Till Human Voices Wake Us: Last Part: Page 175 - Page 19

interlude
OMG that was scary...
is that the psycho?
cont soon...

take care of urself dear...
will wait...

This gave me the heebie jeebies

Chapter 7:

"Lunch?" Mal asked once she had given her statement. She didn't find it odd that she was treated as the primary suspect. She was smart enough to realize what Maan didn't ask her directly. She had ignored that fact throughout the interview and had calmly undergone interrogation about her whereabouts during the time of Anjali's murder.

"Yes but sir ji would be going with Geet back to the apartment. He has few questions for her. Since from tomorrow we are rounding up all Geet's and Anjali's friends and colleagues, we will not be having the time to talk to Geet for at last another three days." Satya said taking her finger prints.

"When are Anjali's parents coming in?" Mal asked her voice not more than a whisper.

"They might he coming in tomorrow or the day after. Poor people", Satya sighed and offered Mal a pen to sign. Once signed, they left interview room to get lunch and continue with Geet where they stopped earlier that day.

-- 3 PM, Sunday, Geet's flat --

"I am sorry you have to do this Geet. But your insight is very necessary for the investigation", Maan said letting Geet inside her own flat by breaking in the seal he had put in previous night.

"It's okay. I am doing this for Anjali", Geet said not looking at Maan. Maan nodded and let her in.

"What do you want me to do?" Geet asked looking at Maan once inside.

"Take a look around the apartment in detail. See if you can find anything odd. Yesterday I picked up an album from Anjali's dresser. There are few photos missing. I have the album with me hoping against hope that David will find some prints on it."

"Which album are you talking about?"

"Here you go", Maan said and handed her a pair of gloves. She looked at him wearily but he just shrugged at her helplessly. She slipped on gloves slowly feeling odd when the cool rubber clung to her skin. She shook her palms to test if the glove really fit. The irony didn't escape her.

"Have you guys moved anything from the living room or any other room for that matter?" Geet asked asking him for a baseline.

"Nothing has been moved from its place Geet. This is how we found the house yesterday." Maan said.

"Geet, a word of advice?" Maan said hesitantly. Geet looked on waiting for him to speak.

"I am not going to tell you that this is going to be easy because it isn't. The best way to deal with it is to look at the crime scene as a piece of puzzle rather than a home and the place where your friend died. Disassociate from every little item in this house. It would be hard not be emotionally reactive to the memories few of these items will bring you, but a clinical detachment to it would probably save you from a lot of grief." Geet crossed her eyebrows and was about to speak but Maan beat her to it.

"Whatever I just said is just my point of view and not to be considered as a thumb rule. Shall we start?" Geet relaxed a little and nodded her head.

"Let's start from the kitchen okay? There are few things I wanted to ask." Geet nodded again. Once in kitchen, Maan spread out the photos from previous day on the counter to mark changes if there were any.

"Is this where you kept wine bottles?" Maan asked.

"Mostly yes. Anjali kept the ones that were already opened here -", she said pointing towards a small wooden slab in the far most corner of the kitchen. "- and the unopened ones were always arranged in cupboard." She threw open a cupboard as a proof.

"Did your friends know about the way Anjali arranged wine?"

"Few of our friends know about it. It's not very uncommon in households to do something like this. Why do you ask?"

"Was this bottle opened newly or was it already opened?"

"It's newly opened. Friday morning I threw away an empty bottle and I was the last one to leave the apartment in the morning. So Anjali would have opened this in the evening. Again, why do you ask?" Geet's voice had a tinge of annoyance by the end.

"We found heavy traces of date rape drug along with wine in her system. If she gave into the drug, then it's not her who placed this bottle back."

"Isn't it possible that she was very much coherent and sober when she placed the bottle herself back but later lost consciousness? Or she could have simply poured two glasses from kitchen without taking it out in the living room."

"Probably. But the quantity of wine or the drug doesn't add up. I doubt if she did multiple trips to the kitchen to pour glass of wine." Maan said.

"Is there anything missing?" Maan asked showing her the cabinet that housed five wine glasses.

"One glass is missing", Geet responded automatically.

"I presumed as much. We found some glass pieces in trashcan too." Maan said marking the crime scene photo with felt tip pen. Geet started shuffling kitchen drawers to see if everything was in order. She frowned and was quiet for a minute staring at the drawer contents.

"What is it Geet?"

