The Other Side Read online

  ‘She is working on a good cause, I must say. And what else do you know about her movement towards the cause?’ asked Sahil with a little hesitance.

  ‘A few months back, frustrated with the system here, she had written a letter to our PM, Chief Minister and health minister regarding the growing threat of drug-resistant TB and some preventive measures that could be taken – that is bans on spitting in public. After a few months, she got a reply from the health minister’s office. But as expected she was not happy with the response and hence decided to file a PIL,’ said Sahil’s friend.

  Sahil tried convincing Harvey to think about the other possibilities. He felt there was no point suspecting Kavya. Meanwhile Sahil got a call from his banker friend Vijay. Sahil had given the account number that the blackmailer had provided in his emails to Vijay to get some details about the account holder.

  ‘Hey Sahil, the account number which you gave is from the Ankleshwar branch, Gujarat. I cannot provide you with the name or personal details of the account holder, but I can tell you that the account is of some organization and no one individual,’ said Vijay.

  ‘Oh, that’s great. Thank you so much, Vijay, for helping.’ Sahil had a new lead now.

  ‘Harvey, your suspect might be in Gujarat and not Mumbai. I think we might need to go there,’ said Sahil.

  ‘But on what basis can we go and search there. We need some more information about the account holder, or else we will end up wasting our time sightseeing there,’ said Harvey.

  Harvey was not sure what to do next. He had high hopes that Kavya might be the culprit. But there was nothing that could be said against her now. Meanwhile, Harvey was getting many calls from Los Angeles regarding the scam. There were so many other victims of the Ashton Martinson scam who needed help. Things were getting critical.

  Moreover, Harvey had lied about a visit to India to Sam. He couldn’t stretch it for long. He was fearing going back to the US without any clues of the prime suspect. He felt helpless. He wanted to try one last time, and he wanted to take a closer look at Kavya’s daily activity. It was difficult because Sahil was totally against the idea. So was Tukaram. They all felt that Kavya would not have been involved in anything like the Ashton Martinson scam. Sahil tried explaining it to Harvey, but he knew it was in vain. Sahil eventually agreed to track Kavya for a day just for Harvey’s satisfaction. As it is, Harvey was flying back to the US in two days. He could not afford to stay longer in India.

  Chapter 23

  Sahil had got Kavya’s Mumbai residential address, and they were outside her house early in the morning. Harvey wanted to observe where she went, what she did and whom she met. Sahil was not happy with the idea.

  ‘What if she doesn’t move out of her house at all today? Like for how long will you wait outside her house? Harvey, you cannot make out anything this way,’ said Sahil. They had early breakfast in the hotel and were waiting outside Kavya’s house in a car from 8 a.m. It was 10 a.m., and still, there was no movement of people going or coming out from her apartment.

  ‘Harvey, I am feeling hungry again, want to have coffee?’ asked Sahil. He knew Harvey would get irritated with this question. But Sahil wanted to have his coffee. He got out of the car and saw someone coming out of the building. It was Kabir Mehta. They had done their research and knew how Kabir and Kavya looked like. He slid back to the car to inform Harvey.

  ‘Good, now just as he has left the house for work, Kavya might also leave in a while. Tukaram was saying she goes to several places on routine days,’ said Harvey. Sahil grinned as he wanted a cup of coffee badly. It was 11.30 a.m. and still, Kavya had not left the house.

  ‘What if she does not move out of her house today? If she is in the mood to binge-watch some series on TV or if she has called her friends in the house or if she just decides to laze around in the house full day,’ suggested Sahil. Harvey gave him one tough look to keep his mouth shut.

  ‘When she was in the US, she had said that she does not like to sit in the house whole day and that she keeps herself occupied with some or other outdoor work,’ said Harvey. Just as Harvey said this, someone came out of her building. Harvey smiled as he saw a lady looking adorable in Indian clothes. The pink hakoba kurti complimented Kavya’s simplicity. Paired up with white churidar, sandals and accessories, Kavya looked pretty even as her skin reflected a little reddish tinge as if she had got a sunburn. Sahil had his eyes glued on her since the time she came out of the apartment.

