The adventure of the Raging Obsession-2

I stood there gaping at my friend in incredulity for a couple of moments in
silence.
RP however was in his ‘blitzkrieg’ mode and instantaneously jumped into
action.
“Juneja, we don’t have a moment to lose here, let’s get going to the
hospital!” he urged.
It was half past four in the evening-my siesta time usually on a holiday,
when both of us reached Batra Hospital gasping for breath (We had sprinted
for at least a kilometer as the cabbie wasn’t able to find a suitable parking). I
was hungry and mightily exerted.
In a few moments, we reached Ajay Trivedi’s room.
A pensive Inspector Arora was accompanying the lady who looked
demented with fear and anxiety. The atmosphere of the room was
remarkably melancholic and unwelcoming.
Arora brushed his reverie aside and started talking instantaneously on seeing
my friend.
“Sir-”
He was however interjected by my friend.
“Who has witnessed the mishap?” inquired RP
“The lady,” replied Arora.
“Ma’am, are you in a position to tell me what happened exactly?” RP
addressed the lady
Neha Kaushik pulled herself back together somewhat. However, the tedious
happenings had greatly affected her and she looked distraught and severely
perturbed. Her grace had subsided temporarily in the light of the horrifying
events.
“Sir, this happened almost just after you left. Obviously, I was not in the
room then. The hospital is packed and apparently no one took any notice of
this man entering Ajay’s room. When I entered a room, I saw a gigantic
man-over six feet tall. He was trying to strangle Ajay. His face was hidden
by a black cloth. On seeing me, he gave up, threw open the window and fled
away. I was bamboozled to such an extent that I stood stranded at the same
place for several moments. This is the horrifying escapade as I witnessed it. I
know it is my negligence which allowed the assassin to escape, but I was
helpless sir-helpless,” and she started sobbing uncontrollably.
RP said in a soothing voice-“Ma’am I can understand your mental state, I do
not blame you the least for the same. I can assure you that I’ll crack this case
very soon and relieve you of all your troubles. You’ve been an epitome of
valor and self-restraint so far, I demand a trifle amount of patience from
your side as it’s going to be of utmost importance,”
“NEHA! What happened?” A young lady burst into the room.
She was a woman of about twenty seven. Her face was sleek and attractive.
She had a curvaceous body and was about five feet four inches tall.
“Jayati, Ajay was attacked again, luckily I entered the room at the right time
and the assassin escaped, I shudder when I think the other way,” and yet
again our client was overcome by her ravaging emotions and started
sobbing.
RP observed the intruder with delicate interest.
“Ma’am!” he addressed the woman called Jayati.
The woman peered in my friend’s direction.
“Are you Jayati Gambhir-a resident of Saket?” inquired RP.
“Yes, what interests you?” asked Jayati slightly scornfully.
Now, if Inspector Arora had asked the same question, the lady would have
replied out rightly and looked fearful, but my friend seldom inspired dread in
any individual. The fellow was gaunt and thin, hence no one could associate
him with his profession. I thought he looked more like an overworked techie
in a multinational.
“I am Raghuvir Pratap Singh, a private detective. I am handling Miss
Kaushik’s case and I would like to interrogate you solitarily in connection
with the attacks on Mr. Trivedi,” RP said authoritatively.
Jayati looked astounded for a miniscule moment but regained her
composure rapidly.
She feigned a look of incredulous delight and exclaimed-“Sir, I have heard
so much about you and was literally dying to meet you,” and she started
heaping the usual adulations on my friend-something he was quite
accustomed to now.
“Ma’am, I would like to ask you a couple of questions regarding the case-
Will you meet us in room number 104 in twenty minutes, you can comfort
your friend in the mean time,” said RP.
“Surely sir, I’ll do anything that helps my friend to get out of this vicious
circle” replied Jayati.
We exited the room and left the women alone.
Arora said anxiously-“Sir, Miss Kaushik told me about Yogesh Mishra, did
you see him?”
“My dear Arora, destiny didn’t have that in store for us, Yogesh wasn’t there
at his place,” replied RP.
Arora looked extremely glum after hearing this.
“I would like to examine the entrance of Ajay’s room with my hand lens
before we interrogate Jayati Gambhir,” said RP.
RP examined the entrance intently. Why Jayati was being interrogated was
something that enticed both Arora and me.
After a careful examination of five minutes or so, RP told me-“We should
now head to 104 and wait for the lady there,”
We were face to face with Jayati Gambhir after a quarter of an hour.
“Yes sir, how can I help?” asked Jayati exuding confidence.
“Explain your relationship with Miss Kaushik” asked RP initiating the
interrogation.
“Neha and I have been the best of friends for quite some time now, I was her
senior in college” she replied.
“What’s your marital status?” asked RP
“I have been married for a couple of years now” was the reply
“What does your husband do?” continued RP.
