The Cosmic Clues by Manjiri Prabhu Read Free Book Online Page A

result was that all along we'd been barking up the wrong tree!”
    “How's that?”
    “There's this scene from a Hindi film that I vividly remember. The hero wishes to call the heroine for a date. So he sits in a college classroom, writes a note, and aims it at the seat where the heroine normally sits. Unfortunately, the heroine and her friend have changed places that day and the hero's note falls straight into the friend's lap, creating a lot of comedy and misunderstanding! This sequence has been at the back of my mind for some time now. It's funny how these films affect your mind and thinking!”
    “Boss—which is the wrong tree?” Jatin asked with forced patience.
    “You'll see soon enough! This afternoon I set about the case in a most systematic manner. It was time to turn to the horoscopes and try to find out if I could peg down a particular horoscope. So first, I checked out all the horoscopes to find out whose horoscope matched that of a criminal's. And sure enough I found one which showed me all the traits of a murderer! It amazed me because at that point that made no sense! But I did realize that I'd chanced upon a most vital lead, one which had plenty of potential to be explored. The next step was to go sequentially backwards from what I knew happened. What do we know? I mean, what
really
happened?”
    “Satish was murdered.”
    “Now the next logical question:
Where
was he murdered?”
    “In Ajay Patkar's room.”
    “In Ajay's bed, to be precise.
Who
normally sleeps in that bed?”
    “Ajay, of course!”
    “Right. So if Satish hadn't been in the house, who would have been sleeping in that bed?”
    “Ajay . . . my God, are you suggesting . . . !”
    “You got it! Conclusion—that paper cutter was meant for Ajay Patkar, and not Satish, as everyone presumes! It was pure bad luck that Ajay invited Satish on the same day as Naresh's gang meeting. Naresh, as a desperate means, placed a dead mouse in the guest room, so that the smell would drive Satish away. Accordingly, Ajay offered Satish his bed, and in the bargain placed his best friend straight into the hands of Destiny! The murderer was unaware of the change. And thinking that it was Ajay in the bed, struck him with the knife!”
    “In that case, the murderer has to be someone who did not know that Satish was sleeping in the room that night,” Jatin pointed out.
    “Good deduction. Now, who are the people who knew about the change of rooms? Naresh himself, since he was responsible for it, and Yamuna Maushi. And who did
not
know about the change? Mahesh Uncle and Mrs. Patkar. After I realized that, I went back to the horoscope I had singled out. It was
Mrs. Patkar's horoscope
that revealed the criminal traits!”
    “But how's it possible? Why would a mother try to kill her own son?” Jatin protested.
    “Exactly! I asked myself the same question and the answer again came to me from her horoscope! I won't go into details, but Jupiter in her fifth house is in conjunction with Rahu. Saturn, with Ketu, does not aspect the fifth house favorably, and to make matters worse, the swami or the Lord of the fifth house—a house which governs children—is with Saturn. To make technical jargon simple, such a woman will never conceive and will never have a child of her own. And even if she did, it will not be a son!”
    “But she
has
a son!”
    “That had me floored, too! But only for a while. The world knows that Ajay is her son but her horoscope denied the fact. Which made me think—was he really her son? I mean, did she give
birth
to him? If my line of thinking was correct, then our whole perspective on this case would change! The issue was remarkably sensitive but I had to find out! Because only the answers to these questions would throw light on this case. It was vital to tackle Ajay. I paid him a visit and put forth my argument in the most persuasive manner possible. He was naturally quite upset by my suggestion that he was not his mother's son.