  ‘See, I told you she would leave her apartment,’ Harvey teased Sahil.

  ‘It’s just that luck favoured you today that Kavya came out in time. Or else, as Tukaram said, she takes rest on some days and doesn’t move out of her house at all. She is a patient after all,’ said Sahil.

  Kavya took her car from the parking lot and drove out of the building. Sahil started his car and followed her from a distance, and they reached till Tardeo following her. The first place that Kavya visited was at a psychiatrist’s clinic. As she entered the clinic, Harvey and Sahil both looked at each other in surprise.

  ‘Why would she go there?’ asked Sahil.

  ‘Maybe she might be having some issues to deal with things. Doesn’t mean she is mad, in the US going to a psychiatrist is so normal. It’s good for the mental health and one’s well-being,’ explained Harvey.

  ‘Yes, you are right, one should go in for therapy for mental well-being, but in India, people are still restricted and not open-minded to take help,’ said Sahil.

  ‘You know what ... even I have visited a psychiatrist in Los Angeles years back,’ confessed Harvey. Sahil gave him a weird look.

  ‘Hmm ... I knew something was wrong with your head ... thanks for proving me right,’ said Sahil and burst into laughter.

  ‘Asshole, shut up! Okay?’ said Harvey as he gave Sahil one friendly punch on his shoulder.

  ‘Okay, no offence, tell me, did the psychiatrist help you? What was the need for you to go there?’ asked Sahil out of curiosity.

  ‘You know how my relationships with girls are nowadays. I don’t feel like getting into long-time commitment. Earlier I used to love a girl and I lost her in a car accident. I was dependent on her for my emotional and mental well-being that I was not able to cope up with her loss. I just used to puke, couldn’t eat food and suffered from severe headaches as I just used to cry most of the times. I felt helpless, I felt like dying. No one knows about this side of mine. I never disclosed to anyone, not even my best friend. It was when I puked once in the public washroom after crying a lot. There was a psychiatrist out there in the washroom, who saw me and came to my rescue. He treated me well. Thanks to that doctor, he healed me over time, and I started looking life in a better way. I miss my girlfriend every day, but now I don’t let that affect my daily routine or any work commitments. I learned to exercise self-control over my emotions. Unfortunately, I have become a little stone-hearted and people think I am a Casanova because I am not into long-time commitments. Maybe I will overcome this as well after a certain time,’ said Harvey. Sahil had never known this side of Harvey. He felt terrible for him and diverted his mind to something else.

  They waited outside the clinic for an hour, and Sahil finally got a good chance to get his coffee. After a while, Kavya came out of the clinic and proceeded towards her car. Sahil was quick to follow her. Next, she visited Hinduja Hospital. She came out soon from there and then she drove to Bandra to meet some advocate. Harvey and Sahil just followed her everywhere but waited inside the car. Nothing until now felt suspicious to Sahil.

  ‘I think it is useless Harvey, do you still want to continue this?’ asked Sahil.

  Just then, Kavya parked her car near a bank. It was a branch of the same bank whose account number had been given to Sam. Though this bank was a popular bank and it could be just a mere coincidence. But it gave a possibility to Harvey’s suspicion. Sahil kept quiet after seeing Kavya entering the bank. After a while, Sahil started his car as he saw Kavya coming out of the bank. Kavya visited
a café after the bank and met someone there.

  ‘Who is he now?’ asked Harvey.

  ‘No clue. Might be her friend or something,’ said Sahil.

  ‘What are they doing with the laptop? Let’s go inside this café ... oh no, I can’t get inside, Kavya knows me,’ said Harvey.

  ‘Let me go inside; as it is I am feeling little hungry. You want something to eat?’ asked Sahil.

  Harvey gave him a fierce look again and ordered a sandwich and a juice.

  Kavya was with someone. They were discussing something and doing something on the laptop. Sahil wanted to see if it had to do anything with the scam. Luckily, Sahil got the table from where he could see the laptop screen very well.

