THE WOMAN WITH THE RESTLESS EYES AND ENTICING PERFUME - My Favourite Short Stories Part 96

My Favourite Short Stories Part 96

ENCOUNTER AT LAL TIBBA

The Woman with Restless Eyes and Enticing Perfume

Fiction Short Story

By  

VIKRAM KARVE

 

From my Creative Writing Archives:

Dear Reader, here is another of my earliest Stories - one of my earliest "thrillers" revised and revisited - for old times' sake. I think I first wrote this more than 15 years ago in the mid 1990s. So, Dear Reader, relax and enjoy some old-fashioned writing...and do tell me if you liked the story.   

 

 

            “Excuse me, Sir,” said a feminine voice, “Do you have change for twenty rupees? Even two tens will do.”

 

            I put down the bunch of grapes which I was examining and looked up at a rather suburban looking woman.

 

            She proffered a crisp twenty rupee note, folded into half at the centre, the reverse side of the watermark turned upwards and she held it in such a way that I could not fail to notice something written on the watermark in neat capital letters in blue ink.

 

             I understood at once. An active dead letter drop, vintage David Mackenzie style, used only in emergencies.

 

            “I’ll check,” I said, pulling out my wallet from my hip pocket.

             I extracted two ten rupee notes and gave them to her, taking her twenty rupee note and putting it into my wallet.

 

            I didn’t make any purchases, but rushed a straight home, walking the fastest mile of my life.

 

            I reproduce below the exact words written on the twenty rupee note:

 

            D E W D O L O E 

 

            I dusted out my codebook and deciphered the coded message:   

 

              LAL TIBBA

 

           So that was what David Mackenzie has sent me. It was vintage David Mackenzie. Tell a guy only the place of the rendezvous. Never mention the time. It was too risky.

 

            Now all I had to do was to reach Mussoorie by the fastest available means and then trek up Landour to the peak of Lal Tibba, or Landour Peak, the highest point in Mussoorie. 

 

            I had to just go there and wait for David Mackenzie to find me. We both knew the area around Lal Tibba quite well. We had many a rendezvous there and had even used it as a dead letter drop once in while. 

 

            But that was more than ten years ago. 

 

            Since then I had retired and broken all contact with David. 

 

            I wondered why he had summoned me. All of a sudden after ten long years of silence. 

 

            What was the assignment...? 

 

            And why Mussoorie of all places when there were so many secure and convenient rendezvous in and around Pune...! 

 

            I picked up the telephone and dialled my travel agent booked myself on the next flight to Delhi. Beyond Delhi I would have to make on-the-spot decisions and improvise to shake off a tail, if any.  

 

            Of course I had torn up the twenty rupee note that had brought me the coded message, into small pieces but I wondered who the woman was. Maybe she was just a housewife. David Mackenzie has a vast network of contacts – agents, runners, watchers, sleepers. 

 

           I was certain that I would never see the woman again. 

 

           Though the whole thing had happened so fast there were two things about the woman which made a distinct impression on me. Her eyes were the restless eyes of a woman with a great thirst for life. And from her body emanated the lingering fragrance of her enticing perfume...! 

  

             I reached Delhi airport took the airport bus to Connaught Place, walked around a bit, ostensibly window-shopping, had a pizza at a fast-food joint, and convinced that I was not being followed, took a taxi to Old Delhi railway station.

 

             It was almost 9.30 at night by the time I purchased a second class unreserved ticket to Dehradun and walked onto the platform clutching my small briefcase. 

 

            And out of the blue, I ran bang into Manisha Rawat.

  

            David had always insisted that a man and a woman would be far less conspicuous than a single man or a pair of men. So I always teamed up with Manisha Rawat when we went on a surveillance mission, stalking, tailing, shadowing, or just plain watching. She worked as a stenographer in our office and like most girls from the hills was extremely attractive, had a flawless complexion and carried herself very well. Then one fine day she got married and resigned from her job. I did not maintain contact with her after that, for obvious reasons.

 

            I was wondering how to avoid her when Manisha Rawat called out me, “What a surprise, Ravi. But what on earth are you doing here?”

    

            “Heading for Mussoorie,” I said.

 

            “A/C sleeper?” 

 

            “I haven’t got reservation.”

