A PAINTED GATE
PRE-NOTE:
Kindly excuse correct the grammatical mistakes. Thanks
in advance. :-)
PART 5:
“I have no idea
what I’d do without you, Priya,” said Jason, placing a beautiful fruit bowl in
front of her.
“Is that the
smallest talk that you have?” sighed Priya, taking her eyes off the laptop
screen.
“You are a
Sociology Major but you want to help us in finance, Pri. How come?” He took a
seat next to her and moved the laptop close to him.
“I am that too,”
Priya grinned. She pecked among the fruits, making up her mind. Finally she
picked an orange for herself. She stripped the rind from the fruit with the
industry of a squirrel and proceeded to chew the damp, sweet morsels of orange
with her strong teeth. “But I’m a Sociology Major like you said; and so I guess
I just can’t help practicing on the helpless population.”
“Helpless
population,” repeated Jason. “Right.” He could not help hiding a small streak
of smile. “What did you learn in sociology? Milk funds?”
“Barbarian! My dear
man, sociology is concerned with more than calcium for growing bones. It’s the
science of civilization. It’s about…”
“Spare me the
details,” moaned Jason. “What does Karthick, your rich politician boyfriend,
think of all this?”
“Of me and my
sociology?”
“Of me and you working
together?”
“Oh.” Priya tossed
her hair, looking pleased. “Karthick’s jealous.”
“Hmm. Now look
here, my little one. If Karthick…”
“Now don’t start
being noble, Jason,” said Priya. ”Trouble with Karthick, he’s taken me for
granted too long. Do him good to be jealous.” She flashed her white teeth,
picking the next orange.
“I don’t know,”
smiled Jason, “that I entirely relish the role of love-irritant. I love Sravya.”
“Oh, please!” Priya
was shocked. ”I like Sravya too. And this is more fun.” Suddenly, with
one of her quick sidelong glances: “You know what people are saying,
incidentally—or don’t you?”
“What now?” Jason
raised his eyebrows.
“You control
everything in this office. You are an excellent financier and Karthick is
really not into it.”
“Vijay supplied the
adjective ‘excellent’ all by himself.”
“It’s okay. I just
want to ask you whether you’re stealing from the company.”
Jason widened his
eyes. “Lord, no!”
“But some people
are afraid that it might happen,” murmured Priya.
“Which people?”
“People.” She said.
Jason glared at
her. “Do you think that I am a
fraud?”
“Never mind what I
think,” retorted Priya. “I know you don’t have guts.”
“Pish,” said Jason.
“Do you have? Is that why you’re working with me in finance?”
“Damn! How dare
you! I won’t be able to sleep a wink tonight,” said Priya. “You just called me
a thief.”
“Oh well, what did you ask a few minutes before that?”
Jason interrogated sarcastically.
“Ah,” Priya ran her
tongue over her lips. “But I honey-coated it before; I said that you were
excellent and stuff.”
They both laughed
together. Then Jason said: “And that reminds me – do you think that your
boyfriend Karthick has guts?” He was appalled by the way Priya stopped laughing
at mention of Karthick’s name.
“Karthick?”
repeated Priya in a perfectly flat voice, a voice that told nothing at all. “He
is a child and he is sweet. It also means that he doesn’t know what is right or
what is wrong, if you know what I mean.”
***********
“Hello? Hello? Priya? Honey?” Karthick shook her and Priya
looked around her to find Vijay, Karthick and Indhu staring at her.
“Sorry. Memories,” she said.
“Ooohh!” Karthick whistled. “I hate this. First it was Vijay
and now it is you. Indhu, give me a heads-up right now if you’re going to dream
about your past.”
Vijay looked amused. “I wasn’t dreaming. I was thinking about
the case.”
Indhu laughed which sounded more like a mockery. “Really? You
tell your findings in the case so far, deary. Then I’ll see if I am ready to
compliment or not.”
Vijay smiled. “All right. Mock all you want -I have no
conclusions. I only have three questions in my mind. If they will be answered
by somebody, then the case is solved.”
“Go on,” Indhu urged.
“First,” said Vijay, rubbing his chin. “why would one use
morphine from Vrunda’s medical kit?”
Karthick looked clueless. “Why not?”
“Why”, continued Vijay, “why didn’t he/she simply use a rat
poison? Or weed poison? Why morphine?”
“Well…” Indhu began but then shut her mouth.
“Why take a risk of searching through a medical kit when you can
simply grab a rat poison from the kitchen?”
“That’s an odd note in an unpremeditated crime,” said Priya,
interested despite her preoccupation.
“And who says it was unpremeditated?” said Vijay. “No,
indeed, Priya. I agree that the idea of the murder was born after 9 for some
reason. But the thorough idea of mixing the poison in Jason’s food and drinks
alone certainly rules out a crime of impulse.”
“That’s something,” said Karthick in a low voice. “I am not
in the habit of running a forum but what are the next two questions?”
“Why both food and drinks?” Vijay questioned calmly.
“Why?” wondered Indhu, throwing up her arms. “What the hell
is this —Quiz Night? To make sure he died, that’s why!”
