Sahana E06

Episode - 6

The next day morning I woke up at 8:00am. I put my cell phone in charge. I woke up the guys one by one. I saw my cell phone. I had two missed calls from Sudha. I called her back.

“Hello. Dai enna da nethiki call eh pannala?” She asked and that’s when I remembered that I hadn’t called her at all yesterday.

(MEANING – Why didn’t you call me yesterday?)

“Sorry da was busy yesterday.” I said apologetically.

“You’re always busy. That’s the problem. You don’t spend time with me much. Srikk is bad boy.” She said in cute sad tone.

“Yes I know, I will surely improve on that.” I said.

“You did better improve before I kick you.” She said with a giggle.

“Sure. I just hope this understanding remains forever.” I said.

“Sure don’t worry. So what did you do yesterday?”

“Well, you shouldn’t get mad on me. Okay?” I asked.

“I am already mad on you sweetheart.” She said.

“So am I. Okay listen up.” I said.

“Yep tell me.” She said.

I said everything that happened, right from getting the Ouija board and our attempts to talk to SAHANA. Then I said about her responses and my suspicions.

“So what do you say Sudha? Do I proceed?” I asked.

“Of course you have to.” She said.

“That’s great. If I hear from you it gives me more confidence.” I said.

“If you need any help, give me first preference. I would like join and help my hubby.” She said.

“You’re very sweet. I will surely ask you.” I said.

“Okay fine. Are you free in the morning?” She said.

“Yes, have to meet Anandhi that’s it.” I said.

“Can you spare half an hour for your wife?” She asked.

“Sure anything for you. Tell me.” I said.

“I am missing you like hell. We’ll meet up and then drop me in college. Okay?” She asked.

“Would I ever miss that?” I asked,

“I am sure you won’t honey.” She said.

“Cool. Give me half an hour. I will pick you up in Indian Bank bus stand.” I said.

“That’s cool.” She said.

“Okay sweety, Love you. See you soon. Bye.” I said.

“Love you too. Bye.” She said.

The guys were about to leave.

“Hey guys.” I said.

“Yes.” They said together.

“Today’s plan - I will drop Sudha in college and I will meet Anandhi at her place. Meanwhile you guys go home, get ready and come there too.” I said.

“Fine with me.” Raghav said.

“Okay sure. I have some bank work will finish that and join you guys.” Shiva said.

“Hey machi, whom are you texting all the time?” I asked Moulee.

“Uh. No one. Just checking old messages.” He said.

“Hmmm. Okay! So what are you going to do?” I asked Moulee.

“Uh. I have some work. I will join you guys later in the night.” He said.

“What work da?” Raghav asked.

“It’s a bit personal.” Moulee said.

“Fine.” Raghav said.

Moulee started from my house.

“He’s acting a bit strange today.” Shiva said.

“Hmmm... fine leave it.” I said.

“Okay da. See you soon.” Shiva said and left.

Raghav was standing with me. I took the phone and called Anandhi.

“Hello.” She said.

“Hi Andus, How are you?” I asked.

“At last you remember me is it?” She asked.

“I never forget to remember you. I was just a bit busy.” I said.

“Ok I am in a conference meeting due five minutes. I will call you later. Okay?” She asked.

“Not Okay. This is very important and I need your help.” I said.

“Missing this meeting would cost me my job.” She said.

“Coming with me would make you quite famous. Trust me Andus.”

“Okay fine. Can you pick me up at Kamaraj Memorial? Where do we meet?” She asked.

“I have asked the guys to come to your place. So I will ask Raghav to pick you up and we’ll meet at your place.” I said.

“Sounds fine.” She said.

“Okay take care see you soon. Bye.” I said.

“Yeah bye.” She said and ended the call.

“Machi pick her up and come da. I will drop Sudha in college and come. Okay with you?” I questioned Raghav.

“Yep okay.” He said and started.

I locked the house and picked up Sudha at Indian Bank bus stand. Sudha was looking gorgeous. She used to take bath twice a week and leave her hair loose on that day. She wore a simple pink chudidhar, silver twinkling bangles. I don’t know how my face lightens up when I see her. She smiled at me and waved her hand. Looking at her smile is more than enough to forget everything in this world.