  It had nothing to do with the scam and its emails. They were discussing and working on a website they had created. An organization to help people who could not afford treatment for tuberculosis. After seeing that, Sahil felt like leaving the café right away and discontinue tracking Kavya. He waited for his parcel to get ready and left once it was done. Harvey was furious as Sahil came out of the café, even as Kavya was sitting inside.

  ‘What emergency made you come out now?’ asked Harvey, pretty upset as Sahil started his car to leave the place.

  ‘It’s of no use Harvey. We are just wasting our time. The girl you think might be your friend’s blackmailer, and someone who might be behind the scam to break families is opening an organization online to help people treat tuberculosis. She is making a website with that guy along with her. And since morning I don’t see anything suspicious about her actions. Her entering that bank might be mere coincidence and nothing else; as it is that bank is very famous and have so many branches all over Mumbai and India,’ said Sahil.

  ‘Look I know that she is working for a noble cause. It’s really good about her, but that does not simply prove that she cannot be the culprit. It’s a big scam Sahil, way bigger than you think. I cannot keep any loopholes in investigating the matter. I need to double-check on her before I leave, even if she is not the culprit,’ said Harvey.

  ‘Do, you have any backup plan, Harvey? What, if after all this you find that Kavya is not the culprit, whom will you catch then. How are you planning to find the person and catch hold of him or her? Will you not regret that you wasted major time on Kavya?’ asked Sahil.

  Harvey told him about a few other investigations he is doing simultaneously in the US, but Sahil was unconvinced with the way he was working. Eventually, Sahil and Harvey left as they saw Kavya coming out of the café and heading towards her home.

  Chapter 24

  Sahil was supposed to come late the next day to the hotel. He was going to make Harvey meet someone. Sahil had no plans to track Kavya again that day. Harvey knew this would happen, and he agreed with Sahil. He was cool with not tracking Kavya that day because he would get a track of where all she was going using technology. Harvey had attached a GPS tracker on Kavya’s car when Sahil and Kavya were in the café. Harvey didn’t say anything about this to Sahil, or else he would have freaked out. Now Harvey would get all the information on where Kavya would go for a few days. Doing this is generally illegal, but Harvey had talked to Tukaram about it, and he approved it though only for a few days.

  Harvey waited calmly for Sahil to reach the hotel. He kept checking his phone to see if Kavya was travelling somewhere. But she didn’t. It was afternoon, and still, there were no activities from her end. Even Sahil didn’t show up. Just when Harvey was going to call Sahil, his doorbell rang. It was Sahil.

  ‘Sorry I got late, I want you to meet my friend in the evening; he is a hacker, let’s see if we can get some help from him to directly work on your case,’ said Sahil.

  ‘Okay, that’s great. So what do we do till then?’ asked Harvey.

  ‘We will go somewhere, let’s do some more Mumbai darshan till then. You want to go anywhere in particular?’ asked Sahil.

  Harvey thought for a while and rechecked his phone to check if Kavya has made any move. Just then he saw that Kavya’s car had moved towards Bandra and it showed the proper location on GPS tracker.

  ‘Hello? I am asking you, do you wish to go anywhere in particular?’ asked Sahil again.

  ‘Bandra. Can we go to Bandra? I want to check this particular restaurant. I had read about it in a magazine,’ said Harvey.

  He quickly searched a restaurant next to where Kavya went.

  ‘Yea sure! Why not. Come let’s leave,’ said Sahil. Clueless about what Harvey was up to, Sahil and Harvey left for Bandra. Sahil found Harvey lost in the phone today and behaving very differently. They left for Bandra, and to Harvey’s bad luck, Kavya had moved from her location; but still, she was in Bandra’s vicinity. Little disappointed, Harvey had his food fast and again checked his mobile.

  ‘Are you okay, bro? You are just gulping your food down, and you are just busy on your phone since the time I have met you. What are you up to?’ asked Sahil.

  ‘Yea, just checking out something. Sahil can we go to Hill Road after this, I want to see some stuff there,’ said Harvey. According to Harvey’s GPS tracker, Kavya had been roaming there in that area for half an hour and eventually the car had stopped on Hill Road.

  ‘Isn’t that Kavya’s car, the one which we were following yesterday?’ asked Sahil. Sahil felt something was fishy after he spotted Kavya’s car. Every time it could not be a mere coincidence.

