"I want to meet Mr. Gayakwad, where is he?" I asked the policeman standing outside the police station.
"He is there, go inside from there and then take the first right." the policeman guided me while pointing his hand at the door. The main entrance was a few blocks away from the border.
When I entered the hall, the man was shouting in a mobile phone using slang words.
The other side on the bench, there were few people sitting and waiting for their turn to come. They looked so disgusting so I avoided joining the queue and went on the table next to the benches.
"I want to meet Mr. Gayakwad, I am Isha, I had called him before some time," I said to the uniformed officer behind the table.
The officer pressed a button, "Isha is here to see you" he said into his microphone. A tiny reply leaked from his headphone.
"Send her in."
I have never been to the police station before. I only saw it in Bollywood movies. It was quite resembling with what I had an image of the police station in my mind.
I knocked on the half door. "Come in" called the voice from inside. I went through a half door. Gayakwad was on the phone, pointed to a chair. I sat. Gayakwad was a perfect example of a policeman. The heaviness of the face, the tight slims of the shirt, the too tightness of the too-tight suit.
He said goodbye on the phone, hung up, gazed across the desk. "Miss Isha, I was expecting you sooner or later."
"So tell me what the connection was," Gayakwad said. "Connection?"
"Between you two."
"No connection except for that we were good friends and colleagues," I replied.
"I am here for something else." I placed all the anonymous notes with the envelopes on his table. Gayakwad leafed through the notes.
"What is this all about?"
"These are the anonymous notes I have been receiving for the last few months," I replied.
"Old grudges?"
"Not exactly, I didn't have any grudges with anyone. I always broke the relation with due regards."
"And the thing is, the person had called me twice on coffee date but he never turned up. I don't know the motive behind calling me for the coffee date."
"I went for the second time thinking he might show up his repulsive face at least today. Such a coward!"
"This seems to be a one-sided love, Romeo like."
"Miss. Isha, let's discuss one thing in straight," Gayakwad held his hand up, not particularly long, but wide and thick. The pinkie ring dug deep into his flesh.
"You and Vivan were into a relationship."
"A serious relationship, right?" The skin on Gayakwad's face seems to be tight for a while. Then he smiled.
"You are right. We were into a relationship. But then we broke up as Vivan betrayed me."
"Thank you, Isha, for acknowledging that. Anything special you would like me to know about you both?"
"No, I have nothing to hide," I replied.
"Who all knows about these anonymous notes except you?"
"Only Payal and Vivan also was." I didn't utter Siddhartha's name at that moment as I didn't want to drag him into all these.
"A girl like you in a town like this, going to be obtrusive." He rose, pushing himself from the desk.
"We need to figure this out first. This must have some connection with the murder."
"Thanks for sharing this piece of information with the police. This could lead the case in the right direction."
"I have one more thing to tell you," I said.
"Now, what is that Miss Isha?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Vivan knew about a secret relationship between the boss and some lady. He had seen them together at the restaurant. The boss also knew that Vivan was aware of his affair."
"Bingo! That's a big lead for us Miss Isha. Why didn't you tell me this before? You should not hide anything from the police especially when it's a murder case." he said in a thick voice.
"I wanted to but you never gave me the space to speak. You started doubting me directly as we had been into the relationship. You thought that I killed him and started questioning me. So I could not gather the courage to tell you about these notes and boss's affair.
"The boss was behind him and always in a search of the point to scold him. Vivan was the best performer in the entire office. But still, the boss was never appreciating his efforts. On the contrary, he had given his client base to Mohit to push Vivan a sideway."
"And you think that could be the reason for his murder," he asked.
"Do you think that your boss could kill Vivan?" he asked me.
"I am not sure, but ya he could be the prime suspect as of now."
"I also thought the same, in fact, we the police have to suspect each person as a culprit until the actual one is behind the bar."
"Hello Mr. Saxena, I want to meet you tomorrow morning. Let's fix 11 a.m. tomorrow at Andheri Police Station." Gayakwad called the boss and asked him to come to the police station.
