by UD Yasha
Zakkal was still inside the house. A wave of fear took over me. I could not leave Sangeetha unguarded. I could not get that carried away to know what had happened to my mother that I looked past a woman’s safety.
As Sangeetha killed her car engine, I bolted out from the bushes and got in her car. I was glad it was well-hidden because of the trees. I told Sangeetha who I was and what I had found.
‘What?’ the woman said with bloodshot eyes. Her face went white. She did not know how to react. I didn’t fault her. No one could fathom the fact that a killer was living in their house, stalking them.
I said, ‘The police will arrive at any moment.'
Sangeetha looked perplexed but followed my instructions. I took the scarf that she was wearing and tied it around my head like she used to wear it. I took her house keys and entered it instead of her. The only way to get a killer like Zakkal was to catch him in the act.
Hands grabbed my neck the moment I got in. Pain shot through my body as I gasped for breath. Two beats later, Zakkal realized I was not his target. The smirk on his face went away. He released my neck in shock and stepped back.
‘Who are you?’ he said, his eyes bulging out.
‘Your time is over.’
‘You look like Naina Rajput,’ he said in disbelief.
‘I’m her daughter. You’re going to be arrested.’
Zakkal leapt forward. I was ready this time. I elbowed his face. He turned away and I missed my mark. All I managed was to scrape his right ear. I ran indoors, pulling out my Glock from my purse. I pointed it at Zakkal. He narrowed his eyes. He knew it was all over. But he was not going to go down without a fight. He ran towards me, hoping to get me before I could pull the trigger. A loud sound echoed in the closed house as I squeezed the trigger once, aiming for Zakkal’s foot, a part of the human body that has comparatively fewer arteries than the rest. A bullet sliced through the air and hit Zakkal. He bellowed in pain and fell to the floor.
Police sirens swirled in the distance.
Within the next minute, police cars screeched to a halt outside the bungalow. They went into the house and dragged Zakkal out. He was arrested and taken to a hospital. Over the next six months, the CID gathered more evidence and built a solid case against Zakkal. They found blood belonging to various women in the boot of Zakkal’s car. Eventually, Zakkal admitted to kidnapping seven women, including maa, and killing Holly Summers. He did not reveal if the women were still alive.
The Mumbai High Court sentenced Zakkal to life imprisonment. I felt vindicated. The State of Maharashtra moved to the Supreme Court to get a death penalty for Zakkal. In the process, my father’s name was cleared. Anniruddha Rajput was an innocent man to the rest of the world. But we still had no clue where he was. There was not one shred of evidence of what had happened to him.
Capturing Zakkal marked a shift in my career. I followed my mentor, Santosh Wagh’s footsteps and decided that I was no longer just going to defend the innocent. I was also going to hunt the monsters.
Chapter Seventeen
Present Day
I made coffee to feel upbeat. As I took the first sip, I said, ‘I mentioned to Zakkal that the Bedroom Strangler was stalking Supriya, just like Zakkal stalked his victims. He seemed impressed.’
‘We never really knew how he operated when he was caught,’ Rahul said.
Rahul had played a part in catching Zakkal and had also testified against him in court. He knew the case well. He had a point. There was a lot of mystery surrounding Zakkal. More than usual because he had pleaded to being responsible for the disappearance of seven women. Even at the end of the trial, we did not know why he killed or how he selected his victims.
‘That’s true. We only know three things about Zakkal. First, all his victims were attractive women, second, they were around the age of thirty and third, he stalked them. Even the Bedroom Strangler stalked his victim.’
‘You think Zakkal mentored him?’
‘It’s hard to say. I’m just wondering if the Bedroom Strangler was pushed over the edge to kill by Zakkal or if he killed before as well.’
‘When is Rathod sending copies of Zakkal’s jail correspondence?’
‘He said by evening. There are a lot of letters,’ I said and fell silent. ‘Supriya Kelkar spent a lot of time at work. If someone was stalking her, then they might have seen something.’
‘Or someone from work itself could have been stalking her.’
I had learnt to never say never. ‘Let’s go to her office and talk to people there.’
‘Do you want me to call the office to let them know we’re coming?’ Radha said.
‘No, if someone at work was stalking Supriya, let’s surprise them. They wouldn’t be expecting us.’
I pulled out my phone and looked up the company’s address. They had an office in Koregaon Park, near Supriya’s house. By the time I looked up from the screen, Rahul had already taken the car keys and was standing at the door. Shadow was quick to bark and jump to the door, thinking it was time for a long drive.
I did not want Radha to stay alone at home. Neither did I want Shadow to be alone. So, they both came along. It worked out for everyone. While Rahul and I would go to Supriya's office, they would wander around KP, maybe even go to one of the pet-friendly cafes.
We drove in silence. I felt all of us needed to take a step back and be with ourselves. It had been a chaotic twelve hours. It had seemed much longer. We reached Smart Tech’s office in half an hour. Radha found a café across the street that welcomed pets and went to it as we turned for the Smart Tech.
The Smart Tech office was located in a big coworking space called Our Work–one of the most recent babies of the shared economy generation. A coworking space lowered cost for all companies housed within the big complex but that same reasons made it a nightmare for any investigator. I read in a brochure at the reception that the Our Work building had more than five hundred employees from twenty-two different companies.
