The Cosmic Clues (10 page)

“Yes, of course,” Sonia agreed with a smile. “But how was Mr. Kapoor when he was sober?”

“Oh, a fine man—spoke in the most respectful and dignified manner, never even glanced in my direction. What a difference drinks made to his personality—it was shocking!”

“And did you ever hear him mention committing suicide—when Mr. and Mrs. Kapoor quarreled, for example?”

“Suicide?” Uma's eyes flickered thoughtfully to the garlanded photograph. “Only once. I'd just come in and I heard Madam telling him never to mention suicide again. She was awfully upset and sobbing and I felt quite sorry for her. But he was a strong man, Kapoorsaheb, and I never thought he would take his own life! But he did, didn't he?”

Sonia nodded thoughtfully. “Tell me about Jaidevsaheb. Is he Mrs. Kapoor's brother?”

Uma burst out into laughter. “Hardly! He's their family friend—the only friend I ever saw around here—apart from the neighbors, of course. A decent, polite man, highly educated and always around to help the Kapoors.”

“How did Mr. Kapoor and Mr. Jaidev get along?”

“Oh, famously. Quite often, it was Jaidevsaheb who would resolve their quarrels and put Kapoorsaheb to bed. They slept in separate rooms, you know.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “And I've noticed—” She halted abruptly and stood up swiftly. “Madam is here! Would you like something to drink?”

“No thanks.” Sonia turned to meet the tall, slim lady who stood at the door, staring at her in surprise.

Clad in an off-white sari, Mrs. Kapoor approached Sonia with quick strides. A pair of light brown eyes flashed a curious mix of hostility and bafflement. The widow's straight hair fell in a loose, silky curtain on her back. A tiny mole on her right cheek added a hint of mystery to the beautiful, flushed face.

“Who are you and what do you want?” she demanded softly.

Sonia quickly introduced herself as Inspector Divekar's niece. “I'm here on routine inquiry,” she explained, carefully masking her quickened interest. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Uma had slipped away.

Mrs. Kapoor instantly dropped her unreceptive attitude and smiled sadly. “I'm sorry—I mistook you for one of my pestering neighbors. Kind though they are, they do overdo the condolence bit—please, sit down. How can I help you?” She took the armchair opposite Sonia's.

“I won't take much time. I simply need to ask a few questions. I know you must be upset and I really don't wish to intrude on your privacy any more than I must!”

“It's a trying period, you know. Apart from the grief, there is the melancholy thought of a long, dreary, lonely life. . . .” Mrs. Kapoor's eyes moistened.

“I can imagine. But I understand that you—if I may say so—you didn't exactly share a cordial relationship with your husband?” Sonia asked cautiously.

Mrs. Kapoor sighed. “You must've heard reports from the neighbors,” she stated simply. “And I cannot blame them. Dhiresh—my poor husband—did exhibit a massive temper from time to time and he had no qualms about expressing it loud enough to shake the earth. But I love him a lot and he loves me, too. However, he would sometimes go through bouts of depression. He would frighten me—talking about killing himself, about walking away from my life forever—and . . . and . . . then he went and . . . and . . . did it! I still can't believe it!”

Sonia allowed her to compose herself. “You have recently moved to Pune?” she ventured, after a respectable interval had elapsed.

“Yes. We lived in Delhi—my husband changed his job and so we came to Pune. Dhiresh . . . he had a tendency of changing his jobs, rather too often for my liking—but I suppose it was his flaring temper and his reputation—anyway, this was the only decent place we could afford. The rent was reasonable and the area good. Besides, Mr. Jaidev—my husband's friend who'd offered to take him up as a partner in business—lived in the same locality. Mr. Jaidev has been of invaluable help to me!”

“In Delhi, what did he do? I mean, where did your husband work?”

“In a bank. He was the Manager,” Mrs. Kapoor said briefly.

Sonia paused before she remarked softly, “Mrs. Kapoor, I need to ask you an important question, please do not take it wrongly. Did Mr. Kapoor have a girlfriend? Or if I may put it crudely, another wife back in Delhi?”

