Author Name: Seema Gopalan
Author Intro: Well about me, my
traits can be described in 3 words - possesive, steady and focussed. Like a
true Taurean I simply want things to be get done which may be sometimes viewed
as stubbornness. The good life in all it's guises appeals to me. Down to earth
with a no-nonsense approach, saying what I mean with a very strong sense of
values.I blog at My Endeavours
Story:
27th Jan 2013: 6:30 am
Dawn broke early in the summer months. People
woke up to the sound of chirping birds or screeching alarm clocks. Some took
directly to their household chores whereas wandered outside to enjoy the
glorious morning sunshine. One such walker was walking his dog out. He had to
go through the narrow lane leading out from his block of flats to reach the
main road. Suddenly his dog stopped and started barking loudly. He wondered
what caused this distraction and that his when his eyes fell on the body
dangling from the mesh of cables and wires above the ground. The body had
gone limp, the eyes though they appeared flat, both in shape and color were
open giving out a kind of surprised look. He looked up towards the balcony from
where most likely this person jumped or slipped to his end.
He knew the next steps and immediately called
the nearby police station. He was asked a few questions by the police officer
in charge and then he was asked to wait till they get there and not touch
anything. Soon he heard a siren which he identified as a police jeep siren
followed by an ambulance. He was surrounded by a paramedics team, a forensics
team, someone nearby gave a shout to cordon the area. Very soon Barricades were
set-up to keep out pedestrians and curious on lookers.
“He was with the CBI, Sir” whispered a
constable to the police in charge.
“Call the CBI, ask them to send someone here
to ID the body”, scream the police in charge back to the to constable. Very
soon another jeep arrived and from it stepped out an individual somewhere in
his late 20’s. He looked like he had a hangover. He quickly walked over to the
police in charge and quickly introduced himself as Rahul
“Hi, Rahul, Come with me. Can you identify the
body for us please” asked the police-in charge walking towards the body.
As they approached the area color drained out
of Rahul’s face.
‘It is ..It is..’ he choked on his words”
Flashback……..2 Days Back
25th Jan 2013: 8:00 am onwards
“The pink diamond has been stolen” exclaimed
Rahul clutching the day’s newspaper in his hands as he accompanied his friend
Neal to get their morning coffee.
“I’ll be damned, how did that happen? I was
told the museum had the most advanced security designed by some international
company” replied Neal.
“Yes, with the Grand Pink Diamond Opening in
about a week and the number of people it attracted the museum owners did tie-up
with some international collaboration, it was kept in a special vault with a 24
hour surveillance. The security entry to the vault itself is a thumb
finger-print by the manager Varun, who is the also museum owner’s son. I wonder
how it was done’ said Rahul as they both strode towards the office of the CBI
Inspector Danny Remo their boss.
Danny Remo, a 58 year old CBI Inspector and
IPS civil servant renowned for leading the investigations into illegal mining
scam and cases involving corrupt politicians- ministers.
Neal and Rahul were CBI IT Engineers who had
been recruited a year back and been assigned to Danny’s team. They both were
good technically but Neal was definitely the wiz. They both had great deduction
and logical skills which helped them on the field and together along with Danny
they had solved a couple of cases and were quite a team to be reckoned with at
the bureau.
As soon as they entered Danny’s office Rahul
bursted out, “Did you hear…..,”
“The pink diamond has been stolen” completed
both Danny and Neal together and all three of them shared a laugh.
“Yes, I did “replied Danny coolly “and as a
matter of fact, we three are going right now to the museum to get more exact
details.”
The three of them raced to the elevator to get
to the ground floor, got into their jeeps and drove off to the museum. They
were led by the security guard to the manager’s cabin. Sitting on the chair was
a somber looking elderly man and pacing the floor was a younger version of him
which they correctly deduced to be his son Varun Mittal. Danny asked
Varun to walk them over yesterday’s events.
Varun mentioned that yesterday, just like any
other day, he opened the museum at 9:00 am and as per routine at
around 10:30 am he went into the
vault to check on the pink diamond. As the grand opening was nearing
everyone were busy with the arrangements. He left at 6:00
pm for home and then today morning when he came in to check on the
diamond, it was gone.
“What about surveillance tapes?”asked Neal
“They have been freezed from 10:30 pm last night to today morning” replied the son.
“And what time does security change” inquired
Neal”
“10:30 pm” was the reply
“Hmm, interesting muttered Neal, so someone
freezed the cameras right at the time the security changed shifts. That blip
that would appear when the freeze film came over would be avoided in the
confusion.”
“What about the entry to the vault”, demanded
Danny?
“It has to have my finger-print scan” replied
Varun.
