I woke up with the pinging of my cell. I looked at the wall clock ……. Just 4.40 am!
 My bloody fault … had forgotten to shut off the - pain in backside, which we all willingly subscribe to! 
I looked at the offending thing ……. noted it was a ‘sms’. These bloody marketing wallahs …… like crickets do they never sleep!! 
I shut the instrument and tried to catch the incomplete psychedelic dream - it had escaped as soon as it got a chance! 

I knew the day was going to be hell, with such a beginning. I mustered some consciousness and got up, made some tea, looked for the daily … nowhere in sight – too early. I sipped my tea, mentally listing all the unpleasant chores that had to be completed that day. 

Curiosity got the better of me and I checked the ‘sms’ expecting it to be inconsequential. I was jolted - it was from Naveen a buddy from my college days. We had drifted apart after his marriage a year ago though he stayed a short distance from my home. 

The msg - “ S, I poisoned J. I hv assured myself that she is hving an affair with some body and wants to get rid of me ……… I am standing near the rail crossing at Teerath nagar, and will lie down on the rail track as soon as I see the Delhi Mail. I do not want Js name to be sullied. Ensure tht our last remains r prprly disposed.” 

I was at my wits end ……………. I rushed to Js (Jyoti was Naveen’s wife) place in the hope that she could perhaps be saved with timely aid; also hoping that better sense would prevail and N would desist from such a drastic step.
I found the door of her flat ajar. I just gave it a small push and …… J opened it. I was so relieved - You OK!! 

Surprisingly , she seemed so composed…….
J – Yes !! I just received a call from the Railway Police (GRP) about Naveen. Can you come with me?
I accompanied her to the GRP chowki at railway station. We were informed that a man had committed suicide at Teerath nagar rail crossing and has been identified by the dirving license in his pocket. It was N. A suicide note was found in his pocket, it had just one line ‘I am fed up with life’.
It took the whole day to get through the police formalities, post mortem, etc and it was late at night that N could be cremated. As he had no living relations only a few friends were present. The Shuddhi Hawan and other rituals were completed on the third day. 

The circumstances of Ns death were haunting me. I had to get at the bottom of this ……….. I requested J to have lunch with me after a reasonable time had elapsed. She invited me to her home as she did not want to go out so soon after Ns death. 

I reached Js place and found her waiting, she could guess my impatience ………… Let’s talk over a cup of coffee so that we can have our lunch in peace, she said.
I – As u prefer, I received a ‘sms’ from N
J- I knew N had communicated with you, that very morning!
I handed her the cell with the ‘sms’ - Here read this!
She read it and kept silent for a minute. I detected a tensing of her facial muscles.
J – S, you have lost a bet. You owe me Five Big Gandhis!
I was totally at loss - What’s that ?
J – Remember we all were deep in to ‘whodunits’ in one phase of our college days, we used to discuss the perfect murder ………. And you had wagered it was an impossibility!!
I assimilating the implications – U murdered N and for that old wager………..omg!
J – No not for the wager, S. I come from a very humble family. When N proposed to me, it was like an opening in to a world that had immense possibilities, a world where one was free from the daily grind of survival ……………… with all the money; and Naveen was free of all encumbrances. So alluring. Finally, we got married.
I – So why kill him?
J - I just could not … with N! You know what I mean………….. ! I detest men in bed….. I have a preference for women.
I thought she was trying to avoid the issue - So, how the hell did you kill him?
J- I did not kill him physically. A few weeks after the marriage, I started acting in a manner that N would suspect me of cheating him. I would not pick up the phone when he called; sometimes I would deliberately loiter near his office and would appear to be with a man if I saw him and then get off the scene quickly. I would send vague ‘sms’ to my own cell and let N have a look or delete them in a hurry. Oh ……….. I learned so many tricks in last few months!
After some time (J kept talking) I got some syrup of ipecac and gave him in a small dose in his coffee………… he had vomiting and nausea for nearly 2 days. Next, I left a bottle of plain sugar tablets ( the big globules used by homeopaths) marked poison on the side table. I watched him examine the bottle. He was very tense for few days and then the bottle vanished. 

All was clear to me now. Unfortunately I had no way to prove it all!! 

My cell was pinging ........... .......I pressed the ignore key and walked out!!