A CORPORATE SCANDAL

#13

A number of people were gathered at the cremation of Mr. Dheeraj Joshi during the late noon. Inspector Yuvraj's phone vibrated twice while he was attending the same. Yuvraj took out his phone and accessed the chat message.

He turned around and left the crematorium. He dialled a phone number. His colleague sub inspector Ravi attended the call.

Yuvraj said, " What was that? "

" Sir. There is a bad news. "

" I have seen the chat. I have to meet him tonight. "

" He might have been compromised. "

" It could be us too. I'll finish the job before we get compromised. "

At Mr. Joshi's home, Inspector Ghosh was sitting with his sister Ashna. He held her hands while she was having tears of sorrow for her loss. Akansha brought a glass of water to her.

Ghosh took the glass and made Ashna to drink the water.

Ghosh went to Akansha's room. She entered the room thereafter. He looked at her study table where her law books were kept on it.

He asked, " How is your internship program going on? "

" I have taken a break for sometime. "

" Indeed. "

He sat on the bed and looked at her.

She asked, " Shall I bring you something? "

" Nope. I am good. (pause) Are you good? "

" Trying to get through the phase. "

" If you have anything to tell. You are welcome. "

She sighed, " I have been trying to tell you something about for a couple of days. I haven't told about it to her. "

" What? "

" I have found something in the car. "

She took out a divorce paper from her drawer. Ghosh took the papers and saw the name of ' Dheeraj Joshi ' and ' Ashna Joshi '.

He said, " Divorce papers. He was going to sign for the divorce before his demise. "

" He didn't discussed with anyone. "

Ghosh got his eyes on the rubber stamp on which he saw the name of ' Neel Oberoi '. He got a bell rang in his head as he had seen the name on the passenger list of the driver.

He asked, " Who's this Neel Oberoi? "

" Our family lawyer. He has been with us for eight years. "

The ' BEARBALL FITNESS CLUB ' was filled with gym goers during the late evening. The assassin was performing leg stretching while standing on a mat. After his session, he went to the corridor and took out a bottle from his bag.

He sipped a bit of water, picked up the bag on his back and began to leave just after which his phone began to ring from the bag. He got the phone out and attended the call.

" Hello. "

The caller replied, " Outside. Now. "

The assassin went outside of the gym premises. He couldn't find anyone there. He turned to his left and kept on walking until a left passage appeared.

" You chose the wrong men. "

A voice came from the passage in the dark. The assassin stopped. He slightly turned around but pretended to ignore the voice. He was about to go ahead.

" Never ignore your ears. "

He turned around again and stepped into the passage. He saw a dark shadow of a small shop which was closed. He heard the footsteps. The man walked out of the shadow who was Inspector Yuvraj.

The assassin said, " I remember we had an agreement that we won't meet again. "

" The agreement is breached because your men were unable to do what we paid you for. "

" I disagree. They can't be them. "

" How could you say that? "

" They are pros. Whatever they had done earlier they did it perfectly. No evidence, no records and no witness. "

" Really? "

Inspector Yuvraj took out an envelope and gave it to the assassin. The assassin looked at him.

" Open the thing. "

The assassin opened the envelope and took out two photographs. The photographs had picture of the dead body of two men who had tried to kill Inspector Ghosh near the restaurant.

Yuvraj took out his cigarette, lit it with and began to smoke.

Yuvraj chuckled, " As I told you. You had chosen the wrong men. "

" Unbelievable. "

The assassin angrily tore up the envelope and the photos. He dropped them on the ground. Inspector Yuvraj offered him a cigarette.

He said, " Maybe you'll learn from this mistake to hire only perfect for the job. "

The assassin sighed and grabbed the cigarette. Yuvraj spread his left hand to lit the assassin's cigarette.

" Thank you. " The assassin said.

He began to smoke the cigarette. As Yuvraj walked out of the passage a light was flashed on his face by a car. He could hardly see the face of the driver as the lights were flashing on his eyes. He turned around and ran away from the spot.

Darsh walked out of the car. He walked ahead and found the assassin who was lying on the ground. He went to the passage and found the ciggarette which was kept besides the assassin.

A number of people were gathered in an auditorium where Neel's assistant Shruti who was in her early twenties was performing piano with a melodious music. After the performance, the crowd stood up and clapped for her. She greeted the crowd with smile, bowed down to thank them and left the stage.

At the backstage, she was surprised to see her parents and hugged them. The mother kissed her on forehead.

The mother appreciated her, " You did it great! "

She said, " Really? "

The father replied, " Yes. It was much better than your school performance. We have planned to go for a lunch at your favorite restaurant. "

" Miss Shruti. "

A male voice from her back. She turned around and saw Inspector Ghosh at the corner. He walked to them.

She asked, " Yes? "

" Well, the performance was really  worth appreciating. The tunes were actually very hard to play. "

" Well, I had practised the tune for more than a year. Actually, they are about to announce the winners so can we... "

" I had talked to them. They have postponed the winner announcement for half an hour. I would like to have a private conversation with you. "

Her father came forward.

He asked, " Sorry? May I know who you are? "

Ghosh showed him his ID card.

" I am a cop. Please, let me do my job. "

Her parents left the site. While leaving her mother said, " Be careful okay? Don't get panic. "

Ghosh said, " She'll be good. Nothing to worry about. "

As her parents left she turned to Ghosh.

" Yes sir. "

Ghosh showed her the divorce papers of Mr. Joshi.

" I want to ask you about this. Why Mr. Joshi had filed for divorce? Who was his new partner? "

She looked at the papers which had a signature and stamp of ' NEEL OBEROI '. She had her eyes widely opened as if she had got a reminder of something about Mr. Joshi.