OS: Dial M for mobile...& murder! final part pg 7

The shaken housekeeper let them in, a query written large on her face.

"Agent Trisha, CBI..."

"Agent Raghav, CBI!"

The pecking order was obvious as Trisha strode forward to the site. As expected, it was barricaded heavily with a "Police: Do Not Cross" tape. The housekeeper followed them, anticipation written large on her face.

"What exactly happened? I understand you were here?"

"Yes, Ma'm. I was in the kitchen, cutting vegetables. The cooker was on, with the third whistle on the way. Suddenly I heard a sound like a cracker bursting. Or I thought. There is so much noise going on at the same time. The cooker whistle, the tap flowing and the boys next door are real rowdies..."

"And where was Madhusudhan at the time?"

"That was his newspaper reading time. So he was in his chair, immersed in the paper. I did not see anything wrong at that time.."

"After that?"

"It was time for his tea so I went to him with the tray. And it was then that I noticed it!"

"What did you notice?"

"Saab was a bit too quiet for usual. Generally, he is alert and awake at that time. But that day he was fast asleep in his chair. I went close to check, whether he was ill? And then I noticed the blood flowing out of his ears..."

"Was he conscious at that time?"

"How would I know? When I saw that blood, I just called our family doctor. He said Saab was no more. I felt like crying. He said he would file an FIR!"

"But why would he do that?"

"I don't know!" The housekeeper shook her head. Raghav pulled Trisha to one side, fishing out his surgical gloves at the same time. Trisha followed suit, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"But Raghav, it looks like...an open and close case!"

It was then she saw what had bothered Raghav so much. A half burnt mobile lay a few feet away from the body, shattered to a couple of pieces. Raghav carefully viewed them from a distance.

"Can we have the cybercrime expert here? And shift the body to the forensics..."

****

Dr Aarthi, the forensic expert straightened up from the body, a frown on her face. Trisha waited patiently.

"Very funny, Trisha. No wonder it is a brain hemorhage. But one thing stands out!"

"And that is?"

"You see, Trisha...there are different regions in the brain, corresponding to different functions. Some are vital to life like respiration, heart beat etc. These are controlled by the hindbrain, or medulla oblongata, located..." Aarthi's fingers traced a part of Madhusudan's head near the neck, "..here. And the inner ear maps to another part of the brain, located deep inside, but a bit faraway..."

"OK, OK...I have studied Biology in School!" Trisha cut her short, rolling her eyes. Dr Aarthi continued unfazed.

"What I want to say is: these two parts have been damaged with a surgical precision. The remaining brain is intact. Of course, it could be a coincidence that these two parts got damaged at the same time, but the probability is quite minimal. And if it was a brain hemorrhage, why were the other parts not affected at all?"

Trisha nodded slowly. A lot of things started to make sense.

The cybercrime expert had another tale to tell. He was waiting with a huge sheaf of papers, neatly folded in a file.

"This is the call record of Mr Madhusudan for the past two weeks. We have contacted the company that manufactured his mobile; and they have promised us full cooperation. Of course, after a vehement denial about their product being defective..."

Trisha carefully perused the document. A typical call log, indicating the incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration. Another log gave the list of messages and emails sent from the mobile. The last call was one made to Riya Awasthi, a project manager in the same company.

It was a huge document, given the fact that Madhusudan was quite high in the hierarchy in his company. Nothing out of turn, Trisha deduced. And then it caught her eye.

There was a gap in the record a couple of days ago.

"What is this gap? No calls were made during this interval!"

The cybercrime expert peered into the record. "Nothing extraordinary, Ma'm. It could be a case of the phone being sent for servicing. The gap just indicates that the phone was reformatted!"

Trisha turned to her team.

"OK. Fine. Rajveer, can you check on that? Where did the phone go for servicing? Assuming it did... and what was the problem?"

"Fine. On the job!"

"And Raghav..." Raghav straightened up with a smirk from his favourite place: leaning against the wall. Trisha ignored the smirk and continued in her no-nonsense tone.

"The last call on the log was made to Riya Awasthi. We need to talk to her. She may shed some more light on the matter, after all, she was the last one to talk to Madhusudan!"

"Sure. Let's go!"

****

Riya Awasthi was a prim and proper personification of a Project Manager, as she received them in her small and neat apartment in one of the posh areas of the city. Raghav, while being ushered in, had deduced a lot of details about their host.

Age 20-25, well educated. Came to this city a couple of years ago in search of a job. Joined the company as a trainee. Good at her job, earned rapid promotions one after the other, rising to the post of a team leader within a couple of years.

A neatness freak. Will not give or take nonsense. Hides a vulnerable self behind that tough persona...

Trisha came to point.

"I believe you know why we are here?"

"Of course. To check out on me, as I was the last person to talk to him!"

"And the call records indicate that you were talking to him when this happened. Can you share some details?"

Riya relaxed in her chair, her mind going back to the fateful day.

She was in a famous coffee joint, waiting for an unlikely visitor. Detective Inspector Mrs Wagle, who would be in plainclothes, had asked her to wait there as she would be joining her shortly.

"I was waiting at the coffee joint, waiting for Inspector Wagle..."

Trisha's eyes narrowed. What was all this about? She looked sharply at Raghav, who nodded imperceptibly.

This girl knows a lot more than expected...and is hiding something!