Seduced by Murder by Saurbh Katyal

know that the entire thing was fabricated, to throw us off the track.”
    “And you are telling me that Shalini is the murderer?”
    He nodded sadly. “Of course! That is evident.”
    “Mr Kapoor, let me get this straight. Whatever you have told me just now is with the intent of attributing a motive for Shalini to murder your son?”
    “It is for your benefit, Vishal. You have to know this to get a confession out of her.”
    “Do you have any proof that Shalini murdered your son?”
    He looked surprised. “Proof! What proof is needed? There is no one else who could be involved!”
    “There is unaccounted-for cash in Leo’s apartment. Are you aware of that?”
    “Yes, I wanted to thank you for helping us recover that.”
    “You are welcome. My point is – have you accounted for that money?”
    “Yes, we know how Anil got the money. You don’t have to know the details. It is not related to his murder.”
    “Anil called Leo the evening he was murdered, saying that he had hit a jackpot. I think I need to investigate this further.”
    “You don’t have to do that.” Paras said firmly.
    “Okay, then please tell me what jackpot Anil was referring to.”
    “There was no jackpot. The friend of his is lying. Anil realised that he didn’t want to leave his family, and had a change of heart at the last moment.”
    The old man stared at me stubbornly.
    “The five crores in cash? How did he get that?”
    “That is immaterial to your investigation.”
    “I was told he had forged your signature to sell some of your assets in the past. Did he forge your signature this time too?”
    He maintained an obstinate silence for a few seconds, sighed, and then said in an exasperated tone, “Yes, he did. Heforged Sunil’s signature. That fool! He undersold one of our best-tenanted properties … at half the price.”
    “That was how he got the money?”
    “Yes.”
    “What was the total amount of the transaction, if I may ask?”
    “He sold it for sixty crores. I had offers for ninety crores for the same property.”
    “Sixty crores? But we found five.”
    “A certain component of the amount is always paid in black to save on tax. I checked with Mr Asrani, the buyer. In this case, Anil had asked for fifty percent black and fifty percent white.”
    “That means he got thirty crores in cash?”
    “Yes. We haven’t been able to find the rest. I am trying to look in all the places. Twenty-five crores have vanished.”
    “And the remaining thirty crores, the white component?”
    “That would have been credited to the company’s account. Anil had asked Mr Asrani to deposit the amount on Thursday.”
    “That was the day he was leaving with Leo?”
    “Yes.”
    “I think I need to investigate the forgery and see what I can find.”
    Paras said threateningly, “Don’t dig into his past! Let his soul rest. You know as much as I do who the murderer is. That is why you wanted to speak to her today. So speak to her and break her!”
    “Yes, I suspect her,” I said politely. “But I have a hunch that the money could give us a better understanding of why Anil was murdered. Not to forget, we have no proof that can incriminate Shalini.”
    Paras’s nostrils flared. “Don’t talk like a damn fool! There is no proof needed. This is my family, and we know what happened.”
    He was fuming. If looks could kill, he would have killed me. I rubbed my temples to subdue the headache.
    “Mr Kapoor, unfortunately, the justice system in our country does not count intuition. Nor do I. You are implying that Shalini is the murderer, and you have provided a motive too. But unless you have seen her committing the crime, or have some tangible proof, please don’t use terms like ‘breaking Shalini’. All I want to do is have a chat with her.”
    “Don’t get carried away, Vishal,” he said, trying hard to control his anger. “You know perfectly well that Shalini is the murderer. She had a nervous breakdown when you reconstructed the