The COMPLETE Siya Rajput Crime Thrillers (Books 1 to 4)

by UD Yasha

  ‘If you’re right, we’re already too late,’ Rathod said.

  Silence.

  We all went up to the first floor. ACP Shukla led the way into CID’s main office. Two more officers were present upstairs. We sat around the large centre table. A murder board was erected to the right. So far, we had three suspects. Anil Verma of Smart Tech and Zakkal’s two pen pals—Manoj Bedi and Shaam Pundlik. There was one person of interest—Karve, Zakkal’s lawyer.

  ACP Shukla turned to the two officers whom I did not recognize. ‘Do any of the suspects have an alibi for the second murder?’

  ‘We still haven’t found Shaam Pundlik,’ the thinner officer said.

  His colleague, the stouter of the two, stepped forward. He said, ‘Karve is untouchable. Anil Verma was alone in his house. His wife and kids are still away so there’s no one to confirm that. We only spoke to him today morning. Manoj Bedi did not have an alibi for the first murder. I called him ten minutes back to ask him about his whereabouts in our interested time frame, and even he doesn’t have an alibi. He said he was at his home at night. He lives alone so there’s no one again to vouch for that.’

  ACP Shukla kept his hands on the centre table. He leaned forward. ‘Essentially, that means all three of them could be our killers.’

  ‘Or someone else entirely,’ Rathod said.

  ‘Does Anil Verma have any connection to Zakkal or the Shirole gang?’ I said.

  Rathod shook his head. ‘The only common factor between Anil Verma and Zakkal is that they appear normal. They are both married with children, have decent jobs and people who know them say they are kind.’

  ‘And yet Zakkal abducted seven women and killed one, from what we know.’

  Silence.

  I turned to the ACP. ‘Can we have around the clock surveillance on our three suspects and Karve?’

  The ACP considered the request. ‘We can put one man on the three suspects. We already have three other officers trying to find Shaam Pundlik.’ The ACP inhaled deeply and paused. ‘Okay, we’ll try for a day. Let’s see how it goes. We cannot get near Karve though. He’ll take us to court for harassment and intimidation.’

  We dispersed within the next two minutes. It was almost ten in the night. I sat by myself at the reception before heading to the waiting room. I felt helpless to not have a working clue. I was waiting for the Bedroom Strangler or Zakkal to make a mistake. I was also waiting for Dr. Barve to find where the pollen grain came from. I felt dreadful, thinking that a woman was in grave danger somewhere, unaware that she was being stalked by a perverted killer.

  An apprehension swept over me. The tips of my fingers tingled. I wondered if I was still good enough. I had not been in the field for over three years. Has that made me rusty? I thought back to the mistake that had changed everything. Kunal Shastri's case was my last investigation. I had messed it up. Thinking about it stirred waves of pain through my mind. I massaged my temples, hoping for some relief. But the pain persisted, haunting me with memories and emotions from a time I had tried hard to forget. I tried to push the thoughts away. But the more I wanted quiet and peace, the harder it was to seek.

  I did not notice Rathod walk up to me until he tapped my shoulder. He stretched his arm forward to hand me a pen drive. I knew it contained the crime scene photos, reports and autopsy results. I thanked him and went to the waiting room and used my laptop to send the new reports to Dr. Ranjit Kadam. My shoulders were drooping. I sat with my eyes closed. The facts of the case swirled in my mind that was numb with pain. Radha and Rahul watched me silently. Radha knew me well enough to give me space. I also knew she would read my body language and realize I am worried.

  My phone buzzed twice in my pocket. I pulled it out. A text message. It was from Dr. Ranjit Kadam.

  I just reached Pune. Let’s meet in the morning tomorrow. I’m staying at Hotel Park Inn. Come to the hotel’s café at eight thirty.

  Probably sensing something from my demeanour, Radha put an arm around me. I got up slowly. Rahul took the keys from me and drove us home. Shadow kept his head on my lap throughout the drive, looking up at me every minute, as if he was checking on me. He only looked back down when I patted his head.

