As Good As It Gets - 25 - End

I stood behind Vikram, watching him thumb through a book silently.
“So this is what you do when nobody’s watching.” I said softly.
Vikram didn’t turn around immediately. He calmly placed the book back and pulled out another one and began to flip through it.
“You found me.” He said, still glancing at the book.
“Yeah. Why’d you come here?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
Finally, he turned around to look at me. By the slight twitching of his mouth, I could tell he was trying not to laugh. I was suddenly aware of the fact that water was still dripping off my clothes and I had made a little puddle in the middle of the bookstore.
“Let’s get out of here, before they throw us out.” Vikram nodded towards the exit. Us. He had said “us”. Ecstatic, I followed him out.
He walked briskly. I smiled as I realized he was heading towards our coffee shop. My smile didn’t last for too long, he walked past it without a second glance.
“Vikram!” I called out. “It’s here!” I pointed at the coffee shop excitedly.
“I know.” He said, without bothering to turn around.
“Don’t you want to go inside? For old time’s sake?” I looked wistfully at the café.
“Fine. Let’s go.” He said curtly. By now, I was so happy that I had found him, I didn’t mind his curtness. I made a face at him and walked in. This time, the happy couples did not threaten me.
We sat at our usual table. I drummed my fingers excitedly, looking around, “awww”ing over everything familiar.
“Do you remember… ” I would start. Vikram would reply in monotones.
After a while I gave up. My upbeat mood, started to give way to the gloom his downcast fast was spreading.
Finally, both of us sat silently at the table, sipping our coffee.
I wondered what was going through his mind, but I dared not interrupt. I was content, just to have him around.
By the time the cheque arrived, I was harboring no false hopes. The way things were going, I was sure we weren’t going to kiss and make up today. I sighed. Vikram, left to himself, could sulk for days.
As I got up to leave, Vikram started talking.
“Do you know..” He started, “Why I asked you to marry me?”
I sat right back down. I knew then, that this was one of those make or break kind of conversations.
“I was hoping the answer was because you loved me.” I answered tentatively.
“I did.” Did he say “did”? Past tense? “But I don’t think that was why.”
“Why did you?” I spoke as little as possible, trying to ensure I didn’t say anything wrong.
“I don’t know.” He wasn’t making any sense.
“Why is this important now?” I asked.
“Because, if I had to do it again, I’m not sure I would.” He looked me straight in the eye.
I felt as thought the wind had been knocked out of me.
“Okay..” I said after a while, “I deserved that.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel terrible. I’m just saying is it as it is.”
“So what are you saying?” I could feel the delicate threads of marriage starting to fall away.
“I’m saying, maybe we need some time apart.” He suggested.
Was he talking about a separation?
“But..” I said hesitantly, “I don’t want that.”
“So now you want me back?” The sarcasm in his voice was stinging.
“Vikram, please. I know that the whole Anurag thing shouldn’t have happened. But it did. And there’s a reason for it! You are never around anymore!” I regretted it the moment I said it.
“So it’s my fault now?”
“No.. That’s not what I meant. I just meant, that things were less than perfect for me. Just because we are staying under the same roof doesn’t mean that we’re sharing a life Vikram. I need some of your time. Some of your attention. I do.. I’m wilting without it.”
“You know I have been busy! And you have been busy too. Why didn’t you just tell me?!” Vikram countered.
“How could I? You’re always so busy! Tell me the last time, my birthday not included, that we went out?” After a pause, I continued, “Can’t remember can you?”
Vikram stayed silent.
I placed my hand on his. “Let’s just try to work it out. I really want to be with you.”
After an eternity, Vikram shook his head. “I can’t trust you Anagha. How do I know, that the next time something goes wrong, you won’t find another Anurag?”
I winced, it wasn’t as though I had cheated on him! I felt my temper rise steadily.
“You don’t. You just have to trust me.” All relationships boiled down to two things, love and trust. I think we had the love, the trust, was another story.
Vikram didn’t even pause to think about it.
“I don’t think I can.”


As I watched him step out in the rain, I wondered how I had managed to mess up something which was so right. I waited, but Vikram didn’t turn around.
I knew he was going to come back, never in a million years, would he leave me alone. So I waited. I ordered coffee after coffee . But he didn’t come.
I checked my phone every three seconds to ensure that I didn’t miss any calls from him, not that any calls came. As the evening became night, I had run out of the desire to have more coffee. I pulled out the copy of Animal Farm which Vikram had bought for me years ago and started reading it again reverently.
Closing time came as I was finishing the book. Still no sign of Vikram. The café owner nodded sympathetically as she told me she had to close the café now.
“Just one more page” I told her. By now, my vision was so blinded by tears that I couldn’t read anymore. I gave up and let the tears flow silently down my cheeks onto the book.


And then I heard something in a familiar voice that made me realize that everything was going to be okay.
“So this is what you do when nobody’s watching.”

