“Take the boy with you guys as well,” instructed the inspector while he stood there as the van left with Ram Lal in it.
The air in the house was still troubled. Most of the people, who had been summoned for the samples, had already left. But the ones that stayed were petrified as what they had witnessed in the past 24 hours was unprecedented. None of them were ready for this, and everybody was in a state of utter shock.
Abhimanyu wanted some fresh air, so he left the room and went into the veranda. As he moved out into the veranda, he heard someone mumbling something. So he went towards the pool, and there stood his father and the inspector whispering something. He tried to get a little closer to hear what they were discussing, but he was unable to. Moments later, he saw his father shaking hands with the inspector, and he could not believe his eyes. As his father left the inspector’s company, Abhimanyu trotted backward so that he could escape his father’s eye. He then followed his father into the house and up the stairs into his bedroom.
“What was that!?” exclaimed Abhimanyu closing the door behind him.
“What?” asked his father.
“That thing you were discussing with the inspector downstairs. I heard you guys mumbling something, and you even shook hands with him. What is the matter Dad!?” asked a confused Abhimanyu.
“Son, such cases are bad for business. I have already told you this, don’t make me repeat myself” said Mr. Shekhawat holding Abhminayu by the shoulders.
“But that does not mean you have to crack a deal with hi…”.
As Abhimanyu was about to complete his sentence, his father loosened his grip and threw a plastic packet on the adjacent table containing white powdery substance in it.
“They found this in a flower pot and many more such packets in different places all around the villa. They found it in all the flower pots, behind the television, near the fire, and many more places. This was the thing you guys were trying to hide right? And the very reason that Nishant was so hesitant to give his sample,” said Mr. Shekhawat in a cold voice. “You do understand that possession of cocaine is a crime, right? If you feel you are old enough to consume it. Then I assume, you are old enough to understand that too. So what were these packets doing in my house!” yelled Mr. Shekhawat getting a little riled up.
Abhimanyu stood there stupefied, not a single muscle moving. He stood there just looking at that packet, stunned. At last, the secret was out and not in a manner he expected it to spill over.
“You do understand that if this leaks out, then not only yours, but even my reputation would be at stake. And my reputation is the dearest thing to me. So I was down there trying to save both of our lives! Understand?” said Mr. Shekhawat.
“If this case would have gone any longer, then it would have attracted the attention of the media, and the news of this illegal activity would have leaked out. That inspector wanted a closed case, and I wanted this case closed, so it was a win-win situation for both us,” he added in his hoarse voice.
“But they did find DNA traces on the body that matched with Ram Lal’s, right?” asked Abhimanyu curiously.
“Yes they did, but it is not sufficient,” interrupted Mr. Shekhawat. “It is enough evidence for an arrest but not for conviction. But now that they have Ram Lal, and they will get whatever they want out of him and get a confession from him. So now this case is closed, and let’s get back to business”.
“Who is the actual killer, then?” asked Abhimanyu.
“It might be him, or it might not be him. But we don’t need to worry about that,” sighed Mr. Shekhawat, and then he patted on Abhimanyu’s shoulders and went towards the door and said, “This is the rule of the jungle Abhimanyu, the inferior species has to give way to the superior species so that the circle of life continues.”
Having said this, he left the room leaving behind a stunned Abhimanyu.
Back at the Sethi’s….
“I think that’s enough for tonight” interrupted Malini. “The kids seem sleepy and the story is surely taking unwanted dark turns” she added walking towards the kids.
“But maa this is so cool!!” said Sania excited.
“Yeah sure but we have to tuck you in and you can play with your friends in your room. Papa will finish the story some other day” said Malini signalling all the kids to get up.
“Okay… Come on guys” said Sania with a sense of ennui.
“But we two are still here and the story seems fine to us, please continue Arnav. It’s been so long since we heard one of your stories” said Rishikesh as the kids and Malini left the room.
“Yeah sure” replied Arnav looking at Malini who gave him a dissatisfied look.
Chapter 6
The stool made a loud, screeching noise as it was pulled on the dry tiles. Water was incessantly dripping from a crack in the ceiling into a bucket kept under it just for that purpose. The 4X4 cell was engulfed by darkness with only a small circular hole in the brick wall, as an inlet for sunlight. In the middle of the cell, a skinny man wearing a musty uniform, torn on the sleeves, sat on a stool with his head drooping, murmuring something continuously. As he looked up, his eyes were blood shot, and were so fierce as if they could pierce right into one’s soul. He put his tongue out and took out a blade that was resting on his tongue. Blood gushed out of his mouth as he took that blade out.
The man slowly started murmuring something. Gradually that murmuring was