 

             “No problem,” Manisha said. “We’ve got two berths. My son and I. He is sitting inside. We’ll adjust.”

 

             I knew I should refuse, but I could see that Manisha was so genuinely happy to meet me and was yearning to talk to me that I couldn’t do anything else but agree and I joined Manisha and her ten year old son in the compartment. 

   

            “I won’t ask you why you are going to Mussoorie,” Manisha said. 

   

            “But I’ll ask you,” I replied tongue-in-check.

 

            “I’m going to Dehradun,” she said.

 

            “Dehradun?” 

 

            “We have settled down in Dehradun. My husband and I, both of us work here now. He’s an engineer and, by the way, I’m an HR Manager now.” 

 

            She opened her purse, pulled out a visiting card and gave it to me. 

 

            “So you are Manisha Joshi now," I said looking at the visiting card, "I’m looking forward to meeting your husband, the lucky Mr. Joshi.” 

 

           In my mind’s eye I was visualizing how I could avoid meeting Manisha’s husband. 

 

            I was tempted to tell Manisha everything, get it off my chest, but I stopped myself. 

 

            Life has taught me to leave dangerous things unsaid. 

 

            So I asked her, “Your husband must be coming to the station to pick you up tomorrow morning?”  

 

            “No,” she said. “He’s gone abroad for some work. That’s why we had come to Delhi see him off. He left yesterday. But that doesn’t matter. You must come over to my place in Dehradun. It’s on Rajpur road, on the way to Mussoorie. The address, phone number – everything is on the card.” 

 

            As I put Manisha’s visiting card in my wallet I knew that visiting her was out of the question. At least this time. 

 

            Manisha probably realized it too. I noticed she had not asked me anything about myself. 

 

            She had given me her visiting card and left the ball in my court. 

 

            The Mussoorie Express reached the destination, Dehradun, precisely at 7:20 next morning. 

 

            I engaged a tourist taxi for my onward journey to Mussoorie. En-route I dropped Manisha Joshi and her son at their house on Rajpur road. 

 

            The road to Mussoorie, coiling like a snake, was surrounded by dense vegetation, and as we made our way up I noticed patches of snow, like lather, which became denser as we neared Mussoorie. It was off-season, quite cold, and getting a room at the Savoy wouldn’t be a problem. 

 

              When I reached the hotel I was shocked to find that a room had already been booked in my name. 

 

              Something was wrong, terribly wrong. 

 

              I could not believe that David Mackenzie would commit such a grave lapse. 

 

              I tried to smoothen my startled look into a grin and quietly checked in, trying not to arouse any suspicions. 

 

            All sorts of confusing thoughts crowded my brain.

 

            The coded message, the woman with the restless eyes and fragrant enticing perfume at the fruit stall in Pune, and most of all, Manisha appearing as if from nowhere after fifteen long years and very conveniently offering me a berth. And now I find that someone has booked a room in my name at the Savoy. 

 

           Coincidence, Red Herrings, or an invisible hand gently guiding me into a trap...?

  

            Complete anonymity was my best weapon I had always relied upon. But now it was useless. Invisible eyes seemed to be following me everywhere.

 

           There was only one thing to do now – I had to quickly contact David Mackenzie and ask him what the hell was going on...? 

 

            I went down to the reception and asked the girl at the counter, “Please can you tell me who made my hotel reservation?”

 

            “Just a moment, sir,” she said and began consulting a register. “It’s here,” she gave me a curious look, “A travel agency. Hill Travels. They rang up from Dehradun this morning at 8:30.” 

 

            Dehradun...? Manisha...? How could she be so naïve...?  Or was she...? 

 

            I’d have to find out for myself. 

 

            But first the rendezvous with David Mackenzie at Lal Tibba. 

 

            After lunch I walked down the Mall, posing as a tourist, seemingly clicking photograph with my camera. But this was in fact a LASER-DAZZLER or Dazer which could dazzle or flash blind the victim by means of laser beam. Nobody even gave a second look to an inoffensive-appearing, meek-looking man like me, which was really to my advantage. 

  

            There was a chill in the air now and I knew it would get bitterly cold so I bought a trench-coat from a Tibetan roadside stall at Landour Bazaar and then turned left and began climbing up the path towards Lal Tibba.

