Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Cross-examining Athira on the stand turned out well, since she’d already agreed that Pai’s phone password was an “open secret” in the industry.
After going back and forth a few times, she finally caved and agreed that someone else could have unlocked her husband’s phone too.
“I highly doubt it, though,” Athira said, her fists balled as she glared at Preethi, whose eyes were downcast. “My intuition tells me that wretched woman did it, and a woman’s intuition never lies. ”
“Unfortunately, a woman’s intuition doesn’t count as evidence in the court of law,” Tejas said, quirking a brow and holding back his smugness. “No further questions.”
Jagannath’s testimony on the stand was nothing they hadn’t heard before.
In fact, it was almost word for word what he’d said at his house last month.
With little evidence against him, and nothing concrete from Sandhya or Vaishnavi yet, they limited their questioning to Jagannath’s relationship with Pai and whether he was aware that Gopal Krishnan and Pai were butting heads during filming.
“They were,” Jagannath said nonchalantly, nodding at Gopal, who was seated in the third row, “but eventually, they made peace with it, and we wrapped up the scene. It was nothing but a misunderstanding. Gopal would tell you the same thing.”
As predicted, Gopal was in agreement with Jagannath’s take on his conflict with Rohith.
“Creative differences are common in the film industry,” he said.
“And I admit I was anxious about getting too close to Preethi. Eventually, I was able to set aside my fears and do what the project demanded from me.” When Gopal was asked how he had heard Jagannath’s yell for help but not Preethi’s, despite both screams having occurred mere feet away from the Krishnans’ trailer, he had no answer except to say he was a deep sleeper and was more acquainted with Jagannath’s voice than Preethi’s.
Since Bina had only woken after the police arrived, her testimony had nothing of note.
The prosecution’s next witness was Vaishnavi Iyer, Jagannath’s assistant.
Tejas was on the edge of his seat, wondering what the prosecution was going to ask her.
She had no knowledge of what had gone down that night, and the Reddit account wasn’t part of the discovery file…
yet. Naina would put it forth as evidence right before she went up to cross-examine Vaishnavi.
“She looks a little…off. Right?” Naina whispered, nudging Tejas.
He bit his lip, trying to gauge Vaishnavi’s demeanor.
She was blank-faced, though a little paler than usual, and the hem of her sweater was clenched tightly in her right hand.
She walked to the stand, her eyes on the floor.
Maybe she was just anxious, considering the role she had in spreading vitriol about Preethi online.
After her oath, Mr. Rizwan asked, “Miss Iyer, do you recall seeing anything out of the ordinary in the early hours of October first while you were on set?”
Vaishnavi gulped. Her eyes went from the prosector to the judge, then she gave a sharp nod.
“I heard footsteps outside my trailer, which was next door to Preethi’s.
I got up from my bed and saw a woman through the window, walking in the direction of Rohith sir’s trailer.
She was wearing a maroon dressing gown, and I saw a flash of skimpy pink lingerie underneath. ”
Multiple murmurs sounded in the courtroom. Tejas squirmed in his seat. Vaishnavi hadn’t mentioned this to them when they’d questioned her.
Mr. Rizwan gestured to the screen at Preethi’s mug shot, in which she wore exactly the outfit Vaishnavi had just described, the maroon gown and the camisole underneath streaked with bloodstains.
“What else did you notice, Miss Iyer?”
Vaishnavi bit her lip. “It was dark, and I don’t remember much because I’d only woken up for a few minutes. I didn’t think much of it, I figured it must be Preethi going to use the portable toilets. But in hindsight, I remember hearing a sob. She was crying.”
Tejas caught Preethi’s eye, and she mouthed, That’s a lie! Beside Tejas, Naina’s hands trembled. He sighed softly, then found her fingers and squeezed them with his own, knowing they still had their chance to get the real truth out of Vaishnavi.
Naina gave him a quick look of appreciation, then said loudly, “Your Honor, this was not part of Vaishnavi’s official statement to law enforcement. She didn’t mention seeing Preethi leaving her trailer or that she was allegedly crying.”
Vaishnavi wiped her eyes, though Tejas saw zero tears.
“I was scared to get involved,” she said, her voice steadily increasing in pitch.
“I didn’t want my face all over the news reports.
As Jagannath sir’s assistant, I work behind the scenes, and it was best for me to stay that way for the sake of my career.
Until…” She made a choked noise. “Until I realized this is bigger than me. This is about justice.”
For a personal assistant, this woman sure was good at theatrics. Tejas held himself back from rolling his eyes in front of the judge.
“Your witness,” Mr. Rizwan said, grinning toothily. He sat back down, his legs crossed.
Tejas watched as Naina stood, exhaling softly, the folder of evidence from the IT guy in her hands.
Before she could walk toward the witness, the judge spoke up, shuffling her papers.
“Unfortunately, we’re out of time today.
We will reconvene tomorrow at four p.m. for the defense’s cross-examination of the final witness and closing statements. The court is adjourned.”
“This is fine,” Naina said to Tejas as the court emptied. “With Sandhya’s testimony, we might actually have a better chance at a confession from Vaishnavi.”
“Let’s see,” he replied as they approached Preethi.
“Were you really crying as you walked to his trailer?” Naina whispered to her. Iqbal joined the group, the confusion on his face identical to Naina’s.
Tears fell steadily down Preethi’s face. “She’s lying,” she insisted. “I was determined, not sad. I only got emotional when I walked into his trailer and found him dead.” The cops arrived to escort her back to prison. “Please save me,” she begged before they took her away.
Tejas whooshed out a breath. “Obviously, someone’s paying Vaishnavi to lie. Is it the same person who made her write those things on Reddit? Jagannath, perhaps? Or Pai’s wife?”