  I asked Rahul to make a stop on our way back home. He pulled over in front of Red Cross Ruby Hospital. It was the hospital in which the girl who Kunal Shastri had attempted to kill was admitted. I had not planned to stop there.

  The girl’s name was Suhana Kulkarni. She was ten years old now. I visited her every month, hoping she would be awake or even be back at her house after being released from the hospital. Her family did not know about my visits. I always watched her from a distance. I reached her room and looked in through the glass window on the door. She had been in an Intensive Care Unit for six months post the assault on her. She had since been moved to a normal room that had been modified to accommodate her needs.

  I ran up six flights of stairs. I hung a left and went through a maze of corridors. Suhana was in Room Number 630. As I walked up to it, I hoped I would see her awake.

  My toes tingled and my throat went dry as I watched Suhana through the small glass window on the door. She was still a very deep sleep. Her mother was sitting next to her in a chair with her hands joined, whispering a prayer, hoping for a miracle. Tears formed behind my eyes. I wiped them before they could roll down my cheeks. My heart thudded in my chest. I knocked on the door.

  The mother looked towards me and got up to open the door. She was confused to see me. She did not know who I was. I was planning to tell her. She deserved to know. She opened the door.

  My vision blurred. I could not feel my face. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I whispered.

  The mother shook her head slowly. She was not sure what was happening.

  I said, ‘She’s here because of me. I’m so sorry about it. I let the monster who did this to her get away the first time around.’ A voice in my head told me my apology did not matter.

  The mother stared back at me. Her eyes welled. She put a hand on my shoulder and said, ‘You’re Siya Rajput, aren’t you?’

  I stopped breathing. I was surprised.

  ‘I know who you are. I know what happened. I know you come here every month. I have always wanted to tell you that it’s okay.’

  ‘What do you mean it’s okay? It’s not. This is not right.’

  ‘I was very angry at you at first. I wanted to kill you and I mean it. But every time I look at my daughter, all I see is love. There’s no other emotion. It may seem strange to you. But it’s okay. I have faith she’ll wake up one day. That day is not so far. At least she’s alive. And that’s only because you had the wisdom to alert the police to get to her in time. She’s in this condition because of you, but it could’ve been far worse. You saved her as well, Siya.’

  I was stunned. I did not know what to say.

  ‘Please don’t apologize to me. It’s okay,’ she said and hugged me tightly.

  I could feel her tears on my shoulder. ‘I’ll tell you when she wakes up,’ she said. ‘Please go now. Take rest.’

  She let go of me and went back in. My head felt light. I had no idea what had happened. I still could not feel my face. I somehow made it back to the car.

  My eyes felt heavy by the time we reached home. I went straight to my room and lay on the bed. I watched the stationary fan for a spell, my thoughts going round and round. What the hell had just happened? Gradually, the world around me started fading away. I do not know when I eventually slept, but only one thought remained just before my eyes finally shut while looking at the full moon out of the window—I am going to find my dear mother.

  Strangely enough, Naina Rajput was also going to stare at the same moon in a few seconds.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Naina Rajput opened her eyes to darkness. She pulled her quilt closer to her head. She shivered; not because of the cold air around her, but from feeling scared.

  What time was it?

  She sat on up her bed to look out of
the window. The full moon hung in the cloudless sky. Just as she was about to lie down again, she heard a car outside. She quickly slid back down, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

  She became alert and wary of every sound. The car’s engine went silent. She was not even sure if it was a car. It sounded like something bigger. Maybe a minivan or an SUV. She wanted to peep out of the window and see what was happening.

  For the past few weeks, she had been having the same nightmare over and over again. It was always the same. The cold air, waking up in the middle of the night, a car stopping outside and the fear she felt while all of it happened—it was all a part of it.

  Am I having that same nightmare again or is this really happening?

  It felt all too real. She started shivering, thinking about what was going to happen next. Every time in the nightmare, the man she was most afraid would knock on the door in less than a minute of her hearing the car.