 

           At the char-dukan junction I did not take the normal route to Lal Tibba, but instinctively turned right, in a last-ditch attempt to spot any tail, and began negotiating the steep and longer route skirting and traversing and undulating mountainous slopes. 

 

           It was this instinctive decision that probably saved my life, for when it suddenly started snowing I took refuge under the porch of the entrance to a cemetery.

 

         Gradually it stopped snowing and all of sudden rays of evening sunlight filtered through the gaps in the Deodar trees. Indeed the weather in Mussoorie was as unpredictable as the stock market. 

 

            As I was about to leave, I heard the bark of a dog. 

 

            I turned in that direction. 

 

            A Bhutiya dog was sitting about fifteen feet away from me. 

           It was a friendly breed. 

 

           I smiled at the dog. And then I froze and my blood ran cold for next to the dog was a tombstone, illuminated by a ray of sunlight. And on the tombstone was engraved in large bold letters:

 

            DAVID W. MACKENZIE

                  BORN 24 MAY 1935

                  DIED 15 JANUARY 2010 

 

            I stood motionless on the Lal Tibba peak which jutted out like a bird’s beak, holding the railing in front of me below which there was a sheer drop of over thousand feet into dense jungle. The cold hung like a cloak of ice around my shivering shoulders. I breathed in slowly, mouth and nose together. 

 

            The air was so pure, so pristine, that I at once sensed her arrival. A whiff of that familiar enticing fragrance. No doubt about it...! It was the same woman at the fruit stall in Pune. The woman with the restless eyes and enticing perfume.

 

            “Why did you kill David?” I asked softly.

 

             I did not turn around but I could feel the waft of her warm breath on the nape of my neck.

 

            Suddenly, at the same spot I felt a needle. 

 

            With cobra speed I ducked and rammed against her with my shoulders. 

 

            Then I turned around, pointed the dazer camera in her direction and pressed the button. 

 

            Despite the weather, the laser beam was quite effective at that short range and soon she began screaming. 

 

            The manner in which her silhouette was moving it was evident that she was totally dazed. 

 

            “Don’t kill me,” she shrieked in anguish, “David was going to die anyway. He had terminal cancer. I just put him to sleep to spare him the agony.” 

 

            Her hands cupped her eyes and she seemed blinded.

 

            I look two quick steps and pushed her towards the railing.

 

            Her hands, which were earlier cupping her eyes, now desperately gripped the railing.

 

            As I walked away from Lal Tibba, I could hear her trailing voice, “Don’t’ leave me here. I’m blinded. I can’t see anything. Please don’t go………..” 

 

            I stopped in my tracks. 

 

            In this profession one operated on the basis of the 11 ^th Commandment – “Thou shalt not get caught”.

 

            I closed my eyes with my palms for about half a minute and when I opened them again I could see better in the dark.

 

           

           I carefully scanned the footprints in the snow, where or scuffle had taken place. After a bit of searching I found what I wanted. The syringe was intact, resting in the snow.

 

            I slowly and furtively picked up the syringe and concealed it in my hands.

 

            I looked towards her silhouette. She was standing still, gripping the railing. It was evident that she could not see anything.   

 

“Give me the syringe,” I shouted. 

 

“I dropped it,” she said.

 

“I don’t believe you,” I said. 

 

“No. I swear I don’t have it,” she said desperately. “Search me if you want.” 

 

“Okay. But tell me first. What was in the syringe?”

 

“Ketamine.”

 

        I smiled to myself. Ketamine. An anesthetic with hallucinatory emergence reaction. 

   

            “Take off your coat. I want to check it,” I commanded, and as she started to do so, I moved fast. With my left hand I pushed up the sleeve of the pullover and with my right I jabbed the needle of the syringe into her wrist, and injected the entire contents of the syringe into her body.  

 

            At first she struggled but soon she gave up and in a few moments slid down on the snow, her body limp. 

 

            I lifted her body, struggling, using all me strength rolled it over the railing watching it vanish into dark nothingness.

   

            Miraculously, the dazer was still intact around my neck. I was tempted to throw it away, but no, a tocsin sounded in my brain – I may indeed need it yet. David Mackenzie was dead, I had taken care of the woman with the restless eyes, but there was still the question of Manisha. 