“He is a self employed person, works as a builder,” said Jayati.
“Can I have the name of his enterprise?” asked RP.
“It’s called InfraTech,” was the reply.
“How well do you know Mr. Trivedi?” inquired RP.
“Not very well, we have met a couple of times,” said the lady smoothly.
RP contemplated for a while and then said-“Very well Ma’am-you may
leave,”
Mrs. Gambhir exited.
I looked at my watch-It was almost six in the evening. My hunger had now
subsided and I longed for the ardor of my benign quilt. However, the matter
was far more pressing and kept me away from succumbing to my desires.
“We’ll head to Saket again and hope to meet Mr. Mishra and I am sorry
Juneja to keep you hungry for so long-we’ll definitely grab a bite on our
way,” said RP cheerfully.
An hour was what it took us to reach J-18 Saket for the second time.
Yogesh Mishra was at home this time.
He welcomed us with fervor and requested us to get seated.
I observed the man carefully-He was colossal. His ravishing physique could
have inspired dread in any living being, yet I thought that his eyes emanated
altruism.
RP settled himself down and lit a cigarette.
“I sincerely hope that you don’t mind tobacco,” remarked my friend.
“Not at all sir, make your self comfortable,” said the man amicably.
All this geniality coming from the host made me very suspicious.
Even Arora looked extremely fidgety.
“I’ll proceed with my interrogation; I got quite a few details about you from
your friend’s fiancée,” said RP, “And I want genuine answers, as ample
proof brings us to your doorstep” he added sternly.
The man now looked slightly nervous.
“Do you find Neha Kaushik intriguingly attractive?” interrogated RP
brusquely.
Yogesh Mishra shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
“Sir, Miss Kaushik is undoubtedly an attractive woman-but thinking further
about a friend’s fiancée is surely not in my disposition,” was his wavering
reply.
RP took in every single word said by our host and weighed his statement
meticulously.
“You better not be lying, secondly, have you ever had a girlfriend?” asked
RP.
This question shocked all three of us. What bearing did this have on the
case?
“Yeah, I have been in a relationship for three times in my life,” replied
Yogesh, he was baffled.
RP contemplated silently.
“Lastly Mr. Mishra, I would like to have a look at every shoe you possess,”
said RP.
Arora jumped from his seat and shouted-“Sir, I have deep respect for your
methods but this isn’t getting anywhere. Surely, he’s the culprit. His
physique, the IP address and his not being there at home when Mr. Trivedi
was attacked blandly indicate that he’s behind everything,”
“Easy Arora, keep your faith in me alive and you won’t be disappointed,”
said RP coolly
Yogesh brought into the room a half a dozen shoes. RP examined them with
stringent care.
After fifteen melancholic minutes, RP concluded-“I guess we won’t be
disturbing you any more. I am extremely apologetic for any inconvenience
caused to you. Nevertheless, I’ll thank you for clearing up the obscurity
surrounding this case,”
Yogesh saw us off looking bamboozled.
Arora looked spellbound and I tried to hide my confusion.
“We’ll head back home now Arora, give Mr. Trivedi ample protection.
Tomorrow morning the culprits will be handed over to you,” said RP.
It was nearly nine when we stood at the doorstep of 31-B Siri Fort Road.
On entering the rooms, RP instantaneously settled himself on his favorite
armchair.
I couldn’t resist it any longer-“RP, why did we leave Yogesh Mishra
unscathed?”
“You are visibly exhausted mate, let’s have a quick dinner and then you can
go off to sleep. I’ll clear up everything tomorrow morning,” repeated RP.
It was plainly useless to try to get answers from my friend when he has
already refused to oblige. I was way too tired to press him on the issue
further. After a hasty self-cooked dinner (RP insisted on skipping the meal),
I retired satisfactorily for the day.
The next morning, I decided to postpone going to work. RP had called for a
‘conference’. Inspector Arora and Miss Kaushik were the invitees. It was a
startlingly sunny day for a January morning, the mist had cleared up and I
sincerely hoped that the unscrupulous mist surrounding this case would also
clear up.
It was eleven in the morning, the inspector and the lady were seated
comfortably in RP’s sordidly filthy living room.
“Breakfast folks?” asked RP feigning some rare hospitality.
“We’ll be okay sir,” replied the lady nervously.
Arora nodded unobtrusively.
“Would you like to hear it from me or listen to her admitting her sins?”
asked RP rather grandly.
“HER?” screamed Neha.
“Yes Ma’am, please call over your best friend-Mrs. Jayati Gambhir,”
taunted RP
Neha Kaushik sat there gaping incredulously at my friend.
“Call her,” urged RP.
With immense slowness, Neha picked up her cell phone and made the phone
call.
