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.
Read Chapter 9
“Just one link in the chain. That is what I am missing” muttered Binita to herself as she gave another stir to the broth that was simmering on the range.
They had returned from Mussorie two days back and had settled down to their regular routine.
“What do you mean one link? Have you solved the rest?” asked Keya looking up from the newspaper she was reading.
Binita pursed her lips as she tasted the curry, crinkled her nose and added a dash of salt.
“How come you never told me?” Keya persisted indignantly.
“You were with me all the while, what is there to tell you?” asked Binita with a surprised expression.
“That is not fair Ma. During Anu’s case I told you everything,” said Keya looking hurt.
“Yes, because I was not running around hospitals chasing after her murderer like you” said Binita.
“A whole lot of good that did in helping me come up with anything. It was ultimately you who identified who it was, sitting at home all the while?” said Keya pouting childishly.
Binita laughed as she saw her daughter’s wounded face and joined her at the dining table.
“Okay let me ask you some questions and see if you can come up with the answers.
First, why did Anindita leave Landour two weeks after her sister?” she said looking at Keya her sharp eyes shining brightly.
“I think she wanted to stop her from marrying this Somnath guy,” said Keya.
“Close. I give you half a mark” said Binita.
Keya simply rolled her eyes.
“Next, If Anindita did want to prevent her sister’s marriage, why did the two sisters never meet in Kolkata?”
“We don’t know that for sure do we? We just have Nandita’s word for it,” said Keya.
“Excellent!” said Binita smiling “You remember what Somnath told Nandita to pacify her at dinner that evening? He said that maybe Annie is unable to call. How would he know that? Only if he knows Annie’s whereabouts. There was another thing that you may have missed. I noticed Nandita reprimanding him with a look. I wonder why she did that?”
“So, you think Annie must have been in touch with them while they were in Kolkata” said Keya excitedly.
Binita nodded determinedly “Yes I am sure about that. Now the next logical question is why are they hiding the fact that they were in touch with Annie? Something must have happened while they were in Kolkata for which they are not willing to disclose the fact that they knew where Annie was. But what?”
“Why don’t we visit their house in Kolkata, maybe you will get some clues there?” said Keya.
“Yes, I have thought of that. I have asked Sheetal to send me their address. You see Keya, this whole thing is like a jigsaw. I have all the pieces just one weird piece is not letting me complete the puzzle.”
“What other pieces are there in your bag?” asked Keya curiously.
“Lots of them. A fight that is overheard by their housekeeper, a property Will that is kept a close guarded secret, a childhood photograph, a bruised finger, the house that reminds Nandita of somebody and the memory is painful. Who is she reminded of? Her mother or her missing sister? And why is it painful?”
The phone rang and Binita walked over to pick it up. It was Sheetal who was calling to give her the address. Binita noted it down and looked at it thoughtfully. Something told her she might just find the errant piece at this address.
Garcha 1st lane was a narrow by-lane off the main road of a posh south Kolkata residential area. The lane was a short stretch with houses placed next to each other. A tall high rise stood at one end of the lane marking its beginning. A looming Gulmohar tree stood next to it, adding the only tinge of color in the otherwise bland surroundings with its large red blossoms.
Most of the houses on the road were single independent blocks. There were a few with a bit of greenery attached to them.
It was evening by the time, Binita and Keya arrived at the place. Keya parked their car in a corner next to the high-rise society. The locality was quiet and peaceful. The neat rows of houses stood in the yellow evening light. The round concave dish antennae that anointed every terrace stood with their hollow faces turned upwards towards the sun.
Binita looked closely to find that none of the houses had their numbers written on them. She looked at Keya with disappointment. Keya nodded at her encouragingly and looked around for a solution.
A few people were out on their evening stroll. Keya noticed a middle-aged gentleman who was walking with a dog on a long leash. She showed him the address and asked him where she could find House No 54.
The man looked thoughtful for some time and then pointed to the last house at the end of the lane. Keya thanked him and walked towards the house he had shown.
Binita followed her taking a good look of her surroundings. It was then that she noticed a young boy staring at her from a window in a house on the opposite lane. He stared at her with a pencil held between his little fingers and had apparently been sketching or drawing. She noticed he had a piercing gaze, and something told her he had been watching her for a long time.
Binita smiled at him. The boy smiled back and a deep dimple created an endearing ditch in his cheek.
“Hello! What is your name?” Binita asked cheerfully.
“Ronnie” said the boy “and you?”
“Binita. What are you doing home at this time of the evening? Won’t you be going out to play?” she asked.
“Mummy asked me to do a bit of sketching today as my friends won’t be coming over. Look!” he said as he held up the picture he was working on. It was a beautiful pencil sketch of a dog.
“That’s Dobby!” Ronnie said pointing at the dog lounging underneath the cool shade of the Gulmohar tree.
Binita could see the similarity immediately. She complimented Ronnie on his excellent sketching skills.
Elated Ronnie grinned broadly at her.
“Were you looking for House No 54?” asked Ronnie.
“How did you know?” asked Binita surprised.
“I heard you speak to Mukherjee Uncle a while back” said Ronnie going back to his sketching.
“Yes. It is the house at the end of the lane, isn’t it?” asked Binita.
“Yes, but there is nobody there. They have left” said Ronnie looking at her with a serious expression when you have to impart a particularly important piece of information.