  She started counting down the seconds in her mind. She guessed it had been almost forty-five seconds since she had slid back down on the bed. She pulled the quilt over her head, hoping she would fall back asleep, only to realize it was again a bad dream.

  She almost believed it was a bad dream.

  After a spell of silence, heavy footsteps emanated outside her room. She clenched her fists and became dead still. She held her breath; afraid to let anyone know that she was awake. The footsteps grew louder as did the beating of her heart.

  She first heard the door handle turn. Then the hinge creaked. He stepped in. He turned on the light inside the room. The bright yellow light was blinding for a few beats. Her hands covered her eyes instinctively for a flash.

  When she took the quilt off her face, she saw the man standing in front of her.

  He held up a paper bag. ‘I’ve got your favourite food. Let’s have it together,’ he said.

  Naina rose from the bed. She smiled. She rushed towards the man and said, ‘Oh, thank God it’s only you. I thought it was someone else. You don’t know how relieved and happy I am to see you.’

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I turned in my bed, covering my face with my quilt, to shield myself from Shadow’s generous licking of my face. For how much I loved him, morning wake up calls from him were never welcome. After a few beats, I realized it was not Shadow but my phone. I had forgotten to keep it on the side table. It was buzzing on my bed, somewhere under me.

  I groaned as my hand searched for it. I finally found it. My eyes bulged, seeing the name of the person calling me. Dr. Raghav Barve. I sat up on the bed as fast as lightning bolt. The phone screen told me it was not even five in the morning. This had to be urgent. I answered the call.

  ‘Siya?’ Dr. Barve’s old voice said. ‘I’ve found the origin of the pollen grain.’

  I felt a cool breeze on my neck. ‘Have you told CID?’

  ‘Yes, I told Kapil Rathod. He’s coming to your house to get you. You two are supposed to pick me up. The ACP, two CID officers, a SWAT team and crime scene analysts are on their way to the location.’

  ‘Where’s it?’ I said, getting up and putting the phone on speaker.

  ‘It’s near an abandoned sugarcane factory outside the city. I don’t know the exact spot but I’m fairly certain the pollen grain came from somewhere close to it. That’s why a big search party is going there. I’ll tell you how I narrowed it down to this place in the car. Get ready. Rathod should reach your house in ten minutes,’ he said and hung up.

  This was the moment I had been waiting for. I slipped into a pair of black jeans. I picked up my Glock from the side table and put it in my waist holster. I zipped up my jacket. I walked up to Radha’s bedroom but paused for a beat, wondering if it would be safe to take them with me. ACP Shukla would not be pleased to see them as well. But would they be safe at home? Letting them be on their own would mean a part of my mind would constantly be worried about them. But how safe was the place we would be going to?

  I pulled out my phone and checked the security camera application. It was working fine. I could monitor the house while I was away. Plus, Shadow would be home as well so he could alert Radha and Rahul if he sensed anything odd. I knocked on their room’s door two times. I heard Radha get up and walk to the door.

  ‘Is everything okay?’ she said, squinting her eyes.

  ‘I need to head out. Dr. Barve found the location of the pollen grain. Rathod is coming to get me.’

  ‘Do you want us to come?’

  ‘It’s up to you. I don’t know how safe it would be where we’re going. I think it’ll be better if you stay home.’

  Radha thought for a beat and nodded. ‘I’ll lock the door after you. The ankle trackers you gave us are on. Don’t worry.’

  ‘I’ll change the settings of the app on your phones. Please check in on it every thirty minutes now.’

  We walked down together just when we heard Rathod’s SUV approach the gate. As I stepped out, Radha hugged me.

  ‘Stay safe, sister,’ she said.

  ‘You too,’ I said and turned away, wondering if it was the right decision to leave them behind.

  Rathod lowered the car window and beckoned me inside. He leaned forward and sideways and saw Radha close the main door. He read the worry on my face.

  ‘Are you sure about Radha and Rahul?' he said. ‘They can stay in the car. There's enough space. The windows are bulletproof. And we can lock it from outside so no one can come in when we're out.'

