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

by UD Yasha

  There was a rap on the door a few seconds later. I turned around to see Rathod.

  ‘Let’s go,’ he said and we walked together to the conference hall.

  The mood inside was tense and no one had spoken a word while we waited in the conference room for ACP Shukla. From the eight people present inside, I recognized two male officers—Neeraj Gujre and Meghan Mathew, and one female hawaldar—Srestha Vishwa.

  Soon, ACP Shukla walked into the room. He turned to face me and threw an arm in my direction. 'Siya Rajput is joining us as a consultant on our quest to find Kishore Zakkal. I trust you all know of Zakkal. Yet, no detail must be left behind so I'm going to go through his profile once again. Let me tell you one thing even though you may be aware of it. Zakkal's mind works in twisted ways. He's ruthless. He escaped from Yerwada Jail in 2019 after he faked a heart attack. He was taken to Sasoon Hospital for it, from where he eventually escaped. There was a helicopter that took off, which we had originally believed was his escape plan. But we later found out that he used an underground tunnel near the hospital to get away. These tunnels are old and were dug by the British for constructing canals when they ruled India.' Shukla looked around the room at all the eight people present. 'Any questions so far?'

  Some people murmured no while some shook their heads.

  Shukla continued. ‘Moving on to Zakkal’s victims now. He has been known to take women between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five. He’s forty years old himself. From what we know, he has abducted at least twelve women and has killed seven of them.’ The ACP leaned forward on the table. ‘I’ve a feeling the real number is more…much more. He keeps the women he kidnaps alive for a long time. At times, many years. In a lot of these instances, he has splashed his victim’s blood in the bathroom. He has developed an obsession with Siya Rajput and her family.’ Pausing, Shukla inhaled deeply. ‘Now, Zakkal’s back. But he has changed his modus operandi as he took Sudha Barve, who’s a seventy-six-year-old woman.’

  Shukla walked to the end of the conference room and turned on the projector. He pressed a couple of buttons on the remote and the screen was occupied by Zakkal’s face.

  ‘That’s the last picture that we have of Zakkal, from when he was still at Yerwada Jail,’ Shukla said. ‘He’s clean-shaven in this picture and has short hair. We have no way to tell if that has changed since.’

  On seeing Zakkal's face, the fear I had experienced earlier was replaced by rage. I remembered the way he had smiled when I had last met him. It was pure evil, the kind that should never ever see the light of day. I knew that as I had felt it in him. But for people who had no idea who Zakkal was, he looked like a normal person. He had a sharp jawline and thick eyebrows. I knew he was considered handsome, but I had never seen it because of the way I had always perceived him.

  Shukla carried on as he moved to the image of Sudha Barve’s room. ‘You know what happened here. We already have our officers combing through the CCTV camera footage from the area. One hawaldar is going from door to door to ask people in the neighbourhood if they saw anything. We’re also exploring if Zakkal had any outside help to pull this off. Please shoot other ideas you may have.’

  Meghan Mathew said, ‘Not an idea but a question. Why did Zakkal spray his victims’ bathrooms with their blood?’

  Shukla turned to me. It was a wonderful question, the answer to which I did not have.

  I said, ‘That’s something we don’t know yet. As per our knowledge, Ranjit Kadam is the only person who might have been able to tell us why, but he is not alive.’

  Silence resounded. Shukla looked around the room. 'Alright, if that's it, we'll disperse and work on the three points mentioned earlier. Rathod will assign you responsibilities. We'll wait for Dr Sonia's autopsy report. It might shed some light on this case.'

  With that, all of us left the conference room. Rathod walked next to me.

  ‘ACP looks worked up, doesn’t he?’ I said.

  ‘Yes, stuff has not exactly panned out well under his control. That Zakkal broke out of prison had put him under pressure. As he’s killing again, I’m sure he’s under the pump,’ Rathod said.

  ‘I think that Zakkal is careful enough to not leave anything behind in Sudha Barve’s room. So, forensics is not going to tell us much.’

  Rathod said, ‘That leaves us with very little to go by.’

  He was right. I said, ‘Right now, we’re behind the curve. Zakkal has had time to plan all of this. He’s pre-empting our moves. From past experience, we know that Zakkal doesn’t make many mistakes. Even the last time that I got him, it was because of the only mistake he made.’

  Rathod walked me to the parking lot. It was already two at night. The officers from the graveyard shift had started to clock their hours in. One lesson I had got from such investigations was that all shifts merged into one, your personal life took a battering, your mind became even more messed up and when things seemed hard, they were always a few moments away from becoming worse. But at times, there is something that makes it all better. At that moment, I thought of something that could give us more to go by.

  ‘I think I have an idea of where to get a lead,’ I said to Rathod.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sudha Barve had always taken immense pride in being the wife of someone who helped the police get the bad guy.

  It was not like she had no identity of her own. She was herself a scholar in history and had retired as the Head of History Department at the Pune University. But deep down, she believed that her life’s purpose was supporting her husband. Having interacted with young students, she was aware that her thought process might seem outdated in a world that was racing towards men and women being independent. But she thought there was a certain charm in completely surrendering to another person. It had never felt like she was sacrificing or missing out on anything by having a tunnel-focused vision of supporting her husband. She also knew that he loved her selflessly.

