An expression of remorse gripped the face of the culprit as its body, 5ft. 9 in. Long was being taken to the gallows for the murder of an elderly women for money amounting to not more than 300 crores. The culprit dreamt of a life of luxury, lived one as well, but greed got the better of the culprit which ultimately led to the murder.
It was a cold chilly morning at the Royal Palace of Udaipur. The outside of the palace resembled nothing more than the Buckingham Palace, the halls were decorated with beautiful paintings of Rajasthani culture, lifestyle and also of the forefathers of the royal family. The rising sun welcomed a brand new day. The sun shone bright on the spotless white marble of the palace. But there were spots within the palace and not outside. The year was drawing to a close and so was the life of Kusum Devi, the matriarch of the family and the sole owner of her huge estate worth 300 crores. Her palace was huge enough to accommodate many small villages of our always developing nation. She lived a blissfull life with her two sons, Jagat, the elder one and Jatin, the younger one. Both sons were married to Sumitra and Mitali respectively. Two of her ever so obedient and trustworthy associates, servant Ballu kaka and her P.A, Sinha, were also a part of her family. All seemed ideal. But as it is said, all that glitters is not gold. Same was the story of her family. The brothers never got along with each other and so didn’t their wives. Fights were common in the day.
As soon as Kusum Devi finished her bath and walked into her room, she welcomed a visitor with a smile, “Why are you wearing gloves?” she asked, but before she could get an answer, her face was smothered with a pillow by the visitor, who after this gruesome act, eloped thinking that she died. But she had breath left in her. As Ballu kaka entered with her breakfast, the tray fell from his hands as he saw his mistress gasping for breath. He ran towards her and asked her about the incident. All she could mumble was “J........J.....kkkkiilllld....J” and she lost her breath. Ballu kaka screamed for the entire family who took their own sweet time to arrive. But it was all over.
It was a dark sultry evening. The air was heavy with unspoken regrets and recriminations. The family stood around the body of the matriarch, waiting for the funeral rites to get over. Each of them was biding the time before the floodgates could be opened and war could be declared. Afterall, each one was curious to know, who had a bigger share in that huge fortune of 300 crores. Even before the pyre could cool down, the blame game began. One brother blamed the other. Her post – mortem report said, she died of Asphyxia – meaning death due to suffocation.
The family was in for her bigger shock when they were read out the will of the matriarch in which she had named her nominee as Sinha and not anyone of her sons. One among the four was shocked more than the remaining three. The entire property now belonged to Sinha which made the family more suspicious about him. This made them summon the police for investigating her death.
As the palace gates opened, a tall lanky man in a khaki uniform walked in. He walked in by moving his stick in the air. As he was very fond of carrots he always had one for company. The family was engaged in a war for property, but he was fighting a war of his own. He was tall enough that poor Jagat had to almost stare at the ceiling to look at his face. “Inspector Vijay Khanna” out came a voice from this towering personality. “I am incharge of this case.” He walked upto Jagat and asked him, “Why did you kill your mother?” Jagat went red in the face. “How dare you ask me such a question? If I were the culprit, why would I call you myself?” “Now – a – days the culprits themselves call the police to be on the safe side and so that they are not doubted upon. Everyone is a suspect in front of the law. Please co – operate.” The cop shot back. He asked Ballu kaka to lead him to Kusum Devi’s room.
Kusum Devi’s room was no less than a palace in its own right. It was bigger than the home of a normal middle class Mumbaikar. The red carpet spread all across, the portrait of her deceased husband on the wall painted by none other than the great M.F.Hussain himself, the chandeliers whose glass was imported specially from Belgium, the statue of the growling Tiger near her bed, gave out a typical royal essence. Finally, Vijay’s browsing and inquisitive cat eyes went to her ‘safe’ or her ‘Tijori’ in Indian terms. There were no signs of sabotage. “Might not be for stealing” he mumbled. He was pretty sure that the culprit was one among the four as he knew that a stranger could not be easily let in from the palace gates, let alone the queen’s bedroom. As Sinha was away during the time of the murder and Ballu kaka was the one who summoned the entire family, his suspicion grew stronger. He was further helped by Ballu kaka, who revealed that the Queen’s last words were “J........J.....kkkkiillll....J.” the entire family was summoned in the main hall.
Jagat, Jatin and Mitali were in the hall. Sumitra arrived late. “I like getting dressed. Whether it is an inquiry, a wedding or a funeral. Ask whatever you want quickly. I need to go for a party.” She wore a bead encrusted sari. The cat eyes went wild again. They saw a bead missing from her sari. But he chose to remain mum about it.
“ahh sure. We will leave you Mrs.....”
“Sumitra. Call me su.”
He first went up to the two J’s as it were the last words of the Queen. “I was out for my early morning stroll.” Jagat fumbled as he spoke. “Don’t blame me for all this. I didn’t kill her. I agree that I always fought with her as she preferred Jatin more than me but that dosent mean i killed her.” Jagat kept blabbering. Vijay’s eyes then went upto Jatin. “So mama’s boy, where were you then?
“I...I was having bath then.”
“Really?”
He nodded his head.
“But Ballu kaka says you were in the kitchen at that time preparing tea for your wife?”
“Ya. She likes the tea I make for her.”
“So why did you lie then?”
“I didn’t know what to say. Just leave me. I don’t know about all this. I was mom’s favourite child. So why will I kill her and that too at a time when she had promised me that she will name all her property on my name? I am sure Jagat killed her because he overheard us last night and we had a huge confrontation due to this.”
“Oh really! Ideal circumstances for a murder. Right? Mr. Jagat?”
