What The Eyes Don't See

18 | Gift from the Other Side

"What the fuck was that!" Anay said, jumping off the bed where he had been sitting on.

"I don't know," said Kautuk, his eyes round as saucers. "I was just about to close the window when it hit back at me. Ouch!"

He looked at his fingers. He hadn't escaped unscathed. The bleeding cuts on them bore testimony to the fact.

***

It took two hours for Vishwa to reach Versova from Mira Road, and then a further hour to locate and convince Mukesh Patel to give him the keys to the house. That part had been especially difficult, but he had had nothing to lose. "Sir, I am an office colleague of Anay Ghosh. You know he had to leave in a hurry and he does not wish to trouble you anymore. But he has left behind some important papers in the apartment. He has asked me to fetch them. Could you please let me into the apartment for a few minutes?"

Vishwa did not think that ruse would work. Only an idiot would fall for it. He would probably be kicked out of the building or even worse. But he had to get to the bottom of Renee's death. He hadn't fallen for those bullshitting theories about ghosts, though that was what he had made them believe. He had to somehow break into the apartment now. He did not know why, but he felt he owed it to Renee to find out more about her death.

"Anay's friend, you say?"

"Yes, sir."

"You know he's a murder suspect, no?"

"It's an office file, sir. Very urgent. We need it."

"How do I know you are Anay's friend?"

"Sir, I can call him," said Vishwa, thinking furiously on his feet. He took out his phone and suddenly remembered he had one of Anay's previous numbers—a prepaid number that he did not use anymore. He called that number. He knew the SIM had been long deactivated, but that didn't stop his heart from beating like a war-drum. What if the number had been reassigned and the new owner picked it up? He let the phone ring on loudspeaker. It went unanswered. "I think he's busy. It won't take more than ten minutes." He scrolled through the phone and found a pic of Anay and him goofing around at some party. "See, we are good friends, sir."

Patel thrust his gnarly fingers into his loose white home pants and got out the bunch of keys. There were about twenty of them, all looking absolutely similar, undistinguished by any marks or labels. Without even looking at them, he got one of them out. "Here," he said.

"Are you sure this is the right key?" Vishwa asked.

"Sure as you are standing here. Now go and return the key in ten minutes."

Vishwa climbed the stairs of the E wing of the building. He came up to the third floor from where she had fallen. The exact spot was made identifiable by the marks made by the police. He noticed some grills lying propped against a wall. Perhaps the builder was fencing up the area now. But for poor Renee, it was too late. A tear glistening in his eye, he touched that wall. He felt the damp coldness, but it didn't unnerve him. It was as if he was communicating with Renee.

He could, in fact, feel her presence there still. "Come to me, Vishwa," it had breathed in his ear, causing a sudden ripple of longing to course through him. "I am still in the apartment where I died. Come. I will tell you everything..."

He was now at the door, holding the key, ready to thrust it into the keyhole. What would he find on the other side? What did Renee want to show him? He knew she was here. Or, maybe he just wanted the closure of seeing the place where she was at last. Yes, that was it. His subconscious mind had wanted him here and that was why he had heard her. Mumbling the name of the god he prayed to, he pushed the door open.