by UD Yasha
I watched Meena walk out slowly through the main gate of our house. I sat silently for a few minutes, wondering what my next steps were going to be. I wanted to get in touch with Rathod.
The last time that I had got involved in an investigation with the CID, I had been asked by ACP Sidhanshu Shukla to stay away from all their cases in the future. Rathod had been suspended for assisting me.
Luckily for me, my relationship with Rathod had not been affected during the entire ordeal. He had a strong moral code, and helping me had seemed like the right thing to do. So, he did not hold anything against me and had taken the suspension in his stride. I felt guilty about it, knowing how much he loved being a police officer. He did not express any ill-feelings towards me, but I knew he hated being on the sidelines. We had met a few times in the past six months but had never discussed the prospect of working together in the future. In the past, when I used to practice as a lawyer and private detective, Rathod would often assist me unofficially. Post his suspension, I did not want to put him in harm’s way again. I did not want to be the one that stopped him from doing something he loved so much.
I weighed my options. Kishore Zakkal was a wanted serial killer. The police had been trying to get leads on his whereabouts for more than two years without any success. I had informed the Pune CID about the contact he had established six months ago but even that had led to a dead end.
I took a deep breath. I was in no mood to ask Rathod to help me unofficially. I dialled the number of Dr Raghav Barve. He was the palynologist who had helped me catch Zakkal seven years ago. Dr Barve was now an old man, but he still studied his field like it was his first day at school. I had last spoken to him when he had analysed Maa's earring that Zakkal had given me; he had not found anything on it then.
'Siya, it's good to hear from you,' Dr Barve said when he answered the call.
‘You too, sir,’ I said. Hearing his voice reminded me of the very first conversations we had. Back then, it was the first time I felt real hope in being able to catch Zakkal. ‘I’m calling with not such good news though.’
‘Let me guess. Zakkal has given you something that you want me to go through?’
‘That’s right. He’s sent me a flower.’
‘It should be rich in pollen grains.’
‘I have a feeling that we’re going to find a match against Zakkal’s known locations that we have on record,’ I said, referring to the places where we knew Zakkal had visited because of the pollen that had led us to him in the original investigation.
'Send it over,' Dr Barve said. 'I won't harm the pollen so you can hand it to the CID once I get the profile of the sample.'
‘I’ll ask Rahul to bring it to you,’ I said.
‘That’d be wonderful. I’ll take what I need and ask him to bring the sample back with him. Since he’s coming, I’ll also ask him to take me to my office. I generally don’t drive at night these days.’
‘He’d be more than happy to do that,’ I said. ‘Thanks a lot for everything.’
‘Of course. Even I want to see that madman behind bars again. He’s caused enough damage. Happy to help in any way,’ he said and hung up.
I ducked out when I heard footsteps approaching the garage. It was Radha and Rahul. I could also see Shadow on the veranda, making sure we were alright.
‘Is everything okay?’ Radha said.
‘For now, it is,’ I said and then told them what had happened. ‘We don’t need to worry yet. But we need to be careful.’
‘What about Maa?’ Radha said.
'We won't tell her anything. Not right now. Let's wait. She's been doing very well of late, especially considering we recently got to know that dad died.'
Rahul got up. 'You two stay put. I'll give Dr Barve what he needs and get the flower back.'
‘Have you spoken to Rathod yet?’ Radha said.
I shook my head. ‘I’m planning to call. I want to make it official. No more putting him in danger to assist me.’
‘And I’ve a feeling that given it’s Zakkal, and you’re the person who knows most about him, ACP Shukla would want you on this case,’ Rahul said.
I remembered how the ACP was raging when he had told me to stay away from CID’s cases. I handed Rahul the small plastic bag containing the flower and then picked up my phone to call Rathod.
Chapter Six
The red and white lights of the ambulance strobed the night air as Rathod and Bhalerao watched the forensic team do their job at the farmhouse. They had taken a walk around the estate to look for any clues about the killer.
'It's good to see you, Doctor,' Rathod said to Dr Sonia Joshi, the Chief Medical Examiner of Pune CID.
‘I hear it’s your first case back too,’ Sonia said and began scribbling on her notepad.
Rathod was happy to see her. On his last case before his suspension, Sonia had been shot while she was working in the CID building. Her life hung in the balance for a few days but she had recovered completely and was now back at her job. There was no one better than her who knew how good that felt.
Sonia’s forensic team had finished clicking pictures and gathering samples from the terrace. Four of the six bodies had been moved into an ambulance. The fifth was being brought down.
‘What can you tell us?’ Rathod asked when she looked up from her notepad.
'The most recent body was the one closest to the entrance of the terrace. My initial guess is it's been there for about a week, or probably a bit less,' Sonia said. 'Apart from the most recent two, only bones are left in the others. All of them have a comparatively smaller skull, more rounded frontal forehead bone and eye-sockets, pointed chins and an obtuse-angled jawline— indicating that the sex of all the bodies is female. I can say with one hundred percent certainty that they were all women.'
‘That opens up a slew of possibilities,’ Bhalerao said.
