by UD Yasha
‘Did she have any complaint whatsoever about her work?’
‘None. She didn’t have any job pressure as well. She was weird that way.’
I made a mental note to check with her company later. It also got me thinking on another tangent. Supriya’s profile was similar to Zakkal’s victims. If his protégé had been guided by Zakkal, he could have also told him his method. Zakkal stalked his victims. I wondered if the Bedroom Strangler did the same.
‘Do you mind if I use your restroom?’ I asked Subhash.
‘Please,' he said. ‘There's an Indian style toilet down this corridor. We've a Western-style pot upstairs.'
By the time Rathod proceeded with his questioning, I was already upstairs. Supriya’s bedroom was cordoned off with yellow police tape. It was out of limits. But I was not interested in it. I went down the corridor, past the restroom and to the balcony of the third room. The balcony itself was bigger than some houses I had seen in Mumbai. I looked around from the railing. The house itself had two lavish floors. There was a garden full of flowers around it with a small play area for the kids with slides and swings. I looked up. The terrace was sloping, probably not accessible. The other houses in the locality were big as well. Some had tall fences. Even without them, the distance between the neighbours was quite a lot. The roads around the house were also quiet. I wondered how the killer got in and out. He had picked his victim well.
I finally went to the restroom. I did not see a hot water boiler anywhere. I guessed there was a solar panel for heating water on the roof. I went up the stairs leading to the terrace. Only a narrow path was free to go up as more than half of the staircase was blocked by all kinds of objects. There was a cupboard, a full shelf with items that were coated with a thin layer of dust and big boxes filled to their brims with more goods.
I almost missed it. I leaned forward to confirm what I was seeing.
My body started shivering and eyes bulged out in terror when I realized what it was.
I noticed that one of the bigger boxes had been moved. A five-inch area in front of one box had a lighter shade of dust. The box had been pulled a little ahead. The dust on the floor would have been wiped when it was moved forward and then pushed back again. I clicked photos of the floor and the box on my mobile phone. I put on latex gloves and moved the box ahead again. A whiff of a strong smell hit me. I knew what it was right away. Bleach. The floor behind the box also looked sparkling clean. Some had cleaned it very recently. My mind went back to the bedroom that had been wiped with bleach. I ran downstairs. Rathod, Subhash and his mother turned my way, surprised to see me wearing gloves.
‘Did you move one of the boxes on the stairs leading up to the terrace?’ I said to Subhash.
He appeared confused. ‘No. Not unless Supriya did it when we were away. The area is very messy. We’ve been talking about cleaning it for the past six months but haven’t gotten around it.’
I beckoned Rathod to come up. I showed him the pictures I had clicked as I told what I had found. I took him to the staircase.
Two heartbeats of silence. Rathod understood what that meant.
‘The killer stayed in the roof of Supriya’s house before killing her,’ I said and the hair on my neck quivered.
Chapter Fourteen
We got a confirmation from the medical examiner, Dr. Sonia Joshi, that bleach had been used on the staircase as we headed to Yerwada to meet Zakkal. We had no idea how long the killer had been at Supriya’s house. I had come to know that Zakkal stalked all his victims only days before he was caught. In fact, he was caught red-handed while stalking, and that eventually led to a case against him. Knowing he had been at our house, hearing and observing us, had made me vomit. He had been so close all along.
Six guards at the main gate of Yerwada Jail checked our credentials and the car. They were expecting us so we got inside the jail premises in five minutes. All the eyes inside glared at me as we were taken to the jail warden’s office in the large flat admin building. I had been inside Yerwada several times to speak to my clients while working for Santosh Wagh. But at that moment, I felt like the way I had when I had first come to Yerwada. Its enormity had swallowed me up then, just like it was doing right now. Noted Indian freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose and Bal Gangadhar Tilak were imprisoned in Yerwada by the British during their rule of India. More recently, in 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only 26/11 Mumbai-attack terrorist who was caught alive, was hung to death at Yerwada.
