Madhu woke up to find herself in an unfamiliar room. Her head ached and she was wearing the same dress from the party. Massaging her face she came on her feet to see the granite floors and noticed the ceilings that were plastered. She immediately recognized it as Ashok's house. She grabbed for her phone to check if there was any message or call and realized it was out of service, and with low battery.
Damn! What happened last night?
She recalled some parts of her trying to run, Pran and Ashok coming out of nowhere but nothing was of consequence. First, she went out of her room to check if Ashok was anywhere around, but he wasn't. Then she walked in the bathroom, took a hot shower and wore the clothes he had left for her.
As she was drying her head with the towel, rubbing it hard, she walked outside, hearing footsteps. Ashok was buttoning his shirt, going through his hair in hurry when he looked up at her.
She was still rubbing her hair and she could see how a smile just lit up his entire face.
"How are you now?"
"What had happened?" she narrowed her gaze now, recalling the revolver that he had. "You had a gun right?"
"I was scaring him off."
"Who?"
"The guy who was chasing you."
Pran!
"No bullets."
"Why do you have a gun in the first place?" She did find it worrying.
"Protection. I have a license if you want to see." His nose flared slightly.
"No, thank you," she said. "How did you find me?"
"You called me."
Did I?
She didn't recall that part of the night but then she had done a lot of crazy things. She only hoped he wasn't following her around like a creep and then lying to her.
"What did I say?"
"That you need my company."
"That doesn't sound like me."
"That's just the little you said. There were other things too." He had a mischievous look about him now as he walked close to her. "That you wanted to do things to me."
"Uh," her cheeks grew warm and she was pretty sure she had gone red. She hid it with her palms across her cheeks, rubbing them off. "Well, I was just drunk. I had Vodka and whiskey; it wasn't the best combination on an empty stomach."
"It does bring a part of you out, that you are trying to hide from me," he held her shoulders and squeezed it.
A current zapped down her spine and her legs tingled with excitement.
"I should be going." Or more like I'm dying of embarrassment!
"Sure."
Madhu grabbed for her dirty clothes and grabbed the white kurta-pajama that he had given her. He told her that Baba was out in the back, cleaning utensils and he drove her to Delhi. As soon as she left the jungle, messages began to come from Vijaya.
CALL!
CALL! URGENT!
Madhu thought of calling but Ashok was with her and he was chatting about stuff. He was different than the first time she met him. He was gloomy and distant then. But now it was like everything had a beginning and end.
Ashok finally dropped her outside the colony, which was when Madhu decided to hug him but felt it was embarrassing. She just awkwardly patted on his chest and then moved out of the car, only to realize what she had done was absolutely ridiculous.
"I left your car at the parking of your colony. You wouldn't have trouble finding it." He gave her the car key.
"Oh that's sweet of you." She almost felt she was becoming a liability in his life.
The car left and she was stranded there in her own problems. She recalled again what had happened and she had remembered that it dealt with Pran chasing her around and she was hiding from him.
God, he's a monster. I hope he dies.
She went for the first floor where her apartment was and saw the door was unlocked. Confused by this, she peered in only to find Vijaya and Kishore, standing together, clutching each other. And in front of them were two police officers. Vijaya, with eyes red as blood, walked up to Madhu and then embraced her tightly.
"What happened?" Madhu's lips were growing pale now.
"I'm sorry." She wept again. "Pran's house was lit on fire. He died, Madhu. He died."
Madhu could feel the thump of her heartbeat. It was audible to the point she felt she was being choked, for she didn't understand that her curse towards Pran would actually come out true.
*
"Arson, that's what we think. It was premeditated murder as the victim was found tied to his bed. In short, murder." The inspector was quite fit and athletic for his age, as he walked from one side to another, while the sub-inspector was quietly standing on one side. "When did you three last meet Mr. Devdutt?"
"He was at the party," Vijaya said through tears.
"And I was with her," Kishore remarked. "All the time."
"And you, ma'am?"
"I was at the party too," Madhu meekly replied.
"But you left early according to your friends?"
They must have seen her.
"And also with Mr. Devdutt."
Madhu tried to massage her throat. "Uh, yeah, I uh I did."
"What happened?"
"I was not feeling well so he offered to take me home."
"Then what happened?" the inspector was now on his notepad scribbling, with three pairs of keen eyes trained on her.
"He tried to attack me."
"Attack you?" the inspector's brows rose.
Kishore and Vijaya retorted in anguish but the inspector silenced them.
"How did he attack you?" he continued.
"He was trying to kiss me and I pushed him away."
"Where did all of this happen?"
"In the underground parking lot."
"Any alibi?"
Damn! They think of me as a murderer now. She should have just went with the lie and said he dropped me and that was it. But she was afraid.
"There was a guard but he was dozing I guess."
"What happened exactly?"
Madhu told the inspector word by word leaving out the part when Ashok Dogra came, as it was not necessary in the story.
"I see, and you don't have anyone to vouch for what you were doing after you left?"
"No."
"Where were you last night?"
"I slept in my car."
"I see. And where's your car right now?"
"Enough, inspector!" Vijaya shouted in between, as Kishore calmed him down. "You are scaring my friend here. I know Madhu inside and out and I'm sure she hasn't done anything. If you want, you can check her records. She has no crimes to her name."
"But she has a motive," he said, "harassment."
"Then you need to contact the hundreds of girls he has harassed before you come to Madhu. He had always been an asshole when it came to troubling girls. He got a kick out of it. Must be some revenge motive."
"Eh?" the inspector waved her down. "Where's your car Ms. Mukherjee?"
"It's in the parking," Madhu replied.
"So you were sleeping here all this time?"
"Yes."
"You were so close to your home and yet you didn't come in?"
"Well, as I told you, I was unwell and I found it difficult to do anything, so I dozed off there and I woke up now, saw my friend Vijaya's text and instantly ran up to meet her, only to find this scene." She was gaining confidence now.
"Can I check your car please?" the inspector brought his hand forward.
With her heart in her throat, she nodded.
*
Madhu walked them to her Santro, which she opened for them. The inspector and the sub-inspector began to check the interior of the vehicle, looking over the seats, smelling them constantly.
"You were drinking, ma'am?" the inspector asked.
"No," she lied but they didn't have proof so she was safe. Drinking and driving could be more fatal than murder in this country. And yet she didn't drive the car, it was Ashok.
"I guess that's about all right," he said. "What was the CNG indicator showing yesterday when you reached the party? Was it full or half?"
"Half, two points."
"Hmmm."
"And the banquet hall is around half an hour away, right?"
"Yes."
"And you might say Mr. Devdutt's flat would be two hours from your place as he lived in Greater Noida?"
"I don't know his place."
"Hmmm, thank you," the inspector nodded, closing his pad. "We just needed to confirm this."
"What was that about?" Vijaya mumbled.
Madhu knew the answer. "He was determining the time and the usage of CNG from the murder." She walked to the CNG bar to see it was on one point. "I couldn't have possibly gone to Pran's house as his flat is quite far. As my CNG bar was at one point, he was making sure I travelled only half an hour to the banquet and then half an hour back here."
"I knew you didn't do it. That man was crazy." And damn smart as well. "Aw baby," Vijaya began hugging Madhu, who just frowned as she was disconnected from all the compassion right now. "Why didn't you come at home? I'm sorry if I wasn't able to pick your call up. You must have been damn drunk. Is it true what Pran did to you?"
"I need to confess something," Madhu pulled back as she saw Vijaya and Kishore, both in the eyes. "And it's about a man."