"Who do you think he was talking about?" Maine puchha
"I dont know really, bada ghabraya hua sa tha vo, jaise kahin bhoot dekh liya ho"
"Phir?"
"I tried to calm him down, asked him what happened but he wouldnt listen. Aur vo ghar ke andar ki taraf chala gaya"
"Aur aap?"
"I thought i will ask the guard at the gate if he had seen anything but i couldnt find him, there was no one at the gate. So i went looking for the guard and found him a few steps away, he went over to take a leak. I asked him if he saw something or someone but he hadnt"
"And all this while Ravi was still inside?"
"Yeah. Then i thought i will walk a few steps and see what happened. Maybe he saw an accident or something but i found nothing at all"
"And then?"
"Then i came back to the house. I went to Ravi's room to talk to him but he wasnt there so i went to my room. After a while i Came downstairs for dinner but Ravi wasnt there on the table and he hasnt been ever since"
"What time did he leave the house?"
"No one knows"
"The guard?"
"Says he didnt see Ravi sneaking out. He was a very lousy guard, we fired him after a few days"
"You ever told this to anyone?"
"Yeah the cops knew about it all"
"Sunanda case ke baare mein toh aapko pata hi hoga?"
"Kaun Sunanda?"
"Aap abhi thodi der pehle khud hi bol rahe the ke aise sawal nahi puchhne chahiye jinka jawab pata ho" Maine muskurate hue kaha, "Mujhe poora yakeen hai ke aap jaante hain kaun Sunanda"
Vo kuchh pal tak khamoshi se meri taraf dekhta raha.
"All rght, i have heard that name. What about her?" Kuchh der baad usne type kiya.
"Ek baar phir vahi baat Rana Sahab. Aap jaante hain ke mera ishara kis taraf hai, kyun aise sawal puchhne jisse baat sirf kuchh palon ke liye tale"
"That actually depends on how much you know" Thodi der pehle tak jo attitude mujhe vo dikha raha tha vo ab khatam ho chuka tha aur ab vo poori tarah mere saath co-operate karte hue mere har sawal ka jawab de raha tha.
"All right, then let me ask direct questions. Sunanda aapke bhai ke lapata hone se ek hafta pehle gayab hui thi. Mujhe bataya gaya hai ke theek us din jab aapka bhai gayab hua ...."
"Liyaqat ne tumhein bataya ke usne subah Sunanda ko dekha tha aur phir Ravi ko uske pichhe jaate dekha" Usne meri baat poori kar di.
"So you knew"
"As i said, depends on how much you know"
"Why dont we both tell each other what we know and bring us both on the same page?"
"Listen, if you are trying to imply that Ravi kidnapped ....."
"I didnt say that" Maine baat beech mein hi kaat di.
"Oh come on dont bullshit me, i knew thats where you were going with this. Its not possible ke Ravi use kidnap karke laya aur ek hafte tak yahan chhupaye raha. Aisa nahi ho sakta"
"Kyun nahi?"
"Kyunki ek ladki ko hafte bhar tak is ghar mein baandh kar rakh pana mumkin nahi hai, poora parivaar rehta tha tab yahan hamara"
"Vo guest house?" Maine us guest house ki taraf ishara kiya jahan Ravi raha karta tha.
"Still not possible, he couldnt have gotten a girl in there against her wish without anyone noticing it. There is a guard at the gate, he couldnt have sneaked past him"
"You said the guard was lousy"
"Not all of them, and even if he did manage to get the girl in here its impossible to keep a person hidden for a week without getting noticed. There was an army of servants here back then. That guest house was cleaned everyday and servants went in there to serve Ravi food. If there was a girl tied up in there, someone would have seen her"
"Hmmmmm" Uski baat mein dam tha, "What is your theory around this Mr. Rana"
"Blackmail i think"
"Blackmail?"
"Yep, she was a whore, a prostitute and Ravi was a young man. He must have gone with her sometime and she somehow must have found a way to blackmail him"
"That still doesnt explain the other facts"
"Yes it does, if you look closely at it. She was blackmailing Ravi, son of the most powerful man in this region. He must have threatened her back so she disappeared herself, to keep her safe. Then she met Ravi that morning but ho sakta hai baazi ulti pad gayi, use khud hi vahan se bhagna pada. Shaam ko vo Ravi se milne phir aayi hogi blackmail ke liye par is baar bhi baazi ulti padi"
"Aapke kehne ka matlab ke Ravi ne Sundanda ko?"
"Aur isliye hi vo yun ghabraya hua vaapis aaya tha" Raj ne jawab diya.
"You are saying you think your brother murdered a girl?"
"No i am saying that my brother murdered a blackmailer. If you ask me, i would call it self defense. She was a prostitute and Ravi i am sure must have paid her well. She had no right to go sneaking into people's personnal lives and blackmail them. As they say, you push someone too far and they will retaliate. Thats what happened. Ravi's life was at stake and he took it back"
"Hmmmm" Main gaur se uski baat padh raha tha.
"Aur shayad yahi vajah thi ke Ravi ghabra kar Papa se batware ki baat kar raha tha. Vo ek shareef aadmi tha aur jaanta tha ke agar aisi koi bhi baat pheli toh papa ki kitni badnami hogi, khandaaan ki kitni badnami hogi. Isliye vo alag hona chah raha tha ke agar kuchh badnami aaye bhi toh uspar aaye"
"Usne aapse is baare mein kabhi kuchh discuss nahi kiya tha?"
