Till Human Voices Wake Us: Last Part: Page 175 - Page 71

Chapter 23:

Emily had asked Geet if she could call Maan and Satya also to be there since they had done a lot of background work on the two women. Geet had reluctantly agreed. Maan was angry at being repeatedly lied to and wanted to set things straight once and for all. Emily nodded her to start and switched on the recorder. Satya and Maan were seated opposite to Geet, listening.

"Geet, tell us which parts are right and which were made up, okay?" Emily said. Geet nodded.

"I was sixteen and Mal was seventeen when the boy's obsession became obvious to us. We were scared to go anywhere alone because he chose those moments to get close to Mal. And as soon as there were people around, he shrunk back to background."

"Didn't she tell her parents or your teachers?" Satya asked.

"Mal lived with her mother who was a bank official. She thought that Mal was telling her about being followed as a scheme to gain attention from her mother and in school, they just ignored our complaints. And when I started complaining about being stalked, my parents thought my depression was acting up. I just wanted them to look closer and subtler, but in the end I got labeled as deluded one. I went along with that too hoping that they would catch the boy someday but unfortunately for me, the boy saw through our plans and stayed away from Mal for a while. No elders were ready to believe us and we realized why – we didn't have any evidence to prove that the boy actually stalked Mal. So after much arguments and tears from Mal, we decided to provide evidence."

"You baited him?" Maan asked raising an eyebrow.

"Mal's plan wasn't as simple as baiting him. She took a step further. She knew that the guy had fit whenever she spoke to a guy in her class. So she started railing him, bidding him against his own obsession and making him fight with himself – to snap or to ignore. She wanted him to snap and attack her in a violent rage."

"You provoked a teen stalker with a violent streak for the sake of evidence? He wouldn't have touched Mal but he could have killed you! Are you an idiot to sign up for such a plan?" Maan almost yelled at Geet. She looked at him hard.

"I am sorry ACP Maan that Mal and I had to resort to something this idiotic but what could we do? Your department wanted evidence to protect us and without having any 'proof' of Mal being stalked, they wouldn't waste manpower on couple of teenage girls. So yes, we resorted to this dumb plan which could potentially hurt me the most, but Mal was my best friend and this was all we could think of. If I really got hurt in the process, then your department had enough proof to take action against the boy." Geet spat, in anger. Maan couldn't respond to it. Police had their protocol to follow and with the manpower that their department has, he couldn't disagree with the officer who would have turned down Mal's request. But at the cost of what?

"What did Mal's plan entail?" Emily asked.

"She did exactly what Maan just disapproved of," Geet said softly rubbing her eyes. "She hung around with her classmates more and more trying to provoke him. But he didn't fall for her tricks. And then she took it to a notch above. Mal's mom ordered out dinner quite often and many times Mal picked it up on her way back home. One day she asked one of her teacher to accompany her as it was already dark. He was our Math teacher and was really very young. She ensured that her mother knew about her picking up food and going home with the teacher for safety purposes. She told the boy to meet her at the small restaurant from where she was supposed to pick up food. He was ecstatic when he heard that."

"But Mal had gone there with the teacher. The boy would have been okay if she was there with her classmate – he could easily compete with them for her attention but it wasn't hard to compete with an older man especially the likes of the teacher. He would have totally lost it," Satya said. Geet nodded.

"She knew that the repercussions of her act and she was ready for it and so was I. She had predicted that this time he would come after her and would confront her and that is what she had always wanted," Geet took a sip of water and paused.

"She was startled at his laid back attitude. He was angry with her of course but the violence that she was expecting didn't come. Instead he told her 'you aren't her' and shoved her out of the way."

"Why did he tell her that?" Maan asked.

"He had finally caught on what Mal was up to. I think at one point of time he believed that he had a chance with her but her way of getting rid of him was only making him more and more anxious. When he said 'you aren't her', he wasn't talking about me."

"He was talking about Mal. He was disappointed in her and he was disappointed in his own selection. But he couldn't give her up. The fantasy he had built around himself was too overwhelming for a rational aberration like this one to dampen it." Emily said. Geet nodded.

"I was horrified when I saw him stand very close to me in bus. 'Citrus Flavor' was a key word that both Mal and I used to string together our own bread crumbs. We were hoping that the police would put two and two together and connect Mal and me to that stalker. But unfortunately they like you guys to figure it out in couple of days."

"When Mal talked about your days in college, she said that your first two years. If she was your senior, then how did you both graduate at the same time?" Satya asked.

"She was an architecture student Satya. Traditionally it's a five year course as against the regular engineering degree," Emily answered.

"She wasn't lying there. The first two years for me and first three years for her were really calm and serene. I joined the same collage just so that I could be near Mal especially after knowing how he was also in the same college. But we were tremendously surprised at his behavior though."

"He was more social than before?" Maan guessed. Geet nodded.

"If it wasn't possible for us to get evidence when we were in school, then it was practically impossible when we were in college. He spent the first three years keeping an eye on Mal and me and hanging around friends. And then he started sending Mal these love letters which were awfully romantic if he is removed from the equation."

"Didn't Mal report to college authorities then?" Satya asked.

"Compared to the number of letters the girl whose room was in the same floor was I, Mal's letters were nothing. And these things are quite common in college, right? So no one really cared about these things. But Mal and I knew that this wasn't like any other love letter."

"But you did complain to the police right?"

"Yes, we did. It was around the same time her paranoia started to hit her. Her utmost paranoia in her life was that one day she would wake up and not remember a thing. So she started writing down everything, a habit she had had during school days. And during one such writing session, she sat and planned how she could get evidence against the guy for stalking. When we went to complain the police, she said it was I who was being followed." Geet said taking a sip of water. She knew that Maan didn't approve of these methods or saw a gazillion loophole; she couldn't do a thing anymore.

