Daughters of Kalika

১৭. catherine

She knows everything.

****

Nathu had laid down a table of snacks and a cup of hot tea in his humble room. He had convinced Anandi to be in the hall, and knowing what her husband was up to she complied. Aadi Babu was in his room. Maya had promised to come down and meet Nathu after freshening up.

Nathu replayed the events of the past, all till the day of her murder. He wouldn't want to miss any details and ruin the progress.

"Here, I have come."

Nathu stood up with a smile. "Memsaheb, please close the door. I need complete privacy in sharing what I know."

Even though hesitant, Maya did as she was asked. She sat on the chair across from Nathu.

"Please have some tea."

Maya raised a brow. It would be foolish of him to feed her poisoned tea. Nonetheless it was an amusing theory.

"Tell me what you are so eager to spill. I am not here for tea. I am here to listen to you."

Nathu twisted and untwisted his fingers. "First of all, Aadi Babu would not be supportive of this, so I haven't told him what I am doing."

Nathu scratched the skin over his larynx, the Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"But you can tell him that you know the truth after I enlighten you."

"Does Anandi know?"

"What? Yeah I mean, everybody knows the truth, but Aadi Babu doesn't know I am telling you all of it. Anandi knows, so she has left us alone. I need no interruptions."

Maya munched on a biscuit and crossed her legs. "Alright, go on," she said placidly.

"Aadi Babu doesn't have any daughter."

The butter cookie melted in her mouth. Her pupils enlarged akin to that of a suffocating man. The cookie wouldn't go down her throat. She sipped the tea to moisten the path and gulp down the snack.

"He is childless?"

"No. He has a son. But they are not on good terms."

Maya couldn't quieten down the screams of her mind. She was fooled all along, all this time.

And if Aadi Babu could fool her, anyone else also could.

"He left for abroad two years ago. Since then the father and son have only communicated through letters. He had come here once, long before the first murder took place, but he is a very odd kind of man. Not at all like us. He has been affected by the waters of the other countries."

"But then why has a story about some non-existent daughter been invented? Was it a psychological thing? If yes, he needs to be treated."

"It's not that. Babu is healthy in mind and a pure soul." Nathu frowned. Maya pursed her lips- she should have known that the topic of mental diseases were still hissed at and open talks of it were regarded insensitive.

"Sometime after the second murder, his son's letter came. The contents of the letter said that Aadi Babu was to expect an acquaintance of his, an historian of sorts, who had shown interest in the affairs of Kalika and Shakti. She wanted to know more about our culture. Aadi Babu couldn't have denied because by the time the letter came the guest probably had come to the country. We were to welcome her any day.

"Then yes, chaos erupted in the village. There was a white woman in here. You know how people are– we aren't so fair and charming, and foreigners are always interesting. The whole village came to escort her to this house."