AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How much did she pay you to take her to the safe house?” he asked.
“I’m a poor man, Saheb,” whimpered the constable. “I have three children, and I have to raise them on a constable’s salary.”
DV shook his head.
“Don’t blame your children for your bad decisions, asshole. Write down Kirti Mehta’s phone number,” he said, slapping a notepad in front of the man.
Then he turned to Inspector Sawant.
“We need to speak to Kirti Mehta, but we don’t have any authority to do that.”
The cop smirked.
“So you recognise that, do you? I’m so glad to hear that. As a peace offering, I will question her for you. You can watch from the other side of the mirror. But any more threats, and you won’t find me so helpful, Digvijay Singh,” he warned.
“Appreciated, Inspector. One more thing. We suspect Princess Tasha’s mother to be the mastermind behind all this. Can you pull Vishal Agarwal’s phone records to see if he has been speaking to Tasha’s mother, please? It is possible that the child misunderstood what she heard. He could have been talking on the phone, which would also explain why she couldn’t hear the other person’s replies.”
The Inspector nodded towards one of his constables, who hurried out of the door.
“Kirti Mehta is already waiting in the interrogation room,” he said, with that smirk that seemed as much part of his personality as his thick moustache.
He led us to a room with a big glass window on one wall, and a speaker mounted next to it. On the other side of the window was a small room with just a table and a couple of chairs. A woman sat on one of the chairs. She looked nervous and uncomfortable.
Inspector Sawant walked into the room and shut the door behind him. We could hear him clearly through the speaker.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Mehta,” he said politely.
“Why the hell did you haul me into the police station at this unearthly hour, Inspector? Is there no limit to your police brutality?”
DV shook his head in disbelief.
“That is one hell of a stupid woman,” he murmured.
I agreed with him. This was going to be fun to watch.
Inspector Sawant smiled coldly.
“Would you call this brutal, Miss Mehta? It is just a slight inconvenience, in my opinion. What you pulled yesterday, on the other hand… that was extremely brutal.”
“I didn’t pull anything, Inspector. I acted on a tip-off from one of your cops. As a journalist, it was my duty to expose the corrupt liaison between the police and the super-rich people involved in this case.”
“Yes, yes. It was a fine display of your journalistic integrity,” said the Inspector absently, as he flicked through his notes. Then he looked up and speared her with a scathing glance.
“I just need you to clear up a confusing point, Miss Mehta. Who, exactly, gave you the tip-off?”
She fidgeted in her seat, crossing and uncrossing her legs before she answered.
“Like I’ve already told you so many times since you called me in, your constable told me all about the poor little girl who was bribed into lying to the police.”
“Hmm… yes, yes. You did say that. But here’s what is confusing me. My constable is a bit of a fool and slightly corrupt as you found out yesterday, but he isn’t completely dishonest. He claims that you already knew about the child and that you merely required confirmation on that point.”
I watched interestedly as Kirti Mehta blanched at his words.
“N…no! He’s lying! I knew nothing about her,” she began.
Inspector Sawant held up his hand.
“Let’s stop dancing around the truth, Miss Mehta. We both know that my constable is telling the truth. If you keep lying to me, I will arrest you for interfering with my investigation,” he said sternly.