“That's preposterous!” Mrs. Kapoor's beautiful eyes flashed in anger. “Whatever may be his reputation otherwise, Dhiresh is the most loyal husband I ever saw! He never looks at another woman and in spite of everything, he loves me a lot!”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.” Sonia rose to take her leave. “Thank you for your co-operation, I hope I don't have to bother you anymore.”

Mrs. Kapoor was struggling to control her fraught emotions, her color slowly returning to normal. She nodded but did not rise. Sonia stood looking down at her for a moment. She did not have the heart to tell her that another woman had claimed her husband. Instead she walked out of the house with a meditative expression on her face.

“How did your interview with Mrs. Kapoor go yesterday? Any theories?” Inspector Divekar asked, on the telephone.

“Actually, yes, a working theory . . . But it's rather premature and I'd rather keep my own counsel for the moment. Jeevan Uncle, will you do me a favour?” Sonia asked. She was at her table, scribbling notes on a pad. Nidhi sat on her lap, curled awkwardly, but refusing to leave her mistress's lap despite the discomfort.

“Shoot!”

“Can you ask Mrs. Kapoor for documents, papers of identification? Anything from her marriage certificate to her ration card, and, of course, horoscopes!”

“Is this another ‘routine checkup' or are you really on to something?”

Sonia heard the smile in her uncle's voice and grinned. “Too soon to confirm either. And yes, I'd like Mr. Jaidev's horoscope, too. After all, he is very closely connected with the family.”

“Oh-oh, do you suspect some kind of a love triangle? Wife wants to marry the friend, so she gets rid of the inconvenient husband?”

“Why not? It does happen, every day, all around us. Although Mrs. Kapoor seemed genuinely in love with her husband, you can never tell! And to say the least, it pays to be skeptical in our line. Anyway, the horoscopes will help establish the relationship, if there is any!”

“I get it. Papers of identification are an excuse to get to the horoscopes.” Inspector Divekar laughed. “My dear girl, trust your instincts, never mind what the world says! Be bold enough to demand what you need! You really have to walk roughshod over a lot of egos, opinions, jokes, criticism, and ill-humour to reach the ultimate goal—results matter, never mind what the process of achievement is!”

“Jeevan Uncle, thank you for that pep talk!” Sonia remarked sincerely. “I'll remember your advice every time I falter in my steps!”

“Good. But what if the Kapoors haven't got their horoscopes made?”

“Quite unlikely, unless they are total atheists. But if that's so, you can ask for their exact birth date, time, and place.”

“Right. The horoscopes will be with you within the next hour!”

Sonia replaced the receiver just as Jatin walked into the office. “What have you found out?” she asked him.

“The reports are identical. The neighbors are well versed with the Kapoor arguments, since those two never restrained themselves. But when sober, he seemed to care for her. To all appearances, a normal pair of husband and wife—the usual round of fights and then making up. But he did have a tendency to leave her in the lurch and vanish for a few days.”

“Hmm . . . Socializing?”

“In the neighborhood mostly—birthday parties.”

“Standard of living?”

“Comfortable.”

“Any doubts raised or hints pointing towards Mrs. Kapoor and Mr. Jaidev?”

“None.”

Sonia pondered this information. Nidhi uncurled and stretched on her lap. Then, sensing her mistress's unresponsiveness, she reluctantly jumped onto the windowsill. Sonia followed her actions absentmindedly, her thoughts on a different plane. A vision rose involuntarily before Sonia's eyes. Her neighbour's child speaking to her mother. Mother talking to someone else. Impatient child deliberately drawing her mother's face towards herself to demand attention. The image was momentary and gone in a flash. Now, what on earth had brought that incident back to her? Sonia sighed. Her mind had an eccentric and incomprehensible existence of its own!

“How about Neha Gulati?” she asked Jatin. “Did you ask her if she can produce Tushar's horoscope?”

“I did, but naturally enough, she did not have her husband's horoscope in her possession. In fact, she doesn't seem to remember seeing it in years! And she cannot remember Tushar's birth details, either.”

“What about her mother-in-law? She will most undoubtedly remember her son's birth details.”