“Can you show us the vault” inquired Danny and
the three of them followed Varun along the corridor to the vault which was set
up very further down the museum. A cleaning lady with her supply cart was
cleaning the area when Rahul impulsively went ahead and took the brush out of
her hand . She shrieked while the others just stared.
He walked ahead to the small security pane
glass which required the fingerprint scan and dusted around it.
“Hmmm, as I thought” muttered Rahul under his
breath.
Danny immediately took the brush from Rahul
and gave it back to the cleaning lady with his apologies. He told Varun
that they would send out a team here for finger-prints and other details. He
also gave him his card asking him to call if he re-collected anything.
Once they were back at the bureau Danny giving
an exasperated look at Rahul, “What was that all about, you almost gave the
cleaning lady a heart-attack”
Without even acknowledging Danny words Rahul
blurted out”Did you see the slight glue on the glass panel? Someone got Varun’s
fingerprints, made a clean set and used it to get entry to the vault. But
that was not enough; they also had to get the museum’s keys which is with him
all the time. We need to know if he had misplaced it any time recently.”
Rahul immediately grabbed Danny’s cell-phone
and placed a call to Varun.
“Hey Varun, this is Rahul. A quick question to
you , Did you misplace the museum entry keys anytime recently”
Varun was hesitant before answering “Not
really” he replied
Rahul was irritated “Think man!”
Before he could mutter out some other
expletives Danny took the phone. “Varun, he said, this is really important for
the case. If there is anything embarrassing we will keep it to ourselves but we
need to know the answer.”
Again hesitating Varun replied” Well a few
days back, a journalist had come to do a write-up on the pink diamond. I took
her for the entire tour of the museum and explained to her all the security
arrangements that were made. One thing led to other and I ended up taking her
home at night. We drank a lot at and in the morning when I woke-up she was
gone. The museum keys which are usually in my coat pocket were left on the
table. I did not think of it much until you asked today.”
“What did you say her name was?” asked Danny.
“Nandini Sharma from the Herald” pat came the
reply.
I am willing to bet that is a fake name
muttered Rahul in the background.
David shushed him and continued the
conversation” Did she provide any id?”
“No”, replied Varun sheepishly, I took her for
face-value”
No doubt a very pretty face muttered Rahul
again.
“Wait a minute”, said Neal. They would
definitely have her on the security tapes the day she came to take the museum
tour. If Varun can send us her picture I can use my PT to check her
credentials”
“You’re what!” asked Rahul
“PT –Person tracking Software” replied Neal
“OH –la la , here talks the IT guru” said
Rahul.
Danny gave specific instructions to Varun over
the phone to send the picture to their CBI office immediately.
By lunch time Varun had send the picture across.
Neal immediately got on to his PT surrounded by both Danny and Rahul and
searched the database for a match. After 2 minutes his computer beeped loudly
in 2 successions meaning he had got a hit
Name: Ragini Sharma
Occupation: Bar Dance, Heena Bar
“Here is our so called journalist, Lets go and
talk to her at once” said Rahul. Neal immediately got up to follow
“Wait”, said Danny. Let’s think this through.
Definitely she had someone give her money to get the keys and the fingerprints
from Varun’s glass of drink. I don’t think she is the one to actually take the
diamond. It has to be a much bigger fish. It is highly unlikely she even knows
who it was. She must have just met the go-between person.
“So, what do we do”, quizzed Neal
“The holder of the pink diamond would
definitely be looking out for a buyer, most likely someone from the
international market. If I can convince Ragini that I am a liaison with an
international party willing to throw money for rare Indian jewels, maybe I will
be introduced to the bigger fish.”
“A sting operation” gleed Rahul. “Quite some
time since we pulled that one, but it’s worth a try”
“So, here’s the plan, I will be the liaison
with the big connections to the international parties. Neal, you have to create
an alias portfolio for me, make me look a little sleazy and run wild with your
technology. The alias should stand good if they do a background check. We three
go to the bar and as Ragini is serving us we will have talks of exchanging
precious jewels in crores of money. I will even drop a hint or two about how I
wish I got the pink diamond. After some time we will act as if there has been a
fall out and you two walk off shouting abuses at me. I will then convince
Ragini that my deal did not work out and I need something before I get back to
my bosses in 2 days. Hopefully she will take the bait and we will be in”
“Yeah, all that’s fine, but how do you know it
is Ragini who will serve us at the bar. There are a lot of girls at such bars.”
Said Rahul thoughtfully
“Aha, my dear Watson” I have a Plan for
that” winked Danny
“OK, Sherlock” replied Rahul
25th Jan 8:30
pm
Rahul and Neal entered Heena bar together
chatting away non-stop . To an outsider they looked like 2 friends lost in
their world but their eyes kept searching for Ragini. Finally Neal spotted her
serving at a table, “Wow man! What a looker, no wonder poor Varun got totally
screwed” he chuckled
“Eh eh,” replied Rahul
“You would rather much like the bouncer by her
side.” said Neal knowing Rahul’s preferences.“So, what will you do if the
Bureau and Danny came to know that you are a .well you know .you know not a
ladies man!”
