Shrouded Motifs

The Final Battle

Dedicated to Arya_zzz

PRESENT - COURTROOM.

Swati went to the temple early morning. It was her first big case and today was the final day of hearing. She prayed more for Lavanya then for her case. Sadly both their fates were interlinked. If she won this case, she would hit gold in her career and Lavanya would walk a free woman.

She reached the Courtroom early, but quite a crowd was already present. This was a sensational case. The ambitious hot woman who had slept with her boss for his money and ended up killing his wife. People believed any sort of gossip shit nowadays.

Soon, the Judge came and called the Court to order. Swati gave Lavanya a small encouraging smile.

"Does the prosecution have any additional evidence or witnesses to present?"

"No your honour, the defence rests and has submitted all that was required to prove the accused as guilty"

"Very well, the defence has any additional?"

I practically jumped my seat before the Judge could complete, "Yes your honour, may I request to call upon Krishnaji as a witness to stand?"

Witness 1 account - Krishnaji

"The day of murder did you see Gauri Ma'am come to office?"

"Yes she did"

"Was she angry?"

"She seemed pretty furious to me"

"When did Vishal Sir arrive?"

"Immediately in 5 minutes. Noone likes to keep their wife waiting"

"When did Lavanya come?"

"I wouldn't know, Vishal Sir came, I gave him his Coffee in his cabin. Gauri Ma'am was fighting with him. I left office soon afterwards"

"Did anyone else come before you left?"

"Yes, Vivek Sir came. He asked was Vishal in office and then he went to check on him. When he returned after some time. He asked me for a jute bag. I gave the one we had. I removed the helium pump and leftover balloons from it and gave it to him. Then as I was already in a hurry, I left"

"What else was missing from the pantry when you came next day?"

"Miss Lavanya's usual Coffee Cup. It was not even in her desk and a packet of cocoa powder and a ceramic bowl"

"Did you find them again?

"Yes, the cleaning lady scolded me for throwing broken cups and bowls without wrapping them in plastic. That's when I noticed the cup she was throwing away. It was Lavanya's.

"That would be all Krishnaji. Thank you"

Witness 2 account - Gauri's Sister

"Was Gauri unhappy in her marriage?"

"Vishal was unavailable since last few years. So she fought a lot with him the last one year."

"Anything else important she told you in the days leading upto her murder, about any new person in her life?"

"Yes, she had recently met some office colleague of Vishal, he said there was a girl in office who had ruined fair competition in office. That she was sleeping with Vishal. Gauri even showed me her photos that this guy shared with her"

"Was this girl the accused?"

"Yes"

"This guy from Vishal's office, did Gauri meet him frequently?"

"Initially, she just met him to know more about what Vishal was upto in office behind her back. But this guy, he flirted with her and gave her flowers and stuff. She fell for him head over heals. I warned her it seemed like a very shady situation. Why would such a young guy pursue her out of the blue? But she didn't listen. When he asked her to divorce Vishal, she just agreed. I tried persuading her but he had strong hold one her it seemed. He was also always instigating her against Vishal."

"You met him ever?"

"No, but she did show me his photo which she had secretly taken. That is why I doubted him more, he never let her click any pictures"

"Is this the guy?"

"Yes"

The Defence submitted Vivek's pictures as evidence affirmed by the Witness.

The Defence - closing remarks

Your Honour, it is very difficult to prove that the evidences found are wrong as they were carefully planted by someone who had planned this all along.

As Krishnaji rightly pointed out, who had asked for the Jute Bag? Vivek

Who knew about the helium pump and balloons? Vivek.

Some witnesses did claim to see Vivek and Lavanya together in office on the night of the Murder when he refused to give her Car keys to her friend. This friend's statement from last week is also submitted to Court today for reference.

We cannot avoid Gaur's sister account. I got Gauri's phone records. I found a number of messages from a burner phone telling her to come to the office to confront Vishal. I also found a photo sent to her of Lavanya and Vishal dancing together in the party.

Burner phones are hard to trace to their original owners. But not many guys sell them to white collared IT Guys. The person who sold this distinctly remembers who brought this burner phone. It was brought by Vivek.

Also, the Coffee cup and cocoa powder thrown by Vivek was used to dust finger prints and plant them on the Murder Weapon. This is a little hard to believe your honour but that is the evidence available on record.

Lastly I would like to make a plea on behalf of the accused. As no one saw Lavanya shooting Gauri and all we have is witnesses and evidences which are questionable then how can we prove her as guilty for a Crime she never admitted to committing?

The Verdict

Considering the additional evidences and witness accounts presented on record, the Court rules that the accused is not guilty of the murder of Mrs Gauri Saxena, wife of Mr. Vishal Saxena.

The Court directs the police department to reopen this case and file a fresh report to investigate against Mr. Vishal Saxena and Mr. Vivek Rai based on the fresh material today placed before the court.

However, Miss Lavanya is not allowed to leave the city till the investigation is completed by the police department.

Court Dismissed.