"I will have to keep these notes with me as evidence," he said while collecting all the notes from the table.
"One more thing, don't tell anyone that you came here to meet me and we discuss all these. Because you never know how worst it can go."
"Ok sir, I will not tell it to anybody." I rose and walked outside of his cabin.
"Shinde..." He shouted his name loud enough that I could hear even from the outside of the police station.
"Yes sir"
"Trace the source of these notes Isha were receiving from some unknown person. I need all minute details about these notes, like fingerprints, post office address, all dates related to these notes. Need this as fast as possible."
"Also, please trace the phone call details of Mr. Saxena (the boss), I think that will be required now."
"I think we are closer to the truth," he said.
"Sure sir, I will get back to you as soon as possible." Shinde collected all the notes lying on the table with his handkerchief.
"Hello Isha, where are you? I am here at the cafe." I got a call from Siddharth while going back to my home.
"Siddharth, I am on my way back to the home."
"What happened is everything ok?" he asked.
"Yes Siddharth everything is fine. That stranger didn't show up at the cafe. I waited for more than an hour, and then I decided to give up and go back. I am tired so we will talk later Siddharth."
"Ok Isha, take care. We will discuss about this later. You take rest, and call me if you need any help. I will be there with you in no time."
Next Day.
"Good morning Mr. Gayakwad." A man in his forties in a black suit appears in front of the cop.
"Good morning Mr. Saxena. Please have a seat."
"Tell me why you have called me here in the morning. I have an urgent meeting at 12 noon, so won't be able to spare much time here."
"Don't rush Mr. Saxena; I know your time is precious. But at the same time, the discussion which we will be going to have is also important."
"What discussion you want to have? I have told you everything that day only. I have nothing more to say. Don't waste my time."
"Ok, so let me cut the crap and come to the point," Gayakwad said.
"I got to know that you have an affair with a lady, and you were meeting at the restaurant. Is that true?"
"Or how about going to a movie at the infinity mall?"
"What rubbish you are talking about. I never went to the movie with any lady. Someone had misguided you."
"Think again Mr. Saxena, I know you are a too-busy person and there is lots of workload on your shoulder. You might not remember such small things." Gayakwad said sarcastically.
"I have already told you that I never went anywhere with any lady. Why don't you believe me? You may ask about this to anyone if you wish to." Saxena replied with frustration.
"Oh! That's a good idea, thank you, Mr. Saxena. How about asking your wife about this?"
"She would be the neutral person to guide me on this. I should talk to her. Could you please dial her number for me?" The boss was shivering with fear. His voice was now grounded.
"Suppose I have an affair, what it has to do with the murder case? I don't understand the connection between my affair and this murder case." the boss was still trying to defend himself.
"You will come to know the connection between these two soon."
"So do you want me to dial a call to your wife or you are ready to co-operate?" Gayakwad interrupted.
"Ok, I was meeting a lady at the restaurant, but that's my personal life. It has nothing to do with this case, has it?" Mr. Saxena said.
"There you go, Mr. Saxena." Gayakwad grinned.
"Who all knows about your relationship?" Gayakwad looked in the eyes of Saxena.
"No one knew about our relationship. I swear no one!"
"Was Vivan aware of your relationship?" Had he ever threaten you that he will tell it to your wife or something like that?" Gayakwad asked further.
"I don't know about that. But he never threatens me about this." the boss replied.
"Ok, that's good. How about you are threatening him?" Gayakwad was a clever man; he went into the depth in a way that no one knows what he was trying to get out of you.
"Are you sure Vivan was not aware of your relationship?"
"What you mean by that? Are you trying to figure out that I killed Vivan because he knew about my relationship? What a crap."
"Who told you about my relationship?" Mr. Saxena was curious.
"Well, that's none of your business. You answer me whatever I ask you."
"No, I need to know the name of the person who thinks I killed Vivan."
"Why did you kill him?"
"Officer, I didn't kill him"
"I know you are afraid to talk right now but we need your help."
"I told you, I don't know anything about his death. He was a nice guy and for me a good performer in the office. "The boss replied.
