Till Human Voices Wake Us: Last Part: Page 175 - Page 6

-- About 11 PM, Police Station --

There was silence settled in Maan cabin. Vic had left to work on autopsy report and run some more tests. Maan had at least half the paperwork done for the day and wondered if he could push another two hours. He could still be on time in the morning for the interview with Geet. He decided against it and packed all the paperwork into a satchel and switched off lights in his cabin.

As he drove back home his thoughts moved around the case – about Anjali and the way her life had ended. The way he saw it, there was something much bigger going on than he was prepared. He had seen his share of hate crimes before but this was cold and calculated. The execution was very meticulous and flawless. He finally turned the car in the opposite direction of his house and started driving towards Anjali's house.

He broke the seal he himself had put up in the morning on Anjali's door and entered the cool dark flat. Without the humdrum of the day, it was eerie to be in the flat with only silence and dark as his companions. He switched on lights in living room and took out crime scene photos from the satchel. He placed the photos from kitchen on coffee table along with the itinerary of the house.

He wanted to know what the killer had to clean up after.

He slipped on a pair of gloves just in case and went to the kitchen. In the flat itinerary, David had added an appendix which detailed the contents of three trashcans they found in the house. As he read on the list, he saw that there were few shards of glass present in the can. Could that have been wine glass? The picture of the cutlery cupboard had five wine glasses neatly arranged. Didn't cutlery come in even numbers? They may be lucky and get a fingerprint off the broken glass; if it was the wine glass that is.

This wasn't going anywhere. He decided to start from where the killer had started.

He went back to the main door and closed it behind him. He removed the gloves so that Anjali wouldn't be conspicuous about it giving how it was end of summer after all. He ringed the doorbell once just for completeness sake. A moment later he assumed that there was Anjali on the other end of the door who looked through the eyehole. She saw a familiar face and she opened the door. He entered with a smile too assuming that there was Anjali standing there.

What would she be doing?

In the living room there was a large flat screen television set complete with the whole accessories. He switched on the TV and only then noticed that the DVD player was on. He switched it on too and saw that there was movie going on – "My best friend's wedding". So she liked chick flicks. He went back to kitchen and checked wine bottle. It looked as if not more than three glasses were poured out of it. So Anjali probably opened it when the killer came in or had just opened it.

He made another note to send wine bottle to David. Maybe there would be some stray prints if the killer kept the bottle back in place.

He went back to living room and sat down sideways to Anjali. She handed him a glass of wine and poured one for herself. He couldn't be sure if she really handed out the wine and the killer took it or not but he did take it anyway.

Now how to get Rohypnol to the wine glass? Ask her something which will make her go away from the living room or at least have her back at the coffee table. Ask for a DVD perhaps? He saw a decent collection lined up on the wall. It would give him ample time to slip the drug in her drink. But it would be risky. There is no knowing of the moment when she could turn and ask a question. So having Anjali in the same room isn't a good idea. There was nothing else in the living room which could distract Anjali for more than handful of moments.

Maybe the killer asked for a glass of water. It was one of the most common ruse perpetuators used to get into victim's house posing to be faint from parching throat. If the killer asked for a glass of water then it would have given him at least two full minutes to be alone in the living room.

"May I have a glass of water?" Maan mimicked the killer. He also mimicked Anjali by going to the kitchen and pouring a glass of water. He checked the time when Anjali would have appeared in the living room. It took a minute and thirty four seconds. He sat there drinking water and saw Anjali took that glass of fateful wine. He then picked up his notes when Vic had talked about and checked at the quantity of drug they had found in the preliminary report.

He sat there staring at imaginary Anjali who was talking to him and drinking wine. He sat that way for about twenty minutes when he saw imaginary Anjali started becoming little incoherent. She tried to place the wine glass on the coffee table but the dizziness made her miss the table by inches landing it directly on floor. He saw her eyes widen in shock and slumped sideways on the sofa. He picked up imaginary Anjali and took her to her room and placed her on the bed. He couldn't be sure if the asphyxiation was done in living room or in her bedroom.

Now what did killer do? Anjali is killed and is lying on her bed and what can one possibly do for an hour in a stranger's house? He wore his gloves back on and started looking through Anjali's wardrobe. This was a part of the job he hated the most – looking through a stranger's personal belonging. There was a photo album in one of her dressers where she had also stored few old diaries. He didn't think it was important at the moment to read them but he still bagged and tagged it anyway.