We went to one of the larger offices in the admin building. The jail warden was a man named Manohar Shetty. He looked north of fifty and had a balding head. He walked into the office, joined his hands and said, ‘Namaste saheb. What will you have tea or coffee?’
Rathod introduced me. Shetty’s eyes stopped on me for a second longer than usual.
‘We’re good. We’ll like to see Zakkal right away,’ Rathod said.
Shetty jerked his head in my direction. ‘Are you sure she can handle him?’ he asked Rathod. ‘I know he killed women like her.’
I clenched my fists. I knew men like Shetty did not take women in general seriously, but I had forgotten how outright they could be about it.
‘I’m the one who caught him,’ I said.
Shetty’s eyes bulged out. He bit his lip. He changed the topic. ‘Zakkal has been in good spirits since you came this morning,’ Shetty said to Rathod, avoiding my gaze.
He got up and broke step for the corridor. We followed him into an underground walkway for five minutes. We passed several corridors that led to different jail cells. We finally turned into one called ‘Chamber Number 12.’ We went into a small office before the corridor.
‘Zakkal has not seen a woman since his arrest,’ Shetty said, organising papers on a desk, still not looking at me. ‘I don’t know how he’ll react to you being there. Please don’t carry anything that can be weaponized. Don’t go near the bars of his cell.’
I put aside my phone, purse and keys. Rathod opened his case to wire me with mics and an earpiece.
‘I wouldn’t take that in if I were you. He could choke you with the wire,’ Shetty said.
Rathod put the case away. Shetty turned to me, finally meeting my gaze. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked me.
I nodded and felt sweat gather in my hair on my neck.
‘It’s the last cell on the right at the end of the corridor. Be careful when you go because there are cells on either side with bars that open in the corridor,’ Shetty said.
The corridor was sparsely lit with a yellow light on the ceiling at regular intervals. At that moment, as I took the first step, everything around me faded. My vision blurred and all the sounds around me came from a distance far away. My mother's smiling face flashed before my eyes.
The light at the end of the corridor revealed Zakkal’s cell to me. It was larger than other cells, primarily because it had two sets of bars to prevent anyone from being within Zakkal’s grasp. I gulped when I saw his silhouetted figure. He was sitting on a chair, his back was towards me, and he appeared to be holding something like a book in his hands.
‘It’s good to see you again, Siya,’ he said when I was still ten metres from his cell.
Zakkal turned around when I reached it. He was in the shadows but for a shaft of light slanting on his face. He was smiling. I felt a cold breeze on my neck. I knew it was from nerves. Just like compassion, no breeze seeped into Chamber Number 12.
He said, ‘Happy birthday, Siya. This reminds me of the first time I saw you. You had turned fourteen that day. Do you remember I had wished you? You were celebrating in the park with your parents and siblings. I had walked across and shook your hand.’
‘What do you want Zakkal? I said.
‘Where are your manners, Siya? We’re meeting after such a long time.’
Three beats of silence resounded.
‘You ask me what I want? The answer is simple. I wanted to see you.’
‘Did you kill a woman
just to see me?’
‘That wasn’t me. You know it.’
‘What do you know about her?’
He paused for a long minute. ‘I lied,’ he said eventually.
‘What?’
‘I lied when I said I wanted to see you. I actually wanted to see your mother. See the thing is, you two look similar. Especially now, when you're all grown up.' Zakkal emerged from the shadows and I noticed his eyes; they were still pure evil, especially when he smiled. ‘And wasn't I told right. You are a carbon copy of your mother. I know you're the same age as her when I found her.'
The mention of maa sparked anger inside me.
‘I’m sorry you thought your mother was dead all these years. But I thought you were smart to have known otherwise. But you see she is a very special woman. I love the way your mom smells. It enriches me. I cannot wait to hold her close again. I would have never killed her. I miss her, Siya. And that’s why I called you.’ Zakkal smiled again. ‘You two look the same. She smiles a lot more though. She also -’
‘Where is she?’
