THE FATEFUL FINISH

   P. Krishnamoorthy

The setting sun on the crimson horizon was a brilliant spectacle on that day. Though Arvind Aditya enjoyed the scene from his recliner on the balcony, his face looked very disturbed and distressed with something very serious. Aditya was to complete his diamond jubilee birth anniversary next month and he was to retire from the Chairman position in All Technologies Corporation. His latest medical report revealed his multiple complications leading to short-term survival.  He had twin sons, Pradeep, and Praveen.

In day-to-day company affairs, he was ably assisted by his eldest son, Pradeep, a Harvard graduate in Business Administration. He had the acumen to handle even serious issues. He was married to a postgraduate girl Kalpana, his college mate from a well-to-do family. Aditya’s second son, Praveen, also a graduate from a university, was a troublesome offspring in the family. Aditya was more concerned about him since he was a chronic alcoholic. He believed in a care-free and frivolous life. Though he was listed as a director of the company, he never offered any helping hand either to Pradeep or his father in company affairs.   In his failing health, Aditya seldom reprimanded Praveen for his irresponsible attitude as he found he was beyond redemption.

Aditya’s wife, Saradha who joined him fifty years ago, was equally concerned about Praveen who always needed money for his extroverted luxurious life. Time and again she used to advise him but invariably it was of no avail. Considering his alcoholic addiction, families were reluctant for marriage alliance to him. As a mother, she was very unhappy over this.  Her regret was there was no sign of Praveen realizing this.  In his high school days, Praveen got into a circle of friends who indulged in heavy drinking and merry life.    

On the day of Aditya’s diamond jubilee birth anniversary, all the kith and kin and close friends were visiting him very early in the morning to wish him birthday wishes. Pradeep was busy with the arrangements and Praveen was still sleeping after a late-night party. Even after eight in the morning Aditya was sleeping. Saradha wanted to wake him, but she found him unresponsive for her efforts.  Pradeep came to the room and found his father totally motionless.  The doctor found that he had a heart attack in his sleep and died. 

The jubilant celebration turned into a tragic and grieving scenario with all assembled to condole Aditya’s end. His philanthropic and other charitable deeds were the main subject in the conversations among the visitors. Pradeep and Sharada were shaken by this calamity.  Moreover, Saradha was recollecting here indelible memories with him for the past fifty years. After the funeral ceremonies were completed, the shareholders met in a meeting and unanimously elected Pradeep as the Chairman of the company.    

Praveen was, as usual, lethargic but worried as he had to ask money for his activities from Pradeep who would resist his demands. Though twins by birth, external environment and friends group made him the opposite of Pradeep. Instead, he sought the help of his mother who was in a quandary to approach Pradeep for such requests. There was one serious instance where Praveen got involved in a big nefarious money scandal where he was liable to pay more than a million. He was entangled unaware through a signed document when he was at a party with friends. With mediation by some of his close friends, the ransom was a little reduced and he was hopeful of settling this with his father’s help. He thought his father would help him in his predicament, as otherwise he would end up in jail. With the demise of his father, he had to approach Pradeep, knowingly he would refuse his request. If Pradeep refused, Praveen made up his mind to show down with him and insist on his share of company’s assets. 

The initial reaction of Pradeep to Praveen’s demand to pay the ransom was, as anticipated, negative.  The implication of jail sentence would attract if Praveen would fail to pay, made Pradeep to enquire the details of the transaction. When he found Praveen was in ‘a tight corner, he had agreed to settle this ransom out of family funds. Saradha was happy at Pradeep bailing out Praveen from his predicament. Though initially Pradeep did feel remorse towards him, finally helped him evince mutual siblings’ attachment.  With this she hoped for their closeness forever. After all it was a mother’s wishful thinking!   

