The Last Lesson

By Aishwarya Mary George

Alisha Gupta had a daily morning routine for cases that were bothering her. A method to review and hopefully see something different. She would take a deep breath, submerge her head underwater in the bath and start out by counting facts. Splash. Fact: 85 year old Mr. Patel, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist was found dead yesterday morning in his study. Fact: He was on the floor in a pile of his own vomit, sweat soaked. His skin was ashen, with faint streaks of vomit visible on his blue tinted lips. Fact: His oldest son, Gopal, found him. He also has a second child, a daughter. Ms. Devi Patel. Both currently depend on their father for sustenance. Fact: The ME confirmed that the preliminary analysis pointed to food poisoning, followed by a cardiac arrest. Both plausible answers. Mr. Patel had some items prepared just for himself at dinner the night before. He also had hypercholesterolemia, which could have caused the cardiac arrest. It's a condition which had been passed on through generations, a condition Gopal suffered from as well. Fact: Their sole servant, Mrs. Vidaya has been missing since the body was discovered yesterday. The general conjecture is that she found the body first and ran away afraid of being held accountable for any part of this sad affair. Mr. Patel had always taken good care of her family and there were talks that her family had some unsavory encounters with the police in the past. Gasp. Officer Gupta shivered. So it all fits? 

Her suspicions of there being more to the picture started during a round of customary interviews that the police conducted post the discovery of the body. As a retired invalid, Mr. Patel had only three people involved in his day-to-day life: Gopal, Devi and Vidaya. Gopal’s and Devi’s interviews had the oddest quality to them. Officer Gupta could sense that their surprise at the death of their father was genuine. On the other hand, they definitely seemed to be hiding something. Both their accounts for the night before, had significant gaps and their general demeanor was bothersome. However this wasn’t enough to move onto the next logical step in the case of a renowned man like Mr. Patel .There was a lot of pressure from the top to wrap this up without much controversy and cutting up his body based on intuition would definitely go against that. The answer came in the form of a phone call from Mr. Patel’s lawyer that evening. He stated that Mr. Patel’s will mentioned that the estate can go to his children only in the case of a natural death. In case of any elements on the contrary, which the lawyer feels the events of last night do align with, he wished to have a thorough investigation complete with an autopsy. That was an oddly specific request, but Officer Gupta was happy to comply. This way she could put all her suspicions to rest. She was also emboldened by the request as it felt like Mr. Patel might have foreseen such a circumstance and that meant there had been something brewing before his death. There was a wrench this call threw in the works however, it eliminated any motives his children could have had to kill him. Ahh, his children. The apples had fallen so far from this tree in every aspect other than his wit. Some say it was the early demise of Mrs. Patel. Whatever the reason, Mr. Patel had never been able to get through to them and after a series of costly hush-ups to save them from deathly shortcuts they had taken to get ahead in life, Mr. Patel stuck to supporting them in his own home through a monthly allowance that was meager but just. As mentioned by the lawyer, Mr. Patel did leave Vidaya enough to be taken care of in his will. This was regardless of the nature of his death. This meant that out of the three, right now, she had the most to gain from this death. Her absence just added to these shadows of

suspicion. 

Officer Gupta’s thoughts were put to rest by a call from the medical examiner. She had been right. There were signs of arsenic poisoning and an overdose of statin, a medication prescribed for hypercholesterolemia, lethal in the wrong dose. This was now a murder investigation. One with two causes of death. Alisha grunted, the higher ups would not be happy with these developments. However, they wouldn’t dare go against Mr. Patel’s last wish. A thorough investigation.

All the way to the Patel mansion, Officer Gupta made arrangements. She had till noon to leverage this information. At noon, the reading of the will would take place at the same fateful study and the family would be made aware of the cause of death. At the house, she was joined by a search team and a couple of more uniforms. They had their work cut out for them. The leftover food from that night and Mr. Patel’s medicines were bagged and sent to the lab for analysis. The search team established that the arsenic was sourced from the derelict garden shed. The same was dusted for fingerprints. All of these results would come in only by late evening, but there was an undeniable fact to deal with right now. Gopal, as someone with hypercholesterolemia himself, had access to statin pills. So there began another round of questioning. All of these steps were met by aggression from the side of Gopal and Devi. They were still content with playing the role of victims, either blissfully unaware of the real facts or shrouded by denial and deception. Alisha continued reiterating that this was due procedure hoping to find a crack in their narratives before showing her hand. While their stories continued to be suspicious, they stuck by what they said. That day, they had dinner at 7 PM as usual. Prior to that Devi had been in her room all alone catching up on correspondence and Gopal had been working on his next business venture plan in the drawing room. Neither had crossed each other till dinner. Dinner was a quiet one, post which all three of them retired for the night. Vidaya went into the study with Mr. Patel to help him settle in before leaving for the day. Where is Vidaya? She was beginning to look more suspicious by the minute. The CCTV footage of that night had also been erased adding to the lack of clarity on the actual events that had transpired. 

Alisha walked into the study at noon with more questions than answers. Having covered other preliminary investigation avenues, she was looking forward to the will reading. It was her hope that it would reveal a few chinks in whatever had happened. As the clock struck twelve, the lawyer walked in with a timid older woman in tow. There was a visible shift in the expressions of Gopal and Devi. So that solves the case of the missing maid, then, Alisha mused. The lawyer began. “As all of you are aware, Mr. Patel’s will had stated that the estate goes to his children only in the wake of a natural death with a small portion put aside for Mrs. Vidaya’s care. Her share remains the same but in light of the information we have received from the police, that Mr. Patel died due to arsenic poisoning and statin overdose, the share that was to go to his children will be withheld.” Officer Gupta surveyed the room hoping to see an unsurprised guilty face. She rather found expressions of curiosity and anger. Gopal shot up. “ What do you mean withheld? I bet it goes to Mrs. Vidaya, doesn’t it? Who better to poison daddy?” He looked at Alisha with disbelief. “Arrest her already, she is the one who handles daddy’s food and medication. As to the withholding, I’ll contest it in court.” The lawyer sighed and motioned to Mrs. Vidaya. She looked up and there was anger in her eyes. “I didn’t kill him. You did.”

“You killed him. Both of you together.” Devi protested, “Your word is worth nothing here, we haven’t done a thing to hurt Daddy and we can prove it wherever it matters.” Mrs. Vidaya inhaled. “That's true. You didn't try to kill him, you were trying to kill each other. Devi ma’am, didn't you try to alter Gopal sir’s medicines? And Gopal sir, didn’t you sneak in some arsenic to poison Devi ma’am’s soup that night?” Just for a second, Alisha could see fear on their faces, but it was soon masked. She motioned to her officers. Gopal offensively moved towards Vidaya, “You are making wild and harmful accusations, I demand you stop this very instant.” Vidaya continued unfazed, “He knew about all of it, you know? That you knew he was dying and thus tried to eliminate each other, your competition. Killing your own kin for money? He said he could no longer see his children in the two of you.” There was a shift in Vidaya’s expression. “I really thought I was helping him when I switched out the drug and the soup. I thought he wanted me to leave it with him so that he can reprimand the two of you with proof. If I had known what he would do…” She sobbed and wiped away a tear. “He looked so alone when I found him that morning. He had left me a letter with everything written down and the footage of the night as proof for the police. You know, he said it was his last lesson for you. With this act, he was leaving you with neither money nor family, neither of which you deserve. The money will now go to a charity for orphans. This is either going to be a lesson well learnt or the beginning of your ends, and till his last breath, he hoped it would be the first.” 

Devi and Gopal were left shocked. The officers moved in and Alisha let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

By Aishwarya Mary George