‘Now now. Wouldn’t that spoil all the fun?’
‘What about the other women?’
‘What about them?’
‘Are they still alive?’
‘You’ll find out soon.’
‘Have you killed them?’
‘The first thing you should know about me is that I really don’t like to kill. I do that as a last resort. I finish them only if they stop being beautiful.’
‘What about Holly Summers?’
‘She was a mistake. One that was very costly. Wasn’t that the case that set you on the path to find me? It was a big mistake. I should never have gone near that woman. But I was inexperienced then and my excitement was bursting out of me. I had to do something about it.’
‘Was my mother your second victim?’
‘I don’t remember.’
‘Did you kill others in the United States?’
‘I don’t remember.’
Silence.
I said, ‘I know you trained Supriya Kelkar’s killer yourself.’
‘Now why do you think that?’
‘He stalked Supriya as well. He lived in her house.’
Zakkal laughs echoed in the corridor. ‘I knew he was a good one. He has to be. He has learnt from the best.’
‘Do you think the protégé can better the teacher?’
‘Not if the teacher is me.’
‘Do you miss your wife?’
‘Depends on whom I’m with. And right now, I’m in elite company. So, no. I don’t miss her right now.’
Silence.
‘Are you ever going to free the women you had abducted?’
‘If you were to ask me, they’re already free. You see, people define freedom in various ways. I believe it’s to be who you are. When these women are with me, they are expressing their highest form of beauty. They’re free even right now. I don’t want to trap them by letting them in the outside world. It’s a very mean place to be in or so I’ve heard.’
Zakkal got up from his chair and walked to the inner bars. ‘I'll give you something that will help you. Consider it to be your birthday gift. I would've given you a balloon-like the first time but I can't get that in here. They're too paranoid I'd strangle someone with it.'
Zakkal put a hand in his mouth and pulled out something. He put it on his open palm and held it out through the bars. What the hell. He was holding a small plastic bag. I could not make out what was inside it. It was small, the size of a pea. I would have to stretch my arm through the bar to get it.
‘Oh sorry,’ he said and retracted his arm.
He went deeper in his cell, back in the shadows. He came out in ten seconds. He had a crumpled tissue paper in his hand. He walked to the bars and held out his hand again. ‘How silly of me! I didn’t even wrap your birthday gift earlier. It’s all ready now.’
‘What is it?’
‘I was hoping you would be more excited. It’s a gift, Siya. A gift. You don’t ask what it is. You say thank you, take it and open it with excitement.’
Silence.
Zakkal smiled. ‘You know, I am a wonderful gift giver. I put a lot of thought behind them. It probably stems from my childhood. Just like all my actions according to all the psychoanalysts who’ve seen me. I don’t think anyone ever truly got me. What’s the best gift you have ever got, Siya?’
I flinched. I did not know where this conversation was going.
Zakkal said, ‘You want to know my deep dark secrets. You want to read me like I’m an open book. I deserve to take a small bite of you. Don’t you think that’s fair?’
The best gift I ever got was a camping pass with Shadow. Radha had given it to me. The two of us and Shama had gone with Shadow. We had set up a tent next to Pawana Lake for three days. We had made our own barbecue, spent hours in nature and swam with Shadow in the lake. More than the camp itself, it was the first time I had stayed over anywhere outside after recovering in some way from the shock of wrongly defending Kunal Shastri. I was not going to speak about Radha or Shama with Zakkal.
‘The best gift I’ve ever got was a synthesizer. It wasn’t brand new. Instead, it belonged to my father. It was repaired and given to me five years back. It was an honour to have it.’
‘Who gave it to you?’
‘My brother.’
‘That’s a lie.’
‘No, it isn’t.’
‘He gave it to you but it wasn’t your best gift. This is your last chance. If you ever lie to me again, I’m not going to talk to you. And you wouldn’t get what you want.’
