Murder at Crescent Point by G. S. Dutt Read Free Book Online Page A

collected her clothes and kept them in the handbag. She was pretty sure that the culprit was Feroz Khan. He had every reason to steal the photograph and the pencil sketch so that he could remove any evidence of his involvement in the murder. But why would he take away the bank statement and other papers in the folder? This was something which she could not understand. Things were not as simple as they looked. Someone had obviously become suspicious and entered her room. It was no longer safe for her to stay in this place, she thought. She got up and checked the window and the door once again before going to sleep.

 
     
    — CHAPTER TEN —
    Between Life and Death
     
    Nikki woke up early the next morning. She picked up her handbag and came out of the room. Downstairs at the reception, Prasad was fast asleep on the counter with his head between his forearms. Nikki tiptoed out. The bus station was completely deserted and not a single rickshaw or any other mode of transportation was in sight. She was walking towards the main road when suddenly a car came from behind and screeched to a halt near her. All at once, the front and the back doors of the car were flung open and before Nikki could comprehend what was happening, two persons got out of the car, muffled her face with a cloth and pushed her into the back seat. The car started almost immediately. Nikki struggled to remove the cloth from her face. Someone put a tape on her mouth and in a matter of moments her hands and feet were tied. A man on the back seat forced her to lie on the seat face down. Her back was covered with a blanket. Her face was left free for breathing. The only thing she could see was the mat on the floor of the car.
    The car was moving at breakneck speed. Thoroughly shaken, Nikki noticed that the men hardly talked to each other. She was sure that they were linked with the murders. But how did they know that she was going out of the lodge so early in the morning? It must be Prasad, she thought. Last evening she had told him in a huff that she was getting out of the place first thing in the morning. Is Prasad also mixed up in this affair? she wondered.
    After some time, Nikki could no longer hear the honking of traffic or bustle of pedestrians. The car was obviously outside the city limits. The man in the front seat said, ‘Abdul, you can free her now.’
    The man called Abdul who was sitting beside her in the back seat untied the ropes and removed the tape from her mouth. Nikki shouted at him, ‘Who are you and where are you taking me?’ The man in the front said almost apologetically, ‘Miss, we are very sorry to treat you like this. But we had no alternative.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ asked Nikki in a belligerent tone.
    The man replied, ‘My name is Mohan Lal. I am the brother of that unfortunate woman Asha Sayal. Abdul and Saleem are my friends. We mean no harm to you. We have brought you with us to help a dying person.’
    Nikki was surprised. This was not what she had expected, she asked, ‘What do you mean to help a dying person?’
    ‘Our mother suffered a strange affliction when she heard that Asha was dead. She has lost both her power of speech and hearing faculties. She is bedridden and hovering between life and death. She does not know that her granddaughter is also dead. We did not give this news to her because the shock would have certainly killed her,’ Mohan Lal said.
    ‘But what can I do in the matter?’ Nikki asked.
    Mohan Lal looked apologetic. ‘We are sorry but last evening Abdul searched your belongings. Among other things we found the letter which Asha had written to her daughter Jyoti. You are also studying in Sangalina Hills where Jyoti was studying. We will show this letter to her and when she looks at you she will think you are Jyoti, Asha’s daughter and this might save her life,’ he said.
    ‘No! I can’t do this,’ said Nikki. ‘I won’t impersonate a dead person. And why didn’t you just ask me instead of