efforts of eating and got up. She retrieved the card the cops had given, which Mihir had stuck the on the
refrigerator with a magnet.
“Can I speak to Office Fernandez please?”
“Officer Fernandez speaking, who is this?”
“Officer, this is Shobhana Sen. Do you remember coming to my home some days ago with the
information about…”
“I remember you. What can I do for you ma’am?”
“That day hadn’t you said there was another person in the car with my son who was also
killed?”
“You heard right ma’am.”
“Can you give me their address? I would like to talk to the family, may be express some
regrets.”
“I will be at your place in half an hour. Please wait for me.”
True to his words Officer Fernandez was standing at her doorstep within the next thirty minutes,
a bright young man of Buku’s age. The other night she had hardly noticed him!
“Come with me, ma’am,” he spoke with reverence.
Shobhana sat in the police car with him. She presumed he was taking her to the other person’s
house so she was faintly surprised when they arrived at the local Medical College and Hospital ten
minutes later. Officer Fernandez parked the car and they got out. Shobhana knew this place well. Buku
had gotten his Ph.D. degree from this place. He had also worked here as a post doctoral scholar before
he got the other job. Why on earth had Fernandez brought her here? Was Buku’s companion still alive
because this was a hospital?
Shobhana followed Officer Fernandez inside. He stopped along one of the corridors, in front of
a notice board.
“This is your son’s companion, ma’am. I wanted to tell you right away but your friends gave me
strict instructions not to. They said you were not well.”
Shobhana looked at the notice board. It had several pictures of a young girl. She was very pretty
with curly dark hair, an African American girl staring candidly at the camera. Her friends had written,
‘We will never forget you’ and all the usual stuff on the board. This girl was in the car with Buku? May
be she was attending the conference as well.
“Did you notice the name?”
Shobhana searched the board for the name and then read it aloud, “Mugisha Sen!”
“She was his wife!”
Shobhana would probably have fallen if Office Fernandez had not caught her. He supported her
all the way to the car. On their way home he said, “She was a fourth year Medical student, very popular
and a really nice girl.”
After that Shobhana just had one thought, ‘Why hadn’t Buku told her?’
Was it because she always picked out fair skinned maidens from the photographs that they
received for marriage purposes? She thought she remembered him saying once, “Why are you obsessed
about the color of the skin? Who cares if she is fair or dark? If I marry a very fair and beautiful girl and
she fights with me all the time would I be happy or would you?”
“But how can I not choose a fair girl for my fair skinned and handsome son?” Shobhana had
protested.
Did he lie to her about being in the hotel earlier that night because he was taking Mugisha to the
conference? As soon as the thought occurred to her she felt angry at herself for doubting Buku. How
dare she doubt him over some girl!
Before leaving Officer Fernandez asked her, “Would you like to have Mugisha’s address? Do
you want to speak to her family?”
Shobhana had answered with a vehement ‘No’.