  That’s why, as she regained consciousness and opened her eyes to a dimly lit room, her first thought was how her husband would rescue her from the situation. She knew he would find a way—he had to. He has no choice. They still had many years ahead of them and so many things to do together. Their granddaughter was only four years old. They had met her only a handful of times as she lived in a different city. She and Raghav had been wondering if they should move in with their son given that they were growing older each day. Their son wanted them to move in with him and they were seriously considering his offer. When was the last time I saw him?

  Sudha’s head ached. She tried to recall the moments before she was abducted. It was a hazy memory. She had just laid down on her bed and picked up her phone to call Raghav to ask him at what time he would return. The more she tried to remember, the pain in her head got sharper. She was sleepy and her eyes were heavy.

  It struck her to look around and examine her surroundings. The dim yellow light shined on. She realized she was in a small rectangular-shaped room. The room had no windows but there was a door to her right about ten feet away. It was shut. She tried to get up but her feet didn’t seem to obey her commands.

  The drug…he’s given me something. It has to be strong.

  Sudha put a hand to her neck and recoiled. Nothing ached at that moment, but she remembered a bolt of pain cruising through her body just after she had been attacked. In the next few seconds, the memory grew stronger. She was certain that she had been injected with something that had knocked her off. She felt another stinging pain in her arm, just above the inside of her elbow. She saw a small medical tape. Sudha had donated blood many times in her life so she knew what that meant.

  Why has the kidnapper taken my blood?

  For the first time that evening, fear crawled up her body. She had no idea where she was, who had taken her and if she would see a living soul ever again. She tried to get up once more. Her legs felt better, but they were still too heavy. She had another scary thought: Have I been paralysed? She tried to move her
hands. They moved a little. Sudha was just glad they did. She felt the soft bed under her.

  A sound from somewhere outside the room. It startled Sudha. She closed her eyes to strain her ears so she could hear it again if it came. And it did. It was soft—such that Sudha could hear it but couldn’t make out what it was. Then it got a little louder.

  A whimper. Then someone started crying.

  Someone is outside.

  Then, the sound got louder but it seemed to come from far away; not from right outside the room.

  ‘Help me, please,’ the voice said.

  Is that a woman?

  ‘Anybody out there? Please help me,’ the voice said again.

  Yes, that’s definitely a woman.

  Moments later she heard another sound. It wasn’t the woman speaking but something else. Like a door was opening. She froze.

  Then she realized it was not her door, but some other door. Is it the drugs in my body making me hear these sounds?

  Sudha heaved a sigh of relief, thinking to herself that there was no one around her.

  Then, the woman screamed out loud. It was followed by a loud smack, as if someone had hit her.

  In the seconds that followed, the maddening silence around Sudha seemed to grow and suffocate her. She wanted to hear a sound…a scream…anything to get back her sanity.

  Her wish came true because she heard heavy footsteps approaching her door.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As I said the words, energy rippled in my body like waves rising during the start of a high tide. I thought there was finally something to pursue. My new-found energy reflected in my voice.

  'Zakkal is predicting how we would behave. I'm going to try to put myself in his shoes. So, if I was in his place and had just escaped prison, what would I do? There are three broad options. One, he stops killing and seeks redemption. I have seen the look in his eyes when he has spoken about killing people, including threatening me. So, I know that isn't happening. Talking about killing me, number two would be that he goes on a rampage and kills everyone in my family because he is obsessed with us. That hasn't happened either. That leaves us with the last option—he bides his time, makes a plan and acts on it.'

  ‘Do you think he would have the patience to wait for two years before striking?’

  'I'm inclined to say no. But who knows? He might very well have killed people in these past two years. You have got to remember that he went for years without even being suspected of killing anyone. He has done this before. He's smarter now. He can do the same but in an even better way. In fact, he only made a mistake when he killed a woman the first time. He hasn't faltered after that.'

  Saying those words out loud dampened my spirit for a flash. I could see the same happening to Rathod.

  He said. ‘So, what next?’

  ‘I keep going back to this, but I feel very strongly about this idea. He’s got someone helping him. He could not have survived his initial months out of prison without it. I have been thinking about this since you dragged me downstairs at Dr Barve's house. The more time I've had to ruminate on this idea, the more likely it seems to me that he's got help.'

  ‘You’re thinking Nana Shirole?’

  ‘Yes, and no. I think Shirole helped him with the logistics of the escape. Shirole’s main game is drugs. He wouldn’t handhold Zakkal as he runs rampant in the city killing women. That’s risky for his business.’’

  ‘So, you’re thinking of someone like Ranjit Kadam?’

  ‘Yes. But Zakkal and Ranjit were close friends…practically brothers. I’m thinking about someone who is fascinated by Zakkal.’

  Rathod’s eyes lit up as I said that because he knew where I was going with this.

  I said, ‘I remember that several people wrote to Zakkal in prison. They were in awe of him and asked him all kinds of questions about the murders he committed and their own fascination with killing.’

  ‘You’re thinking it could be one of them?’