“I already told you that I was away for my morning stroll and that I didn’t kill her. Why are you after me? Why don’t you say that Jatin has bribed you to implicate me in whatever circumstances?”
Vijay walks towards Jagat he gave him such a stare that could have easily wetted anybody’s pants. “Not all cops are thieves.” He said. He left the house thinking about the mystery of the ‘J’ word. He sat in his office wondering. Both the J’s were busy in their Jobs when the incident took place. Jagat was away for a stroll, Jatin was busy making tea for his wife, and so who could it be? Could it be a stranger? The ‘J’ word was driving him nuts. He had to visit the Queen’s room again. Only that could give her a clue.
He again began examining the room. As he bent down below her bed, he found a bead lying on the floor. He picked up that bead which could be from a sari. “That can’t be rani sahiba’s bead.” Ballu kaka said. “She never wore a sari that had beads encrusted on them.” He continued. “So who wears such saris?” Vijay asked munching on his carrot. “Both Bahuranis have plenty of such saris. If you will go checking out each one of them, years will pass. They have truckloads of such saris and who can say which sari had how many beads?”
His pendulum of suspicion shifted from the men to the ladies. He was reminded of the bead that was missing from the sari that Sumitra was wearing yesterday. He summoned both of them together. Sumitra was late as usual as she was getting dressed. To Vijay’s surprise, both of them turned up in bead encrusted saris. He showed them the bead. “I found this bead from your mother – in – law’s bedroom where she was killed. Familiar isn’t it Mrs. SU?”
“What makes you say that?” Sumitra shot back.
“I saw a missing bead from your sari yesterday and I am sure this is the missing one. Can I have that sari please?”
The sari was brought out. He put the bead to its place. It indeed was of Sumitra’s sari. “So why did you murder her Mrs. Sumitra, oh sorry Su?”
“I didn’t do anything as such. I am very careful of whatever I wear. I never wear a sari that I wear once. And I wore that sari yesterday so it’s impossible that I could have worn this the day the oldie was murdered.” Sumitra clarified with no regret of calling her Mother – in – law an oldie.
“So how did that bead fall over there?” probed Vijay.
“I don’t know from where this damn thing fell over there. I have enough work to do in life then murdering old people. Now can I please leave? I have a party to attend.”
“No you can’t because you are now a suspect for a murder. No one will leave this house till the case is solved.”
The bead however wasn’t enough to prove Sumitra guilty. And if she indeed was the culprit, why did Kusum Devi say ‘J’ before she died. She never wore this sari before so who laid her hands on the sari before it was worn by Sumitra? There were many questions in Vijay’s mind and he had to find an answer to all of them. He went to the laundry staff to enquire about the sari but even they didn’t have a clue. He also thought of Mitali as a suspect, but the ‘J’ word still haunted him. Who was that ‘J’? When he went to Mitali to ask of her whereabouts during the incident she said she was watering the plants in the garden as she liked doing that and she rushed upstairs as she heard Ballu kaka’s screams. But he grew suspicious as during the first inquiry she said that she was asleep. But he kept this to himself as he wanted more proof. The gloves which were used in the murder were still missing and he needed to find them.
He went upto the terrace and discovered the burnt remains of the gloves used by the culprit. But something that wasn’t burnt was the size of the glove which very faintly resembled the word ‘S’ meaning small. Small sized gloves were used in the murder. One hurdle was crossed. He got his fish. The culprit was indeed a woman. But ‘J’? That mystery was solved by Vijay when Ballu kaka blurted out a dark secret of the family that only the four suspects and Sinha along with him were aware of. Vijay returned home a happy man and that he will reveal the culprit tomorrow in front of the family.
Next morning while Mitali carried tea for him, he casually asked “heloo Jessica?” the tray of tea fell from her hands. The remaining three were shocked to bits.
“Who...who Jessica? I am Mitali.”
“Really? But people say you are Jessica.” Vijay said with an evil grin of victory. So what made you change your name?”
“I am Mitali” she screamed.
“How I wish screaming could prove a person innocent. Look I have a gift for you.” Vijay said in his merry tone. He took out a pair of small sized gloves which were identical to the ones used in the crime. They fitted Jessica perfectly. This was the ‘J’ that Kusum devi was reffering to and that almost drove Vijay mad. “So do you tell your story or let me do the honours?” Vijay asked sarcastically.
“I was a bar girl in Mumbai. Jatin was there for his studies. He used to visit me regularly. We fell in love. But his mom did not accept our relationship. So we secretly got married and came to Udaipur. I was reluctant to leave Mumbai but Jatin convinced me to do so. He said that he was his mother’s favourite child and that her entire property would be in his name after her. So I came with him. Her mom accepted our pair then but she was a mask in reality. Whenever Jatin was away from home, she and Jijji kept taunting me about my past and that they would brainwash Jatin to leave me and get married to someone else. I loved Jatin a lot and didn’t want this to happen. So I killed her.”
“And the bead?” asked Vijay.
“I knew that jijji never wore a sari she once wore. Thats where I faltered. I took the bead of her sari when it was about to be sent for dry-clean. I should have taken the one she wore that day. I wanted to implicate her because even she didn’t leave a stone unturned in making my life miserable in Jatin’s absence. I wanted to leave my past behind but they never let me do.” She broke down.
An expression of remorse gripped the face of Mitali as her 5ft. 9 in. Long body was being taken to the gallows for the murder of her Mother - in - law for money amounting to not more than 300 crores and priceless self respect. Mitali dreamt of a luxurious life, lived one as well, but greed and her inner soul demanding for self respect got the better of her which ultimately led to the murder.