"My Swiss Hanowa knife is missing." Geet whispered assuming the worst looking at him wide eyed. Maan secretly agreed with her but didn't respond on that context.

"Was it there when you left for work on Friday?" Geet nodded and shut the drawer door harshly. Maan noticed that her hands shook a little. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and heaved out a sigh.

"Everything else seems to be in its place. But I would need an itinerary to check it in detail." Geet said and walked out of the kitchen.

"I have a copy of it and I will ensure that it reaches you by tomorrow." Maan said walking behind her slowly as she hummed softly.

"Did you find anything in Anjali's room? The knife or any clues?" Geet asked as she opened the door. Pungent smell hit her hard and the vision of Anjali's body was clear to her on the bed. She retreat her steps bumping into Maan.

"I don't think I am ready to do this. I thought I could, but I don't think I can. I am sorry", she ran shoving him away from her path to the bathroom. He could hear her retch and the sound of flush a moments later. He rubbed his temple in exhaustion and wondered if he could ever get Geet go into that room. He couldn't force something like this on her given how crappy things had been for her. He was still lost in thoughts when Geet came around.

"Can we see that photo album you were talking about instead?" She asked walking to the living room. Maan handed it over to her wordlessly.

"Aah'the Phuket trip. These were taken almost two years ago." A small smile graced her face as she remembered the trip with her friends. She stopped in hallway en route living room as she flipped first two pages of the album.

"It had been only two months after I moved in with Anjali. The other woman you see in this picture is Sasha. " She showed him a picture where three of them were sporting huge smiles for the camera.

"Mal bailed out on Sasha and I at the last moment and we asked Anjali if she was interested in this trip. She agreed as she had some leaves saved up and in dire need of a vacation. The three of us had a gala time there with sun, beach, and sands and generally having a good time." She sighed as she flipped more pages. Maan leaned on nearest wall and listened to her speak.

"Wait, there are few of photos missing", Geet said frowning.

"Yes, that is what I wanted to ask you. Do you know which ones they are?"

"I can't be sure but I think the photos are that of the day we went to a temple. Sasha was an architect by profession and she wanted to check it out and take some pictures there. I will give you the soft copies of these pictures in USB so that we can be sure." Geet said closing the album.

"That would be helpful. Thank you." Maan replied and walked back to living room. Geet looked around checking for anomalies.

As she neared sofa she stopped and pointed to a flower vase on a corner stand right next to the television. The small corner stand as such was hidden from the view if one didn't pay attention as the large TV cabinet kind of obscured every small item around it.

"Why is it here?" Geet asked panic evident in her face.

"How can that be here?" Geet asked again her panic raising. Maan didn't understand what was happening. A black vase with pink Chinese rose sat alone in the corner without any flowers in it. He picked it up in his gloved hand and brought it to her.

Her panic had risen to hysterical babble and she had collapsed on the floor and was hugging her knees to her chest. He couldn't understand what she was trying to say but by seeing the vase closer, her voice increased an octave and she was having a total breakdown. Seeing how the vase was disturbing her to the point of losing her sanity, he placed the wooden vase behind the sofa. He picked her up and laid her down on sofa and fetched a glass of water. She drank water as if she was parched for an entire lifetime and breathed heavily. It took her twenty minutes to calm down but there was a raw fear in her eyes.

"When Sasha was murdered, there was a similar vase in her house too." Geet whispered hoarsely and stared at the wall without blinking.

Maan couldn't help but to let his jaw drop. Where was this case heading?

"Lie down for some time Geet. I will stay right here, alright?" Maan said softly. Geet slowly leaned and put her head on the pillow Maan had placed for her. She lay there silently as Maan got up and walked behind sofa. He wanted to see the vase more closely.

There was a photo of Anjali with another man in it. "Bloody who*e" was written across the photo in blood. He didn't have to guess whose blood it was.

He had a bad feeling about the case.

To be continued.

Note of Thanks: Thanks to @hegdemedha for pointing out that it is actually "Sunday" and not "Saturday".

OMG... Can this get worse than this?? this is crazy.. One more murder.. After last update, I thought might be related to Anjali only. But now I am not sure...

I was kinda desperate to ask u fr an update..
Is there any angle of murder that u have left untouched dear?
M loving it :-)

sasha was also killed 😲

wonder how she isnt a wreck- emotional and psychological , by now... loosing people just because they are close to her, with no way out..