"Nahi, afsos isi baat ka hai. Ham dono kaafi kareeb the par usne kabhi bataya hi nahi. Mujhe kuchh din se lag toh raha tha ke kuchh gadbad hai par kabhi usne kuchh kaha nahi"
"Sunanda ke baare mein aap pehle se jaante the?"
"Nahi, Liyaqat ke munh se hi pehli baar suna tha. Tab mujhe us shaam ka scene yaad aaya. Ravi ek sidha sa ladka tha, bhale hi usne gusse mein kisi ki jaan le li ho, bhale hi vo ek blackmailer ko maarke aaya ho par tha toh ek shareef aadmi hi na. Uski reaction vaisi hi thi jaisi kisi bhi normal insaan ki hoti hai, murder ke baad ghabrahat"
"Thats true"
"And i am sure you know about the 15 crores, right?" Raj ne puchha.
"Yes i do"
"Why do you think he was puttting that money aside? Because he was getting blackmailed by that prostitute. That money was never recovered"
"But that still doesnt explain your brother's disappearance. How do you put that in your theory"
"Ek yahi point hai jahan par aakar meri soch ruk jaati hai. Ravi kyun gayab hua, iske baad kya hua ye aaj tak kabhi pukhta taur par apne dimag mein decide nahi kar paya main. Bas ek hi theory samajh aati hai"
"And what is that?"
"Ab vo ek prostitute thi toh mawali type ke logon mein toh uthna bethna raha hi hoga uska. Ek mamuli prostitute 15 crore akele nahi daba sakti, itna bada game uske akeli ke bas ka tha hi nahi. We are a very powerful family here aur itne bade pariwaar ko blackmail karne ki sochna ek mamuli gaon mein dhandha karne wali ladki nahi soch sakti"
"So you think she had an accomplice"
"Or maybe an entire gang behind he whole thing"
"And they were all blackmailing Ravi. Us shaam Ravi killed Sunanda aur uske baad Sunanda ke saathiyon ne Ravi ko maar diya"
"Exactly"
"Interesting" Main sirf itna hi keh paya. Uski theory mein bahut dam tha aur is baat ne meri ab tak ki poori progress ko doubt mein daal diya tha.
"And i dont suppose the cops or anyone else knew what you just told me or what Liyaqat told me earlier?" Maine kaha.
"About Sunanda?"
"Yes"
"No of course not" Usne fauran jawab diya, "To reference a prostitute's name in our family's affairs? Its a disgrace, total disgrace. We would have lost our respect and place here if people found out that my brother was being blackmailed by a prostitute or that he was going to a prostitute. People would have laughed at us"
"But you do realise that it may as well have saved your brother's life if you have told the cops all this in time"
"Yes it may have but the cost was tooo high. Nothing is over honor, not even my brother's life"
Ham dono kuchh der tak khamosh bethe rahe aur phir main chair se utha.
"Well Mr. Rana, it was nice meeting you. I am starving now and think i should head back to the guest house for some breakfast"
"Wait"
"Ji kahiye"
"Listen, i know we got off on wrong foot but i need you to know that i have no hard feelings for you. The only reason i was so apprehensive in involving you was because of privacy reasons. But then i though that this matter was so public and so many people have looked into this that it wouldnt harm to let another one try. I didnt mean to offend you in any way and please forgive me if i did"
"Dont worry Mr. Rana, feeling is mutual. No offense taken"
Main palat kar jaane hi laga tha ke phir ruk gaya.
"Ek baat aur Mr. Rana" Main uske saamne aakar bola taake vo mere lips read kar sake, " You just told me that no one ever knew about what you and Liyaqat told me"
"Correct"
"There were people hired before me but no one could reach a conclusion"
"Correct, and there is a reason to that"
"What was that reason?"
"We didnt want anyone to know. Father and i knew the entire story but whoever was hired was because of my mother. But we alwas ensured that whoever came, just killed some time around here and went back telling that they couldnt find anything"
"Correct"
"For 20 years?"
"Correct. In a way, you are the first person who we have actually hired to look into the disappearance of my brother"
"So all those people were fake?"
"They were not fake, they were real detectives but they were well instructed that they are not suppose to do anything. They just came here for a vacation that we paid them for"
"And all this just to show your mother that you tried"
"Correct. We didnt want anyone to know what happened between my brother and that prostitute"
"Because of honor?"
"Correct"
"Then why tell me? why the sudden change of heart?"
Vo kuchh der tak chup raha auur phir kuchh soch kar type karne laga.
"Well i guess there is no harm in telling you this. My mother has a neurological illness that can not be cured. There is a vein in her brain that is about to burst open"
"I am sorry to hear that"
"Thanks. She has already been through one surgery and now doctors say that its too much stress on her body and brain to have her
undergo another procedure. Plus the success rate is very low. She may just die on the table itself"
"How long does she have"
"Actually thats where our hopes are. She may just keep on living for another 10 years or may just die today itself. No one can say for certain"
"And now i am here because you want to fulfill your dying mother's wish"
"Correct. Too long we have kept a curtain on what happened to my brother but i guess its time to raise that curtain. If his name is to be taken with a prostitute, then so be it"
"Ek baat samajh nahi aati" Maine sochte hue kaha, "To be with a prostitute or be a womaniser, its not really much of a disgrace, at least not as big as you are making it. Rich kids do that and everyone knows it"
Meri baat sunkar vo khamoshi se meri taraf dekhta raha.
"There is something else you havent told me yet, right?" Main phir se uske saamne beth gaya.
"Dont get me wrong, i really wanted to but just couldnt say it"
"Please tell me Mr. Rana, what is it?"
"My brother was a gay"
