Graves Beneath the Feet (Complete)

Chapter 33

"Hey, Are you back? How is uncle now?", asks Sidharth. Jay from the other side of the phone replies,"Hain yaar. Kal wapas aya.. Dad is fine now. I was thinking about coming to your house to meet aunty today. Tu kab tak ghar lautega?" Sidharth replies,"Maa is not at home. She has gone to Shirdi with her friends. She will return tomorrow. Tu aaja shyam ko. Let's sit and have few drinks.. Few friends are coming too." Jay replies,"Tera case close ho gaya right? I heard something about the killer getting caught. Phir bhi tu apni after case party nahi de raha tha, toh I was thinking what is wrong with you?" "Well I was waiting for you to return. Come home by 8.", says Sidharth and hangs up his phone.

Sidharth is in the living room with Jay and Ranne. Bhonsale joins them with his glass of whisky. Jay smiles and says,"Dada makes the best drink here. He knows the right amount of soda in the whisky." Bhonsale smiles and blushes as he puts a plate of peanuts on the table. The front door is kept open and just then Gaikward arrives with Kambli. In no time they are joined by Rajan Chauhan and Devesh. After few minutes two other policemen, Joseph Demelo and Sagar Singh also joins them.

Devesh asks taking a fried pakora from the plate,"Why suddenly a party? You know I can't drink as I still taking medicines for my wound. By the way I never thought out of everybody, our Sidharth here throws parties.." Bhonsale bringing another plate of hot pakoras to the table, says,"Sir has a tradition, after the case is solved, he holds a get together for his team and friends.. Aap dono yahan first time ayeho isiliye yeh aap ko malum nahi hai." Devesh looks at Sidharth and asks,"So the case is solved? When? Did you.." Kambli interrupts,"Ofcourse. The case is solved that's why we all are here. Sir will discuss the details of the case now. It is thrilling to hear everything again from his mouth."

Sidharth sits with Jay at one side, Ranne at the other side. Everybody else sits around him on the chairs arranged in a circle. The table on the centre has the plates of food and drinks. There is a soft smile on his face as he starts,"Hmm.. So the case begins with the central character Roshini Gupta. A charming personality with great talents. Roshini Gupta moved to Mumbai from Surat with the dreams to become an actress in the Bollywood industry. But apart from getting few small roles, she didn't get any major break. Then enters the Assistant Producer Punit. He worked for the Chandra's s*x racket. Getting fresh faces, luring them for big breaks in the movies and using them for prostitution."

Sidharth looks around the room, screening their faces, to read their expression. Taking a deep breath he says,"Roshini met the PA of Mahesh Chandra, PA Iyer and there was another person, manager of Asif Khan, the actor, Zarina. Zarina suggested to go to script writer Anubhav Kashyap, another partner of this business. He along with Punit convinced Roshini to make certain comprises and she agreed. That was her mistake. Desperation to make a name made her go to director Raj Kamal. And she fell into their trap. She was blackmailed with photographs of her intimate moments with him. She was forced to go to people including Executive Producer Kumar and Studio owner Atul Damle. Damle even got her to come down to that studio where all the above mentioned people were present. That broke her finally. She had the key to the studio from Damle. And she committed suicide the next night."

Sidharth pauses and then continues,"Before her death, she had shared her a predicament with her only friend, Govind. He was a shy, a nerd who was in love with Roshini from the first day he had met her. But for her he was just a friend for whom she cared and was protective of. Govind went to police after her death but no body listened to him." "You all know what had happened next. He found writer Sanjeev Doshi and gave him his version of the story. He changed his looks and identity to join Raj Kamal as 3AD(Assitant Director). He suggested Punit this story and the movie was finalised. He had learned the art of makeup from Makeup artist Nirmal. Then the murders started. He called each one, threatened them to expose and asked them to meet at the studio. He had the key of the studio from Roshini. There he confronted them, told their sins on their faces and then he strangulated them with the rope. Time of death, place of death and method of killing was same to Roshini's death.", Sidharth says.