Whodunit - Chapter 26 - The End

I hung up and walked to the holding cell. I saw Aarti and Krupa sitting in the waiting room. I let them be. I would need Aarti later, but for now, I wanted to focus on Shvetank and Dhruv. Could they be in it together? I asked myself. I pushed the thought out of my head almost immediately. That didn’t make any sense.

Dhruv was pacing impatiently.

“You can go now.” I held the door open for him.

“My alibi checked out, didn’t it? I told you, I was at the club.” He picked up his jacket and started walking out.

“How’d you come?”

“My bike. Why?”

“Do your friends borrow your bike sometimes?”

“No.. Why?” His wariness was back.

“Would you be able to explain why your bike was seen speeding up the mountains, the day your father died?” He looked stumped.

“My bike? Surely, there must be some mistake. I didn’t even take my bike that day. I knew I was going to drink. I left it at home.”

“Anybody else in your family knows how to ride your bike?”

“Inspector, if you are suggesting that my mom or my sister had anything to with Rajat’s murder you are crazy!!”

“You haven’t answered my question.” I said calmly.

“Yes! But the bike was there at home when I got up the next morning!” I smiled. Things were beginning to make sense. I just needed to ask a couple of questions to Shvetank.

I walked out with Dhruv. Krupa and Aarti were gone.

What I had to ask Shvetank didn’t take much time. What he said froze my blood. I sprinted out of the room as fast as I could.

I called Shammi and told him to meet me as soon as possible in Smruti’s place.

I called Prerna and prayed that she was safe. I called a million times but she didn’t answer. I could only hope that I wasn’t too late.

I reached Smruti’s apartment. I could see Prerna’s car parked outside and saw Shammi race up the stairs. I followed suite.

We opened the door, careful not to make a sound. We both pulled out our revolvers and started to move around the house silently when we heard a loud crash and then Prerna’s voice.

“You!!! What are you….. No!!!”

Shammi ran like a possessed man. He saw a hooded figure looming over Prerna’s petite frame with one hand clutching a heavy metal rod raised. The floor was littered with clothes.

A shot was fired and the hooded figure collapsed to the floor.

Shammi rushed towards Prerna and I ran towards the fallen figure. I didn’t need to remove the hood. I put her hands behind her back and handcuffed her.

“Aarti Mitwe.” I said “You’re under arrest for the murder of Rajat Sinha and for the attempted assault on Prerna Batra.”

I put her in the back seat. Shammi and Prerna would follow in her car.

“How’d you know it was me?” She had finished crying.

“You were very smart Aarti. Very smart. Almost had me fooled. And that blaming Shvetank act. Brilliant.” I said scornfully.

She didn’t say anything. Just looked out of the window.

“How did he know, that you were at the church?” I asked. Some pieces of the puzzle still did not fit.

“He followed me, obviously. He always liked to keep an eye on where I was, what I was doing.”

“You were trying to hide?”

“Obviously. I had already smoked a joint. And he just made me so angry. So much money! And he always made me beg.”

“So you killed him.” It wasn’t a question.

“It wasn’t like that.” Her sobbing started again, “ I wasn’t in control. I wasn’t thinking straight. Shvetank didn’t even use enough chloroform to make Rajat unconscious. He grabbed my foot while I was going. I got so freaked, I just dabbed a lot of chloroform on my handkerchief and held it against his mouth while Shvetank went to see if my father had got anyone else.”

“But why did you go back?”

“By the time I was normal, I got worried. I thought, what if he gets hurt or something, so I went back. I took Dhruv’s bike and went. I put on his jacket so that anyone who saw me would think I’m a guy. ”

That would explain the animal hair on the wallet.

“But when I got there, his body..” She gulped. “His body was already cold. And then to make it look like a random attack, I picked up the knife which Shvetank had dropped while packing his stuff and stabbed him.” Tears were flowing down her cheeks. She wiped it against her shoulder, her hands firmly clasped in the handcuffs behind her back.

“Then when I came to the church, I saw his car. I left the bike there and drove back to Tara’s house, parked the car. I saw a bag lying in it. I opened it, and I found Smruti’s things in it. He was cheating on Tara too. First he cheated on my mum, now Tara. I picked up a t-shirt. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it then. ”

“I came back home, slept for a couple of hours when I remembered the bike. I had to get it back before Dhruv got up. I took the first bus which went up the mountain. I couldn’t resist taking a peek at him. I realized that he could be traced because of his cell phone. To avoid getting the blood on me, I covered him with the t-shirt before I started patting his pockets. I turned him over, to pull out the cell phone but I decided to take everything. His cash would come in handy. And then I left. I was going to dump all his stuff but then the investigation started and I panicked. I decided to dump everything at Smruti’s place while she was at the morgue. But she returned very quickly. I had a narrow escape.”

We had reached the station. I opened the door for her.

“But of course,” she said, “you have to prove all of that. Everything I said, will be counted as hearsay. You have no proof.” She smiled confidently.

I held out my cell phone. “Cell phones can record too. At least mine can.” I replayed her voice to her. She stared unbelievably. I wasn’t done yet.