The photo album had been a recent one since most pictures carried a date along with it. The pictures were that of Anjali and Geet along with a woman he couldn't recognize. He fathomed the other woman was a close friend of Anjali and Geet. Most pictures consisted of a scenic place with Anjali in the foreground, probably a tropical place not in India. There were few slots missing photos in the album and he decided to ask Geet about it the next day. He had looked through the entire room in a matter of thirty minutes and he still had thirty minutes left. He went back to living room and discarded the wine glass and washed water glass. He kept back the wine bottle in its location.

Wait. How did the killer know where to keep the wine bottle? He had to ask Geet if that location was where they kept wine bottle. If it was, then the killer had been around the house many times before to know exactly where things were placed. And the killer knew Anjali and probably even Geet very well for him to be in the house that many times. He went to bathroom to see if there was anything that would stand out. It was a normal bathroom with quite an amount of toiletries arranged neatly.

So what did he do for another thirty minutes or so?

David's team had dusted for print and fibers in Anjali's room without getting even slightest of evidence. It could mean the killer simply sat in a chair in Anjali's room waiting for something.

Or he looked around the house.

He had been to all the rooms in the apartment already except for Geet's room.

It was a long shot but he had to think outside the box now. The forensics hadn't even considered her room for evidence sweep and he cursed himself for ignoring this fact. They just assumed that the killer stuck to Anjali's room, living and kitchen. He didn't want to intrude on Geet's privacy but it was something it had to be done. He made a note in his book to get David's team to the room the next day after talking to Geet about. She probably would want to be in her room when they turned it upside down.

Contrary to Anjali's room Geet's room was eccentrically maintained. Three oddly shaped bookshelves donned the wall. Her bed was joined to the wall by the window and she had stacked up books next to her pillow. There were CDs lying on table along with lots of printouts and other books. Few dresses were stacked on her chair and he guessed a laptop would be there on the table underneath it all.

It was a huge mess.

Even if the murderer was hiding in the room, they would probably never know. He sighed. The only cleanest part of the room was probably her bedside table. A small lamp resided on a chest of drawers. Beside the lamp there were empty plate and cup. He couldn't decide if killer actually came in here and if he did, he must be really close to these two women then he originally thought of.

Perhaps the killer was one of their close associates.

It was much easier to speculate what the killer did in the rest of the time. Stab Anjali make a status update of Facebook and leave.

And leave with thirty minutes to Geet's arrival.

He checked a file which documented the text messages and calls made, received and missed from Anjali's cellphone. There was no text from Geet saying when she will be coming home exactly. Security guards had only know that she would be late and not an approximate time.

Then how did only killer know?

-- 10 AM, Sunday, Police Station --

"Geet is here sir ji", Satya came and informed Maan. "She is waiting for you with her friend in the interview room", he said.

"Is David working today? I asked him to dust for some prints", Maan asked getting up.

"He made it very clear that he isn't working today sir ji. He hasn't been home for more than six hours in past two weeks", Satya defended his colleague. Maan merely nodded.

"How is she?" Maan asked walking towards interview/interrogation room.

"She is much better than yesterday. Her friend is here for her support."

"She brought a friend?" Maan asked stopping in his tracks. It was never a good sign to have someone else be in the interview or watch interviews with immediate relatives of the deceased or even potential witnesses.

"Yes sir ji. I will get you a copy of the flat's itinerary that you promised to give Geet", Satya said and rushed back to his desk. Maan entered the interview room.

"Good morning Geet."

"Good morning Maan. Meet Malvika also known as Mal. I have been staying with her since yesterday. She is my childhood friend-"

"-best friend", her friend interrupted.

He looked from Geet to Mal. Mal held Geet's hand offering her support. Geet seemed to have recovered from the shock.

"It's nice to meet you ma'am. May I ask you why you are here?" Maan asked without beating about the bush. Both women looked at him.

"Well seeing how Geet is shocked and everything, I offered her to accompany her and provide her emotional support her when she answers your questions. She needs my help sir", Mal said earnestly.

"Ma'am, I assure you there will not be any ordeal on Geet. I cannot have anyone else in the room when they are giving statements. Presence of anyone else might hinder or even influence their thought process thus changing the course of investigation." Maan said passively.

"Can I wait outside?" Mal asked. She was worried for her friend's emotional state.

"Ma'am please go home. I will promise you that I will bring your friend home." Maan wasn't just asking and Mal didn't miss the underlying order in it.

"Take care Geet. If there is anything you need, anything at all, call me okay?" Mal said leaving the room. The two didn't speak for a minute and Geet looked on as Maan opened the file with crime scene photos.

"Geet, relax", he said seeing her knuckles turn white. She looked at him and took a deep breath. She nodded but he could see that she wasn't being very successful.

