Sonia’s foot automatically tapped along with the dance instrumental. A finger twirled a lock of silky brown hair, as her mind focused on the horoscope in hand. Zodiac sign Scorpio. Aries on the ascendant. Jupiter in the sixth house in Virgo, in conjunction with Saturn and the Sun. Mars, Harshal, Neptune, and the Moon in Scorpio in the eighth house. What an unfortunate combination of stars! Vidya’s life seemed to have been fraught with struggle. As a child and then as a youngster and certainly in marriage. The horoscope revealed a very unhappy marriage full of compromises. A very serious health patch was indicated. Vidya was victimised - not only a victim of dowry harassment, but a victim of murder!
Sonia leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Suddenly she stood up and swayed with the music, her eyes still closed. Nidhi opened one sleepy eye, watched her Mistress in a detached manner. The cat was used to her Mistress’s strange behaviour patterns, specially when loud ear-splitting rumblings seemed to rock the earth! The cat closed her eyes again, willing herself to ignore the sounds. If only her mistress was aware of what Nidhi endured for the sake of love!
Sonia danced with the music, till finally the piece ended. Perspiration trickled down her forehead, but her eyes were gleaming with satisfaction. Excitement coursed through her body as she turned once again to the horoscope, studying it with intensity and then taking up the diary. Her eyes scanned the last few entries. My God, was it possible? She’d heard of dowry harassment and deaths. But this? She needed to see the other horoscopes. As soon as possible!
She quickly opened the booklets handed over to her by the Inspector and laid them side by side. Mr Sahay, Mrs Sahay. Loud, blustering, greedy characters. Mercenary and careless. Prepared to go to great lengths to meet their ends. The horoscopes revealed vicious, cruel traits. But cruelty amounting to murder? Sonia moved to the fourth horoscope - Parmeet. Basically a weak person, detached, indifferent. Passive.
Sonia matched Vidya’s horoscope with Parmeet’s and instantly realised that these two were a most unsuited couple. Despite Vidya’s level of tolerance, her horoscope revealed a strong-willed person. Parmeet’s, on the other hand, showed definite signs of submissiveness. Perhaps it was this submissiveness that was responsible for Vidya’s harassment. The young husband’s lethargy had allowed his parents to cruelly dominate his wife. But where did he fit in the murder?
Sonia studied the four horoscopes again, trying out various permutations and combinations in her mind. Was she being biased? Was she being influenced, subconsciously, by Parmeet’s passionate declaration of his love for his wife? Jatin had said she was naīve. She wasn’t, of course. She knew exactly what Parmeet meant. More so, now that she had read all their horoscopes. But if her suspicions were right, she was going to have a tough time proving them. Inspector Shinde had been right. This case was really quite simple. Too simple to be proved! She couldn’t shrug off the strange feeling that she was walking on a road scattered with banana peels. And the danger of skidding off, every time she put a step forward, in whichever direction she chose!
Sonia swept a last thoughtful gaze over the horoscopes and then shut them. She had seen enough.
She buzzed the intercom and Jatin instantly popped his head in. In a glance, he read breakthrough written all over his Boss’s flushed face.
“What is it, Boss?” he asked in anticipation.
“Two things. Call up Renuka and tell her I need to have a look at the apartment again. Especially Vidya’s room. And then call Kartik. I wish to talk to him.”
“Right, Boss!”
Sonia closed her eyes. Be calm, she admonished herself. There was yet a lot to be done. A lot to be proved. But if she was right, she knew exactly which path to tread on!
She rose and headed towards the Computer in the outer Office. Jatin was making the calls. He observed her as she connected to the Internet and surfed for a while. Finally she stopped and turned to her assistant.
“What do you know about dowry deaths?” she asked him.
Jatin shrugged. “Nothing.”
“There were amendments made to the Dowry Prohibitions Act of 1961. Under a new section 304-B in the Indian Penal Code, dowry death is an IPC offence, punishable with not less than seven years, which may extend to imprisonment for life.”
“Boss, what are you getting at?”
“Jatin, could you please call up Inspector Shinde? I need to talk to him.”
“Right, Boss,” her assistant responded promptly. Sometimes it was better to do these menial tasks than follow his Boss’s thought process.
Sonia stood outside the Sahay house for a moment, then walked across the street, to the building opposite. Jatin followed her silently. She hadn’t uttered a word for the last half hour. At the foot of the building, she paused and stood gazing up at the window of the first floor apartment. It was exactly opposite the Sahay bedroom window. So this was the place from which he had spied on her. She moved to the list of apartment owners printed on a black board. Her eyes travelled along the embossed names. Then she turned and Jatin saw her triumphant look. “What is it, Boss?”
“Come and take a look.”
Jatin frowned. “I… don’t understand…”
“You will, soon.” Sonia smiled. “Come on. We promised to meet Kartik at five. Let’s go!”
Bewildered, her assistant fell in step with her firm and determined stride.
“Are you sure this is the place?” Sonia asked, gazing up at the building.
Kartik nodded. Sonia, Jatin, and Kartik stood outside a gate in the Deccan area. The traffic crowded around the signal, honking impatiently at the, two wheelers, and the crisscrossing pedestrians. Gift and greeting-card shops stood at each corner of the wide intersection.
“I would park my bike on the opposite side and she would stop her auto right by the gate. Every alternate day,” Kartik explained.
“And you have no idea whom