  ‘Oh yes, it’s the same car. She must be somewhere here,’ said Harvey. He tried to act as if he was unaware.

  ‘Oh come on Harvey, why don’t you check it on your phone? You are tracking her, right dude?’ asked Sahil. He was quite sure Harvey was doing something like this.

  ‘Hmm, you got it right. Yesterday when you went to the café to check on Kavya, I had fixed a mini GPS tracker in her car,’ said Harvey.

  ‘You are seriously off your head, why don’t you leave tracking her and find the one who is actually behind the scam?’ asked Sahil.

  ‘One last day Sahil; I am working on the other prospect too; you know, there is some gut instinct which is forcing me to do all this. I need a bit more of help; I will try to get you Kavya’s contact number, can you please find out all her call records? It will really help to assure my instinct,’ said Harvey.

  ‘And how are you going to get her number? Are you calling your friend?’ asked Sahil.

  Just then Harvey got a call from Sam. Harvey decided to answer this time and tell him that he was in India for some work.

  ‘Harvey, what the hell are you doing there in Mumbai? You didn’t even tell me and why in this world are you tracking Kavya?’ asked Sam furiously.

  Harvey was shocked when he heard all this. He wondered how Sam had come to know about his visit to India and moreover about tracking Kavya. He was spellbound. He didn’t know what to react and what to tell Sam.

  ‘Sam, how do you came to know that I am in Mumbai and tracking Kavya?’ asked Harvey.

  ‘Kavya saw you with someone yesterday and today as well. And she has found your GPS tracker, dumb fellow; she called me for your number as she wanted to return your GPS tracker,’ Sam burst out at the other end. He was so loud that even Sahil was able to hear the whole conversation, and he burst into laughter.

  ‘Harvey, you forgot to ask for her number man, we have to get phone records, right? Oh, I forgot, now she will only call you right? Shit, that’s so embarrassing,’ said Sahil. He was still not able to control his laughter. Within no time, Harvey had got a call from an Indian number. It was Kavya.

  ‘Hey Harvey, how are you doing? Where are you exactly, I want to return your stuff or else how about you come to where I am standing right now, you can track me through that device after all,’ said Kavya. She too was sounding sarcastic and pulling Harvey’s leg. He felt very awkward. He didn’t know what to tell Kavya. They eventually went to where Kavya’s car was parked on hill road to meet her.

  ‘Hey Kavya, so sorry, but it was just a part of my investigation,’ said Harvey in a shallow and apologetic to
ne.

  ‘That’s okay, so what did you find out till now? Something apart from me, you can ask me questions directly if you wish Harvey,’ said Kavya. Sahil was just listening to her nectar-like voice.

  ‘Kavya, please don’t get me wrong; things and coincidences are such that I had to check once for my assurance. By the way, meet Sahil, he is my friend from the UK, and he works here for Mumbai News and is a big fan of yours,’ said Harvey to change the topic and awkwardness. Kavya and Sahil greeted each other by exchanging smiles.

  ‘Hi Kavya, I am seriously inspired by the work you are doing. The fight against the system for the betterment of people is not an easy job. You must have gone through much pain,’ said Sahil. He felt bad for what all Kavya was going through, upon the awkward situation in which Harvey had kept her.

  ‘Yes, it’s a tough process to go through such pain, and so some action was required. I am still dealing and coping with tuberculosis and it has taken my sanity out of me in the year and half gone by ... and what do we say about Harvey, he is doing his job well, nice efforts,’ said Kavya, the last sentence in a sarcastic tone.

  But Harvey was expecting it and thus was prepared.

  ‘Hey you guys, why don’t you come for dinner today, even Kabir will get to meet you both,’ offered Kavya.

  ‘Some other day, Kavya, today Sahil is going to make me meet someone who can help in the case of Ashton Martinson,’ said Harvey.

  ‘Oh, then come tomorrow evening, what say Harvey? I will cook some authentic Indian food for you. I know you love to eat Indian food. And as it is, you are here for a few days,’ said Kavya.