“I don’t think it will come to that”. There
are a very few people who know and I will not worry thinking about things that
will never happen “said Rahul matter of fact as he closed the topic.
They both took a seat and when they saw any
other bar girl approaching the table they both ducked to the rest-rooms. After
half-hour Danny walked in.
“Are, you ready boys. Let’s start. “
Rahul immediately walked over to Ragini who
had just finished clearing up a table and in a very angry tone said “Me and my
friends have been here for half-hour and no one has come to take our orders
yet”
“Sorry sir”, she replied, “I’ll send someone
there right now.”
“No” replied Rahul still in an angered tone,
“You are coming with me right now to take our orders or else we are walking
out” . He hoped his trick worked and she did not call out the manager to kick
his butt.
But looking at him and knowing how irritated a
customer gets if he has to wait for half-hour Ragini immediately walked over to
their table and took their order of drinks. As she was leaving Danny placed a
Rs100 note in her hand and spoke very softly.
“Dear, I would like it very much if you are
the only one who attends to us today as we have very important matters to be
discussed.”
The note and the voice did the trick, she felt
for his ruse immediately.
She served them diligently the entire time
they were there, getting their order of drinks and food. She couldn’t help
but overhear the hushed conversations pertaining about jewels, money, and some
offshore bank account in Caymans. When she was serving the third round of
drinks she heard Danny mention” “My party is willing to pay 10 crore for the
pink diamond”.
She knew her boy-friend Joel had asked her to
get an imprint of the museums keys and the glass with Varun’s fingerprints and
she knew that it had something to do with the pink diamond. She also knew that
Joel’s boss was looking for a buyer for a big trade and Joel would get 10% of
the entire deal if it went through smoothly, but how was she to get Joel’s boss
to meet with Danny.
Her thoughts were interrupted by high voices
as she saw Rahul and Neal walking away hurling abuses at Danny.
As she approached Danny’s table wondering how
to state her case when Danny looked up at her and said, “Dear, I am leaving
this place in 2 days empty handed, not sure how my bosses will react. I don’t
even know why I am telling you all this but you have been a good server. If
ever you want to get out of this place, give me a call.” He handed her his
card, finished off his drink and walked away.
Outside Rahul and Neal waited in their car,
the three huddled together staking the bar. Soon Ragini walked out and drove
away, they followed here to an apartment. She met someone outside and handed
over the card which they recognized as Danny’s. Soon she sped off in her
car. The three off them also drove back to their homes. They knew their bait
had worked. Now all they could do was wait.
26th Jan 2012 8:00 am
The next day all three of them met early in
Danny’s office. They had routed his fake cell number on the card to his cell
phone.
At 9:00 am they got a call on
the fake number.
“Hello, who’s this?”, asked Danny
“Doesn’t’ matter”, replied a gruff voice ,
probably someone using a voice scrambler at the other end.
“Is it true that you are looking to buy the
pink diamond”
“Maybe” replied Danny at the same time giving
a thumbs-up to Rahul and Neal who were patiently sitting on the edges of the
chair.
“Well is it or is it not?, I do not have
much time to waste. If you are then meet me tonight 9 pm at the Taj penthouse
suite and be ready to pay 10 crore“
“How do I know who I am dealing with” replied
Danny
“Just meet me there” said the voice and the
phone cut off.
“Now, what, “What do we do next?” exclaimed
Rahul turning to Danny.
“Well, we go to the Taj and find out who is
behind all this, easy peasey” said Danny
“Yeah, that’s the plan is it ?Easey peasey,
how do we get 10 crore by tonight Danny?
“Ah, now that you ask, this where Neal comes
in , I am sure they will ask for the amount to be transferred to a bank
account. When they give me the details I will call and give the details to Neal
who will then do a fake transfer of 10cr to the account. Once the transfer is
completed and I get my hands on the pink diamond I will walk out of there with
everything captured on my mobile camera. We can arrest them the next day”
“Why not arrest them there itself.” exclaimed
Rahul
“Well, because I cannot carry my revolver when
I go inside, they are going to check me and if I arrest them there they will
turn me into a pulp.” replied Danny
“Yeah true” muttered Neal, we will have to do
it the next day. “Let me get the software for the fake transfer up.”
