I rubbed my eyes tiredly. Everyone seemed to have one or the other motive. But first things first. I texted Shammi and asked him to go to Shvetank’s college and do a background check on Shvetank.
I kept an eye on him. I saw Aarti walk up to him swiftly and glanced at me again. She knew something. Either that, or she knew someone who knew something.
I took a step towards Aarti, now would be a good time to question her,I thought, when I suddenly realized, Aarti was still a minor. Just 17 which meant I would have to question her either with her mother’s consent or with a lawyer. I was thinking about a work around when some one called out for me.
“Inspector Chetan?” An elderly man dressed in a sharp suit called me. Lawyer I presumed.
“That’s me.” I walked towards him.
He glanced at some papers in his hands, “You wanted to ask us some questions? We have some time, if that’s ok with you.”
That was a first for me. Lawyers generally avoided cops like plague. I said so once we were inside his office. He grimaced.
‘Rajat was a friend of mine. And I want to offer all the help that I possibly can.’ He seemed sincere. I had nothing to lose.
“So, when did he change his will?”
He shook his head. “No, its not what you think. He has changed his will twice this year already.”
“Can you give me some specifics?” I had no idea whether this information was to be confidential or not.
“Not really, but I’m going to tell you anyway. Initially, Rajat had a well balanced will, with everything divided between his ex-wife, kids and Tara. Then six months ago, he changed it and added Smruti to it. And two months ago, he changed it again. Completely cut off Tara.”
“But Tara didn’t know about it?” I interjected.
“I can’t be too sure about it, but she did call me a couple of weeks ago to ask me whether Rajat had changed the will recently.”
I raised my eyebrow. “And you didn’t find it suspicious?”
“No.. Couples do it all the time.” He explained. “They discuss something amongst each other and one of them comes down and makes the change. But we don’t give out the details to the spouse. I told her the same thing, that I was not at a liberty to discuss it.”
I nodded.. “So who would be benefitted the most from Rajat’s death? Financially, I mean.”
His answer surprised me.
“Krupa, Aarti and Dhruv.” He smiled at my surprise.
“But Smruti Sharma told me that she was the one who walked away with the most.” I protested.
“You see, Rajat wasn’t sure whether Smruti was genuinely fond of him or she was with him for his money. So he never really gave her a true picture about his wealth. So according to what Rajat told her, she is walking away with the maximum. But the truth is, Rajat’s main possession was his shares. All of which he’s left for Dhruv. He wasn’t sure Dhruv would accept it though. He made arrangements, so that if Dhruv declines to take it, it be liquidated and the money put in a safe deposit till Dhruv decides to take it. Strange right?”
I nodded. “All this for a adopted son? He must be really fond of him.”
“Yes. He is.” He corrected himself. “Was. He was very attached to Dhruv. He also left his house, where Tara is staying right now, to Krupa. Of course, Tara can contest this will, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be able to get some of the money and maybe even the house.”
“Do you have any idea, how was Krupa Mitwe’s and Rajat Sinha’s relationship?” I was just shooting in the dark. I didn’t really expect the lawyer to know.
“No.. not really. Sometimes I think that Rajat used to tolerate her just because she was Dhruv’s mother and Dhruv dotes on her. You can understand, their divorce was bitter.”
We heard some commotion outside. I raced outside.
Shammi was blocking Shvetank’s way. Aarti stood between Shvetank and Shammi. She was crying hard.
“Okay..” She sobbed, “Okay, I’ll tell you everything.. Just let him go.”
