Till Human Voices Wake Us: Last Part: Page 175 - Page 8

Originally posted by: Vidushi89

You know right now m alone in my study room reading your update n m scared...
But its really interesting dear... You are an awesome writer...
Updt soon

Chapter 5:

"I need to take a break." Geet got up and didn't wait for Maan's response. Maan didn't look up from the autopsy report and Satya looked on blankly. Once Geet disappeared from the room, Maan spoke.

"What do you make of it sir ji?" Satya asked.

"It's not a straight forward hate crime Satya. The pristine crime scene shows how organized the killer is. The overkill shows the rage. You know how difficult it is to be organized and very meticulous when a person is trying to control and contain an incredible amount of rage. No, it's just not a simple jealousy turned hate crime where in a person snapped one day and planned to kill. It goes much deeper, much primal. And it has nothing to do with Anjali." Maan finished. Satya's relaxed stance was momentarily disturbed.

"Sir ji, Geet wasn't involved in anything. Sure Geet was warned by the killer but it doesn't make her a target", Satya argued.

"Was she really warned Satya?"

"Well it was killer's way of telling her - 'I know all about you' isn't it? The killer knew when Geet was going to come home and what she liked. What else can it mean?"

"I care for you."

"Excuse me?" Satya asked. He hadn't considered it.

"Look at how everything played out in crime scene. Even if the killer did leave glasses, it wouldn't have made a difference because there were no finger prints anyway. And if killer did know about forensics and everything he would also know that autopsy would tell us that she had ingested wine before she died. The killer knew that we would at one point know what exactly had happened. Yet, he cleaned the whole house, prepared a glass of drink for Geet."

"He wanted Geet to be comfortable. He knew what type of cookie she loved and got it with him." Satya asked.

"Yes. He was there that night to kill Anjali. But it didn't stop him to take time out in his schedule to show concern for Geet."

"But that's two contrasting behaviors. He goes from an overkill rage to a calming caretaker in a matter of minutes. It sounds like two different profiles. It's impossible for a person to exhibit this kind of contradicting behavior sir ji. Unless..." Satya realized once

"Geet has a stalker and I don't think she knows it yet", Maan said just when Geet entered the room.

"I have a stalker?" She was yet to recover from a shock before and now this.

"Geet, it's just a theory at this point of time. We can be completely wrong about it. But the behavior signature is little odd for the killer; rage against Anjali and compassion towards you." Maan didn't want her to go into a panic mode now. It could jeopardize their entire investigation if she in her panic started closing up.

"Let's start from the beginning alright?" Satya said distracting Geet from her own thought process. She nodded.

"When did you first meet Anjali?" Maan asked.

"I was looking for a house two years ago. I wanted a bigger place and which is closer to work. I didn't want to spend too much time on commuting so I was asking around. A very senior colleague of mine talked to me about Anjali. This colleague's wife shopped at the boutique where Anjali worked. Anjali was looking for a flat mate. I met Anjali for brunch and we hit it off. I moved in to that flat a week later."

"What was the reason for you to move out of your old flat?"

"I just mentioned it Maan. I wanted a bigger place." Geet's voice had taken an unusual hard tone. Maan simply nodded.

"Have you met her friends - the ones she frequently met up with?" Maan asked backing off from Geet's personal choice. He made a mental note to bring it up again, but not right now.

"I know most of her friends. Contrary what people perceive, she was a very private person. She knew a lot of people of course but she never really let anyone in."

"What about her love life?"

"She had been seeing a guy till about beginning of this year. But they broke up amicably."

"Who broke it off?"

"It was Anjali. But once she started talking about it to him, he agreed with her and they separated. They still do lunches here and there as they decided to remain friends."

"Hasn't there been anyone new in her life?"

"I may be wrong about this Maan and it may be even incorrect of me to even talk about it now; especially now that everything has happened." She was hesitant. Maan and Satya exchanged looks.

"What is it?"

"I think she was seeing someone in secret. She was trying very hard to be casual about it but it showed on her face and definitely in her actions. I even confronted her about it. But she vehemently denied. And we have this unwritten rule between us - not to get involved too much in one another's business. So I backed off."

"How did you know about it?"

"It was these small things you know? The spring in your step, the additional dab of perfume, late night calls which involves in lots of smiles, Facebook status made of old love songs et al. Have you been in love Maan?" The glint in Geet's eyes threw him off. Satya coughed to hide the sudden burst of chuckle. Maan glared at Satya.

"When do you think she started seeing someone?" Maan asked in the most passive voice he could muster.

"I'll take "no" as an answer to my question. Well, I started seeing these changes about four months ago. It could have been earlier than that but due to work I used to be too stressed to notice such things. My boyfriend agreed with me too, actually."

"Your boyfriend?" Maan asked not bothering to hide his surprise.

"Is that a crime?" She asked amusedly. He had just assumed that Geet was this eternal hardworking and an intellectual single woman.

