05: Mrigashira: Head of a deer
"Our victim lived in the west for over two decades. She came here less than two years ago, alone." Satya breaks the seal on the front door of the victim's house with a key and ushers Arnav and Khushi inside.
"Must have a had a good life," Khushi observes noticing tastefully decorated room. "What do you want me to do? Everything here is already processed." Khushi stands back and asks Arnav.
Arnav looks at Satya and motions him to speak. "There is no forced entry. There is no forced exit. There is no sign of scuffle. No one in this building saw or heard anything suspicious. It is all very clean. And you have already concluded that it is not a suicide and the way the victim's body was placed corroborates that."
"What about the boyfriend or partner or her male companion?" Khushi asks putting on gloves and handing a pair to Arnav and Satya.
The men stop and look at her. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you read the report? She had sex less than twenty-four hours of her death. And it wasn't an assault. No abrasions, no signs of forced entry. It was consensual."
"You handed us the report when we came to pick you up. That was less than thirty minutes ago. And I was driving." Satya bit out. Arnav hides a smile when Khushi grins wanly at the inspector.
"Our victim, Mrs. Inder, was sexually active. She was seeing someone." Khushi urged on just to see how long Satya would keep his blush. Satya would stare at gory crime scene and don't change an expression. But even a tangential reference to sex would make the man blush like a young girl.
Naturally Khushi exploited it.
"You could have just said that," Satya grumbles. Arnav and Khushi look at each other and hide a grin. "Look around Dr. Gupta." Satya leaves Arnav and Khushi and walks towards kitchen.
Khushi moves directly to the victim's bedroom. "Classy," she says looking around.
"Expensive," Arnav says picking up a bottle of perfume on the dresser. At Khushi's raised eyebrow he adds, "I have a sister."
"Older or younger?" Khushi asks opening the wardrobe. She runs her hand on the neatly organized saris, dresses and accessories.
"Older. By sixteen minutes." Arnav replies, offhandedly.
"She was seeing someone alright," Khushi says. Arnav walks towards her and sees the diary in Khushi's hands.
"That's convenient." Arnav says sardonically. Khushi sniggers.
"It is, isn't it? She wrote quite obsessively about, well, everything." Khushi showed a page to Arnav. Arnav looked at her and she glanced back carefully. "I will bring you breakfast for an entire week if you make Satya read this entry and make him write a report or something."
Arnav's look of disappointment makes her flush. She is ready to backpedal but Arnav beats her to it. "Make it two weeks of hot breakfast Dr. Gupta and you have a deal." He answers blankly.
Khushi gives him a thumbs up, accepting the deal. "Maybe she went to the guy's house?" Khushi asks.
Arnav shakes his head. "She hasn't left her home in four days, as per security guard." Seeing Khushi's thoughtful expression he says, "Her jewelry is intact and so are some expensive trinkets and gadgets."
"Maybe it's a foreshadow? Her bank account could have been emptied or will be emptied soon?" Khushi wonders openly.
Arnav shakes his head. "Banks have been identified and the accounts are frozen. We found her bank passbooks and checkbooks in there," he says pointing to the wardrobe.
"But you didn't find this?" Khushi says waving the diary.
"I don't think anyone bothered." He replies sheepishly. "My department wants to close this case soon. Mrs. Inder lived alone, doesn't have a family - her own or extended and it looks like an open and shut case except for the pesky little autopsy report." Khushi doesn't reply.
"It could be a case of robbery gone wrong. Someone from this apartment building could be involved in all this. People don't pay as much attention as they seem to think so. Someone could have been sneaking in under their noses." Khushi counts her fingers. "No?" She asks when Arnav doesn't reply.
He shrugs. She continues. "There is absolutely nothing out of place. Everything is in its place as it should be. Money is intact. Stuff isn't moved. She had consensual sex. Except for the marks around her neck, nothing screams murder."
"Revenge?" Arnav wonders.
"Not enough evidence. She would have been violently attacked had that been the case." At Arnav's questioning look she shrugs. "Forensic psychology was also part of my syllabus. And Hollywood is on my daily dietary necessities." Arnav smiles shaking his head.
"So why do you think she died? Easy target? Maid comes only once a day in the morning. Stays home for the most part. Even orders in her groceries. But this is a well secured apartment complex. She has a video doorbell answering system. She is careful with her lonely life." Khushi asks. "There seems to be no motive, when you think about it."
"Or the motive isn't an obvious one." He replies.
She watches him carefully. "This isn't the first victim to die this way, is it?"
Arnav shakes his head. "She is second or maybe even third." His voice is grim.
"Let's go through the apartment with a fine comb again." Khushi's voice loses the lightness and walks past Arnav towards the dresser. "Also, I need to see the first victim." She hears Arnav affirmation.
She felt sick.
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
CID
