Hush a Bye Baby

Episode 2

4

Standing on the other side of the two-way mirror, Sub-Inspector Reshma Gabuji watched Dr Nandita Rai as she waited in the VIP interrogation room. She'd been there for the past two hours. A woman constable - Aarti Dave - sat in one corner, clearly bored. Both women were on their phones. Aarti's phone had a little shining disco ball hanging from one corner of its cover. Nandita Rai had the latest iPhone, predictably. It had a cover which seemed to have a trophy on it. Reshma made a bet with herself: the cover probably had 'Best Mom' or 'Best Wife' written on it. In the time that Dr Rai had been here, she'd done very little. She'd brushed her hair, reapplied her make-up and - Reshma wasn't positive, but she had a niggling suspicion - taken a selfie. But all that had taken about five minutes. She hadn't asked for anything, not even to see anyone. She hadn't thrown her weight around and asked to see the officer in charge, which was good since Inspector Hadpude still had not returned from his meeting with the Commissioner. All Dr Rai had done was stare at her phone. Now and then, she typed. Most of the time, Reshma could see her finger just gliding across the screen. She could have been waiting for a delayed flight for all anyone knew.

On a whim, Reshma took out her phone and opened the Twitter app. She typed 'Dr Nandita Rai' in the search bar. Dr Rai, or @LadyDoctor, had indeed taken a selfie. And put it up with the caption, 'Blue neon is the worst, but even in tube light, love my highlights! Thank you Tamsin!' So much for the contractor's promise that the new soundproofing in this room would block all signals.

'Reshma? What are you doing here?'

Reshma spun around to find herself face-to-face with Inspector Hadpude. He was not looking happy.

'Sir, I-'

'You're supposed to be interviewing witnesses at Hope.'

'Sir, Lad is there.'

'I told you both to go.'

'Sir, actually I thought I'd take a look at Dr Rai's phone . . .'

Hadpude stared at her uncomprehendingly. 'You thought? I gave you an order and you thought?'

'Sir, I didn't mean to disobey you. I just thought the phone will have data we should analyse. Lad said he could handle Hope on his own and that I should be here to receive the evidence as it comes in.'

'Reshma, do you actually want to be a police officer? Are we keeping you from a dream by actually giving you a uniform to wear? Would you rather work at the help desk? Because if that's the case, don't let me hold you back. In fact, I'll have you transferred right now. No problem.'

'No sir, not at all, sir. I'm sorry.'

'What the hell is wrong with you? You're constantly making excuses to not talk to real people and instead sticking your nose into a bloody computer screen!'

'I'm sorry, sir. I'll go right away.'

'Yes, of course you'll go now, after Lad has spoken to everyone there is to speak to.'

'Sorry sir.'

'Did you take her phone?'

'No sir.'

Hadpude threw his hands up in the air. 'Why not? Actually, don't bother answering. I don't think my blood pressure can take it. You're coming with me, inside.'

'Yes sir.'

It was an unremarkable room: plain white walls, tube lights, a table that stood off-centre with two chairs on one side and a single chair on the other. The air conditioner hummed, rattling uncomfortably now and then. They walked in and, without saying a word, Hadpude sat down on the chair opposite Dr Nandita and signalled Reshma to sit beside him. The scrape of the chair on the floor grated loudly in the quiet room.