by UD Yasha
Zakkal will be given the deal to sign at 11 AM. I just saw the paperwork. His free time is scheduled from five fifteen to six fifteen in the evening. We’ll be at Yerwada to speak to him after that.
The second was from Ranjit Kadam who had replied to my message.
Superb job. I don’t know how you got him to talk. This is helpful. Let’s meet tomorrow evening. I’m tied up through the day.
I replied to him right away.
I have to go to Yerwada to meet Zakkal in the evening at 5:15 PM. Can we do 4 PM instead?
I headed back to the house. Shadow was waiting for me right outside the garage. He moaned and brushed his head against my legs, telling me in a way that it was time to sleep.
I lay on my bed with my eyes open for a while. My mind was too active to fall asleep. The nap in the evening had been very powerful indeed. I eventually closed my eyes. The image of Zakkal’s monster eyes was my last memory.
Chapter Forty
At the same time, the Bedroom Strangler was getting up. He was an early riser. Especially on the days when it was time to do business. He had to make sure everything went as per plan. He had been looking forward to this day for five years. Ever since his teacher has been taken.
‘Let the news cool down about me,’ Zakkal had told him. ‘We’ll act afterwards.’
And then one day, a year back, the plan was hatched. He loved every aspect of a kill. Right from the planning to the execution and then his favourite part—to fuck them till they get cold. That’s why he preferred to kill women. Bitches.
Zakkal and him went back a long way. They were practically brothers. He would die for Zakkal. He laughed every time he heard anyone say “I would kill for this…I would kill for that…” None of the bastards had the balls to actually kill. But he had killed for Zakkal. Their bond went so deep. He would do it again and again for him. Zakkal was the one who had taught him how to kill.
‘Embrace it. It’s only natural,’ Zakkal had told him. ‘Just be wise. Don’t get caught.’
That was the beginning of the innumerable conversations they had gone on to have about killing. They had thought of killing together as well. The Bedroom Strangler did not mind it. But Zakkal said it was better if they did it individually.
‘Killing with a friend is like having sex with a friend. Once you do it, it’s over,’ Zakkal had said.
He got up from his bed and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. It dawned on him that he would see Zakkal later that day. They had last met in the open five years back, a few days before Zakkal was taken. His arrest was sudden. They had not even got a chance to say goodbye.
They had figured out a way to communicate several months after his arrest. Zakkal changed his lawyer. They had found through various sources that Hardik Karve was a corrupt lawyer. He paid judges for rulings in his favour. He bribed cops to fabricate evidence. He was notorious for his connections with local dons, most prominent of whom was the Shirole gang. After some research on him, the new killer had found that Karve did not have a moral compass. He was only driven by money. And money was something they had in huge numbers. He also always hid his main clients from scrutinizing eyes.
So, they had paid Hardik Karve to keep his mouth shut and then communicated through him. That had made everything simple. Plus, they could always ask someone from the Shirole gang for favours to get stuff into the prison. They had contacts everywhere. Even prison guards were on their payroll.
And now they were going to pull off the ultimate escape.
The new killer made some tea for himself. He enjoyed the silence. It was still early in the day. By seven o’clock Naina Rajput would start making some noise. He would ordinarily whack her hard to make her stop. But Zakkal had specifically told him to keep them fresh and alert when he would meet them after so many years.
And whatever Zakkal told him, he had to follow.
Chapter Forty-One
I woke up at eleven thirty and only because I had forgotten to cover my face and Shadow had started licking it. I freshened up and went downstairs to find that even Radha and Rahul had just woken up. I imagined Shadow being bored, being the only one awake. He had eventually decided that he needed company and woken us up.
Radha took Shadow for a walk in our yard. Rahul made an omelette while I brewed some filter coffee. The sumptuous smell of breakfast made me forget everything else. As I sat down with my cup, my phone vibrated. It was Ranjit.
Let’s do 4:30. I’m going to be on that side of the city as well. If you have to go to Yerwada, we can meet near the jail. It’ll be on the way for both of us. I’ll text you the location later.
I replied to him right back.
In that case, select a pet-friendly café or a park. Our dog will be with us.
We started eating our omelettes by the time Shadow finished his four boiled eggs. We realized we had missed dinner yesterday, something that had not happened for a long time. I observed Radha. I could sense relief and joy in the way she moved. She turned to me and said, ‘What’s the matter? You seem distracted.’
‘I don’t think Zakkal is going to stand by his part of the agreement. Think about it. Why would he do all of this and then just tell us where he has kept maa and the other women. It just feels too long drawn. And too easy.’
‘Why would he want the free time?’ Rahul said.
‘I can't figure that out. It's not like there is less security during free time. In fact, there are guns pointed at you from high above. Even a small fight can lead to an inmate being tranquillized. The guards are authorized to even shoot to kill if the situation warrants for that extreme a measure.
‘Maybe the location he reveals is a setup.’
‘That could be. But the CID will bring a big backup when we go there. Bigger than the one they had for the pollen grain location.’
‘Does he want to meet anyone in the free time?’
