Jagadish Naidu was arrested on the murder charges of Judge Sundaram.

It was utter chaos inside the police office where he was being questioned. Mindful to his status, he was offered a glass of juice which he drank owing to the heat in the overcrowded room. Also upon special requests, they let Ajay and Sia stand outside the room where they were visible to Jagadish Naidu.

“It’s a clear cut case Mr. Jagadish Naidu. Your DNA and fingerprints were found around the victim’s house. We also feel, there is enough evidence for your motive as well. Videos of you molesting young children were found in Judge Sundaram’s safe box at his house. I’m sure there must have been some sort of disagreement or blackmail attempt by the judge, due to which you were driven to murder. And we also found large financial transactions made to Judge Sundaram’s account from yours.”

“Is that true, Mr. Naidu?” one of the officers questioned.

“I’ve told you several times! I’m innocent! They framed me!” Jagadish Naidu pointed at Sia and Ajay.

“Framed you how, Mr. Naidu?” the officer asked in a condescending manner.

“I don’t know. But I know she must have killed Judge Sundaram.”

“What would be Mrs. Manthena’s motive?”

“She hates me. She wants to ruin my reputation until I’m left with nothing.”

“Mr. Naidu, there is no need to be dramatic. Did you or did you not exchange several calls with Judge Sundaram before visiting him on the evening of his murder?”

“I didn’t call him! And neither were those pictures or videos sent to me on my phone by him that day. I don’t know how the calls or the messages—”

“Mr. Naidu, that’s for the investigation team to decide. And we haven’t found any strange anomalies—”

“That’s because of him!” Jagadish Naidu pointed at Ajay. “He’s capable of anything. In fact I think he must have killed Judge Sundaram.”

“Mr. Naidu, first you blamed at your niece. And now her husband, who was also not present at that time. They both have no motive to kill Judge Sundaram. It was your car, your DNA, your call logs, and last but not the least, your gun with your fingerprints! And aside from murder, the videos of you and the children are criminal enough to—”

There was a manic light in Jagadish Naidu’s eyes. “I’m being framed. They are in this together!”

“Why? You niece was even getting divorced, even though she knew she would lose the vast property from the Naidu Estate. What would motivate her to frame you if she already had the money and was willingly to give it all up?”

“I know it’s her.”

“That’s not enough. We want to know why!”

“Because I touched her when she was a child. And now she wants to pay me back.”

“Sir—” Jagadish Naidu’s lawyer protested. “Please don’t say—”

“What do you mean touched? Touched her how? Can you please be clear?” the officer pressed, cutting off the young defense lawyer. None of the competent defense lawyers were available to take up the case. The one’s Jagadish Naidu used to have on his payroll, had mysteriously remained silent. Maybe because they knew he lacked funds to pay them and also because there was no way in hell, anyone could get him out of this case.

“I had sexual relations with her!” Jagadish Naidu said, ignoring his lawyer.

There was a stunned silence. Even Jagadish Naidu’s lawyer was shocked as well. But he composed himself. “Sir, that’s enough. You don’t have to say anything.”

“I have nothing to hide now. I’m being framed for a murder I didn’t commit!”

 “Mr. Jagadish Naidu, can you please elaborate on what you mean by sexual relations with your niece when she was a child? From the information we have, your niece left the country when she was nine. How can an adult have sexual relations with a child? Unless it’s rape.”

“It was consensual,” Jagadish Naidu immediately answered, brushing it off. “All the relations I’ve had, they have always been consensual. But after all these years, she remembers it differently. They all do!”

“They? Who else apart from your niece?”

“A few over the years. But there is another man who wants to get back at me for the same reason. He was with her when they tried framing me during the Citizen Hotel event. So even now, he must have been with her, planning all along to frame me.”

“Sir. First you said it was Mrs. Manthena, then her husband. And now, you are accusing another man. I’m not sure—”

“They are all in it together. And that man—” He pointed at Ajay. “He is quite capable of killing a person in cold blood!”

“Mr. Naidu—”

“He killed his father!”

There was absolute silence.

“What?”

“Yes, he killed his father who was in the military.”

“As far as we know, the investigation did not show a prior arrest record for Mr. Manthena. When was this?”

“When Ajay was seven,” Jagadish Naidu replied.

There was silence.

“Sir, I know you are under severe mental stress. With your wife passing away, your political career on hold. Your family and friends are also concerned about your erratic behavior. Would you like to plead guilty due to mental illness? Your sentence will—”

“I’m not crazy!”

“Then how do you think a boy of seven can kill a grown man who has been in the military? That too his own father? And why wouldn’t there be a record of any such thing happening?”

“He... he...” Jagadish Naidu shook his head. He began to squint in an erratic manner and shake his head. “It’s true. My wife helped him cover it up. I didn’t see the need to oppose her.”

“Sir, even if what you are saying is true. You will be considered an accomplice to a murder that happened when Mr. Manthena was seven.”

“I don’t care! They took everything from me. I want to see them get punished!”

“So to punish them, you are trying to place the murder you did on to them?”

“Yes!” he shouted. And then, he thought and shouted. “No! They are the murderers!”

But, by then it was too late.

They got everything on record.