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

by UD Yasha

  ‘You don’t have to be worried. I’m taking precautions. I’m safe.’

  ‘I know you can beat anyone’s ass,’ maa said. ‘I just have a feeling that this is more than just another case for you. I have seen the way you are behaving since yesterday. I can see through you.’

  I had nothing to say. How could I tell her that there was a chance that dad was still alive?

  Squeezing my hand, maa said, ‘I just wanted to tell you that I’m with you no matter what you decide to do and where you are.’

  ‘That does give me comfort,’ I said, putting my head on her hand.

  ‘Is the case about dad?’ maa said.

  My body stiffened and my heart started to beat faster. I’m sure maa could see right through me at that moment. I was just glad I was not facing her, otherwise my face would have given it away.

  ‘It’s not,’ I said, the words came out slowly.

  ‘I was wondering because you asked me about him yesterday.’

  ‘It was just because I was missing him.’

  ‘I miss him too,’ maa said.

  Before I realized, both of us fell asleep with dad on our minds.

  I woke up sometime in the middle of the night and realized I was sweating in the clothes I had worn all day. I went to my room to put on fresh clothes but the moment I sat on my bed, I couldn’t help but snuggle into my quilt.

  My eyes gave in and I fell asleep once again.

  I got up with a start with just one thought in my mind: Damn it, I overslept.

  I turned in my bed hastily to find my phone. I remembered coming back to my room last night and then passing out on the bed. My phone had to be somewhere close by.

  After tossing around for a good twenty seconds, I found it between my sheets. I saw the time. Five minutes to nine. It was late, but not as much as I’d thought. In my mind it was close to noon.

  My eyes lit up on seeing two messages. The first was from Rathod. He had sent it twenty minutes ago.

  Updates:

  Sonia is still critical and cannot breathe on her own. Still on the ventilator.

  Mukund Dhar’s autopsy revealed that he was given poison through the food he had for lunch.

  The second was from Kedar Sathe, the face reconstruction specialist.

  I have made large headways on reconstructing Jane Doe’s face. I will give you an image soon.

  I was suddenly excited, especially by Kedar’s message, and some of the fatigue melted away.

  I thought Rathod would have more details on Dhar’s murder than what he had shared on text. I called him up.

  ‘I just saw your messages,’ I said.

  ‘The Jail Warden is investigating who might have poisoned Dhar. But to be honest, it looks like a dead end. There are no cameras inside. No prisoner would rat out the other. And everyone had lunch in a large hall together. Anyone could have slipped him the poison. As per the autopsy, it was in liquid form. They had daal and some curry for lunch. Delivering the poison would have been easy,’ Rathod said. ‘There’s another problem.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘It’s ACP Shukla. He knows you are investigating this case with me.’

  ‘Shit.’

  ‘I know. Talk about hell breaking loose.’

  ‘What are you going to do? Have you spoken to him?’ I said.

  ‘Not yet. But he called me and told me he knows that I am snooping around with you. He also knows that you met Dhar yesterday.’

  ‘Then he would also know that he is now dead.’

  ‘That’s what got him on our trail. He then noticed that I had given you the access. He also found out that we met Motilal Ahuja together yesterday.’

  ‘Pin the blame on me,’ I said. ‘Tell him I coerced you.’

  ‘I was thinking of telling him the truth. I can explain the situation.’

  ‘You will be suspended.’’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll understand our problem. He’ll be pissed but he will get it.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’ll talk to you later. He just reached the office. I saw his car,’ Rathod said and hung up.

  I jumped out of bed right away. I wondered where Shadow was, because he usually licked my face as soon as I got up. After freshening up, I went downstairs to the wonderful smell of coffee. The perks of waking up after Radha and Rahul. They were sitting at the dining table with two open laptops and many sheets of paper spread out in front of them.

  ‘Where’s Shadow?’ I said.

  ‘Maa’s walking him in the garden,’ Radha said as she caught me looking at the dining table. ‘We’re going through Motilal’s notes,’ Radha said. ‘We started just twenty minutes ago.’