‘I can give you more data soon. The ACP has asked us to work on these bodies on priority,’ Sonia said. ‘But there’s one thing that I noticed on some of the skeletons. The hyoid bone, which is the U-shaped bone in the neck, was broken in three of the six bodies. That indicates that they died from strangulation.’
‘What about the others?’ Rathod said.
'I won't rule out them being strangled either. It's just that the hyoid bone's breaking was prominent in three of the bodies. They were also relatively cleaner as most of the flesh was not present. Their hyoid bone seemed to be intact. But even if it's not broken, the women could have still died from being strangled. Its breaking depends on a host of factors.'
‘Any idea about when the women farthest away might have died?’
‘That’s one of the most difficult questions to answer if I’m being honest. I’ll need more time with the bodies during the autopsy to know that.’
‘What about how old the women were when they died?’
'This, I can tell. Based on the development of the skull and the epiphyseal union, I can say that the first four women were around the age of thirty when they died. For the other two, as some flesh was present, I haven't had a chance to examine the skeletal remains.'
‘Young women strangled. That’s a popular MO and target for most known male serial killers,’ Bhalerao said.
'There's no sign of sexual trauma in the latest two victims. Although, like always, I'll confirm that after the autopsy.'
Sonia turned to the staircase and saw the sixth body being brought to the ambulance. She gave Rathod and Bhalerao a firm nod of the head. ‘That’s my time, guys. I’ll see you back at the CID. You know my extension. I’ll tell you when the autopsies have been conducted and my team is ready to present the findings.’
Rathod thanked Sonia. As he walked along with Bhalerao to return to their cars, his phone started buzzing in his pants pocket. Looking at the name on the screen first made him happy, but a flash later he felt the reluctance to take the call on a crime scene. Yet somehow, he found himself swiping the screen up to answer the call.
Chapter Seven
> ‘You’ve great timing,’ Rathod said.
‘Why’s that?’ I said across the line.
‘It’s my first day back on a real crime scene.’
That’s stellar timing, Siya.
‘What’s the matter?’ Rathod said.
‘I understand this can get tricky so I want to be upfront about it. I want to officially report a crime.’
‘Shit, is everything okay?’
‘Yes… Well, no. Not really. I got a message from Kishore Zakkal.’
‘What? When?’ I could tell that hearing Zakkal’s name had quickened Rathod’s pulse.
‘Just now. Do you remember a woman named Swapna Kiran?’
Rathod subconsciously pressed the phone harder into his ear as he tried to remember. ‘The name seems familiar.’
‘I know. She was one of the women Zakkal had abducted before he was arrested. We found her hair in a jar that night.’
‘Of course. She was alive and we rescued her from Ranjit Kadam.’
Then I told him what had gone down in the evening.
It must have taken Rathod a few seconds to take it all in because he fell silent for a spell. He said, ‘I’ll try to see if I can manage to arrange a security detail for all the five women we had rescued.’
I sensed some hesitation in his voice. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘There’s…there’s…I’m at a crime scene right now. It’s a bloodbath. I was trying to mentally place how many personnel we have free.’
It was my turn to take it all in.
Rathod broke the silence. ‘I’m worried for all of you, Siya.’
‘Me too. But we can’t do this again, Rathod. If we get caught circumventing the CID again, they’ll probably throw you out. That can’t happen. I need to make this official and lodge a complaint.’
I heard Rathod breathe across the line, probably considering my offer. What he did not know was that it was not an offer.
‘Makes sense. I would have sent an officer over but we’re already falling short of people here—’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll come down to the CID office as soon as Rahul is back. I can even hand over the letter and flower to you then,’ I said and hung up.
I felt my stomach growl. I checked the time. It was almost nine. The night outside was silent. The rain was gone for now but had sparked the air with a chill. Radha emerged from the house and called me inside.
‘You must be hungry,’ she said out loud.
I smiled. No matter what was happening in the world or in our lives, I admired how much Radha cared about me. Even though she was the younger sister, she had played the role of the older one during the past few years.
‘I was just thinking about having food,’ I said.
‘Do you want me to get it there?’
I looked around the garage. Something told me I was going to see a lot of it in the coming days. So, I thought why not enjoy the simple pleasures of eating at the dining table while I could. ‘No need for that. I’ll come inside.’
As I reached the veranda, Radha whispered to me, ‘I told Maa that the woman who visited us earlier wants some legal advice from you and that you have been tied up with it since then.’
‘Are you sure she’s not suspicious?’ I said, remembering my previous two cases where she had sensed I was working on something dangerous before I had gotten a chance to tell her.
‘I don’t think so. She’s already upstairs in her bedroom, mostly almost ready to sleep.’
Radha heated food for me as I sat silently. I was wondering if Zakkal was going to harm any of the other women we had rescued. I was certain that his target was me, especially after the letter he had written. Shadow had worked out that I was in my thinking mode so he quietly sat near my feet without doing much. I had almost finished my chapati and potato sabji when my phone rang. It was Rahul.
‘Dr. Barve has taken what he needed from the flower. I’m heading back home now,’ he said. ‘I should reach in ten minutes. I can keep the car running if you want me to come with you to the CID office.’
