Chapter 8 – The Caveat
Two whole months had passed since Chavi was admitted into ACE and the tests were on the threshold. Chavi was always attentive in all her classes, maintained impeccable notes and studied every day, the traits of an achiever and a bookworm. Needless to say, Chavi topped her class in the tests and she made quite a few other friends and distanced quite a few too in her class.
Peeya, the dark horse, was not so bad either. For all her legacy and ill repute, she had done quite well in the tests herself.
Chavi’s oldest friends in ACE had done quite well for themselves and they all sat gushing about their stupendous feats during their regular post lunch talkathons.
“Now that the tests are over, will you guys try figure out the great Peeya mystery now?” Chavi opened the Pandora’s box again which the tests had managed to shut for a while.
“There you go again! Why do you have to be such a prick Chavi?” Disha sounded annoyed.
“Oh Come on Disha Di, she is right, we must get under her skin to find out if she really has any links with the omens” Praneethi came out in full support of her junior while an amazed Pawan looked on with a fake surprised look over his face replete with a downward smile.
“Now tell me Nancy Drew, how are you going to get access to the registers, Peeya’s contacts in Kolkata, the 12 year old guest list” Disha went on teasing the girls.
“That’s where you come in Pawan” Chavi told to a shocked Pawan who almost recoiled from the crowd as if confronted by a venomous snake.
“whoa whoa! Hold on ladies! Where did that come from?”
“See, this is what you get into if you play their silly games” Disha turned towards a dazed Pawan.
“Chillax Pawan! All we need you to do is browse on the internet to find out the guest list. I am sure that the event would have been covered by at least a local newspaper, after all it was inaugurated by a minister” Chavi clarified Pawan about his role.
“And that would do what” Disha frowned
“That Di, would give us the names of the guests there, Peeya’s parents who died were very rich landlords right? I am sure that the papers would carry the names of the distinguished guests who had attended and that would give us the lead to our next search, the date and cause and the circumstances under which they died” Chavi said while the trio listened in attention.
“Inauguration of International school in Bangalore + 1996” punched Pawan on the school’s internet enabled computer and the search engine yielded around 50 results out of which only one would capture his interest.
“Central HRD minister Mr. Jagdish Mathur inaugurates grand International School in Bangalore – J J Prashant” a link said and Pawan had nailed it on first attempt.
The brief article in the city section of the Indian Standard dated 12th May 1996 praised about the facilities that would be part of the new International School. It also mentioned about the important guests who had attended the ceremony and Pawan zeroed in on the one name that was all so important for him.
Kunal Roy Mukherjee, the renowned social reformist and progressive agriculturist had also flown down all the way from Kolkata along with his wife and daughter to attend the ceremony.
“So Peeya’s father was indeed a well-known man” Pawan spoke to himself as he jotted down the lines in his notebook.
“Kunal Roy Mukherjee” keyed in Pawan on the internet to search further his school mate’s illustrious father & this time around the search engine yielded around a hundred plus results and the most important one being a brief introduction of the man himself.
“Born in his father’s tea estates in Assam on 22nd March 1958….. he studied in Doon College…. Went onto Harvard Law school…returned to India………married Saritha Brahmadutta on 14th January 1993 at the age of 35…..a daughter named Peeya… Gotcha! was born on 18th September 1994……died in a car crash near Kolkata on 14th May 1996, survived by 2 year old daughter….. family trust set up by him will take care of her interests…” Pawan read out loud only the important points in the lengthy article and he made quick notes on his book and left the scene in a hurry.
“You were wrong on all account Chavi dear!” Pawan proud of his recent research findings approached the female pack.
“What do you mean?” asked Chavi
“About your roomie” Pawan replied.
“I don’t get it, weren’t you the one who told me about Peeya in the first place?” Chavi rebutted Pawan’s statements.
“I still feel that there is something wrong with her, no doubt, tell us what you found out instead of going about in circles” Chavi mock scolded her senior.
“Hold your horses madam, I have the full report here, it says that Peeya was indeed Kunal Roy Mukherjee’s daughter and she was just 2 years old when she had accompanied her parents for the school’s foundation laying ceremony. Their parents died just 2 days after the ceremony” Pawan read out from his notes.
The three went about proposing theories and counter theories about how Chavi could be a manifestation of evil and she could be the cause of everything that happened and might happen. The three girls sat on the small raised platforms cum corridors of the ground floor while Pawan stood on the assembly area in front of them. In the heat of the argument, something triggered Chavi’s senses and she looked up to see a falling tile from the 3rd floor of the school. The three were safe as they were seated but Pawan was vulnerable, a direct hit over his head and he could have even suffered a serious hemorrhage, but for Chavi who let out a shrill shriek and shoved him away from her.
She still could not prevent the heavy tile falling flat on his left arm which he had raised in response to stimuli action. The tile falling from a height had done its damage and Pawan’s left arm swelled up like a balloon. It was fractured. Pawan screamed in agony.
While Disha attended to her house mate, Praneethi and Chavi caught Peeya scurrying away from the 3rd floor parapet. They only could look at each other in mute concurrence.
It was perhaps a Caveat – a warning of more dangerous things to come if they would not stop in their tracks. Somebody knew that this group of friends was being rather too curious and were fishing in troubled waters. Somebody wanted to scare away the rookie detectives. Somebody hated their cover to be busted.