“Figure it out, and fast,” Iqbal said. “I’ll see you both at the office.”
As they exited the doors, a vicious crowd of people surged forward—paparazzi, journalists, Rohith’s fans with their anti-Preethi signage—thrusting mics at Tejas and Naina and screaming into their faces—but Tejas pushed past them, ducking his head, Naina right behind him.
“All right,” Naina said, raising her head confidently when they were out of everyone’s sight, closer to the auto rickshaw stand. “We’ll find out whatever Sandhya has to say, and that’ll help us crack this case. As long as she shows up. I mean, we don’t even have her phone number.”
“I’m sure she’ll show up,” Tejas said. He reached over before he could stop himself and tucked a lock of her straight hair behind her ear. “You’re a good lawyer, Naina. So am I. We have to trust ourselves to win this.”
Something shone in Naina’s eyes that lit up her face in a way Tejas hadn’t seen before. She moved ahead, the heat of her body inching closer and closer to him, and took his hands in hers, smiling. “I trust you, Prince Charming.”
Tejas reveled in the touch of her skin against his.
He wondered if she knew how badly he wanted to kiss her in this moment, how desperately he needed an answer from her after the trial ended.
They were toeing the line between colleagues and lovers, and Naina only needed to take one step forward to meet him where he was. In love.
He smiled back, adoration unfurling in his chest. “I trust you too, Naina Stark.”
Tejas nearly fell asleep en route to Nexus Mall, where they were to meet Sandhya, but he jerked awake when the auto rickshaw driver slammed on the brakes. “You want to stop right here?” the driver asked, his eyebrows drawn in suspicion as Tejas paid him. “The mall doesn’t open until ten.”
“Uh, that’s fine, I have…other business here,” Tejas replied, grimacing.
The streets were deserted this early in the morning, and Tejas had decided to get here a few minutes ahead of time so Naina wouldn’t have to wait in the dark by herself.
According to the text she’d just sent him, she was still a few minutes away.
They would meet at the entrance to the mall, then walk to the back alley together. Hopefully, Sandhya wouldn’t bail.
The driver stayed put in front of the mall, glaring at Tejas well after he’d gotten out of the auto. Tejas resisted the urge to glare back. Was this guy an undercover cop or something? Couldn’t he just mind his business and drive off?
Just as Tejas considered saying something, a car pulled up across the dimly lit street and Naina got out of it, her eyes narrowed. She was wearing a woolen sweater and faded blue pants. “Hey, is there a problem?” she asked.
The driver said something brashly in Kannada, gesturing with his hands, and Naina argued back until he scoffed and drove away.
“What was that about?” Tejas scratched the top of his head. Damn, he really needed to learn the local language, and fast.
Naina laughed as she started walking toward the alley behind the mall. “He thought we were meeting to hook up. Bangalore, unfortunately, has a lot of unofficial ‘moral police.’ ”
Tejas rolled his eyes. “It’s the same everywhere I’ve been. Well, except for—”
“Goa,” she replied, finishing the sentence and breaking into a fit of giggles. “Oh my God, can you imagine going skinny-dipping anywhere else in India?”
“Nope,” Tejas said, rounding the corner to the putrid-smelling alley lined with trash bags along the faded yellow walls. “We’d end up splashed on the front page of the news.”
Naina smiled as they halted. “That’s going to happen anyway, because we’re winning this case. Speaking of which…” She looked at her wristwatch. “It’s a few minutes past four. Where is she?”
“I’m sure it isn’t easy evading her family and the security guards manning their mansion,” Tejas mumbled. “Guess we just have to wait.”
They stood in silence except for the impatient tapping of Naina’s feet and Tejas checking on Astrid via his cat camera.
She was sipping water, from the looks of it.
Astrid had excitedly woken up at three a.m. to the sounds of Tejas getting ready, and he’d been forced to fill her food bowl just so she’d let him leave without protest.
Naina must have peeked at his phone before he stowed it away, because she said, “I never pictured myself as a cat person.”
“But?” he said, flicking his eyebrow up.
Her lips twitched. “I have to admit, Astrid is ridiculously adorable.”
“She is.” Tejas’s heart clenched painfully. What he wouldn’t give to wake up next to his cat and Naina every morning, give both of them a kiss and snuggle in bed until Astrid’s hunger overtook her love for her humans. But despite the warmth in Naina’s eyes, she’d given him no clear answer.
And until then, he’d have to put his hope aside.
“Tejas?” Naina said as she wrung her hands.
“Hmm?”
“I…I’m glad you’re not upset with me.”
He snorted, and she blinked in confusion. “Oh, I’m upset with the situation for sure, Naina Shetty. But that doesn’t change how I feel about you.” Smiling, he added, “We’ll save Preethi. I know it. And after that…I’ll let you decide where we go from there.”
Naina smiled, slowly at first, then wider, as she took a step forward. “Actually, I think I’ve already—”
Footsteps sounded, and Tejas whirled around. A woman stood before them meekly, shivering in the chill breeze. She wore dark clothes and a black dupatta that hid her face, but one look at her small frame told Tejas it was Sandhya.
“Hi,” Naina said, walking over to her at a brisk pace. “Thank you for meeting us.”
Sandhya’s gaze raked over the alley, then at the street ahead of them. “I don’t have much time before they notice I’m gone,” she said quickly. “But I know who killed Pai, and I can’t in good conscience stand by and let Preethi take the fall. I don’t have proof, though. Just what I overheard.”
“What can you tell us?” Tejas asked, his shoulders taut.
“I’ll tell you everything.” Her eyes blazed. “And then you’ll make things right.”
Naina turned to Tejas, a brow raised, and he nodded. “Deal,” they both said as one.