‘I was thinking of going alone. You and Radha need to be home with Maa,’ I said, seeing Radha shake her head.
‘Alright, I don’t think your sister will be pleased with that,’ he said. ‘I’ll see you home.’
I finished the remaining chapati and rushed upstairs. I was glad that Maa was sleeping. Keeping in mind the cold air outside, I changed into a pair of jeans and a T-Shirt. I pulled a grey sweatshirt on top of it.
A few minutes later, I heard Rahul pull over outside.
‘You can’t be going there alone,’ Radha said, standing in the door of my bedroom.
‘You heard me downstairs. I’m safer outside on my own than just one person staying back here with Maa,’ I said.
Radha shook her head again. ‘I can come with you—’
‘I’m going to the CID to give a statement. It might take longer than we think. Rathod told me a big investigation has started today evening so my statement will not be a priority right now. I’ll do one thing. I’ll ask Rathod to send someone back with me. Does that work?’
Radha was unmoved for a few seconds but then said, ‘Alright. But please be safe and call me when you reach the CID office.’
‘I’ll do that. Don’t worry,’ I said and turned to go downstairs.
I took the car keys and the flower from Rahul.
‘Dr. Barve is burning the midnight oil to see if he can find any match for the pollen grains on the flower. He said he’ll call you soon,’ Rahul said.
I was sure Zakkal had something big planned and Dr Barve was going to lead us to it. He was working on the biggest and the only lead we had—the flower Zakkal had sent me. I was sure that the pollen on it would come up a match against a region in Dr Barve's records. But that was a clue that Zakkal was giving us himself so I didn't know how useful it would actually be. To follow up on it was our only option though.
As I sat in my car, I paused for a beat. Leaving Maa, Radha and Rahul behind was not ideal. From what I knew of Zakkal, he was not going to target any of us today. But even then, I hoped Rathod would assign a security detail soon. I glanced back at our house once and put my foot on the accelerator to go to the CID office to give a statement about what had happened.
Chapter Eight
Zakkal always felt safe in the dark.
As a kid, he had spent hours waiting in the shadows every night for his father to pass out after a drinking spree. His life depended on it. At least that’s what he thought. The madman was capable of anything when he had the stench of booze. One wrong move or one sound would end up with him getting bashed. While he was no fan of feeling bruised and blue for days, he hated what happened to his mother even more.
His poor mother didn't have the luxury of hiding as he had. She had to be even more present for her son-of-a-bitch husband when he came home drunk. If she wasn't there to greet him and pay attention to him like he was a two-year-old toddler, she got a bashing herself.
Zakkal smiled, thinking about the day he had killed his own father. He had ended their misery. He had finished the man whom he hated so much. The thought of killing him had entered his mind many times. He had even fantasized about a life without his great old man.
He knew it would change everything.
And it had.
But not the way Zakkal had anticipated.
Killing his father had in some way awakened a beast sleeping within him. In the days that had followed, Zakkal felt happy for the first time in his life. He had attributed it to not worrying about him, his mom or even Ranjit anymore.
Soon enough, he realized how wrong he was. While he was glad his father was gone for good, he understood that a large part of the joy he was feeling came from the fact that he had killed someone. It was an animalistic thought—one that he shouldn’t have had.
But you cannot feel sorry for how you’re truly feeling—Zakkal had always embraced what his mother had told him. Of course, she had said that in conte
xt to Zakkal telling her he hated his father. Zakkal had applied that to all areas of his life.
Looking around himself, as a kid, Zakkal admired how some families lived and loved. There never seemed to be any tension. One for all, all for one. A simple life. A happy life. No hate. But his father had screwed up everything for them and scarred their lives forever.
Zakkal fumed as he remembered those days. He had realized that embracing the anger was also a good idea. It meant that it would always be expressed and he would not have to show it when the situation was not right. That way, he was always in control of his emotions.
But the dark was still comforting.
Zakkal had been hiding in the cupboard for the past thirty minutes. He knew he had time for what he was about to do. Once his breathing was even, he stepped out of the cupboard.
He knew his target was in the kitchen, clearing the dining table after dinner. He was slightly hungry so he wondered if he should taste some of the kheer after he finished his job.
He walked on his toes as he approached the kitchen. He was always amused by how self-absorbed people could be. Not once in his life had anyone realized that he was in their house, watching them breathe away their meagre existence. He wondered if such selfish people even deserved to live.
With every second that passed, he became more enthused. He was eager to get on with it but he knew he had to wait for the right time. He stepped out of the cupboard and slipped under the woman's bed. He checked the time on his wristwatch. It was nine-fifteen at night. He knew from having observed her for a long time, that she would step into the room at any moment. He felt a strange feeling take over him.
Almost on cue, from under the bed, Zakkal saw her feet slide on the marble floor. He took three long breaths as she settled on the bed above him, dimming the light in the room.
Zakkal felt a tingling in his hands.
This is going to be fun.
He slid from under the bed in one quick motion. The woman did not realize he was present in the room until Zakkal stood up, his shadow falling over her.
