Case Of Poisoned Cigarette

Of all the human emotions, envy is one such emotion which can either propel a man to heights of success; or take him down to the depths of misery. Something like this happened in the following story where one man became so jealous of another that it led him to kill and ultimately pay for the consequences.

Akshay Bhargava and Vinay Kapoor were fast friends. Their friendship had started when they were in their diapers. Since childhood, Akshay was the smarter of the two and this he proved throughout his life by excelling in everything he did and on the other hand Vinay was of mediocre type as he struggled through his school and college education, though both of them went to the same school and college together. Akshay always tried to help his friend from all walks of life; now whether that was in education, professional life, or anything else. Vinay though never showed anything but was always envious of Akshay.

Anyways, still, both of them were fast friends on the outside and they even started their career together which was writing. Akshay was the better writer of the two and from the very first day, his writings and articles were an instant hit. Whereas Vinay was also good but he had to struggle initially. So life went on for some years for both of them; when one day Akshay came to Vinay and told him that he was writing a book on mystery and suspense. He also said that "I have given the initial draft to a publisher and he has liked it a lot". At first, Vinay was very happy for his friend but then his envy came into play and he started plotting against an unsuspecting Akshay.

As and when time passed Vinay grew more frustrated and jealous of his friend. His wife Priya was a pretty, happy-go-lucky kind of woman and she could not understand the reason for his frustration and anger.

Akshay, on the other hand, was thinking of including Vinay's name also in the forthcoming book and this he planned to tell him as a surprise. Both of the friends had shared everything in life in the early days and one thing they liked to do most was having a smoke in each other's company. So finally the day came when Akshay's book was to be launched and the first thing Akshay did was to rush excitedly to Vinay and tell him about this and also wanted to surprise him. As he wanted to see the look on Vinay's face when he gave him the news. When Vinay came to know of this from Akshay, at first he was speechless but then he hugged Akshay and said 'that you are the only person who has always understood me'. At the same time internally, he was seething with anger at Akshay and he had decided to get rid of his best friend once for all. He was so blinded by anger and jealousy that he could not think straight and concocted a plan to murder Akshay and get rid of his troubles.

The opportunity finally came on the day of the book launch party which Akshay had thrown at his house. Here all his friends, colleagues, acquaintances, family, etc. had been specially invited but Vinay was the most looked after the guest of all. Just before the speech about his book promotion and launch Akshay and Vinay sneaked away from all the limelight to have a couple of smokes. The best part was that Vinay & Akshay knew each other's tastes in everything; whether that was alcohol, attire, automobiles, tourist destinations, or even choice of cigarettes. So Vinay offered him one from his pack and soon as they finished their smokes, an announcement was made for Akshay to come and give an introductory speech and welcome his guests.

Everything was going fine for five minutes when Akshay suddenly feels a terrible pain in his chest and puts his hand on his chest immediately. At first, people don't pay much attention but then suddenly Akshay collapses on the ground with blood pouring from his nose. The guests are initially stunned and too surprised to react but as they see that Akshay is not moving, immediate panic breaks out, and calls for a doctor are made.

Luckily there was a doctor in the crowd and he rushes in and after examining Akshay declares him dead due to massive heart seizure. Everyone is stunned that minutes before he was laughing and talking with everyone; then how come this could have happened. Akshay's wife Pooja faints instantly. The police are called in and everyone tries to bring Pooja back into consciousness. The Police Inspector in charge was a short and plump fellow and had a very casual approach to everything but when it came to murder investigations; he was very meticulous. Inspector Deepak Kumar was in charge and the first thing he did was to sequester everyone present at the party, including the staff and started questioning everybody. In the meanwhile, Pooja had regained her senses and was sobbing inconsolably and she demanded to be with her husband's body. During the questioning process, everyone just said the same thing 'that Akshay was the kind of guy who could not have had died because of a heart attack as he was very healthy'. Deepak then asked Pooja that did he have anything of this sort of attack before and when she replied no, then Deepak suspected foul play. He immediately sent the body for autopsy.

One thing that seemed odd to Deepak was that during questioning, Vinay seemed to fidget and looked as if lost, he was also very evasive in answering in a straight forward manner; this was a bit strange to Deepak as Vinay was the best friend of Akshay and knew him more than anyone else. This also aroused suspicion in Deepak's mind about Vinay's odd behavior. Anyways, in the autopsy report, it is found that there was a special kind of poison in his bloodstream and which was the cause of his massive heart failure. Seeing this report Deepak starts researching what kind of poison could have such devastating results by consulting doctors, chemists, and on the web. When Akshay's wife comes to know of this, she is aghast as she could not possibly seem to understand that who could have killed such a lovely person as Akshay who could not even harm a fly! When does Deepak ask Pooja that 'Did Akshay have any enemies? or recently had any confrontation with anyone?', Pooja says "no, as everybody liked and loved Akshay". One day during the investigation one of the chemists calls up Deepak and tells him that this particular poison is very rare to find but is available illegally in the Indian market. This is a valuable clue to Deepak and he sets his investigation towards finding the source of the poison by instructing all his informers to spread the word that whosoever gives information will be rewarded.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Vinay's attitude and behavior saw a sudden transformation. He started behaving very normally and was in a relaxed state of mind, which was a surprise to Priya, his wife. When asked, he said, “due to this tragedy and all the responsibilities of getting the book published coming upon me, I have to keep myself de-stressed". As days passed the investigation dragged on and Deepak was getting frustrated when one-day forensics called him and informed him that a very small puncture mark had been found on one of the cigarette butts found at the murder scene. He further got information from one of his informers who told him that there was one doctor/chemist whose license had been canceled and who was involved in this kind of dealing in this particular variety of poison. Deepak was elated at the news and he immediately arranged for a search party and an arrest warrant for this doctor/chemist. After a long search, he was finally spotted and arrested on the spot on the suspicion of murdering Akshay. During interrogation, the doctor broke down and confessed that a few days ago before Akshay's death someone had approached him and enquired about such kind of poison. When Deepak showed him the suspects' photos, the chemist /doctor immediately picked up Vinay's photo. This was the last straw in Deepak's mind about Vinay's culpability. Now he had the proof and the witness to go and arrest him. When Inspector Deepak came to arrest Vinay, he was in the middle of a press conference and at first tried to stall the legal proceeding against him but Deepak was a seasoned officer and he put the handcuffs on Vinay despite his protests and arrested him on the charge of murdering Akshay, much to the surprise and dismay of Priya. Vinay tried to be brave during his interrogation but when Deepak showed him the proof and told him about the arrest of the doctor/chemist and his full confession, Vinay broke down and narrated his story.

He said that since childhood Akshay had always been the brilliant one and also during their professional lives Akshay was the most popular and sought out guy. Which made Vinay very distressed though he did not show anything on the face? The opportunity arose when Akshay informed him about the book project and its benefits are when Vinay could not take it anymore and started plotting. He somehow contacted this doctor/chemist and he provided him with this poison. Vinay further said that he had injected one cigarette in the packet and he knew that Akshay would take the first one out, which he did. This was the only cigarette that had been poisoned and Vinay was very careful in arranging the cigarettes in a way so that he did not have to pick that one. Deepak was both surprised and enraged at Vinay's display of envy and stupidity and he said: “jealousy is an emotion which if not controlled; can be devastating for everyone". With that, he sent Vinay to his cell for his trial to begin.

That is why I believe that envy if used, constructively can be productive for everyone, whereas when it is used destructively, results are fatal for all.