Chap 10 (Final)- White Lilies

The white colour symbolizes peace

“That is not important,” Deepak shook his head.

“If Kalpana had been here only for 4-5 days,” Vipin persisted, “and Pawan invited Mohan for almost 11 days so that he could step out of his house unobserved by his wife, then I don't think that he meant to stalk Kalpana.”

“You are making castles out of empty air,” Deepak refused to entertain Vipin's plea. “Perhaps Pawan only stepped out during the duration that Kalpana stayed in that apartment. For the rest of the days, he was simply enjoying his chess matches with Mohan.”

“That can be easily settled,” Shalini picked up her phone and called Mohan. She put the phone on speaker mode and spoke with Mohan. She let Mohan know that she was aware that Pawan and Mohan didn't play any games of chess when he used to come over. Mohan didn't refuse her claims.

“Why was he stepping out of the house?” She asked Mohan plaintively.

“He wanted to catch a stalker,” Mohan told them. “He had been receiving threat calls. Moreover, some kind neighbours informed him that an unknown person was seen hanging around the house. To nab the stalker, Pawan made a plan. He would make me start a game of chess and then he would slip out of the house.”

“In Zomi's delivery uniform?” Vipin asked him.

“Oh, so you found it?” Mohan murmured. “Yes, he was of the opinion that no one suspected a food delivery guy moving about. No one pays any attention to them.”

“Why did he wear your shoes?”

“He couldn't keep wearing shoes inside his house,” Mohan replied. “And if he stepped out of his room to wear his shoes, Shalini would have noticed it and he didn't trust her. He thought that it was some old flame of hers who was hanging about the house. So he would borrow my shoes and then steal out of the window.”

When Mohan mentioned Shalini's old flame, Vipin and Shalini looked up at Deepak's ashen face.

“Did Pawan ever find out who it was who stalked the house?” Vipin asked Mohan.

“Twice he almost caught the stalker,” Mohan informed them. “He told me later that even though he was unable to catch the stalker, he got a very good look. The stalker was Shalini's old friend.”

“What was Pawan going to do about it?” Shalini's voice trembled with rage.

“He was planning to beat the stalker badly,” Mohan spoke slowly. “In our last meeting, he had gone out to chase the stalker but had returned after an hour without sighting the stalker. At that time, I didn't get any inkling that he was planning to commit suicide. If I had known about it, I would have dissuaded him. Heck, I wouldn't have left him alone. He was busy making his special drink with his medicines and sugar cubes. I gave him the cranberry juice that I had bought for myself. He thanked me for it. The last thing I heard from him as I took my leave was his complaint about the sugar cubes. There were only a few left.”

“Why didn't Pawan trust his wife?” Vipin asked Mohan.

“She would invite her old friend to the house whenever Pawan was not there,” Mohan replied. “I know it is silly but Pawan felt very possessive of his wife. He was also very loyal so he expected the same. I told him that he was making a huge mistake. Instead of doubting his wife's character, he should have taken out time to talk with her. But he told me that he had told her to not entertain her friend in his absence but she was being mulish about it and he didn't appreciate it.”

Shalini couldn't stifle her sobs. Vipin thanked Mohan for his time and asked him to come to Pawan's house at the earliest.

“Why were you stalking her?” Vipin asked Deepak who opened his mouth to protest but then shut up.

“Did he catch you lurking about?” Vipin persisted. “That's why you were able to identify the Zomi's uniform. You noticed it on Pawan when he almost managed to catch you. What did you do? Runaway like a coward!”

“Yes,” Deepak snarled. “I ran away like a coward. Happy now? I used to come here to look at Shalini. I could never forget her. When I finally found out where she lived, I began to come here every day. Sometimes, I would be invited to the house but most of the time, I would hang outside and catch a glimpse of hers as she made her way through the house. I love her, man! I can't live without her. The more I thought about how that brute tormented her, the more I hated him.”

Mohan knocked at the door and made a show of kicking the dust off his shoes. Then, with a smile, he entered the house. He could sense that he was not welcome there. Vipin reached out to him and led him to the sofa.

“I can sense that people don't want me here,” Mohan spoke softly.

“I will be done in a few minutes,” Vipin said. “Then we can all leave together.” He explained the reason behind his presence to Mohan.

“The police have ruled it as a suicide,” Mohan shook his head.

“But I have reasons to believe that it was not a suicide,” Vipin replied.

“If it is a murder,” Shalini interrupted him, “then who are the suspects?”