Our plan to surprise Supriya's colleagues also fell flat because we could not get past the reception without an ID or an employee signing us in. Rahul called the HR Department of Smart Tech. A lady in palazzos and a shirt came down in five minutes and signed us in. Our names and IDs were registered before we got in. I was relieved in a way, knowing that the stalker would also have had to sign in if he had come there. I made a mental note to ask for entry and exit logs. If someone repeatedly followed Supriya in and out, then we had a suspect.
Offices of all kinds – from diagnostics laboratories, financial advisors and travel agents to technology start-ups, banks and handicraft designers – all were represented in Our Work's co-working space. We got in an elevator made from glass. The lady pressed for the top floor and I marvelled at the vast expanse I saw.
The lady guided us to a waiting area. From the top, we could see the ever-growing skyline of Pune. Places like these were synonymous to the times India was going through as a country. A burst of modernity and sophistication was coupled with a hard-working middle-class population of all religions and castes under one roof, a few amongst them who dared to change their life by starting a small enterprise of their own hoping to make it big. To complete the image, the Our Work building was located less than a kilometre away from a slum that was being redeveloped. The Mula River, called the Mula Gutter by a lot of the residents, was a kilometre away on the other side of the building.
As I turned back to look inside, I saw a man, dressed in a crisp light-yellow shirt and black trousers, walk up to us.
‘Vivaan Deshpande,’ he said, extending his hand.
I knew Vivaan was the founder and CEO of Smart Tech from my five-minute read about the company in the car. He looked younger in person than his photo on the company website. He was six feet tall and had a wiry frame. His hair was curly and some of it coiled behind his ears. It merged into his five o’clock shadow.
‘Siya Rajput. I’m a private detective,’ I said, accepting his handshake. His hands
were cool and soft. I smelt a whiff of strong perfume. My fingers tingled. I felt his poise draw me towards him.
‘Please, let’s go to my office,’ he said, leading the way.
It was located at a corner and faced east. The sunrise would look amazing from here, I thought. We sat at the long teak table. Vivaan pressed a button on the desk. The blinds closed to give us some privacy. For an enterprise valued at over ten million dollars, its founder seemed an unassuming man.
‘I heard about Supriya,’ Vivaan said. ‘We’re shocked. We’re like a family here. I can speak on behalf of my employees. We’ll do everything we can to help you find the person who did this.’
‘Can you think of anyone?’ I said.
‘Not at all.’ His response was quick with an air of surprise and punch of conviction. ‘We’re all simple people working hard. I can personally vouch for Supriya’s character because we worked closely and spoke almost every day. She is…was one of the most honest people I’ve met. She didn’t even wish bad for our competitors.’
‘Did you notice her act strangely in the past few weeks? Or did she talk about anything bothering her?’ I said, not wanting to tell him that Supriya was being stalked.
Vivaan looked away and turned back, shaking his head. ‘Not that I can think of. In fact, I would say she was too focused on work as we had a big event yesterday.’
Another reason why she would not have noticed a stalker following her around.
Vivaan continued. ‘Everyone in the office has been working extra time. The event was a big deal for us.’
‘What was the event for?’ Rahul said.
‘Smart Tech builds machine learning solutions in healthcare. We’re creating a system that verifies everything that happens during a surgery, real time. That includes everything between pre-procedure checks and the rehabilitation of the patient. Our system alerts the doctor if anything is going wrong. We launched that system yesterday.’
‘How’s it different from current medical instruments?’ I said.
‘Those are used for monitoring purposes only. For example, you’d only know if you have diabetes if you check for diabetes. Our system is built on an automation platform. It can be used for diagnosis as well. It would reduce medical accidents, wrong diagnoses and deaths due to doctors’ mistakes. Not just that, but current operating procedures can be optimized with the help of our technology. We would reduce human interference, thereby reducing errors.’
Vivaan spoke with relentless passion. It was easy to make out he felt strongly about the topic. I wondered why.
‘How long did the event last?’ I said.
‘We started at seven and finished just before midnight. But the core team, which includes Supriya, came back to the office to evaluate the event and decide the next steps. We only dispersed at one thirty in the night. We work late at times, so I've developed an app for everyone's safety. It's company policy to punch in on the app once anyone reaches home if we're working after nine at night. I only sleep once everyone punches in. The app remembers how long it takes for every person to reach home and alerts our security team if there's an abnormal delay. They personally check in on you if you're late.'
‘Was Supriya late?’
‘No. She punched in within the expected time frame.’
Yeah, because she went home expecting to relax after an exhausting day but instead she went back to a killer who was waiting for her.
‘And was it decided that Supriya would take the day off yesterday?’
‘Yes, most of the core team members had a holiday.’
‘Where were you between four and eight yesterday morning?’
‘I had a flight to Bangalore at seven o’clock. I left for the airport at five in the morning. I reached Bangalore at eight thirty. I had meetings from noon.’
‘Can anyone vouch for that?’
