Even as Apte began his investigation, I began facing problems at my end. I had paid the last instalment of Rs. 3.5 lakh within a week. However, I had underestimated Chandrakant’s avarice. Within a month-and-a-half, he established contact with me using the cell phone he had purchased for the “task”.
I had told him to dispose off the cell phone and the SIM card after the deed. But, instead he continued using it and once called my personal mobile. This made me furious. I excused myself from the meeting and rushed to the Men’s room and spewed a set of expletives. He hung up. But that call was not his last.
Two days later, on a Sunday, he called me from a phone booth. He began with the usual set of niceties - his speech slurred with liquor and greed. However, he began to subtly hint at the possibility of another small payment, stating that the money he had received had been spent in settling old loans – a white lie. I knew he had blown the money on race horses and card gambling.
His call was for a small amount of Rs. 9,000 to pay his house rent. It was evident he was indulging in subtle form of extortion. A few days later, he wanted Rs. 15,000, this time around for making repairs in his house.
I knew he would keep calling and extorting. His fourth call was more menacing and unpleasant than the first. I had to do something about this nuisance calls. I needed to something snap this connection between the two of us. This was practical necessity since he was the only link between the incident and me. But how do I get rid of this menace? I wondered and began looking up some books on poisons.
After some search on the Internet, I had zeroed in one of the two poisons: Succinylcholine or Aconite. Succinylcholine was mostly used for muscle relaxation which in excess could paralyze respiratory system and kill the victim.
But, the problem was it was a schedule drug and, would never be sold over the counter.
Aconite was another deadly plant that could kill humans. Just three drops of the extract of this plan could kill an adult. But again the plant normally grew only in the altitudes of 1,000 to 3,000 metres. I would never get my hands on this herb.
Finally after a bit of reading I decided to use anti-freeze. The chemical was easily available. The chemical had ethylene glycol which tasted sweet and could be substituted in any food item. My research showed that ordinary clinical tests normally skipped the presence of this poison as the symptoms in the victim could be easily misconstrued to that of a heart attack.
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