“She’ll be here in thirty minutes” chimed Neha
“Excellent! We’ll have a quick breakfast before the drama unfolds” winked
RP
I deeply loathed this habit of my friend. I was sure of the fact that he had the
case cracked last night in his head, yet his uncanny habit of holding up
everything for a scornfully long time was extremely agonizing.
Jayati Gambhir steeped into our humble abode in a little over thirty minutes.
RP chivalrously welcomed her and requested her to sit down. She was
wearing seducing cologne and looked almost devilishly gorgeous.
“Mrs.Gambhir, you are the guest of honor in this humble conference of
ours,” quipped RP malevolently.
Jayati looked puzzled.
“Perhaps, you would like to give your account as to how and why you
arranged the gruesome attacks on Mr. Trivedi,” said RP sinisterly.
“Sir, what are you talking about? Neha, what is this gentleman playing at?”
she said shrilly.
Neha however, nodded her head in disbelief.
“I think we wont waste much time-I’ll present my facts and-” RP pointed to
Jayati, “If you would kindly consent to fill in the gaps,”
“Miss Kaushik, Jayati Gambhir is acting on her husband’s orders- Mr. Rahul
Gambhir: the managing director of InfraTech India. It so occurred to me that
your fiancée is also working as a builder and his enterprise- TS constructions
was booming explosively in the satellite town areas. Your fiancée is a
relatively new player and was devastating the monopoly of InfraTech.
However, I presume this intrusion of TS constructions into the growth of
InfraTech took a killer turn when your fiancée wittingly grasped a contract
with DLF for construction in Greater Noida. Naturally, this wasn’t taken
amicably by Mr. Gambhir and he plotted this ingenious scheme to get rid of
Mr. Trivedi as the latter was surely an exemplary businessman. This deal
was all over the internet, a simple google search was all it took to make me
absolutely sure of my deductions,” said RP.
Jayati Gambhir looked lost for words.
RP now addressed all of us.
“Now I will explain the heinous and the seemingly obscure plot. The mails
were sent to Miss Kaushik so as to stupefy the police. Firstly, a lady would
never have come into fray and secondly, this case would be associated to a
raging obsession which some man had for our client. I hope you folks are
following me. I’ll be now putting before you my deductions and why I
believed that Mr. Yogesh Mishra was innocent. On the night when Mr.
Trivedi was first attacked, when I was examining the scene of crime at
Nelson Mandela Marg- I luckily came across exiguous traces of the
footsteps of two people-The first pair belonged to Mr. Trivedi and the
second one to the assassin. I molded these details into a concrete theory by
observing Mr. Trivedi’s foot in his ward-he had a shoe size of nine. Hence,
the other pair of shoes belonged to the assassin-he had a colossal shoe size
of eleven which was in perfect synchronization with the fact that the assassin
was of massive persona. Fate has played games with us though out this affair
and incidentally I’ve won most of them this time. When, Mr. Trivedi was
attacked for the second time the assassin left his muddy footprints at the
entry of the ward-these footprints were exactly matching with the ones
observed by me beforehand. I was sure that the assassin wore the same pair
of shoes both the times. Now, Mr. Mishra was indeed a man, whose
physique was conforming to the picture I had formed of the assassin, hence I
examined every shoe he had in his possession amassing caution and care.
None of his shoes could leave the imprints similar to the ones I had
discovered. He primarily wore floaters and had a pair of sport shoes. The
footmarks were essentially those of an ‘adventure’ shoe- I am referring to
the ones predominantly manufactured by Woodland. It was clear that Mr.
Mishra was himself not attacking his friend-he could have hired someone:
yes that was a naïve possibility but a person having such an enviable
physique wouldn’t need to hire someone to overpower an individual- even
though Mr. Trivedi had meager knowledge of martial arts at his disposal.
There was another fact which pointed to Mr. Mishra’s innocence- Normally
obsessive lovers are people who’ve been unnaturally introvert and
overpoweringly shy before women, but this man had been in a relationship
for three times in his life,” RP paused for a while.
Arora urged breathlessly -“Please continue sir!”
“Remember the id through which the last e-mail was sent to you, Ma’am?”
RP pointed to our client.
Neha wasn’t in a position to answer.
“It was [e-mail]. This sealed everything. Normally, a
builder would have such an indicative e-mail id and all my suspicions rested
blandly on Mrs. Gambhir. She obviously architected this scheme to a large
extent as she had intimate contact with Miss Kaushik. The assassin was
simply hired to commit the atrocious crime. Correct me, if I am wrong Mrs.
Gambhir,” inquired RP.
Jayati didn’t utter a word and started sobbing incoherently.
“Arora, you have the case at your disposal. The architects of the plot are
prostrated before you. Tracing the assassin is your duty now. Take adequate
care of Miss Kaushik- betrayal is a sordid feeling, but that’s the harsh reality
the world of business knows no friendships,” said RP before going into a
thoughtful melancholy.
Silence greeted his words.