"BULLSHIT, I know you killed him cold blooded as he knew about your secret relationship and you were afraid that he might tell it to your wife." Gayakwad said cutting off Saxena.
"You don't know shit, officer."
"Well, that's not what it looked like to me. So you can either start talking or we can pin charges on you." Gayakwad said as he pulls a pack of cigarettes out and a lighter and puts them on the table.
"You need a smoke?"
Saxena shook his head.
There was a pounding at the door. Gayakwad walked over and walked out.
"Sir, I got mobile call details of Mr. Saxena as you told me." Shinde talked to Gayakwad.
"Good and what does that says?"
"Saxena has called up Vivan three times at around 11 p.m. on the previous night of his murder." Shinde revealed.
Gayakwad re-enters a couple of minutes later and sit back down on the table. He slides a pack of cigarettes and lighter to Saxena. Saxena takes one out and lights it.
"So Mr. Saxena, do you confess that you killed him?"
"I already told -"
Gayakwad gets up and slaps the cigarettes out of Saxena's hand. He then snaps the pair of cuffs to Saxena's hand and scolded.
"Then why the hell did you called him three times at night?"
"I didn't do it" the same answer every time from Saxena.
"Right, why should I believe you? He was the only one who knew about your affair. You had a reason to kill him; you had called him three times at the night. And still you are saying that you didn't kill him?"
"Gayakwad, you should know that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Let me tell you my side.
"It is correct that I have an affair with a lady. It is also correct that Vivan got to know about our relationship. But at the same time, I had no threat from Vivan on this.
Why would I kill him for no reason? I didn't do it, it's a fact whether you believe it or not." Saxena replied in a stressful voice.
"Sir, can you please come out for a moment? I have something for you." Shinde interrupted.
Gayakwad looked in the eyes of Saxena and said nothing. He rose from his chair slapped the half door with his mighty hand and went out.
"Sir, I went to the Borivali post office to inquire about those notes. Two out of three notes were dropped at the Borivali post office. I asked them about the further trace, but they couldn't."
"Then I saw a CCTV camera on the cross road outside the post office. I went to the control room and checked the footages. Look what I found in the footages." Shinde showed a CCTV clips on his mobile which he got from the control room.
"How is this possible Shinde? I couldn't believe this. Trace all the details and get back to me, fast." Gayakwad said.
"Mr. Saxena, you have to give us a written statement about everything you said just now. This will be recorded as a part of the investigation. You also cannot go outside the town without our permission. Please go outside and talk to Shinde, I have explained him everything."
Mr. Saxena stood up from the chair and went outside the cabin where Shinde asked him to sit on a bench and wait for some time. After about one hour, Saxena's statement was recorded by the policeman.
After completion of the formalities, Saxena went to the office.
"Did you get what I told you?" Gayakwad asked Shinde.
"Give me half an hour sir, I am almost there."
At around 2 pm, Shinde entered Gayakwad's cabin with the piece of paper in his hand.
"Let's go, I have got it sir."
Gayakwad and Shinde quickly went out and drove the car.
"How much time will it take to reach there?"
"Sir I think we will be there in next forty to fifty minutes. Shinde replied."
They both reached to the destination and catch the guy they were looking for.
Imran Ahmed was the person they were looking for. He was a known sharp shooter in Mumbra. A criminal who just came out of the jail three months back.
"Imran, you know why we are here, right?" Gayakwad asked him.
"No sir! How would I know your purpose? I haven't done anything since I came out of the jail." Imran replied.
Gayakwad showed some photos and papers to Imran and discuss something.
"Well in this case, you need to come with us to the police station. We need your help identifying the culprit."
"My help? Ok, I don't mind, but you have to promise me that you won't hit me in the police station, will you?"
"I promise; I will not touch you."
They convinced Imran to come with them to the police station. They were on their way back to the police station.
"Miss Isha, can you come to the police station tomorrow morning? I have something to show you."
"Ya sure sir, I will come." But what you want to show me?" I asked curiously.
"Well, you need to wait for that, see you tomorrow." Gayakwad then cut the phone.