          I had to be sure, dead sure. 

          It had started snowing again and it was with great difficulty that I made my way down the slopes of Lal Tibba and Landour in the enveloping darkness.

 

          When I rang the door bell of Manisha’s house it was dark. 

 

          I had not gone back to the Savoy hotel in Mussoorie, but I had caught the first bus to Dehradun from the Picture Palace bus-stand near Landour Bazaar. 

 

         Though I could read the surprise in Manisha's eyes at my disheveled state, she didn’t say a word. 

 

          She just made me sit down and gave me a cup of tea. 

 

          So I played it straight. I told her everything the whole story, exactly as it happened... and observing her eyes, her body language closely, I knew she was innocent. 

 

            “Ravi, it’s high time you broke off with the looking-glass world,” she said tenderly. 

 

            Manisha was right. David Mackenzie was dead. My link was to the wilderness of mirrors was broken. Now it was entirely up to me. 

 

            “Sleep here for the night and we’ll go and collect your baggage from the Savoy later in the morning,” Manisha said.

 

            We reached the hotel at noon to find a police officer waiting to interrogate me.

 

            “Where were you since yesterday afternoon, sir...?” he asked, “The hotel staff has reported you missing. Almost twenty-four hours. We were about send a search party.”

    

            “He was with me. In Dehradun,” Manisha answered.

 

            “Full night...?”

 

            “Yes, he was with me in my house full night” Manisha opened her purse and gave him her visiting card. 

   

            “Oh, you are an HR Manager, madam,” the policeman said.

 

            He gave me a conspirational look and advised, “In future, better to inform the hotel staff and avoid panic.”

 

            And then the cop walked away, smiling to himself. 

   

            I cannot begin to describe the emotion I felt towards Manisha at that moment. 

 

           But before I could say anything she held my arm and said, “It’s okay, Ravi. For old times’ sake. But remember what I said. There’s no point living a lie – a double-life, it’s not worth it.”

   

            The reason why the woman with the restless eyes and enticing perfume wanted to murder me became clear only a few days later.

 

             When I reached Pune I found a letter asking me to contact Mehta and Co., Solicitors, at Mumbai. The letter said that the matter was urgent so I rushed to Mumbai the next morning.

   

            “It’s good you came, Mr. Ravi,” Mehta said. “We are the executors of the late Mr.David Mackenzie’s will. He has left you everything he had, except his bungalow – The Anchorage, at Lal Tibba in Mussoorie.”

    

            “Who gets the Anchorage?” I asked.

           

            “Susan Morris,” he said looking at his papers. “In fact, she was the one who came here on the second of February and personally handed over the death certificate.”

 

            Once the formalities were over, I looked at the wall-calendar. Second was Friday, Third was Saturday – the office closed, Fourth was a Sunday, on the Fifth she handed me the coded message and on the Sixth afternoon I was on the flight on my way to Mussoorie.

 

             Everything was falling into place.

    

            “Who gets my share in case of my death...?” I asked.

   

            “Susan Morris. And, of course, you are the alternate nominee for the Anchorage too,” he paused, and said, “It’s surprising. We’ve sent her two letters by Speed-post, but she hasn’t contacted us yet. Do you know who she was to David Mackenzie...?”

  

            “No. I don't know any Susan Morris. I’ve never heard of her,” I answered, “David Mackenzie was a bachelor, and bachelors do get very lonely sometimes, don’t they...?” 

   

             Mehta smiled and said, “We were hoping she turns up fast and we can settle everything. Anyway, we’ll wait.” 

    

            “Yes, you wait. Wait for her. She’ll surely turn up,” I said nonchalantly, stood up, shook Mehta's hand, turned around and walked away. And then I quickly lost myself in the crowd on the street.  

            In a week or two I'll be back here to collect my cheque, my share of David's legacy.

            And sometime later, after a few months, or say after a few years, when things settle down, and if I am in the mood, maybe I'll visit Lal Tibba at Landour Peak to meet the ghost of Susan Morris, the woman with the restless eyes and enticing perfume...!!!

VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

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This a story from my anthology of Short Fiction COCKTAIL - stories about relationships, comprising 27 short stories which I am sure you will like. 
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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
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Email: vikramkarve@sify.com      

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