Two sisters. Alike in appearance but contrary in nature. Both leave home but where one of them returns the other goes missing. Binita Sen steps in to help in another bizarre search after Debts of Desire.
Binita Sen was lounging in her armchair glancing over the morning newspaper. This was the favourite time of the day for her when Keya, her daughter was still sleeping, and her maid Malati was not due in another hour. That meant she could finish reading the newspaper before Keya grabbed it and Malati demanded her attention.
Binita was around 50 years of age. Short, mousy in appearance with a small nose and even smaller forehead she hardly made an impression on anyone. She could easily pass off as the regular Bengali middle-class housewife absorbed in the nitty-gritties of managing home and hearth. However, that was before anyone would look into her eyes and realise how wrong they had been in their analysis.
Hidden behind a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses, Binita Sen had the most razor sharp and intelligent pair of eyes. They sparkled and shone with a brilliance when she heard or spoke about matters of interest. There were indeed a lot of things that intrigued Binita and triggered her curiosity. The dynamics of the human mind was one such area. She loved to observe people. It would simply be a casual glance or a mere look, but she would capture eons of information which others would miss. Her powers of observation had also earned her a name in Kolkata’s Police department particularly after she had helped solve the Anu Agarwal murder case. The poor girl was poisoned by her grand mother-in-law. It was a bizarre and sad incident indeed.
Binita was however, currently preoccupied with something more benign. Getting a good match for her daughter in the matrimonial column. Keya was 26 and Binita had tried discussing the topic of marriage calmly first. However, when things went out of hand, she had even threatened the possibility of Keya becoming a social outcaste. Keya was unmoved. She was an independent working woman who had denied any intention to succumb to her mother’s pressure tactics.
Binita was equally adamant. She was intent on finding the right match and hence everyday devoted a full half-an-hour to the matrimonial column.
Her eyes brightened when she saw a promising find and was just about to draw a red circle around it with the pencil she always kept edged behind her ears, when the doorbell rang. She looked up with a slight crease in her forehead wondering who it could be at this hour.
She glanced up at the clock on her living room wall. It showed 7 o’clock which was too early for Malati.
Grumbling, Binita got up and shuffled towards the door to open it. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed a tall girl smartly dressed in police uniform waiting outside.
“Hello Maam. Inspector Sheetal Das. Hope you remember?” said the girl in a thick business-like voice.
“Ofcourse” said Binita as realization dawned on her. She remembered being impressed by this young girl, a little older than Keya, who had visited them during Anu’s case.
“Come in please” said Binita welcoming Sheetal with a smile. “Keya is still not up” she said in a complaining tone. “Here you are already up and off to work and look at her snoring like Kumbhakarna. Sit down please. I will get you some tea.”
Sheetal smiled politely as she took her seat. She looked around appreciating the tastefully decorated living room. The décor comprised of a wooden sofa and an armchair, a small bookcase comprising of some good pieces of literature. A portrait of a gentleman whom she assumed was Keya’s father, hung on the wall. A fresh garland of Tuberose was draped around it. The living room led into the spacious terrace balcony which had a little garden. It added a touch of refreshing greenery to the whole ambience. Light floral printed curtains that complemented the off-white walls beautifully, completed the homely look. She sighed contentedly. Visiting this house always made her feel peaceful after the restless anxieties of her job.
Binita entered the room with a tray laden with tea and biscuits.
Sheetal protested that she was on duty hours and could not spend too much time.
“Don’t tell me you never have tea when you are on duty” asked Binita with a twinkle in her eyes. Sheetal laughed and not being able to offer any more excuses, took the cup she offered.
“Tell me then,” said Binita as she settled down with another cup of tea for herself, “how does duty bring you to my doorstep?”
“I need your help” said Sheetal leaning forward anxiously.
Binita looked at her with a surprised lift of her eyebrows. “What kind of help?”
“There is a case that is baffling me, and I think you could be the right one to help me out in this” said Sheetal.
“What makes you think so?” asked Binita laughing incredulously.
“Let me give you a brief about this case. Maybe it will make more sense to you then” said Sheetal.
She took out two photographs from her file and laid them out on the centre table. Binita leaned forward curiously as her eyes lit up with recognition.
“Ah! the missing heiresses. I did read about them in the papers a few days back” she said.
“These photographs, as you must have read, belong to Anindita and Nandita Bagchi” said Sheetal smiling appreciatively at Binita.
“They are twin sisters and used to live in Landour, a small hill station near Mussorie, with their mother and grandfather, General Benod Behari Das.” continued Sheetal “The sisters had fled from their home two years back. Not together but around the same time. One had eloped and few days later the other had just run away for no apparent reason.