‘The ten inmates for the free time are chosen at random. Only the jail authorities would know who is going to go out.’
‘What if the jail authorities are corrupt and they rig the list?’
‘What would the inmates do after meeting each other? They’re only going to return to their cell. They’ll remain in solitary confinement.’
‘I don’t know what Zakkal has planned, but it definitely isn’t just letting us know where he has hidden the women.’
Halfway through breakfast, my phone buzzed once. It was Rathod. A text message.
Zakkal signed the deal just now.
I cleaned up my plate and went to the garage. I needed to find a link either between Zakkal and the new killer or one of the new victims to see if that could lead me to Zakkal’s protégé. I had a working theory. If the new killer killed before and had a different modus operandi, then it would have taken him immense courage and strength apart from love for Zakkal to change his methods. I was not sure if he stalked his victims before as well but given that the stalking was a part of the process, I reckoned he did.
While dealing with any change, humans try to find a level of comfort and some factor of familiarity with the new situation, even if it does not exist. It is natural to seek it. It makes the impact of change less drastic. The classic example of this is when someone moves to a different country or city, and then they hang out with people from the place of their birth. I wondered how hard it was for the new killer to actually change his method of killing. In that phase of transformation, would he have also searched for familiarity?
If he did, then what was his circle of familiarity?
A geographical territory he was comfortable with? Supriya died in KP. Tarla died in Magarpatta. They were far from each other. The familiarity could also be the people he knew. We had not found a connection between the two victims. They appeared to be random choices, apart from both being women around the age of thirty. One was a working woman who spent most of her day in the office. The other worked all the time from her room.
He knew both their personal rou
tines. He knew when Supriya would be alone at home. He also knew about Tarla’s appointment with her therapist. Did he know them from before? I repeated what I knew about them.
Tarla Raheja only left her house to go to her therapist. That’s the only place her killer could have gotten to know her. That, her chemist or during her commute to the hospital. But Tarla drove her own car. She went to chemist erratically, especially after she could start ordering medicines online. There was no routine there. Her only certainty was her weekly appointment. But, at the same time, Supriya Kelkar did not have a medical condition. She did not visit hospitals. So, where had the killer met her?
It came to me out of nowhere. Supriya Kelkar had been trying to conceive a child for the past three years. She would have had to go to a fertility hospital for that. I jumped up from my chair to call her husband. Tarla went to City Prime Hospital for her therapy. If Supriya went to the same hospital for her fertility tests or saw the same doctor, we would finally have a connection.
Supriya’s husband answered my call on the third ring.
‘This is Siya Rajput. I had come to your house last week.’
‘Oh yes. What’s the matter?’
‘I wanted to know from which hospital did your wife get her fertility tests done?’
A flash of silence.
‘It was Saraswat Hospital.’
‘Why do you ask?’
‘And who was her doctor?’
‘Dr. Shalimar Shah.’
‘What’s happening?’
‘We were just exploring a lead. We’ll keep you posted with our investigation,’ I said and hung up.
I wanted to know if Dr. Shah was on the roster of City Prime Hospital as well. If not him, who else was contracted by both the hospitals? I went to their websites and checked for common doctors. The websites only listed the heads of various departments. I needed inside access. I texted Rathod to find common doctors in both hospitals.
I let the thought simmer in my brain. I went to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. Radha was reading a textbook while I could hear Rahul on a call upstairs.
‘Shama called,’ Radha said. ‘They’re coming. They’ll leave tonight by train and reach tomorrow noon.’
‘How long are they going to be here for?’
‘A week.’
I nodded in acknowledgement. Karan's presence was going to be a big relief. He could be home and keep everyone safe if we had not got maa back by today. Even if we did, the new killer would continue to be out there.
I took my cup to the garage and got back to trying to find a connection between the victims. I went through their profiles multiple times. Both were working women, though they did all kinds of jobs. I wondered if they knew each other through work.
I could ask Vivaan. The thought of speaking to him made me feel funny in the stomach again. I had to stop feeling this way every time I thought about Vivaan. I called him.
‘Hello, Siya,’ Vivaan said in a pleasant tone.
I was already feeling better. The tension built up in my temples eased. ‘Hi. I have a quick question. Did anyone by the name of Tarla Raheja ever did some freelance work for you?’
‘I’ll have to check to be sure. But we hardly ever contract individuals. It’s always their company, even if it’s a proprietorship.’
‘Give me a second,’ I said and rolled my chair to the other end of the desk and flipped through the report on Tarla’s murder. ‘It’s a company called Bit By Byte.’
‘I’m looking it up as we’re talking,’ Vivaan said. ‘I’ll need a minute.’
I could hear a faint breath across the line. I imagined Vivaan sitting against the afternoon glow of the sun. My heart sank for a beat. Had I seen a ring on Vivaan’s finger? No way. I would have noticed it. I felt embarrassed thinking about it.
‘No, we haven’t done any business with them.’
‘Okay, thank you. Also, can you please send me the building log of everyone who came to your office in the past month?’