26th Jan 2012 9:00 pm
Danny walked into the Taj hotel. Rahul and
Neal were waiting for him outside. At the reception he asked to go to the
penthouse. Immediately a guard was called who escorted him all the way to the
top suite. As soon as he stepped outside there were armed bodyguards who did a
thorough search on him. He was then led into the suite. Danny was a little
nervous, he usually did not do sting operations and he did not know who was at
the other end.
He walked in through the door and there
sitting on the chair was Raj Nayak, the nephew of the politician Shri Nayak.He
had heard about Raj’s shady scams before , after all he was always under the
protection of his corrupt uncle.
“We heard you are looking for the pink
diamond, IS that true?” asked Raj
“Yes, Sir” said Danny trying to be in
character
“As per our deal transfer 10 crore to our bank
amount and the stone is yours”
“But Sir, I need to see it first”. Raj
signaled one of his guards who went inside and got the diamond. After inspections
were made Danny said he had to call his assistant to get the money transferred.
He made the call to Neal with the bank account number and routing number, who
immediately activated his software which would show a credit of the amount into
the bank account.
On his end once Raj was satisfied the amount
was transferred he gave the pink diamond to Danny who immediately left from the
scene. As soon as elevator touched the ground floor he heard his cell ringing.
“The software crashed, if they check
their account again they are no longer going to see the credited amounted”
screamed Neal, “Get out of there fast”
Danny ran through the front exit as he heard
loud noises from the top. He knew their game was up. He rushed out. Rahul and
Neal got the car at the front entrance. He got in and Rahul stepped on the
accelerator. They had 2 cars following them. As Rahul took them through narrow
lanes and streets Danny updated them with the rendezvous details. After about
an hour Rahul knew he had definitely lost them, he dropped the other two at
their house with Danny confirming they would be making the arrest the next day
as he had everything on camera.
26th Jan 2012 11:30 pm
Sleep evaded Rahul and so he poured himself a
drink, he was very excited about making the arrest the next day. In the middle
of his 2nd drink he
got a call “Rahul beta, got some time to talk” a voice drawled on the other
end”
“Who’s this” Rahul asked”
“It is The Shri Nayak beta”.Oh jeez the
thugs must have got his license plates and tracked down his details.
“Now, I know what sting you and your friends
from the CBI played today, what I don’t know is how many and who were the
others, so what I want you to do beta is for you and your friends to forget
about this sting, return the pink diamond to the museum and forget about all
this jamela”
“And why would I do that” asked Rahul already
disgusted by his tone.
“Well, for one beta I will be giving you 1
crore to share with your friends na”
“Money is not going to buy me Sir, sorry,
Please keep the phone now and we will arrest your nephew tomorrow” said Rahul
“Oh ok you young blood fellas, I was
hoping to not send pictures of you and your lover to the CBI office and your
parents. Wonder what your senior officers will have to say? Will they even want
to keep you in the organization, Think about it beta and let me know. Jai Hind”
The color drained out of Rahul’s face. He
could not afford the organization and his family knowing of his secret. A
secret that he never wanted to come out. What would he do now? He would have to
convince Neal and Danny to shut this case offhand”
Neal was his college friend and he had known
him for the past 6 years now. He would understand. He immediately called Neal
and told him about the threat he had received. Initially hesitant Neal decided
to do what Rahul wanted.
“It would be difficult to convince Danny” said
Neal. “He has been working for 15 years in the organization and he is a honest
guy”
“Well, I will just have to take my chances”
said Rahul
“What is he does not agree, then what” asked
Neal
“Well, we will have to eliminate him out of
the picture, isn’t it?, said a very drunk Rahul
“Don’t do anything on impulse” cautioned his
friend as he kept the phone.
Present Day
“It is …It is Neal” said Rahul. Tears flowed
down his cheeks as he thought about last night.
After talking to Neal , Rahul drove over to
Danny’s house to tell him of the threat and to try and convince Danny somehow
to keep all this under wraps. Initially Danny was hesitant but when Rahul
mentioned about the 1 crore Danny softened. He had been a hardworking officer
for the past 15 years with not much savings to show. His only daughter wanted
to study International Law and he had no means of providing for her for her
studies abroad. It was at this time that Rahul got a call from Neal who
was having second thoughts . Neal reflected about the oath he had taken when he
joined CBI to serve the country and the organization with honesty, dedication
and integrity and he did not want to be a part of this.
Rahul decided to stop over at Neal’s to
convince him. Neal was sitting in the balcony enjoying the cool breeze when
Rahul came over. He tried to convince Neal but their clashing thoughts led to a
heated argument and Rahul being the impulsive kind pushed Neal over the
balcony. He immediately regretted and ran down the 3 storey stairs thinking his
friend must have broken a leg or two. That is when he saw that Neal did not
fall down but got caught in the mesh of ropes and cables and one of them went
right though his neck sucking the life out of him.
