``The statements of the hotel staff, organisers of the party and other guests,'' says an official, ``have confirmed that Rajiv and Monika did not touch a drop of alcohol at the hotel.''

The new questions they are exploring now are: Did Monika and Rajiv go somewhere else after the party, and if so, where? Was the feni, in which AIIMS doctors have found traces of an organo phosphorous compound, consumed by Rajiv?

Investigators have ascertained that Rajiv and Monika were seated at table number six along with four other guests. Both had come on a special invitewhich had been given to Rajiv's father Ashok Rajah.

All the waiters who served food to the guests at table number six have told the police that none of the guests seated there, including Rajiv and Monika, asked for alcohol. The bartender at the banquet hall that night has also corroborated the statement of the waiters.

Rajiv, Monika and the other four guests were served only vegetarian dishes, which included a special preparation of mushrooms. The vomit samples of Rajiv and Monika, which were picked up from the garage floor and Rajiv's car, also revealed traces of mushroom.

Besides the hotel staff, the police also questioned at least five guests in the party, including CRY Advisor Vice-Admiral A E Johnson, who recognised Rajiv and Monika, and conversed with them. None of these guests remember seeing the two consuming alcohol. Neither did they notice anything in Rajiv's and Monika's behaviour to suggest that they were in an inebriated condition.

Footage from a video recording of the party andphotographs taken by two photographers hired by the organisers were used to probe this aspect. The visuals and statements have also confirmed that no one else was seen leaving the hotel in their company.

These findings have, nevertheless, prompted investigators to reconsider the third person angle, although in a different light. Says one of them: ``Rajiv and Monika may have gone somewhere after the party, possibly to an acquaintance's house where they drank liquor. But this does not mean that this acquaintance killed them''.

He adds, ``It is possible that the alcohol we are talking about came from the bottle of feni. The real mystery is how did the insecticide enter the bottle and where is the container of this insecticide.''

Other new mysteries include the recovery of Rajiv's detachable stereo player from Monica's handbag. The gadget contains the operative mechanism of the cassette player and is 15 cm x 10 cm in size. It can be separated from the car so that the system is rendered useless for aprospective stereo thief.The police suspect that Rajiv, who was a music buff, took out the gadget either at the hotel parking or somewhere else and asked Monika to keep it in her bag. ``Obviously, this was done to safeguard the device. But we are considering some possibilities,'' says an official.

The investigators have also found an unsigned and undated note on the first page of Monika's personal diary. The note reads: `` Why are you so eager, we can make it tomorrow.'' The police say the handwriting in the note does not match with that of Monika's or Rajiv's.

Can there still be a third person? The investigators say no.

Witnesses recount events

Dr V K Agnihotri and Shri Krishna (Director, Safdarjung Airport) were among the first two witnesses to reach the scene of crime. Shri Krishna accompanied Monika's body to Safdarjung Hospital while Agnihotri went with Rajiv's body to AIIMS.

Shri Krishna says he accompanied Monika's body to Safdarjung Hospital along with Ashok Rajah. He says that aneighbour phoned for the ambulance in which they took Monika's body. He got the body registered as `unknown' because ``by the time the doctors could take down her name, Rajah had already left to go to AIIMS and I did not know her name.''

Dr Agnihotri who runs a small clinic opposite the E-block flats was informed of the incident by his assistant when he arrived at the clinic around 8 am. He said: ``When I reached the spot, Rajiv's body had already been removed from the Maruti Esteem. Rajiv's niece and Jha, a family friend, were taking the body to the hospital in a Fiat car. I immediately sat in the car and left for the hospital.''

Senior south district policemen interrogated Zee employee Rajiv Rajah's father Ashok Rajah last night. The Rajah family told The Indian Express: ``Both the senior cops ask the same set of questions every night. It has become a regular duty on part of the cops for the past three days to come here at night and ask the same questions time and again.''

Police sources claimthat they are checking the consistency of Ashok Rajah's statements. The family claim that the policemen no longer go to the garage, they just interrogate Ashok Rajah, take down notes and then politely leave the house.

In a related development, Ashok Rajah has stopped meeting the media. According to a family member: ``Initially, we welcomed the press assuming that they would cooperate. But now they are writing against us. We do not want to talk to them.''