Praveen carried on with his usual lifestyle and at one stage he encountered several situations wherein he needed money. With his mother’s help, he was able to sort out some encounters without the knowledge of Pradeep. At one stage he realized that he would not be able to sustain long. On his friends’ advice, he would like to get access to the company’s funds.  The system involved was so complicated to have access was not that easy. It rattled Praveen so much he felt a chill going down his spine every time.  The process every time was mind-boggling for him. The only way out was he should take the company from Pradeep for easy access for funds. The only way to make it happen was he should eliminate his brother permanently. He knew such an idea directly executed would involve him in criminal proceedings. Such cruel and criminal thought process was the brain wave of his friends. He was contemplating indirect methods so that at no stage his name would be dragged in. 

Pradeep was driving early in the morning to Anand, very near to Ahmedabad, to participate in a technological seminar.  On an inter-section, he saw a mid-size truck colliding with his car, causing heavy damage to the front side.  The truck driver fled the scene fearing police action.  Nearby villagers came to rescue Pradeep and extricated him from the toppled vehicle.  It was a miraculous escape for Pradeep who survived with external injuries. He was taken in an ambulance to a nearby hospital. They found him with a very severe blood clot in the brain area and dissolved it after a long surgery. The family was informed, and they rushed to the hospital.  Saradha fainted at home when she heard the news.  Praveen also visited him and with tears he offered prayers for a speedy recovery. All through the time Praveen was in the hospital monitoring Pradeep’s condition. The truck driver was absconding and could not be traced. Praveen ensured that the police purposely delayed the investigation.  When Pradeep was brought home, Saradha had a big sigh of relief on seeing her son again. 

Praveen’s various attempts to have direct access to the company’s financial resources proved futile. In the meantime, the speculation that Praveen was instrumental in arranging the truck accident, was becoming widespread.  As Pradeep was still at home as per doctor’s advice, Praveen’s various other attempts were not successful for Pradeep’s end. The last resort to eliminate him was to make him die in sleep. This would convincingly authenticate the cause of death as heart attack due to brain surgery. The process to make him die in sleep was to suffocate him without evidence.  Also, this would not doubt on Praveen’s involvement as death would be occurring at home. 

Praveen had allowed a couple of days before his intended execution on Pradeep. It was a night he cautiously fixed for implementing his plan when all household were sleep. He was awake till midnight. He switched his cell phone to silent mode to avoid any calls. Very stealthily he walked into Pradeep’s bedroom. After a hiatus and wait he had ensured that Pradeep was in sound sleep. With a cautious slow step, he reached Pradeep’s bed. As Pradeep was rightly sleeping on the back, Praveen picked up a pillow from the side and covered his mouth and nose with it to be silent and prevent breathing. After a few minutes, he found him dead, removed the pillow and hurriedly left the place.  

The next morning when Saradha came into Pradeep’s room, it was very late in the morning and found him still sleeping. She tried to wake him up, and he never responded. She became panicky and called Praveen and Kalpana. They, in turn, called the doctor from a nearby clinic, who confirmed that he died of a heart attack. The family experienced another tragedy just within six months of Aditya’s death. Saradha was immersed in grief and brood over Pradeep’s death.  She even recollected his narrow escape from the car accident.  She was more worried over the future of his wife Kalpana. Kalpana was traumatized and shattered with the latter tragedy. The shareholders met and discussed the future of their corporation. Though outwardly Praveen looked sad, inwardly he felt a sense of accomplishment.  

The police finally got hold of the truck driver who confessed that at the instance of Praveen he committed the accident. With the confession the police prepared the charge sheet and arrested Praveen as the culprit.  One more blow for the devastated Saradha. With their attorney’s help Praveen was released on bail.  After several months, the case was dismissed for lack of clear evidence as the truck driver was in a drunken stage. 