"So the new method of provoking him was to accuse him of something he hadn't done?" Maan asked in a tone as flat as possible. He hoped his judgment of Mal and Geet's decisions didn't creep in his voice.

"Yes. When he didn't react to anything, Mal herself sent pictures of the guys who were trying to protect me, with the guys' faces scratched. That caught some police attention but he still lay low. She ensured that she stood next to him during college events. They would be crowded and he wouldn't dare to pull a stunt there."

"And there would be lot of photographs taken," Satya said. "We actually got the photographs from your principal," he added. Geet smiled at him obviously impressed.

"Even after that police didn't figure out. We couldn't go in and produce that photos right? One day Mal came in totally scared. She had met him on her way back from library and she said it was a chilling experience. He hadn't even come within three feet of her but had spoken in such calm tone that she was hell scared. And three days later, he executed his plan."

"Was it when he broke in to your room?" Maan asked.

"Yes. That incident isn't fabricated. He did come to my room, took lots of pictures and cut my hair in half. The underlying meaning was evident to Mal so she backed off from her plan. He had told her very clearly that next time it would be my neck and not hair. She was jittery than before and she just wanted to get away from the college and start working."

"And for next few months nothing happened right?"

"Yes. However this time, his game plan had changed. His fantasy had evolved into something much deeper and much complex than before. I got pulled into his fantasy. I became this seducing little sister of the faithful and docile wife who is loved by everyone and by husband the most. In his eyes I was the seductress, the temptress whose behavior made him go mad with desire sometimes and sometimes be heavily laden with guilt." Geet stopped and took a shaky breath.

"How did Mal take it?" Maan asked.

"In the beginning she hated me being a part of the whole thing."

"She really cared for you, didn't she?" Emily said soothingly.

"She did, yes. She hired detective agency to track him down. We even complained to the police and provided them with the letters I had received. We even told them about the stalking that had happened back home but like it had become a ritual, they didn't find a thing."

"Why did she hire the detective agency?" Satya asked.

"She wanted to know everything about the guy – what he was doing, where he lived, who were his friends et al. I thought that once she found the information she would use it against him and we could finally close this chapter. But she didn't."

"She wanted to get even with him, didn't she?" Maan asked figuring out who the rest of the story played out.

"Once she knew where he lived and where he worked, she became obsessed with the game she was playing. She set him up every time with something or the other and like clockwork he would show up. I am sure there are millions of photos of him walking fifty yards away from me taken by those detectives. She had wanted to capture those moments too."

"But am surprised how come they never had a picture of him and her together. Not having even a single photo is almost improbable." Maan asked frowning.

"You are right. Actually there truly are no photos of both Mal and the stalker together. She knew how the evidence could be used against her so ensured that she never met him outside his apartment. She went inside his apartment alone but a hired personal bodyguard would be there right outside the door. I do not know what she spoke to him though," Geet said.

"What do you know about the death of stalker?" Maan asked.

"We got a call from police station asking us to go by the apartment. I was shocked to see him dead, his head lying in a pool of blood."

"Did you ever suspect Mal?" Maan asked again.

"Why should I ever suspect Mal for the murder of the stalker?" Geet exclaimed.

"Mal had evidence enough to provide police the information they needed to arrest him. But she didn't, why?" Maan asked.

"I really don't know why. But I don't believe that Mal killed him."

"She had a motive to kill him and since he had absolutely no association to her, she could have easily eliminated him. Think about it Geet." Maan said.

"I am sorry but I can't accept this Maan. I mean yeah, she had enough evidence given to her by the detective agency. She terminated the contract a week before the stalker died after meeting up with him. I don't know what they conversed but once coming back from his home she had called up detective agency and ended her contract. She even gave me a copy of report." Maan, Satya and Emily looked at one another.

"Can you get it for us please?" Maan asked politely. Clearly Geet didn't believe her friend could possibly do anything of this magnitude.

"I will also get Mal's planners and diaries from our college days. She gave me years ago saying how she wanted me to guard them safely. In those planners and diaries you will find everything that we did and you can also see the way she thought through her plans," Geet said and went to her room to pick up the stuff she promised to deliver. Once collecting those items and coming back to the sofa and handed over few books to Emily.

"Once the case is over I will return them to you, Thank you," Emily took books from her.

"How do we know you are not lying to us again?" Maan asked flatly. Emily and Satya exchanged looks. Geet furrowed her eyebrows.

"Unfortunately, you don't," Geet responded sharply.

"I don't believe you Geet," Maan said.

"Prove that I am wrong then," Geet said retaining her calmness. Maan only stared at her.

"Why did Mal hire the detective agency again to follow around Sasha?" Emily asked moments later.

Geet looked surprised and hung her mouth open in an expression "What!" She looked from Emily to Satya and Satya to Maan and her eyes stayed there. "What!!!" She exclaimed again.

Originally posted by: wilddevil2010

I don't know whether Mal killed d stalker or not but Geet has tooo much faith in Mal.

There has to b some connection between stalker and killings. So many chapters have been dedicated to stalker. It can't b just to confuse Maan and d readers.

Trust me, no more stalker talk from tomorrow. I HAD to close this thread because no one knew the truth and everyone was going around in circles. 😊

Maan first had to prove if the stalker was the killer or was the killer a different person altogether. Now that he knows the stalker is dead, his original theory sticks and he can investigate without second guessing every fork in decision making.

Geet has no idea abt Mal and Varun being killers. Difficult to digest.