It was everything he didn't expect to see. It was as if he had stepped into a B-Grade horror flick with bad lighting. While Anjali's crime scene was pristine, Mal's crime scene was bloody gory. The amount of blood made him nauseous as the killer seemed to have smeared it on every wall in the house. The black vase was present of course placed in the living room in a corner. He had seen too much blood in crime scene to make him or Satya turn away from it. Even if he wanted to turn away, he couldn't. Unlike Anjali's crime scene, there weren't many people allowed. It was just him, Satya and David's team. Back at the police station, Deshmukh was debriefing his team who were on Mal's surveillance. Emily was going through Mal's phone records and social websites to see if there something the killer left for them again.
"What is going on sir ji?" Satya said looking around and snapping on gloves. Maan was already reading and looking around.
"I have no idea," Maan said flatly and walked back to the main door. Once outside the flat he closed the door and nodded at Satya.
"There is no evidence of forcible entry sir ji. The killer had a spare key." Satya said turning on the knob. The wooden patch next to the knob was covered in blood.
"The killer closed the door behind him while going back. You can see that from the imprint of thumb on front and the imprint of four fingers on the other side of the door. He used right hand to close the door behind him." Maan said and opened the door and entered.
"What did he do next?" Maan asked surveying the living room. The killer had managed to touch a lot of things in living room, staining them with blood. He hadn't gone near sofa but he sure had checked some magazines on the coffee table. There was a blood print on the remote too. Did he watch TV? Maan couldn't say.
"How is Mal?" Maan asked making way for forensics member.
"If you think you saw rage in Anjali's crime scene sir ji, I want to know what you make of this one," Satya said grimly and led the way.
Maan cringed and turned his head as soon as he entered Mal's room. He was wrong from the assessment he made for himself few minutes before. There were still things left in crime scenes which made him grimace.
"Jesus," he exclaimed and shook his head.
Mal was lying in a pool of blood on her bed and the entire room was trashed. Either someone was looking for something very hard or it was just plain old trashing the place after getting bored of stabbing. The killer had even slashed her face couple of times. Blood splatter was all over the table next to where Mal was sleeping and the bed's headboard. There were bloodied footprints all over the floor and most things had the killer's hand print; hands covered in leather gloves, of course. He wasn't feeling sick of the of the crime scene; it was the way Mal was seen by the killer.
What had she done to the killer to instigate such a rage in him?
"Vic, what's the approximate time of death?" Maan asked diving into the case.
"I would say somewhere between ten and eleven. Hey, have you told Geet about it?" Vick asked. Maan sighed.
"I have asked the department to keep it tight on this one. She is a potential suspect on this one Vic. I want to watch her reaction when Emily and I give her the news. It's crucial to this case." Maan responded and made a note about time of death in his notebook.
"Right," Vic said disbelieving the entire argument. Geet had lost her best friend and perhaps someone closer even her family had ever been to her. It would be a big blow to Geet's psyche and Maan didn't want the news go to her over wire. He wanted Emily to be there to handle the situation.
"I have till now counted forty eight stab wounds. There are at least twenty more. This guy just went berserk Maan as if it was necessary for him to keep on stabbing her. It's most unusual though," Vic hummed thoughtfully.
"What is it?" Satya asked stopping his sweep around the room.
"The killer used the same knife he used on Anjali - the one that Geet mentioned about gone missing from her kitchen. I will have to verify it of course but it seems so," Vic said continuing to count the stab wounds.
"Do you think all this blood came from Mal?" Satya asked Vic.
"Contrary to what you see Satya, there isn't too much blood around the house. The killer just had pickup Mal's t-shirt and dipped it in pool of blood and start dabbing along the way. He could have done it a couple of times to get the current effect. Once I get her into autopsy, I should be able to estimate approximate blood loss", Vic said.
"Is the killer devolving or evolving?" Satya asked shaking his head.
"It's neither. He did exactly what he always wanted to do." Maan replied.
"If we reapply theory of two killers, then…" Satya didn't finish but stared at Maan.
"Anjali and Sasha were dead before he could do what he wanted to do with them. With Sasha, his time was cut short but with Anjali he was too late." Maan finished.
"Maan, I buy your theory a little. At least it rules out the possibility that our killer may have a split personality. The cause of death is stabbing. Once I get toxicology reports, I can confirm presence of absence of drugs in her system. My best bet is – she won't have any", Vic said.
"Oh and there are seventy three stab injuries on her." Vic added and asked nodded at his assistant.
"Did Mal get killed because the killer wanted to kill her or because Geet currently lived with her?" Satya asked Maan.
"If that is the case, then why now? Why not kill Mal and Sasha years ago when they were all living in the same house anyway?" Maan replied.
"That could be because he didn't know them before or that just wanted to do it only now," Satya said.
"Okay, if I assume that he wanted to kill them only now then motive must be something that is outside our perception. The motive is something that only the killer and his victims know and it is driven by the events that have happened in the past. If you see, the timeline between the kills are erratic. The cooling off period between the crimes is off the chart and the only consistent thing in the two murders is rage and possible evidence that he stalked them enough to take photographs of them and placed a sample for us to see in the vases. What does that show?" Maan didn't let go. Satya thought for a moment.
"Hey you! Give me the photo you found inside the vase," Satya asked a guy who was collecting evidence. The man handed Satya a photo already placed in an evidence bag.
"Through the vase the killer is talking to us. He is telling the entire world how different these women are from what they have been made to believe. He is trying to tell people the truth. But that still doesn't explain the killing though," Satya said and showed the photo to Maan.
'Murderer' was written in blood across the photo which had Sasha and Anjali in it. It was one of those missing photos from Anjali's room, Maan noted.
"That's exactly the reason why he is killing. Once he realizes that the woman isn't what the world perceives her to be, he kills her," Maan said slowly grasping loose threads dangling as plausible theories around him.
"He has been right in previous two accounts. You think he is right this time too?" Vic asked not missing a beat.
"I hope not; at least for Geet's sake." Maan's voice was unnaturally hoarse.
"Maan, Satya, you have to see this. Vic you can come too," David came into the room with an unreadable expression.
"Show them," David told the forensic guy who was standing in bathroom. The forensic guy pointed towards the flush tank and asked Maan and Satya to take a look.
"Take it out," Maan said looking at David.
"Was Mal on drugs or did she purchase for some other ulterior reason?" David asked rhetorically.
"I need the results fast for this one David," Maan said.
"They go top priority Maan," David promised in his own way.
"According to Mal's and Geet's testimony, they asked Sasha to vacate the house because she was on drugs." Maan said.
"It could have been Sasha's," Satya slowly said. It took a moment to sink the information.
"Satya, call Deshmukh and ask him to locate Sasha's candy-man. And also ask Emily to check if they found any drugs in Sasha's apartment. And also ask Emily to pick Geet from her workplace. Tell her not to disclose anything but press urgency and ensure that Geet is in station by the time we go back; which should be in another one hour," Maan gave out orders and Satya took few steps back to make the calls.
Maan walked around the living room and saw blood prints on lampshades, odd paintings on the wall, telephone, television and photos that were placed in the entertainment cabinet.
No, not every photo but only one bore the print of blood.
He was very sure that under the thick layer of blood, Geet's candid moment in front of the camera was definitely a happy one. The killer seemed to have spent some time holding the photo before leaving the house.
To be continued.
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
Cricket
36