Weapon 5

 The conclusion – part 2      

      

 Sattaki showed the pen drive to everyone and looked at the panicked faces around him. Then Chetan spoke, “ What! .. is the Pendrive. I mean.. that. I saw it with dadu a few months back.”

“Yes, you are right Chetan .. this belongs to Rajendraji. He had given this to Kunjariji before he died and probably she too knew something about the murderer due to which she had to die.”

“So?”, asked Giribala.

“ This pen drive contains some old pictures which give a lot of information regarding this family’s history and background. I found a picture that showed Tulsi and her parents together. When I showed this photo to Revati, she told me about Tulsi in detail”.

 

After a short pause he started again, “Thereafter, Rajendraji started realizing he made a huge mistake. The death of his wife, who he loved too dearly, in spite of the differences between them, left him devastated. He started hating both his sons and their wives for this reason. He always felt they would kill him.”

 

“Well, that was about Giribala and Birendra. Now, Chetan, can you recognize this photo?”

 

“Yes, this photo was taken when I was 5 years old. Suraj uncle had clicked it for us. We had gone to Sunderbans that year. My dad and Suraj uncle were close friends.”

 

“Yes, so according to Chetan and from the information that I have gathered after talking to Suraj is that Gyanendra left the house after his mother died. It seems he too could not accept his mother’s death. He went to Suraj and started living with them. His father liked Gyanendra a lot so he convinced him to study well and readmitted him in school again. Gyanendra did not fail his uncle this time and finished school as a topper. He did his higher studies with chemistry as his subject. He had opened his own medicine store with help from his wife’s father. However, he had to return to his father's house."

 

Sundaribala looked blankly at Sattaki once and then continued, “ If I had ever known he would have to pay such a huge price .. I would have never allowed him to do this”, she broke into tears.

 

There was some commotion in the room for 2 minutes after Sundaribala spoke. Sattaki stopped everyone and asked her to continue, “My husband and I were very happy after Chetan was born. We lived in our own world away from all of this. Misfortune loomed around us and hit us from nowhere. That day, Birendra came to our house and apologized for the past. He wanted us to go back home and meet father as per his will to meet him. We had refused in the beginning but Birendra was not ready to listen to us. I wish we hadn’t come here then all the insults which he had to face wouldn’t have happened.”

 

Sattaki started again, “ When Gyanendra came back he was not given a very warm welcome by his father. He was brutally insulted.. so much that he was immediately about to leave the house. Birendra somehow succeeded in holding him back.”

 

“My husband did not know what a sad fate is waiting for him. We started staying in this house completely unaware of a very tragic future. This man and his wife planned to involve him in all this for the sake of money. He had to die for their sin.”

 

Sattaki continued, “ The brothers were happy to be together but the father was hurt. He knew about their wrong intentions. However, Birendra played a bigger game. Gyanendra was getting more involved in the family business so much that he almost ignored the pharmacy he owned for so long. The employees too had become quite ignorant. One day, he received the news. It also came in the newspaper around 6 months back. A huge fire outbreak finished Gyanendra’s lifelong hard work forever. He suffered huge losses and as usual elder brother again came to the rescue.”

 

“However, Mr. Birendra, I wanted to show you something again. Do you recognize this man?”

 

Sattaki asked Karan to call him in. Two policemen were holding a man who seemed to be red with anger. As soon as he came inside he started roaring at Birendra, “You ass! You have ruined me! You will have to pay for this!!”.

 

“Who is he? I. I don’t know!”

 

“ Aww.. so you really can't remember him? Is it?.. let me explain. When I talked with Mr. Gyanendra before he died he had told me few things like the loss of a lot of money sustained from the fire at his pharmacy, also the people who worked for him. He sensed foul play and found out that the onset of the fire was not due to short-circuit. The electric line was altered in a way that fire outbreak takes place. Birendra had falsely blamed Kanu or Kanailal Singha for messing with the wires whereas this work was done by him.”

 

“No .. this is wrong .. Sundari!! Giri!! Don’t believe him.. this man is lying.”

 

He was getting up and leaving when Karan told him to calm down and sit. He seemed so upset.