It was around 10am. There was a ‘Baskin & Robbins Ice cream parlour’ where we had an ice cream. The joy of sharing one ice cream with your girl is one of the best feelings in the world, especially when you have money only to buy one ice-cream. We had a casual chat about her college and my activities, etc. I dropped her at college at 10:45am.

Then I went to Anandhi’s place. Anandhi is a news reporter in JAYA TV. She is my friend over the past seven years. I call her Andus and consider her as my sister. I went to her place at around 11:00am. It’s been over six months since we met each other though we are in the same area. Andus lives in T.Nagar and in the six months she had gone pale.

“Hey da.” She greeted me. Raghav was sitting beside her.

“Hi Andus. How are you?” I asked.

“I’m fine bro. It’s been so days since I heard the name Andus.” She said with a smile.

“Yeah seriously.” I said.

“Tell me why so much hurry?” She asked.

“Listen carefully Andus. I want you to believe what I say. Only if you trust it will be easy for all of us.” I said and narrated the entire story about SAHANA. She listened with absolute attention.

“So you guys suspect a murder?” Andus asked.

“Yes andus and we want you to interrogate the people Srikk mentioned.” Raghav said.

“Can you tell me their names again?” She asked.

“Ganga – She is SAHANA’s friend. Vijay is SAHANA’s fiancée. Krishna – He is SAHANA’s boyfriend. Then Sahana’s parents. These are the people till now.” Raghav said.

“We might get more names involved, but that depends on your ability to investigate sis.” I said with a wink.

“Haha.. Okay sure. But I need some help guys.” She said.

“Yes, what help?” Raghav asked.

“I need few people to come with me as in like news coverage.” She said.

“Hmmm... sounds fair enough. Guys or Girls?” Raghav asked.

“Definitely I need three girls and one Guy.” She said.

Shiva entered.

“Well you can take him for sure.” I said.

“Who me? For what? Where?” Shiva looked confused.

“I will explain everything.” Raghav said and took Shiva to the side.

I thought for a second as to whom we can arrange then it struck.

“Okay I will call Sudha, Sindhu and Lavanya. Fine?” I asked.

“Sure even I was thinking about that.” She said.

“Andus I want you to be very careful while interrogating. We might be dealing with dangerous criminals.” I said.

Shiva and Raghav came out. “Okay guys, I am ready for it.”

I asked Raghav and Shiva to call Sindhu and Lavanya respectively and I called Sudha. They were all in same college so it was easy for them to bunk and reach Andus’s place. They reached around 11:45am.

We all spoke for about an hour as to re-organize our plan properly.  The five of them (Shiva, Lavanya, Sindhu, Sudha and Anandhi) started. Then Raghav and I started to our place. When I was about to start the bike, I saw a pamphlet in the bike. I was about to throw it when I saw something that caught my eye. I folded and kept it inside my pocket. Raghav drove his bike and I drove mine. Just as we reached the end of the road I observed a beggar staring at Raghav. I wondered who he could be.

It was evening 7:00pm when Shiva and the girls came back. They were all looking tired. I had bought soft drinks for them. All of them refreshed themselves and then we started talking.

“So how did it go?” I asked with excitement.

“All the girls are cool in investigation.” Andus said.

I smiled proudly at Sudha.

“Okay, let me come to the point. First we went to SAHANA’s house in Velacherry. But her parents weren’t available. The security said that they had gone to the court. It seems they themselves suspected murder. So they had filed a case. So I sent Sudha and Sindhu to interact with them at the court itself. Then we met Ganga at Anna University.” Andus paused for breath.

“Ganga was innocent looking and she was initially afraid of the idea of interacting in front of the camera. We just asked her whether SAHANA had any personal problems or enemies. I have taped her answer, listen to it.” She said and switched on the tape.

The tape played and we listened, ”No, she didn’t have enemies. Everyone liked SAHANA. She did have some personal problems I believe. Personal problems in the sense, her mother died when she was young and her father married another woman. SAHANA’s stepmom did not show any affection on her and ill-treated her I guess. But before a week she died she said that she and her stepmom talked things over and now everything was fine. Though she had some problems, she always used to give that cute smile. She was my best friend and unfortunately she is no more.” The tape stopped.

