chapter 16
1137 Words
Two chole bhature please, and one plain lassi' Saurabh said at the
cashier’s counter.
T told you I don’t want anything' I said.
‘Yeah, I know' Saurabh said. ‘This is only for me.’
We had come to the Haldiram’s in C Block Old Market in Malviya
Nagar. The place does extraordinarily well because of its delicious comfort
food. Haldiram’s understands Indians like McDonald’s understands
Americans. However, being in a popular place meant noisy kids and even
noisier parents. We had to shout to have a conversation.
‘Nice place, no?’ Saurabh said. He tore off a piece of the puffy bread,
releasing the steam trapped inside.
‘You get food, you are happy' I said.
‘Happy? Are you kidding me? I am just trying not to feel awful after my
life has ended.’
‘Your life hasn't ended, Golu. You are here, with me. Please don’t say
things like that.’
‘Prerna loved this place' Saurabh said, and I could see his eyes become
moist again. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the grief or the green chillies in
the chole.
I changed the topic.
‘The police have only taken statements from those in the house. They
haven't spoken to others.'
‘Like?’ Saurabh said, covering his mouth with one hand to hide a small
burp.
‘The business partner, Namrata. And that ex, Neeraj, from the bank. We
should talk to them ourselves.’
‘Sure' Saurabh said. ‘The list of suspects is so long, isn’t it?’
'Seven family members in the house—Ramesh, Neelam, Ajay, Aditya,
Bindu, Maaji and Anjali.’
‘Apart from that, the maid Gopika and driver Anwar. Add Namrata and
Neeraj too.’
‘Eleven people so far. Too many. We have to narrow it down' I said.
An extended sardar family two tables away from us started singing
happy birthday. The group sang in unison.
‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Google.. .’I wondered if the global search engine had so many fans that people had
actually come out on a Wednesday night to celebrate its anniversary. Then I
saw a cute sardar kid blow at five candles on a cake. I figured Google was
his name or nickname. ‘We can’t discuss anything here' I said. ‘Too loud.’
‘Fine, let’s go home,’ Saurabh said, and stood up. ‘Just one stop at the
chemist to buy Kayam Churna, Pudin Hara and Eno. For my stomach.’
‘You have three stomachs? Why do you need three medicines?’
‘Each has its own function. I’ll explain on the way. Let’s go.’
My phone showed the time: 2 a.m. We recalled whatever we could from
each testimony and made notes while we had it all fresh in our memory. We
sat on the living room floor, sheets of paper and our laptops around us. I
turned on the convection heater.
Saurabh scratched his head and pulled at his hair before he spoke again.
‘We have to rule out some people. Let’s exclude the parents. They
couldn't have done it, right? Parents don’t kill their kids.’
‘It’s extremely rare. Unless it’s an honour killing or something.’
'What honour killing? They were honoured to have me as their son-in-
law. Offered me a Jetta at the engagement.’
‘Which you refused. I’m proud of you' I said.
‘Whatever. So no honour killing. Let’s strike out Ramesh and Neelam
Malhotra.’
‘For now' I said.
Saurabh looked up at me and sighed. He had eleven names written on a
sheet of paper. He struck out Ramesh’s and Neelam’s names.
'Gopika is unlikely to have done it. Saw her size? Four feet nothing,
forty kilos max. Tiny, like a kid. No way could she have pushed Prerna
over' I said.
‘Are you again saying Prerna was too fat, bhai?’ Saurabh said.
‘Can you drop that? I am serious.’
Saurabh struck off Gopika’s name.
‘The driver could have done it,’ Saurabh said. ‘I am keeping Anwar’s
name.’
‘Namrata?’ I said.
‘She is such a refined lady. But we haven’t spoken to her yet, let’s keep
her for now,’ Saurabh said.
‘And what about the ex, Neeraj?’ I said.‘Definitely keeping him. And meeting him soon too. Neeraj Arora,
bastard.’
‘Easy, Golu. Focus on the list.’
‘Rule Maaji out?’ I said.
‘Yes,’ Saurabh said and exhaled noisily. ‘Though she seems the most
psycho.’
‘Couldn’t have grappled with anyone though,’ I said.
I crossed out Nirmala Malhotra’s name from the list.
‘Anjali,’ Saurabh said. ‘She was not in the house. The police have
confirmed and checked her phone too.’
‘Okay, strike her out too. Bindu?’
‘She loved Prerna a lot, bhai. In fact, in that house, Bindiya bua loved
her the most.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘She would pack her tiffin for work every day. She would check on her
twice a day, if she had eaten or not. Many times she would defend Prerna
when Maaji or Neelam aunty made a nasty comment. No way, bhai, Bindu
bua is not possible.’
‘Hmm,’ I said.
‘Bindu bua is thin. She is weak too,’ Saurabh said.
I did not respond.
Saurabh crossed out Bindu’s name from the list.
‘We are eliminating too many too soon,’ I said.
‘Let’s focus,’ Saurabh said, ‘on the key ones. If proved otherwise, we
can come back.’
‘Fine, the last name here is Aditya,’ I said. ‘Keeping him for now.’
I checked the time. It was close to 3 a.m.
‘How many do we have left finally?’ I said.
‘From eleven to four in this round. Anwar, Namrata, Neeraj and Aditya
chachu.’
‘Fine, let’s talk to all of them,’ I said.
My eyes began to close.
‘Sorry, bhai, keeping you up. For my work' Saurabh said, collecting the
sheets.
‘Not your work, our work' I said.
Saurabh smiled.
‘Speaking of our work, we have a pitch tomorrow morning in office.’‘Screw office' I said as I dozed off on the rug.
- Writer