Following the death of their mother, General Das, their grandfather, launched a search for them. He wanted to keep his promise to his dying daughter and therefore issued a notice in all the leading newspapers of the country where he mentioned that he had forgiven his granddaughters for all their mistakes and wanted to welcome them back to his home.
Nandita who was then living in Kolkata with her husband, came across the notice and contacted her grandfather and is currently reunited with him. However, Anindita is still untraceable. She seems to have completely vanished. Nobody seems to know where she is.”
“And they think she may be in Kolkata? Why is that?” said Binita thoughtfully sipping her tea.
“Before she had left, Anindita had left a note that she would be leaving for Kolkata to search for her true roots. It seems that before her father’s death, her parents were based out of Kolkata. Her father, who was a doctor, was practicing in one of the government hospitals here.”
“And was that true?” asked Binita
“Partly” said Sheetal “Her father was a doctor in Kolkata but as he was associated with government hospitals he was frequently transferred and apparently at the time of his death he was posted in Nagpur. However, some of his relatives, that included his father and uncle, did still live in Kolkata but the girls’ mother, General Das’s daughter, was not in touch with them. In fact, they were never on cordial terms ever since their marriage.”
“Why is that?” asked Binita.
“Well, Dr.Shubhankar Bagchi, the father of the girls, belonged to an upper cast Brahmin family. His family had never accepted his marriage to General Das’s daughter owing to caste related prejudices and hence relationships between them were always a bit strained since then.”
“Was Anindita aware of that?” asked Binita
“Yes. Their mother never spoke of her in-laws much, but they knew that they were never on particularly good terms.”
“And yet she left home looking for them? That is strange” said Binita with a surprised look.
“Yes I found that funny too. But apparently that was the reason she had mentioned in the letter before leaving.”
“Have you seen that letter?” asked Binita
“Yes” said Sheetal “but I don’t have it with me right now” she said looking apologetically at Binita.
The latter shook her head dismissively as she asked, “Did you visit the relatives Anindita came to meet?”
“Yes” said Sheetal “But unfortunately, nobody came to meet them proclaiming to be Dr.Bagchi’s daughter.”
““Hmm. I thought as much,” said Binita nodding her head slowly, “and did you ask around at the hospital where her father worked? Probably they could have given you some clue.”
“Yes, we did” said Sheetal “We tracked down all the government hospitals where Dr. Bagchi worked in while he was in Kolkata. However, none of them reported anything about anybody coming over to enquire about him in the last two years. So, we drew a blank there too.”
Binita picked up the photographs to look closely at the faces “They look exactly the same.”
“Yes, they are identical twins. You can hardly tell them apart.”
Binita nodded thoughtfully. She looked up at Sheetal and smiled as she handed back the photographs.
“I still do not understand how I can help you in this?” she said collecting the empty cups and moving towards the kitchen.
“You can observe things that we often miss. And if I am not too wrong then you already know why Anindita left for Kolkata” said Sheetal looking at Binita hopefully.
Binita could not help laughing “Well, not completely. But I can tell you for sure that what she mentions in the letter as her reason for leaving home is a sham. She had other reasons for leaving.”
She thought for some time before turning towards Sheetal “When did Anindita leave Landour?”
“2 weeks after Nandita eloped. It was a big shock for Mrs. Bagchi and she fell sick. She did not survive too long after that and died within a year’s time.”
Binita moved towards her balcony to water the plants.
“Have you considered that Anindita may no longer be alive?” she asked thoughtfully engrossed in her activity observing the water trickling down to soak the green stalks of the Aloevera and dampen the soil beneath.
“Yes, we did that too.” said Sheetal, “but no hospital or morgue recorded any cases of unidentified bodies that matches her description. We checked everywhere thoroughly.”
Sheetal sighed deeply.
“This case is just leading us to one dead end after another. Whenever we think we have made some headway, it turns out to be another dead end. It is as if this girl has become an enigma. How can a matured adult woman simply disappear into thin air? We could not lay our hands on a single proof that will help us establish her existence. How is that even possible?”
“It is possible if the woman in question herself decides not to be found for as long as she wants to. If that is the case, she will remain hidden till she decides to reveal herself” said Binita.
“But why?” asked Sheetal with a confused look.
“The answer to that, my dear, will open up a pandora’s box” said Binita smiling “I think Sheetal, you are dealing with a very shrewd and sharp person who will keep you on your toes for some time. This case, as I see it, is not just about a missing person. I think it is much more than that.”
“You will help me then?” asked Sheetal looking at Binita eagerly.
“I don’t know if I can be of much help. But I could do a bit of asking around if you want. Besides, I could do with a bit of a break. Keya will start off on her summer vacations soon and Mussorie is a good option. What do you say?”
“Excellent choice!” said Sheetal grinning broadly as she sighed with relief “I will arrange for the tickets.”
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