  She got up and poured me some coffee that I gladly accepted. My body ached from all that had happened yesterday. I had no idea how tired I had been until I slept and then got up today morning. I felt like having some sugar. I found a packet of Good Day’s cashew flavoured biscuits that I dipped in my coffee, enjoying the calm.

  ‘I’m going to make some omelettes in a bit,’ Rahul said.

  ‘I’ll always be hungry for those,’ I said, taking another biscuit while cursing myself for having these sugar-filled bakery delights that were not good for me.

  I took my cup to our veranda and sat by the stairs. The morning air was still cool. Just before maa turned around a corner, Shadow ran on, probably smelling me. I petted him generously and gave him a nice leg massage. After I was done, he ran back to maa and started walking alongside her.

  As I took the final sips of my coffee, I finally felt awake. The pain in my body went away. I decided to make a list of things I had to do that day.

  For starters, I wanted to follow up on what Mukund Dhar had said about Kabir expecting a visitor who was going to hand him the evidence. I wanted to know who this person was, and what evidence they were going to hand to Kabir. The proof was the key. It was keeping us safe, or even dad, if he was alive at all. It was something big, and had the power to bring down the Viper. I needed Rathod’s assistance to find out both.

  I pulled out my phone to call him. I stopped, remembering that Shukla had found out about my involvement. He would probably be with Shukla right now, explaining the situation.

  My phone began ringing. To my surprise it was Rathod.

  ‘What did Shukla say?’ I asked him.

  ‘We haven’t spoken yet,’ he said. ‘But I just found something interesting. It tells us how Sonia’s shooter exited the CID building and it could possibly reveal his identity too.’

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Rathod was in the control room of the CID building. It had all the power backups and footage from the CCTV cameras.

  With one hand on the controls to rewind and slow down the video, he told Siya across the line, ‘I was once again going through the CCTV videos from Sonia’s shooting. I had only looked at the footage from an hour on either side of the shooting. But right now, I decided to look at the video of the entire evening. A lot of cameras were blacked out. Especially at the time of the shooting. But they came back on later. It has recorded my entry and the way the other CID officers went about managing the situation. The cameras at the main door also captured the entry and exit of the Rapid Response Team. Strangely, when they entered, they had twenty members. When I looked at the videos of their exit, they had twenty-one.’

  ‘He was dressed as one of them,’ Siya said.

  ‘Exactly. The RRT team covers their faces to protect themselves from any chemical attack. They also wear specific bulletproof clothes as a part of their uniform. It was the best way for his face to be hidden. The fact that he knew they would come meant he knew the protocol in case of a shooting in the CID premises.’

  ‘It again tells us that this person was knowledgeable about law enforcement. But how did no one from the RRT notice that this person was not their colleague?’

  ‘I was wondering that too. He never mingled with them. He was hiding in plain sight all along. So, when the CID officers che
cked the building, they thought he was just another RRT member. Just before they left, our shooter walked out and told the security to open the gates because the RRT bus had to go out. He conveniently walked out after that. So, he never actually spoke or interacted with any of the real team members. There are only two good things to have come out of this. First, it clears all the CID officers. There was no internal breach, not one that we know of at least. And second, I traced the shooter’s steps, and in one frame, I could see the right side of his face. He was adjusting his mask. It can get claustrophobic if you’re not used to it and he clearly was not.’

  ‘It’ll be great if we know who he is. We can reach his employer through him,’ Siya said.

  Rathod sensed Siya was holding something back. ‘What’s the matter?’ he said.

  ‘I’m just worried about what the ACP would say to you.’

  Rathod said nothing.

  ‘I’m telling you. Put the blame on me. I’ve nothing to lose. He already hates me. You can minimize your damage.’

  ‘I’ll do what I have to do. Throwing you under the bus is not an option,’ Rathod said, walking back to his office.

  ‘Do you think we can trust ACP Shukla with what we know?’

