Club You to Death by Anuja Chauhan (books to improve english .TXT) 📕

ugly scene, and it will make him look ridiculous, which will help my election prospects greatly. Well sir, I didn’t see any harm in doing this, even if it meant we would probably have to split our winnings with you this year, but when the ugly scene during the tambola lead to a murder the next morning, and plainclothes policemen started swarming the length and breadth of the DTC asking questions—’

‘Your neat little scheme came under the police scanner,’ Mukesh Khurana concludes grimly. ‘Well, well, you definitely got what you deserved, Srivastava! Now why the hell have you come to me?’

The secretary clears his throat. ‘I’ve come to make you an offer, sir.’

Mukesh’s jaw sags. ‘You! Offering me a deal!’

‘Yes, sir,’ Srivastava says with calm audacity. ‘I will come forward and reveal this information about General Mehra coming to me and asking me to set you up if, in return, you promise that there will be no criminal persecution against the admin staff, and our tradition will be allowed to continue once Mrs Khurana is elected president.’

Mukesh is quiet for a long time. He is reluctantly impressed by the working of the old bulldog’s mind. Srivastava has figured that his tale will strengthen the case against the general, but could potentially land him into trouble as well, so he’s figured out a way to wriggle out of the mess.

He cocks an eyebrow at the old man. ‘Got any proof?’

‘I have the entire conversation recorded sir. I switched on the audio recorder the moment it got interesting.’

Mukesh Khurana’s utters a short neigh of laugher. ‘You’re a sly saanp.’

A complacent expression settles on the secretary’s face. ‘I am just very aware of my responsibilities as Club Secretary, sir. I am in a sense, the custodian of the grand traditions and great history of the DTC.’

Khurana purses his lips. ‘Yeh toh too much ho gaya, Srivastava!’

‘No, sir,’ the old man maintains doggedly. ‘I perform exactly the same tasks Bhatti sir used to before he retired from his position as home secretary. Ministers come and go, but the bureaucrats remain forever, don’t they, sir?’

‘You’re a sly snake,’ Mukki repeats, breathing hard. ‘Don’t ever try to daso my wife or I will cook you in a Korean sauce and feed you to the peacocks in the mango trees of your precious DTC.’

‘Yes, sir,’ the old man replies unblinkingly. ‘Do we have a deal, sir?’

Khurana sits back, and stares down at his glass, swilling its contents. This is an interesting development which can – and should – be milked well.

He nods curtly. ‘We have a deal.’

‘Dammit, PK, your team spent the whole day eating popcorn and binge-watching that damn footage like it was Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan! You must have found something useful, yaar!’ Bhavani demands cantankerously.

Shalini, reading a book beside him in their bed, looks up warily.

Earnest squawking noises are emerging from Bhavani’s phone. They go on for a while. He nods, frowning.

‘And that’s it? Nothing else?’

The squawking is shorter this time and regretful in tone.

Bhavani cuts the call and tosses the phone away moodily.

Shalini puts down her book. ‘You’re like a bear with a sore head,’ she says. ‘You need to eat less salt and drink more water.’

He rumples his grey hair unhappily …

‘We thought Leo’s hard disk – the one we found in the Hayabusa – would give us some more leads, but there’s nothing useful on it!’

‘Nothing?’

He throws up his hands. ‘Nothing that tells us anything we don’t already know! The general coming out of Ganga’s house late in the night, looking besotted. Aryaman describing what mixing alcohol with drugs feels like. But mostly just videos of Leo and Urvashi dancing.’

She says tentatively, ‘So maybe the general did do it, Bhavani?’

He shakes his head. ‘The general is nat guilty. That gun is just too damn convenient. It has been planted, afterwards, just to confuse us.’

‘Okay ...’ She hesitates, ‘ So who do you think would do something like that?’

‘Everybody,’ he replies promptly. ‘You know we always suspect everybody, Shalu. But right now, after the discovery that Ganga’s husband, Ajay Kumar, was actually dealing to the TVVS kids, Aryaman Aggarwal seems to be leading the pack.’

‘Urvashi?’

He shakes his head. ‘The dancing on those tapes is pretty sexy, but it is just dancing. Nothing he could have blackmailed her about.’

She stares down at her fingers, thinking. ‘What about these youngsters of yours?’ she asks. ‘Your Kashi and Bambi duo? Didn’t she say she has a stalker? Her supposedly dead fiancé?’

He yawns tiredly. ‘That is a long shot. But yes, it could fit into this set-up. Matlab, if we were a billionaire with a scarred, psychotic son on the loose, we would pull whatever strings we could to get somebody else convicted for his crime!’

‘So you think this Anshul is really alive and killing admirers of Bambi?’ she asks sceptically.

‘She saw an eye in the wall,’ he reminds her.

‘It’s too … fantastic, Bhavani. People would have noticed some heavily scarred man limping about the DTC, surely!’

‘Agreed.’ He sighs. ‘But we’re on a morning–evening flight to Kolkata tomorrow to meet this Anshul’s father. We weren’t sure he would speak to us – he’s a big man – but he agreed at once.’

‘And Kashi?’

‘What possible motive could he possibly have, Shalu?’

‘Well, you say he has a girlfriend, but he seems obsessed with Bambi. Maybe, if he felt somebody was trying to harm her, like this Leo, for example, then he could’ve—’

His phone beeps. Once. Then twice. Then several times in succession.

‘That’s a woman for sure.’ He sighs wryly.

‘Sexist!’ She pulls a face, clambers off the bed and tosses him his phone. ‘Dekh lo.’

Silently, he passes the phone to his wife. She reads, then quirks a teasing eyebrow.

‘ACP Brownie?’

‘Shalu, please.’ Bhavani goes rather pink. ‘Focus on the important thing!’

She shrugs. ‘She seems to think she’s cracked it.’

‘Yes,’ he replies. ‘If this were a murder mystery novel somebody would definitely bump her off tonight.’

Shalini snorts. ‘Not in her big,