The Krishna Key

The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi Read Free Book Online Page B

Book: The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi Read Free Book Online
Authors: Ashwin Sanghi
Tags: Fiction, General
that Radhika Singh believes that you’ve kidnapped Professor Kurkude. Why not let the professor stay in the car while the two of us go in first? If we do not emerge within an hour then Professor Kurkude can come looking for us. Is that acceptable, Professor?’
    Kurkude nodded.
    ‘Good. Now, the bigger concern is how to get inside without the police knowing. I can feel it in my gut that there is substantial police presence here, even though they’re all in plainclothes,’ said Saini.
    In the distance was a small office inconspicuously labelled Radius Facilities Management. It was quite obviously the management company that had been assigned the task of managing the complex. Large corporate blocks such as this one always had a single entity providing housekeeping, janitorial services,gardening, security, pest control, waste management, mail room services and engineering support. The Radius office was located on the ground floor with two entrances—a front entrance overlooking the central atrium and a rear one overlooking the parking lot.
    The rear exit of the facility management office was temporarily blocked by a truck, probably replenishing supplies. Saini smiled as an idea struck him. He turned to Taarak and said, ‘You are intelligent enough to have figured out that I’m on the run. I can assure you that I’m no criminal. Would you be willing to help me by keeping the truck driver engaged?’ asked Saini, keeping his fingers crossed.
    ‘Sir, I may be young in age, but I have seen my fair share of crooks. You certainly do not fall into that category. How long do I need to keep him occupied?’ asked Taarak smiling.
    ‘No more than ten minutes. That would give Priya and me enough time to pull out a couple of uniforms from the rear of the truck and slip away. Professor—you please stay in the car. Only come looking for us at the offices of Immuno if we’re not back in an hour,’ said Saini to Kurkude as he got out of the car. Priya followed him. They stopped some distance away as they waited for their chauffeur to walk up to the truck driver who was coordinating the unloading of the truck.
    ‘You wouldn’t have a cigarette that I could bum off you?’ asked Taarak amiably when he reached the truck. The truck driver looked at him curiously. ‘What do I look like? A paan-bidi stall? Get lost!’ growled the truck driver.
    Taarak knew that there were only two ways to engage—either by being friendly or by being a jerk. Since the former approach hadn’t worked he had tried the latter. Taarak shuffled a little closer to the truck driver and whispered in his face, ‘You don’t look like a shopkeeper at all. More like a drug pusher!’
    The driver used his right arm to aim a blow to Taarak’s torso. Taarak swiftly sidestepped it and used his left hand to strike the outside of the truck driver’s offending arm, thus leaving the right hand side of the trucker’s body completely exposed. Taarak took advantage of it and delivered a single knee kick, which caused the truck driver to fall to the ground, clutching his leg in pain. By now a crowd had gathered around the two fighting men and it was the perfect opportunity for Saini and Priya to get into the truck. enclosed within a circle.an
    Once inside, they quickly picked out janitorial uniforms with caps, besides window-cleaning sprays and dusters. They slipped out while the fight between Taarak and the truck driver was in full momentum, running towards the rear of the building where the garbage disposal area was located. They changed into their uniforms in double-quick time behind a dumpster and then walked over to the main entrance of the building. In front of them was the elevator bank.
    ‘Immuno occupies the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the building,’ said Saini. ‘We should go directly to the sixth floor—where Chhedi’s office is located—and start cleaning. Our effort should be to blend in with the office routine and to make our way to Chhedi’s

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