“Yes” said Binita slightly “I know.”
“But she did not leave with them” said Ronnie continuing to look at her.
“Who?” asked Binita
“The girl who came to their house that night. It was raining heavily, and I could not go out to play. I was feeling angry and did not want to go to sleep. Then I saw her get off the taxi just like you did and come towards my window to ask for House No 54. I saw her enter the house, but I never saw her leave.”
“She must have. You may not have seen her leaving” said Binita.
“No. I am by the window all day. You see after my fever my legs have never been strong enough. So I am always here watching. I never saw her leave” said Ronnie with conviction. “Do you think she left at night? But don’t you think that is strange? Why would anybody leave so late in the night when nobody is around? Mummy says that people do things at night only when you cannot do them in daylight meaning you want to do bad things” said Ronnie lowering his voice to a whisper.
He had such a funny look on his face that Binita could not help laughing.
Ronnie looked at her laughing and felt embarrassed. He went back to his sketching to avoid looking at her again.
“Did you know the people who stayed in that house?” asked Binita
“Not really. They were new in our locality. Usually, Mummy goes to meet all newcomers. She is like me you see. Just loves to talk” said Ronnie winking mischievously. The dimple on his cheek deepened as he did so.
“And did she meet them?” said Binita laughing.
“The wife was not home, and the husband was not very talkative. Mummy was back in no time. She grumbled saying how unfriendly people have become nowadays.” he said grinning naughtily.
“Did you never see them again?” asked Binita
“Not very often. I am always at this window and know almost everybody who passes this lane. People in all the houses on this lane, know me too. But I hardly saw the people in House No 54. Except the other night when I saw them working in their garden.”
“At night?” said Binita in a surprised tone.
“Yes, it was raining heavily that night too. I saw them both busy working in their garden. I could not make out clearly from here, but I could see they were both hunched over the small strip of land in front of their house.”
Binita thought for a while before asking “Ronnie do you remember how the girl who came looking for the house, looked like?”
“Not very well. Her face was half hidden with her raincoat hood and the streetlights were also not working. But I did catch a brief glance of her face.”
Binita fumbled in her bag and fished out Anindita’s picture that Sheetal had given her on the first day and showed it to Ronnie
“Can you tell me if this was the same girl you saw that day?”
Ronnie looked at the picture in front of him and then quickly placed his hands on either side of the photograph so that only a section of her face was visible. He looked closely at the photograph as he saw it now and then nodded his head.
“Yes. I think she was the one. I remember this mole and the slight curve of the nose.”
Binita smiled impressed at the little boy’s power of observation. She was about to leave when Ronnie stopped her.
“I remember something else. I found it quite funny and told Daddy about it but he said there are many people who have it.” he said excitedly.
“Have what?” asked Binita curiously.
“Extra fingers. I noticed the girl had an extra one on her left hand when she lifted her hand to pull her hood closer over her head. I wish I did too. What fun it would be.” said Ronnie wistfully.
Binita raised her eyebrows in surprise at this little piece of information wondering how everyone else had missed what this little boy noticed in a moment’s meeting.
She thanked Ronnie for his help and moved towards Keya who was waiting for her in front of a small wicker gate.
“What were you chatting with that little boy about?” said Keya.
“Abilities” said Binita looking grimly at the house before her. It was a single-storeyed structure with green shutters that were tightly locked. There was a small terrace which had an empty clothesline waving mildly in the light evening breeze. The small stretch of greenery in front was unkempt and dismal in appearance. Wild shrubs and grass grew all over the place in wild abandon. From no angle did this look like a house that belonged to a newly married couple who had eloped for love.
On one side of the garden, in stark contrast to the rest of the place, there stood a patch of land that had been cleared and neatly lined with rows of rose saplings. Some of them had sprouted tiny buds which were now silently nodding their heads at their observers.
“What was the nursery rhyme you used to chant in school Keya?” asked Binita
“In school?” said Keya surprised “Ma you are talking about prehistoric times now.” She said shaking her head laughing.
“Hush” said Binita trying to remember hard “Let me recollect the lines. It was something about growing a garden with pretty maids in a row. Don’t you remember? This one reminds me of that rhyme. Yes, I remember now:
“Mary Mary, Quite Contrary How does your garden grow? With silver bells, and cockleshells And pretty maids all in a row.”
Binita hummed the tune slowly to herself as she pushed open the wicker gate and walked into the house. She went round the house to try and see if there was any way she could get in. However, the doors and the windows were tightly locked. She came back to the garden and knelt near the rose garden.
Binita had enough knowledge of gardening to say that the saplings had been planted recently. The buds must have been there when the saplings were planted. She lightly tugged at one sapling only to find it come off easily meaning that it had not yet grown its roots deep enough. She touched the soil to feel its texture. She realised there were no peat moss nor compost mixed in the soil covering the plants. Anybody wanting to grow healthy roses would need to mix the two. This is the basic step in growing roses.
Gently Binita sifted through the soil. As she did so, her fingers brushed against a metallic substance. She pulled it out of the soil and held it up to look at it closely.
Keya came to look at what she had found.
It was a bracelet. A thin silver chain with a single letter dangling from the middle. The long vertical lines of the alphabet glinted in the evening light.
Binita narrowed her eyes and stared at the bracelet realising that she had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle.
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