The widowed woman stared with revulsion at Sumeet, who seemed not to notice any of their reactions. Bishan’s face was contorted with rage, as he rushed towards Sumeet and caught him by the scruff of the neck.
“You monster!” he shouted. “You murdered our Guruji! Don’t you see, you brute! I’ll kill you for it! I’ll - ”
“Stop it, Bishan!” Sonia exclaimed, as Kirit and Jatin rushed forward to unscruff the motionless Sumeet.
“I hate him. I will avenge Gurujis death! Sumeet allowed me to think that I was the one responsible for his death and I - ”
“The Police will take care of Sumeet, not you”
“Stop it, all of you!” Mrs Dharkar interrupted fiercely. “Go away! Bishan and Kirit, go and pack. Just go away, all of you!” She burst out in tears.
Vandana swiftly moved forward. Taking her mother by the shoulders, she led her out of the room. Sonia stared at Sumeet as he sat, apparently unaffected by their response. An expression of resigned sadness crossed her face.
“It was the horoscopes, of course,” Sonia remarked. “They told me a remarkable story.”
Mohnish grinned. “Of course!”
Sonia returned his smile. “Do I sound cliched?”
“Almost!”
“But it’s the truth!” Jatin protested.
Sonia nodded. “I am really grateful to my horoscopes for giving me precious nuggets of information on which I can base my deductions. Though I admit that I began this process of discovery with a sandwiched mind - sandwiched between Mrs Dharkar’s sixth sense of trouble and my own caution. It felt like setting off into a dark tunnel in the middle of the night, with no light to guide me. Except Mrs Dharkar’s instincts, which I knew that I wouldn’t ignore until she was proved wrong. It was a precarious situation. So I approached the issue with an emotionless, unbiased mind. When I spoke to each one of the disciples, I realised that they were so different - in their approach to life, to music, and to one another. Bishan was rude and hostile, Kirit was keen to tarnish Bishans image, and Sumeet seemed totally self-absorbed. And that is what interested me most about Sumeet. The other two, despite their faults, appeared human. But Sumeet’s detachment and the cocoon he was living in distinguished him, proving him to be of far tougher material than the others. But Mrs Dharkar’s suspicions really began to seem real to me, once I read the horoscopes. The difference in each individual was very clear, and the moment I saw Vandana’s and Kirit’s horoscopes, I read the attraction between them, too strong to hide. And I think it had become obvious to Raujibua, too. His comment to his wife that people are not always what they seem and that the best of people can give you pain was intended for Kirit and not Bishan, as Id thought earlier. The frame in Kirit’s room clearly betrayed that a photo had been removed from the other side of the frame. The first time we visited his room, there were several photos on his table, and many of them were of Vandana - solo and in groups. And a particular solo photo was crumpled round the corners. Although I didn’t make the connection till I read the horoscopes and realized that a very strong emotion was binding the two of them. But since there were no outward signs of affection between them, I decided to tackle that issue by asking Vandana directly and she came out in the open about it, revealing all.
“It was when I was studying Sumeet’s horoscope, however, that I discovered a most peculiar trait. In fact, I found his entire horoscope fascinating. Libra was his zodiac sign and Aries was in the ascendant. Venus in the second house in its own sign, Taurus, with Neptune in the opposition, showed him to be a great singer. At the same time Rahu and Saturn in the fifth house - the house of education - clearly warned that his learning would not be useful to him. Which I thought was very strange. After putting in years of such hard work, why would his training be futile? But worse, Saturn aspecting the second house, as well as the Sun, in its tenth position, suggested that Sumeet’s knowledge of music - in his case, singing - would cause him great humiliation. And then I saw the Moon - the planet of the mind - in conjunction with Harshal in the seventh house, with Mars aspecting directly, as well as Saturn aspecting in its third position - a combination of stars specifying an unbalanced moment of decision which could be dangerous and murderous! But Jupiter in Cancer revealed Sumeet to be a good man at heart, with tremendous respect for his teacher. The Lord of his zodiac sign Libra - Venus - was in its own star sign, which meant that Sumeet was not a veteran bad man!
“So I asked myself: If his intentions were good, what would be his moment of unbalanced decision which would goad him to commit a crime? Could it be connected with Raujibua’s death? And if yes, how could Sumeet be involved with it? Everyone, including Sumeet himself, claimed that he loved his Guruji to a point of self-effacement. If he loved his teacher so