I told Zakkal about the camping pass. I kept out the part where I defended the wrong client.
‘Who gave it to you?’ he said. ‘Don’t lie.’
‘My sister.’
Zakkal got up from his chair again and came to the bars. ‘You deserve this,’ he said, extending his arm once again through the bars.
I was still hesitant.
‘Don’t be shy. Remember this is the present you’re looking for.’
I was suddenly aware of my hand. I closed my fist, unsure. I stepped towards the outer bars. I looked up at Zakkal. He jerked his head towards the crumpled tissue in his hand.
‘Come on, take it. It’ll be life coming back to a full circle.’
I did not know what he meant by that. I stretched my right arm through the bars. His hand was icy cold as my finger scraped it when I grabbed the tissue from his hand. My heart thudded in my ear. I hoped Zakkal was not able to hear it.
‘Happy birthday to you. That was liberating, wasn’t it? I’m sure I’ll see you soon,’ he said and retreated to the shadows of his cell. He never came back.
Chapter Fifteen
I tried to get out of Chamber Number 12 as soon as possible. The prison walls seemed to shrink down on me every second I was inside. The whispers of the other prisoners resounded in my ears.
‘What did he say?’ Rathod asked me when I reached the office outside.
I had never been gladder to see daylight. I showed him the tissue and opened it. Zakkal's words came back to me. They suddenly had meaning. It’ll be life coming back to a full circle. The surprise on my face must have drawn Rathod to the tissue. He stared at it.
‘What’s that?’ he said.
‘It’s a pollen grain. Zakkal gave it to me.’
‘How did he get it inside?’
‘He had it in his mouth. Don’t ask me how it got there. Probably the same way he communicated with the new killer. He knows I got him in the first place because of a pollen. He’s given me one again.’
I folded the tissue as it was earlier and put it in a plastic evidence bag I was carrying in my tote bag.
‘I’ll give it to Sonia for testing,’ Rathod said. He lifted three big fat folders from the table and said, ‘These folders have all the letters and correspondence Zakkal had with anyone since being imprisoned. It beats me why people are so interested in talking to a deranged mur
derous sociopath. Let’s hope there’s something here that gets us to the Bedroom Strangler. I’ll have some constables from CID bring over copies of the papers inside to your house in batches.’
‘That sounds good.’
We headed straight to the CID station at Pashan. On our way, I gave Rathod a rundown of my conversation with Zakkal while he had the ACP on the phone. He gave the tissue with the pollen for forensic analysis once we reached the CID office.
‘Sonia has just finished her autopsy of Supriya Kelkar,’ Rathod told me. ‘I’ll send you the full report but I’ll give you the gist. Supriya died from strangulation,’ he said and turned to his phone to read the report. ‘Sonia found the bones of the neck crushed. The killer kept releasing and choking her. The death would’ve been extremely painful. She has stated the cause of death as asphyxiation, which is consistent with the marks around her neck. The tox screen results came out clean. She was not poisoned. Judging by the undigested food in her stomach and the decomposition of her body, the time of death is estimated to be between four and eight in the morning.’ He looked up from his phone. ‘We know she was in her office till almost one that night.’
‘The killer was home, waiting for her all along,’ I said, imagining the terror that would have struck Supriya when she realized that. ‘He was also stalking her, so he knew she was alone at home and had nothing to do till evening. He had eighteen hours to kill her, splash the bathroom with the blood and leave the message.’
‘I still find it staggering that he was actually inside her house,’ Rathod said.
‘Because it is. If you think about it, are there places in your house where someone could hide and you wouldn’t know right away?’
A beat silence as Rathod thought.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It’s shit scary now that I think about it.’ The pitch of his voice went up.
‘We don’t have a house as big as Supriya’s but even then, there are lofts and cupboards where someone could easily hide. We don’t look there every day.’
‘It doesn’t even have to be cupboards or lofts or empty rooms. Do you check under your bed every day? It’s the classic childhood scare, right?’
