The Last Call

When the door-bell rang, Mr. Vijay was getting ready for office, his fourteen year old daughter was having breakfast and Mrs. Vijay was packing the lunch-boxes.

Mr. Vijay went to the door, his shirt half tucked in, hair uncombed. He looked out through a window. He saw two policemen near the door, and a few others standing near the lift and the staircase. None of the neighbors were outside. It was about half past seven. He opened the door.

‘Mr. Vijay?’ a policeman asked.

‘Yes…?’ he said.

‘We are from the local police station.’ The two policemen entered the house without waiting for an invitation. Mr. Vijay stepped aside for them. Mrs. Vijay stood by the kitchen door of their two-bedroom flat. Their daughter turned around to face the policemen. Her mother moved to the kid’s side and laid her hands on her daughter’s shoulders.

The policeman who had spoken earlier said, ‘Mr. Vijay, we would like you to come with us to the police station. Can you please get ready?’

‘What for…?’ Mr. Vijay asked.

‘There’s been a crime and you might be able to help us.’

‘What crime…?’

The policeman ignored his query and continued as if he had not interrupted, ‘Sir, do you have your mobile phone with you?’

‘Yes… why?’

‘Where is it?’

Mr. Vijay looked around the drawing room. He looked at his wife. She stared back blankly, refusing to budge from her position.

‘It is here somewhere,’ Mr. Vijay said, ‘I keep misplacing it.’

‘Let us help you, sir.’ The policeman took out his mobile and dialed a number. The ringing of a phone could be heard from the bedroom. Mr. Vijay went to retrieve the mobile.

He came back, looking flustered. He asked, ‘How do you know my number?’

The policeman who had not spoken so far stepped forward, took the mobile from Mr. Vijay’s hand and slipped it into a plastic cover.

Mr. Vijay protested weakly, ‘Hey, what is going on?’

The policeman who did the talking asked, ‘Do you know Sreedevi Rajan, sir? A girl in your daughter’s school…?’

Mr. Vijay started to say, ‘No, I…’

His daughter interrupted, ‘Sreedevi Rajan… our school leader? Appa, we gave her a lift home last month…’

Her mother pressed the girl’s shoulder and the girl stopped, looking at her mother, and then at her father, confused.

Mrs. Vijay asked, ‘What has happened to her?’

The policeman looked at her, paused for a while, and replied, ‘She committed suicide last night.’

‘How…?’ Mrs. Vijay asked. Then, she shook her head as if to indicate that the question was irrelevant.

The policemen remained silent.

Mrs. Vijay leaned towards her daughter as if she was about to faint. Her daughter looked shocked, and held a hand to her mouth, to smother a cry or to stifle an urge to retch.

The policeman turned to Mr. Vijay and asked, ‘Where were you last night at half past seven?’

‘I was in office. My son was with me. I dropped him at the Inter-state terminal at eight before returning home. He was going back to college after a short break. So, I thought of completing some work in office.’ Mr. Vijay stopped abruptly. He was not the only one in the room who wondered why he gave such a detailed and incoherent answer.

‘Were there others in office at that time?’

‘Yes, a few… half a dozen or so in my department.’

‘Did you have your mobile with you?’

‘Yes.’ Mr. Vijay thought for a while before continuing, ‘I mean, it was with me in office… but I keep leaving it on my table while attending to work elsewhere. I misplace it all the time. I should get a pouch.’ Again, he wondered if his answers seemed elaborate.

‘Why are you interested in my mobile?’ Mr. Vijay asked.

‘Sreedevi received a call from your number at quarter to eight. It was the last call she received. We have been able to trace that call to a tower near your office. Did you call her, Mr. Vijay?

‘No, of course not…’ Mr. Vijay looked at his wife. She kept her head down. He saw his daughter looking at him. Was it shame or anger in her eyes, he could not be sure.

‘Did your son use your phone?’

‘Maybe…’ he saw his wife look up, ‘No, why should he? Maybe, one of my colleagues used the phone…’

‘We will check, Mr. Vijay. Now, please get ready and come with us, sir.’

The policeman who had remained silent till then said, ‘She was pregnant, you know. We will check that, too.’ He stared at Mr. Vijay for a long while, unblinking, as if he was waiting for his words to permeate within.    

Mr. Vijay opened his mouth, to protest or explain, but no sound came from him. He looked at his wife and daughter, at the lowered heads. They did not budge even when he followed the policemen. There were a few curious neighbors outside then. Mr. Vijay did not look back at his wife and daughter.