh said.
‘Yes, sir. I told you, we helped him solve a case,’ I said.
Inspector Singh stared at me. He didn’t like me dropping a senior police
officer’s name. He spoke after a pause.
‘Fine, call Rana sir.’
- Writer