  ‘I’m not sure. I don’t think he’s the Viper. I don’t think he knows him either or has evidence against him. If he had the proof, he would have used it as a bargaining chip and got a promotion to the CBI, which he has been dying for many years now,’ Rathod said. ‘I need to go. I’ll keep you updated on the shooter.’

  Rathod put the phone away. He noticed he was taking short and loud breaths as the ACP was motioning him to come to his office. He walked slowly, not knowing what was going to happen. The worst loomed in front of him. He remembered what Bhalerao had said. Suspension and then being assigned menial work. No big cases. He recognized he was spiralling down and needed to just focus on his conversation with Shukla.

  ‘Please close the door,’ Shukla said as Rathod entered his office. ‘Have a seat.’

  The ACP put his elbows on the table. ‘I’m just deeply disappointed,’ he said.

  ‘I let her be a part of this case for a reason,’ Rathod said.

  ‘You know it was the wrong thing to do. You wouldn’t have felt bad otherwise,’ Shukla said. ‘And when did getting a scumbag criminal defense lawyer into our investigation become a good idea?’

  ‘She’s more than that.’

  ‘What do you love her now?’

  Rathod shook his head. ‘What? This case has got to do with Siya’s father.’

  It was Shukla’s turn to be surprised. ‘Aniruddha Rajput? How?’

  ‘I’ll be honest with you. I’ll tell you everything right from the start. Before I begin you have to know that Siya is the one person who wants to get to the bottom of what’s been happening the most. It will give her answers, and miraculously, her father, if he’s still alive.’

  Silence.

  Rathod went on. ‘I know you and Siya don’t get along because of what happened in the past. But we made an exception to get her on board for the Zakkal investigation.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean she gets to be a part of every investigation.’

  ‘I know. But this time, the circumstances put her directly in the eye of the storm. She did not start off involved in it by choice, she was sucked into it.’

  Shukla narrowed his eyes. ‘Go on. Tell me everything and don’t leave out a thing. Be honest. I’m going to rain terror on you if I find out you lied again,’ he said.

  Rathod started off with the phone call that Siya got six months back and ended with how the two of them had met Motilal Ahuja.

  Rathod said, ‘We still didn’t know then who had shot Sonia, and we were understaffed,’ Rathod said. ‘For all of us, this was just another murder. Aniruddha Rajput’s disappearance was just another missing person. But for Siya, this is personal. She knows everything about this case. I felt that her coming along to meet Motilal was, strictly tactically speaking, a must.’

  Shukla stayed silent after Rathod had finished. He scratched his cheek and then went to the side table to pour himself some coffee.

  ‘I don’t know what to do with you,’ he said, his back still facing Rathod.

  He returned to his chair. ‘Why didn’t you tell me all this before? I could have helped you, and got Siya officially on board as a consultant.’

  ‘I know this is hard to hear. We had proof that corrupt cops were behind some of the things that had been happening. we weren’t sure if you were amongst them.’

  ‘Fair point. What you did is not right and you have to be punished for that.’

  ‘I know. I take full responsibility for my actions.’’

  ‘You should. They put Dr. Sonia in danger and they also killed Mukund Dhar.’

  ‘I feel bad for what happened to Dr. Sonia and Dhar. They shouldn’t have been hurt, but I didn’t kill them. Yes, I got Dr. Sonia to help us. But her shooting was a systematic failure of our entire department. Not just me. Having said that, I don’t think I would have done anything differently apart from giving Sonia an extra layer of protection.’

  ‘Why do you trust me now?’ Shukla said.

  ‘Deep down, I know you’re a good man. You don’t get along with some people but that’s a different matter. You are their boss. You have to take tough calls. You are also on the firing line being the ACP. I may disagree with you on several things, but that’s a personal matter. But, I know you are not a killer. I know you will do everything in your capacity to hunt down a killer.’