“Tushar's mother lives in the village up north. Difficult to get to her on phone, and a letter would take too long,” Jatin explained matter-of-factly.

“But what about a telegram? That will be quick enough,” Sonia pointed out.

“I hadn't thought of that! In the age of emails, a telegram seemed to be furthest from my mind!” Jatin conceded with a sheepish expression.

“In a vast and complicated country like ours, you have to conform to any means of communication! Delay does not hamper dependability! Send a telegram immediately asking for the son's birth date, time, and place. And in case there's a problem of literacy, I'm sure the village postman will be useful—they normally are!”

“Very well. Anything else, Boss?”

“Nothing for the moment.”

Just before noon, a small packet was delivered to Sonia's table. Inspector Divekar had been true to his word. A note was attached to the three horoscopes.
She was hesitant to part with the originals, so she made out copies, which I am sending. Since my man gave her a very natural and valid reason, she suspected nothing. He also got them written in front of him, so I think it is safe to assume that she didn't try any hanky-panky!
Sonia smiled at the note. Jeevan Uncle was a gem.

She turned on the music, and romantic instrumental piano filled the office. It was a tune she liked. The three horoscopes lay on her desk and a ripple of excitement ran through her. She experienced a heady feeling every time she touched a horoscope. It was like the thrill before a journey—only, at such times, the journey was into a person's psyche, making inroads deep into the mind of an individual, reading his secrets as clearly as if he himself had bared his heart to her. She enjoyed the power that strode straight into her hands. The power to gauge and to study human nature for an undeniably excellent cause. Certainly, no amount of displeasure and criticism was going to demoralize her or cramp her style. She had a gold mine in her hands and she knew perfectly well how to put it to good use. The music was already stimulating the most positive thoughts within her, she realized with a smile. She swayed with the romantic soft notes, closing her eyes, allowing the music to envelop her in a magnetic cocoon. Ten minutes later, she opened her eyes and approached the desk, her whole body tingling with anticipation.

Sonia placed Dhiresh Kapoor's horoscope on the left, his wife's in the center, and the third paper on the right. For the next forty-five minutes, the next piece of piano filled the room, first with slow, cautious notes, then rushing on with full, powerful bangs. Nidhi yawned, strolled, rubbed against her mistress's legs, and finally meowed a loud protest at being ignored. It was only when a hand passed over her with a casual disregard for her mood and affection that the protests ceased into low murmurs of perplexity. What could be so important as to occupy her mistress's attention when she, Nidhi, was around?

Sonia stared in fascination at the first two horoscopes. The Moon, Rahu, Mars, and Uranus in Mr. Kapoor's first house. And Neptune and Mars in Mrs. Kapoor's first house, face-to-face with Uranus in her seventh house. A strange couple but most ideally suited! Eccentricity bordering on cruelty! Capable of almost anything—even murder? Sonia frowned, but it was Mr. Dhiresh Kapoor who was dead, and he had committed suicide, not been murdered. Her eyes flicked to the third horoscope. Mr. Jaidev's horoscope. Nothing extraordinary about the career, a clean chit on the character front, and the normal ups and downs in life. Mr. Jaidev seemed a safe type except for the extreme bad phase on the health side. Instinctively, she felt that she ought to warn him—it was a period for accidents, sudden happenings—he needed to look after himself.

Sonia's gaze returned to Kapoor's horoscope and she frowned. Here was a horoscope which showed a distinctive, shady past. The cloud of doubt in her mind began to take the shape of a singular idea. The more she thought of it, the more concrete it seemed to grow! She felt an instinctive distrust for this man. Mr. Kapoor deserved to be checked out.

She buzzed the intercom and Jatin came in immediately. He clapped his hands expressively over his ears and hastened to turn off the music system! “I thought you would never call a lunch break! I'm famished, Boss,” he admitted cheerfully. “Should I order lunch for you?”

“Lunch?” Sonia asked absentmindedly. “No, no, not yet. I want you to do something for me before that!” She barely noticed her assistant's fallen expression as she rattled off instructions at him.

“But why dredge up information on Dhiresh Kapoor? He's dead and no use to us!” Jatin objected.