  ‘They’re the low-hanging fruit.’

  ‘I remember we had spoken to a couple of them and they were creepy as hell.’

  ‘You’re being kind when you describe them like that,’ I said and paused. ‘Some of those people would jump at the opportunity of working with their dream superstar. It’s like a young kid getting a call from Roger Federer to join him on a fully-paid tennis training program.’

  'I think you're onto something here. I don't know Zakkal the way you do. If you think that this could be something, then it's definitely worth exploring. We had made a list at the CID of people who have written to Zakkal and showed tendencies of being potential killers themselves. I'm sure I can pull up that record as everything is digital now,' Rathod said and began walking back into the building while I followed him.

  Once we were inside, I sat in the waiting area outside the main office. I watched Rathod go to the cubicle of an officer I didn’t know. He returned ten minutes later with a stack of papers in his hand and a grin on his face.

  He said, 'I've made two copies of Zakkal's letters that correspond with people who were either asking him about his murders or wanted to learn about killing. We'll go through it on our end too. It'll be faster that way.'

  I thanked Rathod, took the papers and walked back to my car. Before I headed back, I had to do something else. I returned to the CID building and went to the top floor. It housed the make-shift guest quarters where Dr Barve was sleeping for the night. I remembered going there the previous year when a murder suspect I was representing had been shot by a sniper while I was speaking to him. The client was not guilty, and in fact, the evidence he had gathered had led us to the real culprits.

  Just like him, even Dr Barve was a brave man. I saw him through the small window on the door. He was lying on the bed but his eyes were wide open. A plate of uneaten food lay on a small bedside table.

  I knocked on the door once.

  Dr Barve looked my way and then rose slowly.

  ‘I’m sorry, Siya,’ he said as he held the door open partially. ‘I don’t have anything to say to you. I can’t do this. Sudha was my entire world and now she’s gone.’ His voice was a tad spiteful. ‘I know you didn’t know what was going to happen but it has. Please let me be on my own tonight.’

  My mouth turned dry. The guilt I had felt before resurfaced with a deadlier vengeance.

  ‘I promise you that we’re going to get her back,’ I said.

  Dr Barve’s face was expressionless. He closed the door and walked back to his bed. I stood outside his room, watching him for a few more minutes before heading for my car.

  When I reached home, Radha sensed from my body language that something was wrong. I told her everything that had happened since I had reached CID’s office.

  ‘You look dead. You should eat something,’ she said and put up a cup of tea for me.

  ‘Is Maa okay?’ I asked, wondering at what point we would have to tell her that Zakkal had returned.

  ‘Yes, she has been sleeping since you left,’ Rahul said. ‘Radha was with her in her room throughout. Even Shadow’s sleeping on the floor under her bed.’

  A part of me felt relieved but another was crippled with anxiety. Maa's sixteen years of captivity was split between Zakkal and Ranjit, with the last five being under Ranjit's supervision. Her therapist had told me that she did not remember much about her time with Zakkal. It was like her brain had shut out that period of her life. He had told us to be careful when it came to talking about Zakkal. According to him, there was a chance that Maa would remember those years, and if that happened, it would open a very vulnerable and sensitive part of her mind.

  It was almost three at night when all of us returned to our bedrooms. I lay awake on the bed, staring at the fan going round and round. I knew time was of the essence and did not want to waste even a single minute. But my eyelids were heavy and couldn't form a single straight thought. Somewhere in the next few seconds, I fell asleep. Right before that, Dr Barve’s crestfallen figure flashe
d in my mind.

  I knew Dr Barve’s team was working on finding the area that matched with the pollen grain that Zakkal had sent me. I wondered where it would lead us to. Soon, all thoughts drifted away, except one: I had no choice but to catch Zakkal soon because everything was going to get much worse if I didn’t.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kishore Zakkal swore under his breath as he approached Sudha Barve’s room. Everything had gone exactly as planned till then. But Sudha was a nasty old woman. He did not like old ladies. They had wrinkles and always seemed keen on giving people unsolicited life advice.

  But he had not taken Sudha Barve for the same reasons for which he always abducted women. It was more about showing Siya Rajput what he was capable of. He found himself grinning when he pictured how the scene had played out. It was as if Siya was a puppet and he was pulling her strings.

  This is just the start.

  It did not bother Zakkal that he had not decided what to do with Sudha yet. He had killed old women before, so he knew he would enjoy the act. But something told him keeping her alive was going to be beneficial to him in the long run. For him, she was irrelevant. She could be bartered later on for something…or someone more promising.

  He was about to say hello to Sudha but then decided against it. He was going to meet his lover soon and did not want to be in a bad mood for that. So, he turned around when he was inches away from her door. There was absolutely no way she was going to escape from here.

  Zakkal turned around to go back to the other woman he had kidnapped a few days ago. She, unlike Sudha Barve, was a spectacle. He knew her name but still called her Neeta.

  He had studied her daily routine from a distance for a week. He would have liked to stay back at her house for longer to watch her up close and personal. Over the years, he had realized that people were extremely different when they knew no one was watching. By being present in those moments, Zakkal thought he got to know them at a deeper level than anyone else and understand their true beauty.