“All three of you,” Vipin said. Immediately, everyone was on their feet, protesting and cursing him. Vipin had to bellow at them to make them sit down again.

“Take the case of Deepak here,” Vipin said. “He is obsessed with Shalini. Once he got her address, he began to hang out around her house. He has confessed to that. He desperately wanted Pawan to be out of the picture so that he could woo his love. That gives us a clear and established motive. Pawan had begun to suspect him so he tried to catch Deepak red-handed. Towards that end, Pawan got a delivery boy uniform, and using that and Mohan's shoes, he would head out and patrol the streets. Some time back, he almost caught Deepak. That's why you knew about the food company logo on the uniform, Deepak. You decided to kill Pawan. Here is what you could have done. You could have snuck into Pawan's study and soaked the sugar cubes with the rat poison. Then you would have waited for Pawan to consume those sugar cubes in his drink.”

“But I didn't do any such thing,” Deepak protested.

“We will come to that,” Vipin dismissed Deepak's concerns with an imperious hand. “Next we have Shalini. She is sick and tired of her husband's roving eye and his philandering ways. She could have easily done the same, mixing the cubes with rat poison and waiting for Pawan to consume the poison. She was seen replacing the container of sugar cubes with another. Why would she do that?”

“I wasn't thinking straight that day,” Shalini protested. “Cut me some slack, will ya? I had just lost my husband that day.”

Vipin ignored her protests.

“Then we have Mohan here,” Vipin turned to face Mohan. “He joined Pawan's company and then was fired from the job. Yet, he kept meeting Pawan to play games of chess with him. He even agreed to let Pawan borrow his shoes whenever Pawan would head out to patrol the streets. And yet, he resented Pawan horribly. After talking with Jia, I believe that Pawan forced Jia to distance herself from Mohan. Could that lead to a festering resentment that finally found its vent?”

Vipin took his position in the center of the room.

“Was the suspect working alone? Or were they working together to remove their common problem? Take the case of the sugar container. Jia told us that if Pawan saw only a few left in the container, he would put all of them in his juice. Mohan told us just now that the last thing he heard was Pawan complaining about sugar cubes running out. But then Jia told us that Shalini gave her some cubes from the container. How is this possible? The only explanation is that Mohan ensured that Pawan's container ran out of sugar cubes leaving a few poison-soaked cubes and then Shalini replaced the empty container with another one that was packed with sugar cubes. That makes me think that Mohan and Shalini were working together. Mohan ensured that only a few sugar cubes were left, knowing fully well that Pawan would greedily consume all of them in one go. So Mohan mixed poison with the cubes and then gave Pawan a can of cranberry juice that he hated. Mohan and Shalini knew that Pawan would simply gulp the juice in one go because he hated the taste of cranberry juice. The poison in the cubes would kill him. Now, why would Shalini replace the container? So that the police won't find any trace of poison in the container of sugar cubes, leading them to believe that Pawan mixed the poison in his juice. Still, the police would have investigated the case and found the actual culprits so a two-pronged approach was chosen to deflect the attention. The first one was to mislead the police with a blatant act of a rejoicing widow. The police suspected that Shalini had something to do with Pawan's death and they focussed on her role. Jia probably never mentioned getting sugar cubes from Shalini for she could see that Shalini was being unfairly targetted by the police. The second approach was to keep a ready-made patsy to take the blame. Deepak, that was your role. You are truly in love with her but she was only using you. When Pawan told Mohan about the stalker, it was Mohan who arranged for the uniform and advised Pawan to wear the uniform and patrol the street to capture Deepak. If the police wouldn't have given up, then I believe they would have handed you to the police on a platter.”

He looked at Deepak and shook his head. “She was never into you. Take the hint, buddy. Move on.”

“Deepak killed Pawan,” Shalini suddenly snarled. “I saw him entering Pawan's study and then I saw him washing his hands with soap. He must have poisoned the sugar cubes.”

Deepak's face lost all colour. White as a sheet, he stared at Shalini's angry face. When Vipin touched his shoulder, he trembled badly.

“I didn't do it,” he managed to whisper. The final blow made him snap out of his obsessive love.

“I know,” Vipin helped him get on his feet. “Let the police inspector reopen the case. Confess to him. Share all the case details with him. He would be able to find out if Mohan and Shalini were in touch. When Jia would give her testimony that she saw Shalini replace the sugar container, I think, that would be enough to convict them.”

When Vipin stepped out of the house, his eyes fell on the white lilies in the pots. He touched the flowers gently and walked away.