When one of the shareholders raised the subject of Pradeep’s death due to heart attack, others were apprehensive of this finding.  They had doubts about the heart attack. He was in normal health on the previous night as per his treating doctor, how could a different doctor diagnose his death due to a heart attack. As a shareholder and a good friend of Pradeep, he was entitled to have clarification on this controversy. Accordingly, investigations were instituted, and the result shown that the last person visited him was Praveen around midnight and the so called ‘heart attack’ after midnight.   Based on suspicion and complaint Praveen was arrested by police and released on bail. 

Saradha, as a mother, had experienced severe anguish with the tragic loss of her son Pradeep and the related grief said to be the toughest to contemplate. She was rewinding on his personal qualities, particularly his innate cognitive capacity to analyze even difficult issues, and remarkably applauded by everybody.   His death at a flourishing stage of prime of life, had driven Saradha into extreme despair.  During bereavement, traumatic experiences with dangerous depression may even end up in adverse health problems. Though she was shaken by successive tragedies, she was still ‘enfolded in her responsibilities and stresses of motherhood’.  In a stroll down her memory lane, she recollected her upbringing of her two sons impartially in their early years. She had all dreams about their growing up together in their life. But at one stage of their adolescence, she was in the dark as to how they choose different and opposite ways in life. The latter was due to the company of friends who were victims of alcoholic influence.  She got annoyed with such external negative influence, over which she had no control.  In the balance scale, though her two sons’ performances were equal to start with, as years go by, Pradeep’s tilted side was always favorable compared to that of Praveen’s. Often her emotional outburst on Praveen’s activities was very frequent; yet she was helpless and took solace in the philosophy “what cannot be cured, has to be endured.” She was reminded of her friend's plight whose only son married a different cultured college mate and foreign national. Even though she was totally against these, she had no other option to give in to changing circumstances. She accepted her new life to live with him. Her love towards him outweighed the other differences. Mother's love for her children would  condone   the differences encountered by them in their adolescent phase. .

After hearing the arguments both by the public prosecutor and defense attorney the Judge started reading the final judgment. 

“There was no direct or indirect circumstantial evidence or eyewitnesses in this case. The involvement of two doctors’ different versions could not be taken as the sole criteria for the cause of death. So, the benefit of doubt was to be……”

Suddenly a lady’s voice was heard from the entrance of the court room, shouting in loud voice “Your Honor, please hold the final part of judgement”.  The judge stopped reading the rest of his verdict and looked at the entrance. All eyes and ears of the others were focused on the lady, who was none but Kalpana, late Pradeep’s wife. She was coming into the courtroom holding a big bag.  She opened the bag before the judge and took out a white pillow along with a report.  The judge directed her to give her statement from the witness box.

Kalpana began her statement from the witness box. After her self-introduction, she said that Pradeep was murdered by his younger brother Praveen at midnight by suffocating him to death with a pillow.   On next morning when she came into Pradeep’s room to wake him up, she found a pillow under his cot. She picked up the pillow and to her surprise, she saw very strong fingerprints on it.  They made her to doubt whether somebody was involved in Pradeep’s death. Suddenly she remembered Praveen as the last person seen at Pradeep’s bedside when she was going to the rest room at midnight.   Possibly the fingerprints analysis may reveal the person, presumably her suspect Praveen, involved in the crime.   Without delay she contacted the Central Forensic Laboratory for an analysis report. With their readiness she visited them with the pillow. As she suspected Praveen, besides the pillow she also took, for comparison, the coffee mug used by Praveen. After various tests and detailed analysis, they confirmed the fingerprints on the pillow and coffee mug clearly match the same person.  They also made a report on their analysis. 

She then gave the pillow and the report to the court security to be given to the judge. The judge, after a study of the reports, reserved his verdict for the afternoon. In the afternoon session, the judge declared that in view of the forensic report, based on the fingerprints analysis, there would be a revised verdict. It was very clear and beyond doubt that Praveen did the killing of his brother Pradeep by suffocating him on that night. Therefore, he sentenced him with the capital punishment of hanging till death.  Saradha was again distressed and devastated as the third tragedy loomed over her with the following Praveen’s death penalty.