Silence.
I wondered if he would send it to me.
‘I wouldn't be able to send it for the entire workspace as there are multiple companies working here. I can send you the list to which I have access. It has the general visitors along with those who came to visit the company.'
‘That’ll be helpful,’ I said.
‘I’ll send you the contact of Our Work’s security head if you want the logs for the entire building.’
‘Thank you,’ I said and hung up.
Before I could daydream again about Vivaan, I got the email. I opened it before getting distracted. A total of six hundred and fourteen people had visited the Our Work office in the past month. I searched for our suspects, to begin with.
No hits.
I pulled out the list of people who had visited Zakkal. Luckily, both documents were searchable. One by one, the names flew by.
There was a match.
Devaki Sharma had visited Smart Tech, but only after Supriya Kelkar had been murdered. She was probably there for a story. I resumed my search. I kept typing name after name.
There were no matches.
I could have asked Our Work’s security team to send the logs for the full building but that would require a warrant. No judge would ever sanction it. Vivaan had only sent me what he could in good faith.
I heaved air out of my mouth very loudly. I pushed my chair using my feet and I rolled back. I checked the time. It was three o’clock. I was no better off now than before. I headed back inside the house. We had a quiet lunch. None of us spoke; Radha and Rahul probably from anticipation and tension while I was silent from frustration.
At a quarter to four, we left to meet Ranjit Kadam. I wondered what he would have to share with me regarding Zakkal’s childhood. That was my only hope to catch his protégé and get maa back.
Chapter Forty-Two
We went to location Ranjit had texted. It was of a café called Jerry's. As per my request, it was pet-friendly. It was a quaint place about five minutes away from Yerwada. It was two-storeyed. We took a table away from the door. Ranjit had not arrived by the time we had reached. We decided that Radha and Rahul would go to the first floor with Shadow after Ranjit comes. We ordered coffee until then.
‘Hey sister,’ Radha said. ‘It’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up. We’re going to meet maa. If Zakkal doesn’t keep his promise, there’ll be consequences.’
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I know. I just feel we’re wrongly assuming Zakkal is going to keep his word.’
It was four forty-seven. I was getting restless. I thought about cancelling my meeting with Ranjit. I was cutting it too close with Zakkal. I wanted to be in Yerwada right from the moment Zakkal started his free time. Ranjit came just as our coffee arrived. He was wearing a grey shirt and black trousers and holding a blazer in his hand. He spotted us from the door and walked up to the table. After I introduced him to Radha and Rahul, they went upstairs.
‘I'm sorry I'm late,' Ranjit said. ‘I was stuck in a meeting. The traffic here in Pune is getting worse because of the metro construction. I can't believe what it'll be like near my house in Dadar's Shivaji Park when they start the construction there. I'll hope then as well that my work keeps taking me out of Mumbai.' He paused. ‘And a superb job with Zakkal yesterday. I don't know how you managed to crack him. People, including me, have been trying it for years.'
‘I got a little help from you,’ I said. ‘I’ll tell you about it later.’
‘Right. He said that he killed his own father. That was big. There was something else he said which was equally big. When you asked him why he held his victims captive for so long, he said, because he wants to show them the other side. That sounds vague on the surface of it. But it has a deeper meaning.’
‘I wanted to ask him what he meant by that but he said he’ll only answer one more question.’
‘No. I think you did great. Here’s what I think. His father was an alcoholic. Most alcoholic husbands come home an
d beat their wives. Zakkal, even at a tender age of eight, could not bear to see that happening. The violence he saw at home was unbearable. There was only one way to stop. That’s why he killed his father. He could’ve easily deflected your question like he did on a number of times. The fact that he told you that means he is proud of it. He didn’t care about its repercussions.’
Even though I wanted to let Ranjit continue, I did not want to miss Zakkal’s free time. I wanted to be there throughout. It was five minutes to five. Just as I was going to interrupt Ranjit, my phone buzzed on the table. Rathod was calling me.
‘Where are you?’ he said, his voice was urgent.
Something is wrong.
‘I’m reaching Yerwada in five minutes. What’s the matter?’
‘You won’t believe what happened. Zakkal had a heart attack as they were preparing him for the free time outside.’
The shock in my eyes made Ranjit lean forward. He raised his eyebrows.
‘What are they doing with him now?’
‘They’ve taken him to the special care unit at Yerwada. There’s a high chance they’ll move him to Sasoon Hospital in a few minutes.’
‘Have they confirmed if it’s a real heart attack?’ I said, knowing heart attacks could be faked.
‘Yes, it’s real. The doctor here confirmed it. I’m trying to get Sonia to reach Sasoon by the time we reach if we go there.’
Silence.
‘What if he gets away? It’s the classic getaway move from prisons.’
‘I know. I asked Warden Shetty. They’ve all kinds of measures in place. They’re good at what they do, Siya. They’ve done this before. Let’s hope this isn’t the one-off instance in which the inmate escapes. Get here now. We’re waiting. Be ready to move to Sasoon,’ Rathod said and hung up.