‘Yes. I went to the airport in a taxi. You can speak to the driver, the taxi company and confirm with the ground staff at both the airports. I’ll be happy to share the details of my meeting as well. You can confirm with the hotel too. I had booked a conference room.’
‘Can you please send me the details of your flight and taxi?
‘Sure.’
‘Was your flight on time?’
‘Yes, surprisingly. I learnt about this just on the flight itself. The fog problem is for flights from Bangalore and not going to Bangalore.'
Alibis in public places were the best. Technology, as well as people, verified your presence. I remembered that Kunal Shastri had an alibi too. His wife and his daughter. I had believed them. Only later had I realized his wife killed with him. I tried to calm my breath. I focused on Vivaan in front of me. He was looking back at me, his eyes earnest. His hair was black but in the afternoon sun, it glinted a shade of dark brown. I would ask Rathod to verify with both the airport and the cab service. But I felt good knowing that Vivaan had a watertight alibi. Why was I hoping it would check out? I tried to push the thought away. I cursed myself. I had always been professional with my cases.
‘Can you give us the details of the people who had taken a holiday yesterday?’
‘Of course. I can pull that up right now,’ Vivaan said and pressed a button on the intercom.
A person emerged at his door in twenty seconds and Vivaan requested for the details along with receipts of his movements from yesterday. I shared my email address with him.
‘Would you like to have tea or coffee?’ Vivaan asked us.
Rahul glanced at me. He knew my ‘yes coffee please’ face very well. ‘We’ll both have coffee,’ he said.
In the next two minutes, two steaming cups were brought by the same person.
‘I've emailed you the list of people who were not working yesterday,' Vivaan said.
I read the list while sipping coffee. It had four members, including Supriya Kelkar. Another woman and two men. All were heads of different departments.
‘Is this the entire core team?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are they all here today?’
‘Yes, except for Anil Verma.’
Anil Verma was Head of Sales. ‘Where is he today?’
‘He has taken a sick leave.’
‘Can we speak to the others?’
‘Yes, you can even use one of the free cabins to talk to them.’
‘Who was Supriya closest to in the office?’
‘Manju Singh, Sanjana Suman and Supriya were best of friends. She was friendly with the rest.’
The list had Manju Singh. She was Head of Accounts. I remembered Sanjana Suman was the woman who found Supriya and had called the CID.
‘Is Sanjana Suman here?’
‘Yes, she’d be outside. She works in HR.’
‘Thanks a lot for your cooperation.’
‘I meant what I said before. We’ll all do everything we can to find the culprit.’
We got up to leave. I wanted to ask him if he could get the entry logs of the building for us. But I didn’t want to reveal our thought process to him. Even though I was certain Vivaan was not our guy, I needed to first ensure his alibi did not have any loopholes. So, I walked out, feeling excited that I would speak to him again for them.
We sat in a cabin two doors away from the corner office. Manju Singh came in first. She looked around forty years of age and was wearing a saree. Rahul took lead this time. We had three questions for everyone.
After pleasantries were muttered, Rahul said, ‘How close were you to Supriya?’
‘I was best friends with her.’
‘So, you’d know if she was facing any issues?’
‘Yes.’
‘Was she?’
‘No. Maybe. Well, yes, she was worried about one thing.’
‘What was that?’
‘She and her husband were trying to have a second child but she wasn’t able to conceive.’
‘Was her husband or his family causing problems because of that?’
‘No. Oh God no. They’re wonderful peo
ple. They’d never do that.’
‘Alright, did you notice anything strange about Supriya in the past few days?’
‘She was normal. Why are you asking?’
‘We’re just following up on a line of enquiry.’
‘Can you tell us where you were yesterday between four and eight in the morning?’
‘I was home with my husband and kids till ten. Then we all went out for breakfast.’
‘Can they vouch for your presence?’
‘Yes, even the folks at the restaurant.’
We got the details of the place from her before she left. Next up was Bimal Roy. He was Head of Research. He wore big glasses and was dressed casually in a khadi half-sleeved shirt and light trousers.
Rahul asked, ‘How close were you to Supriya?’
Bimal pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. ‘Not much on a personal level. But we interacted a lot as our fields of expertise were connected.’
‘Did you notice anything strange about Supriya in the past few days?’
‘I cannot say to be honest as we interacted mostly on email. But she was as efficient as she has always been, if that helps you.'
‘Can you tell us where you were yesterday between four and eight in the morning?’
‘I had gone to Lonavala. I went there right after the event.’
‘Did you go alone?’
Bimal looked around as if there was a chance that someone had their ear to the cabin walls. ‘It’s personal. But I understand it’s important to your investigation. Can you please promise me you wouldn’t tell anyone?’
I jumped in. ‘We cannot do that, Bimal. We’ll have to verify your whereabouts.’
‘It’s difficult for me to say,’ he said, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. He looked around again.
‘If it’s not related to our investigation, we won’t tell anyone,’ I said, seeing it was painful for Bimal to say anything else.
‘Please don’t tell anyone. I…,’ he said, closing his eyes hard. Tears streamed down his cheeks. His body started shivering. ‘I’m…I’m gay. I was…I was with my boyfriend.’ His eyes were red when he opened them.
