Seduced by Murder by Saurbh Katyal Page B

slender, and it made her look even taller. I was broad, by virtue of years of hitting the gym, and it made me look shorter.
    “That must hurt, baby,” she said removing my sunglasses, and gently blowing cool air at my eye, almost challenging me with her pink, shapely lips. Her face was devoid of any make-up, and her natural beauty bewitched me. It was happening again.
    She was twirling my sunglasses in her hand, fully aware of her control over me. I caught hold of her petite hand and held it still. Then I wiped the sunglasses against the fabric of the robe, between her breasts. I made sure my fingers lingered on her nipples for a few seconds. They were hard.
    “Oh … Vishal!”
    I waited until her lips had almost touched mine.
    “Sunil!” I exclaimed.
    She jerked back violently and turned around. There was no one there. She looked back at me with a petrified expression. I grinned.
    “You shouldn’t play with fire, baby, unless you want to get burnt.”
    She looked at me angrily and marched away. I knew she was hurt. I also knew she was vindictive. With her, a misdeed never went unpunished.
    Her breath lingered over me, and my headache increased. I wanted a drink. Many drinks. I walked into the kitchen. There was a young woman cooking something. The aroma teased my hunger. I realised I hadn’t eaten anything since morning. Ram was nowhere around, so I requested her to guide me to Shalini’s room. We passed through the kitchen,down several corridors, and up some flights of stairs, before arriving at a room with the door ajar.
    She pointed to the door and hurried back to the kitchen. I entered the room. The lights were switched off, and the blinds were drawn. The room had been plunged into melancholic darkness. Shalini was sitting at the corner of a bed, staring at a laptop. She was oblivious to my presence. I noticed two single beds separated by a dressing table, the size of a tank. I felt sorry for her as I remembered Paras’s words that her marriage had never been consummated.
    I coughed softly. Shalini’s head jerked, and she stood up, almost dropping the laptop. She looked terrified, and transfixed, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a speeding vehicle. Her eyes were hollow – eyes that had been open for too long and needed rest.
    “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “Don’t you have the basic courtesy to knock?” Her recovery was fast, too fast for my comfort. She had been expecting me.
    “Sorry,” I went outside and knocked at the door. There was no reply. “Ready or not, here I come.”
    She had walked to the other corner of the room, and was sitting on a sofa. I was rewarded with an intensely hostile stare. I saw faint traces of fear beneath her hostility. Her shoulders were arched with tension. I sat down opposite her. She was playing with her fingers. She avoided eye contact now, preferring to stare at a distant wall. The white sari she was wearing contrasted against her complexion. Her hair flowed in waves down her shoulders. I realised that Shalini was an attractive woman, the kind of woman a man would like to comfort and take care of.
    Her eyes interested me. They darted everywhere, unable to focus at a single place. I stood up and walked till I was right behind her. She immediately stiffened and turned around, watching each step, paranoid. I walked to the closet and opened it. It contained a woman’s clothing and cosmetics. I opened the adjoining closet. This one contained a man’s clothes. I opened the drawer and saw a few watches, a mobile phone, some credit cards, and a gold wristband. I turned towards her.
    “You heard about Leo?”
    She lowered her gaze. “Yes.”
    “It seems Anil carried the locket home. Probably kept it in the drawer in this closet.”
    She was still staring at the floor, and made no attempt to indulge me. I said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Shalini, Mr Kapoor has given me a carte blanche to question all the family members. Is there a problem with