The Secret Gardener by Kalpana Swaminathan

Author:Kalpana Swaminathan [Swaminathan, Kalpana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788184759242
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

Savio whistled. ‘So that’s who she was …’

The woman Kesar had told us about, she who had wounded Sukesh so deeply that he never recovered from the injury, was Varsha’s mother, Mangala.

‘Life might have been hell for her. Married to an old man—a young woman with a teenaged daughter, she may have felt trapped,’ said Savio. ‘I can understand her walking out on her life.’

‘Always ready with excuses for the criminal,’ chided Shukla. ‘Two possibilities are there. A: She did not die in that accident. B: This is not her thumb impression. Question is, why thumb impression and not signature?’

‘Yeah. She’s unlikely to be illiterate,’ Savio agreed. ‘And she’s probably very much alive. Won’t be surprised if she turns out to be the person who hounded Sukesh to death.’

‘But where did Sukesh find the money to buy such a large property?’ I asked in disbelief. ‘He was practically a pauper.’

All three looked at me with amusement.

‘Sukesh never bought anything,’ Savio said.

‘They used him as a front,’ Shukla added. ‘Must have paid him a small amount. Now they wanted to realize the sale and asked him for the papers. He refused. They frightened him so much, he killed himself.’

‘No, no, it was the woman,’ Savio insisted. ‘Isn’t that what Kesar said?’

I was nodding over the manuscript when my phone rang. Priya.

Only, it wasn’t.

A hesitant whisper, ‘Dragon Aunty?’

‘Hello Jai.’

‘I called you that because I don’t know your name.’

‘That’s okay. I’m a dragon on Mondays.’

‘But today’s Wednesday.’

‘My name’s Sita.’

‘Thanks. Is Ajji there?’

‘Yes. Do you want to speak to her, Jai?’

‘No. Tell her I’m coming there in the afternoon, okay? Bye.’

I went to Lalli’s room knowing she wouldn’t be asleep yet, but she wasn’t there. I heard the door shut. A few minutes later, I watched my aunt drive out into the night.

When I woke up at six, Lalli hadn’t yet returned. She wasn’t answering her cell phone.

I panicked and called Savio. It was comforting to hear his laugh, ‘We’re coming home now, bearing gifts.’

They brought buns, gloriously hot, with a shiny chewy sweet crust and simply loaded with raisins. With two cups of strong coffee, that called a truce to questions. I told them about Jai.

‘I’d better stay in then,’ Lalli said. ‘I’m going for a shower and snooze. Wake me for lunch.’

We lingered over breakfast, sated, savouring each other’s silence, the newspaper neglected, soaking in the soft sunlight lapping the tasselled trees.

‘Lalli was on the beat,’ Savio said at length. ‘The really tough route, even the Vice guys duck that one when they can. And all this to find Sukesh’s lost love.’

‘And did she?’

‘No. But she did find out something about the woman. What a mess it all is, Sita! Can you imagine the treachery?’

‘What did this Mangala do to her husband? Abandon him at the bus stop? Then the very next day she sold the property … but she must have planned it all in advance, Savio. She couldn’t possibly have found a buyer the moment she heard about the accident.

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