Deal Unto Death – Part VIII

There was no doubt in Ravi’s mind that, for all he knew he might be kicking up the dirt on a forgotten land and might end up hurting someone without any results, but he wanted to call her anyway, guided by his gut feel.

At around seven o clock in the evening , after dilly dallying for minutes together he dialed in the number of Keerthana that he had noted down from Pooja.

It started ringing on the other end.After some 2-3 rings he could hear a sweet female voice saying.”Hello”

He forgot to breathe for a moment. He was wondering whether to cut the call and forget about the whole thing. But he was surprised to hear himself saying.

“Hi….Uh……Iam………….Ravi…..Ravi from Bangalore.I would like to talk to you…….uh………is this a right time to talk or…….can I call you some other time??”

“Hello who is this?”

By this time Ravi was clear that he had taken the plunge and he better get his act in place than making a fool of himself.

“Iam Ravi.Iam a private detective.Uh..wanted to …I wanted to talk to you regarding the death of Mr.Vilas Achrekar”

There was no sound for sometime. He can barely hear some elderly lady asking Keerthana who was on the phone. Soon after she said “wrong number” and disconnected the call.

Ravi was pretty disappointed with himself.He kept on repeating to himself “I shouldn’t have called” in a feeble voice.After exactly three and a half minutes,his mobile phone started vibrating.It was a call from Keerthana.Ravi promptly picked up the phone.He realized that she cut the call as there were people around her and removed herself to a private place from where she could talk alone.

“Hello”

“Hello Mr………..Mr..whatever!! Do you think this is a joke??”

“No madam!! Iam serious…Iam……..Iam a detective”

“where did you get this number??”

“I got this from his old diary.I went to meet his family today afternoon.His sister Pooja found out for me”

There was silence for a few seconds.Then Keerthana asked as if the fact had just hit her.

“Vilas is dead?????”

“Yes…Iam sorry..I know this could be a really shocking news for you”

“My God! When……How……..What happened?? How can this happen???”

“It was tragic……He ..He was found hanging in his room in Bangalore”Ravi replied.

“Oh My God”

He could hear her voice breaking up and could start hearing the weeping sound from the other end,Then he heard her say”

“how could this happen??”she was still weeping.

“that’s what I want to find out.so I wanted to contact you and wanted to see whether you might have any information”

“me??Iam…”her speech was broken down by the outburst of emotions.After a moment of self control she started to talk“Me and Vilas met in college. We studied in the same group. At first we were friends but all our friends used to tease us saying that we were a perfect match. After some 2 years our friendship bloomed into love. He was the one who proposed to me. Initially I didn’t agree even though I was madly in love with him . We were not of the same caste and I knew our parents wouldn’t agree to our love. But he convinced me saying that we can get them to agree. The months after that were the happiest of my life”She paused a little as she struggled to control the surge of emotions playing on her.

“We were seen as the best couple in our college and amidst all of our friends. We went around together to all movies restaurants and every other hangout in Mumbai.We were spotted by his neighbor during one such outing. That’s when all hell broke loose.

“His parents were very very adamant over our issue, a lot more than Vilas had anticipated. After a long struggle I knew this wasn’t going to work out.So……”

He could hear that she was taking a deep breath as she said”We broke up some 6 months back. Just before he left for Bangalore.

“I am engaged with some other guy now and my marriage is fixed next month.”

Ravi had never expected this and the message sure was a rude shock for hin.This news did have a fair influence in Ravi’s thought process. He was sure that he wouldn’t want to disturb her as she was trying to forget her past and trying to get on with her life. Also he wasn’t sure whether to congratulate her for the engagement or not. He ended up muttering.

“Oh……Iam……..sorry…and ….”

He realized he was making a mess of things.

“Initially I was wondering whether I can have a meeting with you but I didn’t know you were…uh…..engaged and all”

“I cant this believe this happened.why did he have to hang himself”

“That’s wht we are trying to find out…listen….when was the last time he contacted you??”

“uh…..Well it must be around 3 months back.He tried to contact me and I cut the call on my mobile as soon as I saw his number”

“After that you haven’t heard anything from him”

“Nopes!!! I thought he took the point and decided to give up”

Ravi had thousands of questions in his mind. He was dying to know the circumstances and happenings that led to the breakup. But he didn’t want to talk about it over the phone also he was a little hesitant over having to disturb her. He was in a dilemma.

“Is there anyway I can meet you to discuss about this…I mean….I understand that you are engaged and all…..”

“what???.........see!! nobody from my family knows that I was in love with Vilas,not even my parents.what if any of them see me with you?? What if someone of the groom’s family see me with you?? How will I be able to explain the meeting??”

“Ya ya …I understand …Just that I thought it would be clearer if we had a meeting…thought it would help me in the case…to understand things better”

“see…I really want to help you………even I want to know why he hanged himself …………but…..wait a min….we can do this way”

It looked like she was seriously engrossed in some thinking for sometime.

“We can meet at……..ummmmm”she was thinking for a while and then she mentioned the name of a famous coffee shop in Ullhasnagar.Ravi noted down the place and address.

“We can meet tomorrow sometime at the afternoon,that’s when the crowd will be the least.”

“Oh…Ok!! Thanks…”

“Listen…I got to go now..See you tomm”she disconnected the line.

He was looking at the mobile for a while and then he wondered how he would recognize a woman whom he had never seen in his life.

Then his mind was thinking about the million questions that rose regarding the break up.He was wondering how can two people who were so much in love,break up so easily.He was thinking all about it even when he went out to have his dinner.In the end he decided that he would find the answers during the meet that he was to have with Keerthana the next day.He went to sleep that night with more questions than answers.

……..to be continued.