In her state, it could be a massive blunder to show her the pictures of homicide or even her own flat. It would only make her more nervous and tense. She was too wound up to remember details of previous night. He had to use another tactic.

"Look at me Geet. Take a deep breath and close your eyes", he said. She gave him a "are you kidding me" look. Satya also came in to the room at that moment and handed Maan a recorder.

"Just close your eyes. And listen to my voice okay? Ignore the fact that Satya is even in that room." Maan said lowering his voice. He turned on the recorder as she closed eyes.

"It's ten in the evening on Friday. You are still at your work. What are you doing?" Maan asked. There was a moments silence before Geet started talking.

"I am talking to my team member."

"How is the temperature inside your office? What do you smell?"

"It's hot. I have removed my blazer jacket and tied my hair to a bun. My team member is fanning himself with a printout. There is a smell of pizza. We were too busy to go out to eat so we have ordered in. There is couple of pieces left on my table."

"Good. Are you ready to go home yet?"

"No. It will be at least another two hours. The conference call is going to start now. They are calling me." Geet said.

"Okay. Now you are back from the conference call. Are you ready to go home now?"

"It's little after 12 and we are ready to go but my boss comes in and asks us to do some last minute work."

"What did you do then?"

"I vent. I saw Anjali online and vent on chat. I don't get any reply and I think she is already asleep. But it doesn't matter; just venting assuming that Anjali was actually listening has brought down my frustration level."

"Why did you pick Anjali?"

"Anjali is one of my best friends. Us being quite seniors in our respective workplaces, we understood the problems and the responsibilities our experience brought with it. If I had to vent or get some advice, I would go to her and vice versa."

"What did you do afterwards?"

"I started working on the document my boss wanted."

"You didn't talk to anyone else?"

"No, I didn't."

"Did anyone else try to contact you?"

"No just Mal."

"What did she want?"

"She asked me to quit working so hard and get some sleep."

"Okay. When you arrive home, what is the first thing you did?"

"I…I…" Geet stuttered and opened her eyes.

"Geet. Relax. I am right here. No one can hurt you okay?" Maan said pulling his chair close to hers. She nodded her head, took a deep breath and closed her eyes again.

"I open the door and I switch on the hallway light. Then I open my bedroom door and collapse on my bed."

"Okay, that is good. Look around your room now. Is there something out of place?"

"My room is exactly how I left it in the morning."

"Okay."

"No. Wait. The photographs in one of my bookshelves seem to have been rearranged and few of them are missing. I am too tired to think about it further and I just want to sleep. And then I smell hot chocolate." Maan looked at Satya. Satya looked alarmed.

"What happens next, Geet?"

"I want to relish hot chocolate so quickly change to nightwear. I see two cookies on a plate next to the mug of hot chocolate and I eat them first."

"How do the cookies taste?"

"They taste really good. I am taken aback by the taste though. They are walnut cookies. Anjali is allergic to them while I love them the most. I am surprised Anjali bought this since she asked me never to bring anything walnut related to the house as if she accidentally ingested them, she would be sick for weeks."

"Is it something she would do?"

"She has never done something like this in two years we have been living together. So I am very, very surprised."

"What about hot chocolate? How does it taste?"

"Hot chocolate isn't hot anymore but only warm. Warm enough not drink in one big gulp though. I think Anjali kept it in my room few minutes before I came to my room. I feel very happy and satiated after I finish drinking."

Maan and Satya exchanged looks. The case was getting more and more complex every time they thought they realized something.

"What did you do next?"

"I feel very sleepy. I sleep as soon as I finish hot chocolate."

"Okay Geet, you can open your eyes now." Maan said.

"Did I do okay?" Geet asked.

"You did wonderful Geet." Maan said shuffling papers around.

"Geet, are you very sure that the hot chocolate that you drank was warm and not almost room temperature?" Maan asked again.

Her answer would change the entire course of investigation and they had to rethink the whole thing.

"I am very sure. I even wanted to wake Anjali up and give her a hug for it. She is a very light sleeper you see, she wouldn't have fallen asleep so quickly after making me hot chocolate." Geet said.

"Why are you so interested in this bit of information?" Geet asked narrowing her eyes. Maan didn't respond. She looked at Satya then.

"Anjali's time of death has been placed between 10 and 11 PM. Anjali was dead at least for two and half hours by the time you came home", Satya said slumping on a chair.

Geet covered her mouth with her hands and heaved her breath.

Who made her the hot chocolate then? The answer scared every person in that room.

To be continued.