"Of the five addresses you gave Satya before we started the interview, I didn't see his name in the list of your immediate contacts in the city. Is there any particular reason?"

"I've been with him for seven to eight months now. I don't think I can drag him into this since I don't really know where I stand with that guy." Geet replied not looking at Maan.

"Did he come to your house frequently?"

"No. Unless he had to pick me up or something, he rarely came up. Like I said before, Anjali was a really private person and to an extent so was I. So we kept our boyfriends away from our flat unless there was some genuine reason for them to be there."

"Did Anjali get along with him?"

"Are you suspecting him?" Geet's voice was incredulous.

"I am covering all aspects of Anjali's relationship with every person closely associated to her and also to you." Maan's voice was hard.

"They got along pretty well. They both loved wine and mostly talked about it all the time. He was also a fan of cheese and introduced me and Anjali to the world of cheese. Honestly, I couldn't stand the smell of it and opted out but Anjali fell in love with the varieties. They became good friends and the three of us generally had a good time."

"He didn't mind if you got Anjali to tag along with the two of you?"

"No. He knew that Anjali had gotten out of a relationship and we both thought that it would be good if Anjali hung around with us rather than others who would ask her embarrassing questions or make her feel like being under a spotlight."

"Are you jealous of their relationship?" Geet looked livid. Satya only looked on.

"I am...what? Are you out of your mind? Anjali was my friend. Vikram is a kind hearted guy and they both happen to have similar tastes so they spoke quite often. The three of us always had a good time and I was very happy in their company." Geet exhaled loudly.

"You haven't answered the question." Maan's voice was passive as ever and Geet looked ready to kill.

"No. I wasn't jealous of their relationship. Happy?" Maan ignored the jab.

"Satya, can you ask Geet's friend Mal to come here?" Satya nodded and left the room. Geet peered at him curiously.

"Geet, we need to go back further. I need to know everything about you. It is possible that you have come across the killer in your life at some or the other point. I've asked Mal to come here so that she can provide you with the emotional support that you are definitely going to need. Is it okay?" Maan said. He could've simply ordered Mal to come in without giving a proper explanation to Geet. But the way the interview was going, he thought perhaps she deserved a break.

"Okay. It would be good if she was here anyway." Geet shrugged and accepted his decision without much ado.

"Okay thank you. Do you know anyone who could've carried a grudge on Anjali?" Maan asked coming back to interview. Satya came in at the same time.

"She will be here soon sir ji." Satya interjected. Maan nodded, Geet breathed in a sigh of relief.

"I don't think so. She used to have arguments with her clients or her suppliers. But that's quite common in her line of business. I don't think there was anyone who harnessed a hate enough to kill her."

"What kind of arguments?"

"With clients the arguments would be mostly with the quality of material and with suppliers it would be with pending supplies. I think her colleagues at the boutique will give you more information on this one."

"What about altercations with people outside her working place?"

"As per my knowledge, I cannot remember any. I am not sure if it's important or not but about two months or so back there was this incident. We were at a club not very far from the place she worked. We were having a girls night out so Vikram wasn't with us that night. We were having a good time that night. At one point I noticed her arguing with a man in dimly lit area of the bar."

"Where were you when you saw her?"

"I was coming out of the bathroom and she was probably about twenty feet away from me. I hurried towards her and the man but they saw me coming. As soon as the man saw me, he dissolved into darkness."

"Was that all?"

"I am not very sure. But I think I saw that man handing Anjali an envelope. I couldn't get a good look at it as Anjali was already keeping it inside her bag."

"Was it drugs?" Maan didn't hide surprise from his voice.

"No. Anjali never did drugs. She believed in being fit and being completely in control of her environment. She wouldn't do anything to prejudice that. I don't think it was drugs."

"What do you think?" Maan asked. He knew that Geet had deduced something after seeing Anjali's reaction.

"It could have been money. Or some blackmail material. I don't know. But whatever it was it made her depressed for almost a week. But she cheered up later and I completely forgot about it. Now I wish I had pressed her for details irrespective of the outcome", Geet looked worried.

"Geet. Don't blame yourself over this one. It wasn't your fault. I think we will have to revisit Anjali's room again." Maan said. Geet didn't look too happy about going back to her flat.

"Do you want to take a break till Mal arrives?" Maan asked. Geet nodded. Before they could leave the interview room, a sub-inspector arrived with Mal.

"Thank you for coming in ma'am." Satya received the woman and nodded at the sub-inspector.

"What's the verdict now?" Mal asked leaning on a nearby wall.

"I may have a stalker", Geet said dully.

"Again? Another one?" Mal asked shock evident on her face.

Geet had a stalker before? Maan and Satya looked at each other in surprise.

What the hell was going on?

To be continued.

Note of thanks: Thanks to lisieux for pointing out a serious typo :-)