“And I have this..” I held out a crumpled handkerchief which I had picked up from the floor in Smruti’s house. The thing for which Aarti had kept the house key, the thing for which Aarti had gone back to Smruti's house today, the thing for which Aarti was going to attack Prerna.
 “Yours isn’t it?” I smiled. “I’m sure when we run some tests on it, we’ll find Rajat’s saliva on it. That should be enough.”


 I saw the constables rushing towards my car.
“Take her inside. She’s going to be here for a long time.” 

I watched her leave with the head bowed down.

“How’d you know it was her?” Shammi and Prerna had reached minutes after we had.

“Got obvious after a while. Of course, if she’d had a little more time to plan it, she might have gotten away with it.” I turned as Aarti went out of sight.

“You okay Prerna?” I asked.

She smiled, “Yes, I’m okay.” I noticed she held on to Shammi’s arm.

“So let’s head back buddy, lots of paper work to be done.” I punched Shammi jokingly and nodded towards our trusty jeep.

Shammi cleared his throat. “You see.. Chetan.. We, I mean.. Prerna and I.. We..”

“We thought we’ll catch up over dinner..” Prerna finished the sentence for Shammi.

I smiled, “Great. Have fun you two.” I turned around and got into the jeep to start the long journey back to my sleepy little town.

A dog's world - Chapter 11 - The End

Lilo

I was at the store picking out some stuff, when I heard some police cars go by. Nothing rarely ever happens in my neighborhood, so everyone rushed outside to see what had happened. All I could gather from what people were talking was that a dog was involved.

Oh dear. Warning bells went off in my head. Could it be my dog? I had safely locked him in. Oh my god, maybe he’s injured or something. Worry gnawed at me and I practically ran back home.

The house was locked and everything was quiet. I heaved a silent sigh of relief and opened the door.

My jaw dropped. EVERYTHING! And I mean EVERYTHING was in a mess.

“Brownie!” I screamed! Enough was enough. That dog had to be taught that this is just not done. I looked around, there was no sign of Brownie. I entered my room and gasped. All my stuff was all over the floor and the window was broken. What had my crazy dog been doing!!

I was livid with anger.

Brownie?!!” I looked under the bed, in the bathroom everywhere.

Brownie was nowhere to be found. I waited for a while and still there was no sign of Brownie. Then, I began to get worried. Where had he gone? Had he run away? Did he think was going to be too mad at him?

 I know I was too strict with him. He was always to careless! Always breaking things. But he just couldn’t help it, sometimes he just had to act nutty. Without him, the house seemed empty.

Gosh, I had never realized how alone I really was. I had to find him. He had to be ok right? I mean why would anyone want to harm Brownie!! Brownie wouldn’t hurt a fly!

I picked up my flashlight and stepped outside. I heard a police car closing in. And then I heard him.. Where was he? I couldn’t see him. Then suddenly, Brownie’s head popped out of the police car.

He jumped out of the window and came running towards me. I was so mad!! And so relieved that he was ok!! “Bad dog! Bad dog Brownie!! Running away from home!! You should be ashamed!” I pet him to let him know it was ok, and I still loved him.

After that, it was time to face the cops.

“What did he do?” I asked them, expecting the worst.

“That’s a very brave dog you have there”

“What?” what in the world was he talking about?

“Yeah, he chased the robber and cornered him in an alley and barked as loudly as possible to let us know where he was.”

“Ummmm.. I’m sorry I don’t understand.” I really didn’t know what he was talking about.

“There was a robbery.” On seeing my confused face, he continued.. “in your house?”

Oh! So that was it, it wasn’t Brownie! It was the robber. Wait a minute, my house was robbed??

“Did he steal anything?” In my anger, I had failed to notice whether anything was missing.

“Oh yes, but I think we managed to get everything back, thanks to your dog.”

And then he recounted how Brownie had saved the day.

The cops left after a while, promising to come the next morning, to finish off some paper work, so that I could get my stuff back. The crowd had thinned too. All of Brownie’s admirer’s had followed him back to his house and they started leaving only after the cops left.

I walked towards Brownie, I knew he deserved a special treat. All these years I doubted his ferocity but when the time came, he showed his true colors. I sat down next to him and started scratching his neck. Suddenly, he realized I wasn’t mad at him and his tail started to wag to and fro as rapidly as possible.

“ You crazy dog.. ” I muttered softly..

We sat there under the moonlight for a long time, dog and mistress. Finally when I fell asleep on the porch, Brownie licked my hand and woke me up. We went inside. I tried not to look at the mess inside.

I thought I wouldn’t have been able to sleep in that room. I slipped into the bed and I could hear some chewing sound. It was possible that Brownie was chewing my favorite footwear, but it didn’t matter.. Because tonight, with Brownie around, I felt safe.

Brownie

I’m pretty sure something is wrong with Lilo. I am sitting next to her bed, chewing her slippers and all she does is put out her hand and touch me as though to make sure I’m there and then goes back to sleep. I don’t care really. Because no matter how strange she behaves or how mad she gets, with Lilo around, I feel loved. 

------------------------------- The End ------------------------