“That was Ganga’s voice. Then we asked about Krishna and Vijay and this was her reply.” Andus played the tape again.

“I don’t know why Krishna and SAHANA broke up. Krishna was telling his friends that SAHANA cheated on him and accepted to marry Vijay. But I’m sure SAHANA would never do such a thing. I don’t how and why she agreed to marry Vijay. She was looking very dull right after her engagement.” The tape stopped.

“Then I asked her about the college tour. This was her reply.” She switched on the tape.

“I don’t know what happened to SAHANA. She was all set to come for the tour. We had all assembled at college and were waiting for her. She called and told that she started. But suddenly she called and told she’s not coming. When asked the reason she cut the call. Then on her cell phone was switched off.” The tape stopped.

“Finally I asked where she saw SAHANA the last time and I will play it now.” Andus said.

“I heard that SAHANA was in the canteen the evening she died, she was with Krishna and she was crying. But before I could see her it seems Krishna asked her to go home.” She stopped the tape.

“So this is what Ganga said.” Andus said.

“Then Andus, Lavanya and I tried to meet Krishna.” Shiva continued.

“But it seems he left to his native for studying for his semester exams. His native is Orissa. It seems he suffered from jaundice and he didn’t come for quite some time to college. He missed the college tour also. He returned to college only on the day all the students returned from the tour. Now that’s a coincidence.” Shiva said with an inquisitive doubt.

“Hmmm...” I said.

“Sindhu and I met SAHANA’s parents in the court. Vijay was also with them. It seems Vijay filed a case suspecting murder. The break wire in SAHANA’s vehicle had been cut it seems. They got to know it only after they examined the vehicle. The police had investigated and the court had decided that it was an accident. SAHANA’s dad looked depressed and defeated and Vijay consoled both of them.” Sudha said.

“Then I was not able to talk to her father. Her mother didn’t respond to my questions. Vijay took us aside and it was he who answered the questions.” She played the tape.

“I loved SAHANA very much and was looking forward to marry her. But before that this happened. I am sure it was a murder. Uncle (Mr.Sathish) has a lot of enemies in his business. This would have been done by one of them. But the court has declared it as an accident. I will fight for justice for my SAHANA.” The tape stopped.

“Then I asked as where SAHANA went without going to the college tour. His response was...” Sudha played the tape.

“She wanted to go badly to the tour. She also started to the college. I was going to drop her at college when she got a call from home that her father was not feeling well. So she had to go home. When she told her friends about her not coming, they tried to convince and kept calling her again and again. So she switched off her mobile.” Sudha paused the tape.

“Before asking anymore questions, he just went away.” Sindhu said.

“Okay guys, Thanks a lot.” I said.

“So what do we do next?” Lavanya asked.

“I just need some time to think. We will meet tomorrow. Now you can all leave. It’s getting late.” I said.

“Okay fine.” They said and they all started to leave.

Just as we were about to leave, Moulee entered and said “Hope I didn’t miss anything important.”

“Yes you...” Andus said.

“No you didn’t.” I interrupted and everyone looked at me in a confused manner.

“Moulee just do me a favour. Drop Anandhi at her place.” I said.

“Okey dokey” He said.

“Guys we’ll drop our girls soon.” Raghav said.

We all started. While Sudha and Sindhu lived in T.Nagar, Lavanya lived in Triplicane. Once Raghav and I started, Sudha asked me, “Why didn’t you tell what happened to Moulee?”

‘I don’t know why, but something tells me I shouldn’t.’ I thought.

“Well, I will tell him once I go home dear. Thanks for your help.” I said.

“Anything for you sweetheart.” She came near and told it in my ears. My heart was pounding hard. I dropped her at home and waited at a juice shop near by her place for Raghav.

Raghav came in two minutes. He parked his bike and came near me and said, “What happened to you da? I know you have something in mind. You have a plan but why not disclosing it?”

I remained silent for some time and then took out the pamphlet and showed it to him. He looked at it and exclaimed, “HDFC BANK PERSONAL LOAN! What about this?”

I turned the pamphlet and asked him to look at it. He was shocked.