  ‘I will,’ Shukla said and paused. ‘What you did was wrong. But the case has reached a point where you are too valuable to it. Suspending you right now is going to affect it adversely. I’m conflicted. At the same time, I know that suspending you wouldn’t stop you from investigating the crime. No matter what I do. That’s why you’re going to be suspended but only after this case has been solved. You will be able to think about everything that you have been doing wrong then. You will be suspended for six months.’

  Rathod knew that a post-dated suspension was going to be his best possible outcome. However, he felt six months was harsh but he held his tongue. ‘I accept the suspension,’ he said. ‘What about Siya?’ He knew that he was pushing Shukla’s limit.

  Shukla’s answer was ready. ‘I’ll list her as a consultant on this case if she agrees to never meddle in our cases in the future. If she does, then I’ll personally make sure she gets charged for withholding evidence and interfering in an active police investigation.’

  ‘I’m sure she will agree,’ Rathod said.

  ‘She has no choice.’

  ‘Also, given the sensitivity of the situation, can you keep what I told you about the Viper and the case to yourself?

  ‘I wasn’t planning on telling anyone,’ Shukla said. ‘Now, get out of here. We have work to do.’

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  I was relieved when Rathod told me about his conversation with Shukla. I had had a feeling that Shukla would expel him from the police force on grounds of conspiracy and withholding evidence. So, the 6-month suspension seemed like a win. It was going to be tough, but at least he could still work on this case.

  Before going through my list of things to do, which involved finding the man who was going to meet Kabir and knowing what kind of evidence he was going to give him, I decided to help Radha and Rahul sift through the papers that Motilal had given us yesterday.

  Radha said, ‘He has put a disclaimer that certain data is encrypted as it may contain government secrets.’

  ‘I was wondering how he handed us so much stuff about all the enemies he has and his investigation into them. Because his enemies are basically enemies of the Indian state,’ I said.

  Within ten minutes of going through them, I realized Motilal had been very meticulous in going about his investigation. He had spoken to each suspect. If the suspects were dead, Motilal had spoken to their lawyers or relatives. While going through his investigation, I rea
lized that Motilal Ahuja rose to prominence by becoming one of India’s most valued encounter specialists. He used to track down dangerous mafia lords and known terrorist financiers and sleeper cell operatives. He had a big team under him. Ten years ago, he had been granted special status and reported directly to the Prime Minister’s Office.

  ‘This data has almost all his cases,’ I said. ‘What was he working on at the time Kabir and Sheena were murdered? Maybe the people he targeted were pissed off.’

  ‘A month before their murders, Motilal was tracking a person who was suspected to have links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The person, his name has been blacklisted, was a bomb maker and had made bombs to be used in two terrorist attacks that had fortunately been stopped in time.’

  ‘I’m guessing the names of places and dates are also blacked out,’ I said.

  ‘Right, it would cause unnecessary panic if that information was leaked.’

  ‘Did Motilal get the man?’

  ‘Yes. We don’t know how, though. It’s not a part of the file.’

  ‘How did he rule out this man as a suspect?’ I said.

  ‘He had no known family. He was a lone wolf who only contacted a Lashkar sleeper cell in Mumbai. He has given multiple reasons why he thought this man was too focused on waging war against India.’

  ‘What about cases before that?’ I said.

  ‘I’ve been looking at those. I wouldn’t read out the terrorism related ones as his reason for those people not ordering the hit is more or less the same. This is what he said verbatim. These terrorists have a one-track mind. They want to destroy India. They want to scare people. Who catches them or is chasing them is irrelevant to them. In my entire life, only two terrorists have known me by name. That’s because I was interrogating them for about six months. In both the cases, we knew a lot about each other’s families. Sharing such information may appear risky but I know they were never going to speak to another soul and get out of our facilities alive. I was right. Both of them were killed off to avoid a situation like hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814. Apart from this, I have personally spent a lot of time questioning these people. They don’t have anyone in their life who is crazy enough to kill an officer’s family just because their son or brother or daughter was arrested for terrorism by him. The families are going through their own shock of finding out that the person, who they thought wouldn’t hurt a fly, is conspiring to kill thousands of people.’