  My stomach sank again. I rushed out and rang the doorbell. Radha peeped out from the window of her bedroom. She opened the door a minute later.

  ‘On second thoughts, I cannot leave you both here. Get in the car. Let’s go,’ I said, somehow finding the words between my heavy heaves.

  Everyone, including Shadow and a half-asleep Rahul, was inside the car in the next five minutes. Rahul sat in the front. I was in the middle row while Radha and Shadow were at the back.

  We drove to Dr. Barve's house. He was already outside waiting for us. He was wearing a long coat, a flat cap and had a brown suitcase in his hand. A sense of calm spread through me on seeing him. He had been the first person to have helped me get a clue in catching Zakkal. Now, five years later, we were together again, still trying to figure out the actions of the same monster.

  He joined me in the middle row. He flashed me a warm smile that reassured me further. I had noticed Dr. Barve having that effect on not just me, but many other people.

  ‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘I really appreciate everything you do.’

  ‘Cut it with the formalities. You know I’ll always help you,’ he said. ‘Let’s just hope that my analysis is correct. I was surprised at how quickly I could figure out its location. The pollen grain was well preserved. There was hardly any contamination as well.’

  ‘That goes on to tell us Zakkal wanted us to find the place.’

  ‘Indeed. There's more. This will blow away your mind. Normally, identification of an area from pollen takes at least a week, mostly more. As you know, pollens attract other pollens and microscopic objects floating in the air. The pollen grain was buried in the ground for about two to three days. There's enough interaction with microbes present only in the soil to prove that. I also observed another microbe present in molasses left behind while manufacturing sugar. What directed me to find the location was another type of pollen that had stuck to the big pollen grain. Extracting it took almost all of yesterday. But it was worth the effort. The pollens were a direct match to one location we have in the data. It surprised me as the central pollen fingerprint data set is no better today than what it was five years ago when we had first met. I noticed that the location that matched to the pollen was added five years back.’

  ‘Zakkal was arrested then,’ I said.

  ‘Exactly. In fact, I had added it myself during Zakkal’s investigation. It was one of the places where Zakkal had been to in the days leading up to his arrest.’

  ‘That’s more than a coincidence.’


  Dr. Barve said, ‘He knew we would find a match.’

  ‘Who all would’ve known about the pollen data set?’

  ‘Anyone who had access to the case files. There were many leaks during Zakkal’s trial. I don’t think the original case file was leaked though.’

  ‘His lawyer would’ve had a copy.’

  ‘Certainly.’

  The neurons in my mind scuttled. Zakkal would have known his case very well. He could have easily told the Bedroom Strangler about the pollen’s location.

  I said, ‘Where was the pollen grain before it was underground?’

  ‘The pollen grain itself is new. It’s young. Part of the reason there’s almost no contamination.’

  Rathod said, ‘Do you know why Zakkal had been to this place days before his arrest?’

  ‘No idea,’ I said.

  ‘Even back then, the place was deserted,’ Dr. Barve said.

  ‘It’s certainly special to him because he’s directing us there again,’ I said and turned to Dr. Barve. ‘We should look at the other places you had found back then. Maybe even they are special for Zakkal. They could lead us to maa or the Bedroom Strangler.’

  ‘Good point. I’ll share them with you two and Rathod,’ Dr. Barve said.

  We reached our destination in thirty-five minutes. It was to the east of Pune in an area yet to be encroached by large construction companies. Rathod, Dr. Barve and I stepped out of the car. The area was cordoned off with yellow police tapes. Three police vans were already present. I could count at least ten officers and two sniffer dogs; both were German Shepherds. I recognized four others from the CID office. Dr. Sonia Joshi and her forensic team were also present. One light tower had been erected at the sight. The place was flat and empty. A sugarcane factory stood three kilometres away. We could see its silhouette against the faint early morning glow of the sun.

  ‘The two of them are with me,’ Rathod said to a police officer manning the tape and ducked under it.