 

“I have proof enough Mr. Birendra since Kanu has admitted that a day before the outbreak you had gone to visit Gyanendra’s pharmacy along with Mukund ( the electrician) to replace a fused tube light in the medicine store. He has already confessed his crime.”

 

“Believe me. I. I didn’t kill them. I .. did this because Gyan would never stand beside me to help dad change his mind. I could not allow him to ruin my career.”

 

“ I have not completed yet, please calm down,” Sattaki looked around and saw the frightened faces.

 

“ So, all these incidents and a false brainwash were enough to convince Gyanendra that he had no option but to stay in the house and contribute to the family business. He was fed up with the daily insults and the effect was seen elsewhere.”

 

“ So, you mean that my brother has killed my father and Kunjari? Then how did he die?”

 

“A devastated husband with a dedicated wife. It is true that Gyanendra was suffering but the one person who was equally suffering and was equally qualified as him could not remain silent.”

 

Sattaki was looking at her then she spoke, “ I had complete faith in Kanu and I went to the police station to meet him. He confessed to me that he was sure that there was no reason for the fire outbreak except that Birendra came that day. Someone might have messed with it. I told my husband about it but Birendra had convinced him so well that nothing was having an effect. I took to the last resort and decided that sympnogen could be an option. If Rajendraji would die all his property would be transferred to the trust for the orphanage. We would not be able to do anything. I thought first I would tackle my father-in-law. Sympnogen is a slow soothing poison that gifts death. I had to find a suitable weapon. That night my son was asking for the mosquito repellent at night when it struck me. I sneaked into the washroom and loaded it in the syringe and just a push. Then gave it to Chetan to give to his grandfather for use.”

 

“What!! Liquidator!!”

 

“You mean you used the liquidator as a weapon”, asked Karan.

 

“Yes. Rajendraji had died peacefully. I knew people will think it to be a normal death and forget. No signs or symptoms and no traces but the smell. I never thought that police officer can have Chemist as friends!!”

 

“Why did you kill Kunjari?”, asked Birendra.

 

“That day in the evening Kunjariji called me and she told me about the pen drive and the last time she met Rajendraji he had given her the will which was ready and kept with her. I was frightened that all these efforts would be in vain. I wanted to target Birendra first but she had the will which needed to be destroyed. So, I went to her place, she was a friend of my Mother in law. She told me that my mother-in-law did not commit suicide. That day Birendra was having a fight with her and accidentally she fell down from the terrace. She was quiet all these years since Birendra had threatened to kill her daughter and her. I did not take a chance. First of all, I sent her to make coffee and took the new will according to which all the money would go to the trust and replaced it with another similar-looking document so that she doesn’t find out. Then saw the liquidator on the table and did my job perfectly.”

 

“Then, at last, all my problems would have ended but fate looked at me and smiled. I sneaked into Birendra’s room and inserted the liquidator in place but by mistake..”, she started crying.

"You are under arrest for three murders Mrs. Sundaribala", said inspector Karan.

Sattaki was coming out of the house when Karan held him back. 

" I don't understand one thing .. did you already find out about the weapon? You said sympnogen was gas?"

"Sympnogen exists as a liquid which upon heat activation gets converted into a gas which is a silent killer as I told you. As far as the weapon was concerned it took me some time. When I investigated the crime scenes for the third time I had taken some things that were lying here and there within the area of the murder. The liquidator, the pen, matchbox, and a glass of water were the ones that I finally selected for chemical analysis. I had a doubt that any liquid could have entered the room which due to its sublime nature released the gas. When I checked the pen in Kunjariji's room I found that it opens into a Pendrive. I checked into all the other items too. Then, I tested the liquid present in the mosquito repellent and found out the weapon. Mrs. Sundaribala too was a student of chemistry and she was the one who used to look after the pharmacy owned by them. She became too busy with her son when Gyanendra took over the work. However, the fire outbreak affected her more than him and she planned to take revenge. Initially, I was confused about how she managed to inject into the liquidator. I investigated the bottle closely when I found the very tiny hole punched into the bottle. It had to use a magnifying glass. She used the needle of the correct gauge to leave almost no trace but as you and I always know, there is no perfect crime.. every criminal makes some mistake."

"Case closed", concluded inspector Karan Singh.