“Isn’t that a little like the man who wears not only
suspenders but a belt, too?” asked Vijay earnestly. “Don’t you think you could
kill a man very efficiently with merely adding poison in the food?”
“Right,” Indhu nodded in agreement.
“Third one was the motive, right?” Karthick put in keenly.
“What?” Indhu and Priya said in unison.
“Oh yes, you don’t know about our conversation. You might’ve
dealt cases that had a roomful of people with motives. But for the first time,
here is a case with no motive.”
“That’s true,” said Priya, looking thoughtful. “Definitely
not Jason.”
“Not anyone,” said Karthick. “Think of a motive for killing
Indhu.”
Indhu grinned. “Vij could give you a few, I guess, with
feminism on top of it.”
Priya frowned. “You think that Jason was mistakenly killed?
It was meant for someone else?”
“No.” Karthick looked flabbergasted. “I think even that kind
of thing is possibly eliminated because of lack of motives here. Who has
reasons to kill anybody in that room?”
“You’re right,” Indhu accepted. “Is that your third bothersome
question to be answered, Vij?”
“Thanks for remembering me. But no,” said Vijay, rising.
“Don’t you dare leaving us like this right now!” said Indhu
in a dangerous voice.
Vijay sat down. “Now, now, I was just going to get some
water. You don’t have to be so grumpy about it.” Karthick had to suppress
himself from laughing out loud whereas Priya had no control over her humor hormones
and giggled.
“You don’t know him, guys. He will keep some information to
himself for the last episode and drive us mad till then,” said Indhu with a
warning glance over Vijay.
“All right. This is the third question that baffles me the
most. Granting that our eccentric criminal went for the morphine for which he/she
had a much handier substitute, granting that he/she mixed the champagne with
poison when a good amount of it in the food could have dispatched Mr. Jason
Antony just as efficiently—granting all that, why in heaven’s name did he/she hide
the morphine bottle after the crime? The police did not find it, right?”
Indhu was speechless. Priya asked in a doubtful voice, “Why
shouldn’t he/she do that?”
“There,” Vijay’s lips carried his usual brilliant smile. “is
something for that ossified organ you call your brain to wrestle with.” Then he
got up and walked straight into the kitchen.
“Fingerprints!” muttered Karthick. “But he/she could’ve wiped
them.”
Indhu still didn’t move. Priya passed a glance over her
before expressing her opinion. “Yes. That would’ve totally weakened this case,
right? I mean if the morphine bottle was found out with some other sets of
prints?”
“So you believe that there are some other prints on it?”
“Yes, Karthick, I do. If Sravya was careless to leave her
fingerprints on the medical kit and super careless to mix the poison only on
his food that she prepared and his drinks that she gifted, why would she be
careful to hide the morphine bottle alone? That proves that it isn’t her,
right?”
Vijay appeared back in the hall. “Now you people are talking.
Indhu, care to join?”
Indhu stirred. “That’s genius, Vij. I thought you eliminated
Sravya just because you so loved her.”
“That’s you,” said Vijay, grinning.
“You don’t think that Indhu is capable of murder, Vij? All
women are, FYI.” Priya said, closing her eyes.
“Oh, she is capable of murder but she is incapable of lying
to me,” Vijay shrugged his shoulders.
Karthick jumped up. “Even I trust Priya. But sorry to bring
the topic again, what’s the motive?”
Indhu clapped her forehead. “You didn’t get that from his
questions?”
“No. What?”
She leaned forward. “Listen. Not only the killer wanted Jason
dead but he also made sure that Sravya was arrested for it. Ergo, he left clues
in such a way that it is deadly for Sravya. Jeez, who among us hated Sravya so
much?”
Karthick scowled. “Ergo no solid motive yet, right?”
Priya chuckled. “Did you tell all this to Vimal and Vrunda,
Vij?”
“I did. Vimal looked genuinely shocked and Vrunda looked
heartbroken. I share Vrunda’s feelings because this is not gonna help our
case,” said Vijay.
“Oh, don’t be. We’re gonna do whatever it takes for Sravya.
Right, Karthick?” Priya shifted her eyes towards him.
Karthick looked discouraged. “I am not sure. My father
advised me to say what Gowtham asked me to say.”
“Oh yeah?” Indhu pouted. “What was that?”
“For starters, I am the one who asked Sravya to get an
aspirin and that’s why she touched Vrunda’s medical kit. Gowtham asked me never
to bring up that story.”
“I wish Vrunda hears that. She would hang you upside down.”
Indhu snapped.
Karthick scoffed. “Right. Go ahead and tell her when you two
are in talking terms again.”
Priya screamed despite herself. “What? You two are not
talking to each other?”
Indhu looked sad. “Even Vimal is mad at me. They think that
my answers set Sravya’s trial two steps back.”
Karthick grinned. “Oh boy, don’t you look like the likely
murderer now?”
Indhu opened her mouth to retort but stopped as the calling
bell invited. “Let me get the door…” She sauntered to the door and opened it.
There was no one to be found. She bit her lips and took a step to have a 360
degree look around. Something disturbed her as she realized that she stepped on
something. She bent down and picked it. It was the morphine bottle.
To be continued.
For previous parts, kindly check
Thanks & Regards,
Lavanyaa
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