Chapter 13: "That's quite a leap there sir ji by considering a young adult to be one of the killers, if we go with the assumption that there are two killers in the first place," Satya said.
"Satya, think about it. If there is a kid in the equation, then one might not hesitate too much to open the front door. If there is a solid ruse, then another kid inside the house wouldn't hesitate to invite them in," Emily said.
"That would be one way to get in, yes." Geet said. Emily frowned a moment later.
"What is it Emily?" Maan asked.
"The inference from knife wound is pretty stretched Maan. The shallow serration could also be because the killer has a sling or has undergone a surgery recently which doesn't allow him a good grip. Or it could be a woman who is petite and not very strong. There are many possibilities," Emily said frowning.
Maan and Geet exchanged a look. Emily was right. It was too early to refute any other arguments.
"Is the same behavior seen in Bhagats case too?" Geet asked.
"Yes. It is not as evident as Guhas but I am seeing some similarities." Maan asked.
"We will sit down with David and do a complete analysis," Emily said adding another task to her already growing list.
"Is knife wound enough forensic evidence to deduce that there is more than one killer?" Emily asked looking up from book once she finished writing.
"Emily, this is the only evidence however small it is, we have that points to direction of more than one killer in this case. Sometimes, we need to trust our instinct and take that direction." Maan replied.
"What if we are wrong?" Emily asked.
"If we are wrong then we know for a fact that there are no multiple killers. Tell me Emily, what does logic dictate at this point?" Maan asked, his voice reduced to a soft hum. Emily shrugged.
"It's easier for two people to pull it off than one person given the nature of two victims. Both the victims were probably assaulted at the same time and it is not very easy to achieve it when you have a healthy middle age woman and a well grown thirteen year old boy. And yes different types of knife wounds help that argument." Emily replied. Maan smiled.
"This changes everything," Geet muttered to herself. The rest looked at her. She chewed on her lips trying to string through words and inferences buzzing through her mind and closed her eyes when even familiar sight distracted her. In the cocoon of her mind, she saw two faceless people stabbing the mother and son repeatedly and then switching places moments later. But when the scene changed to father and daughter duo, the act of stabbing was shorter and the exchange of knife wounds far lesser. It was as if gratification of the kill had come from Guhas where the killers easily saw a mirror of themselves or the ones that had caused them pain enough to kill thus stabbing the Guhas over and over again. But she didn't understand one thing. Who was dominant and who was submissive?
"Geet."
She opened her eyes and saw three pair of eyes look at her in confusion.
"I have to see Bhagats residence. Can you ask Mrs. Bhagat if we can visit her house?" Geet asked.
"That shouldn't be a problem. Mrs. Bhagat doesn't live in that house anymore. Everything is as it was on the day of murder since she packed her clothes and left the house. She couldn't bring herself to live in that house after the gruesome murders of her husband and daughter." Satya said.
"Can we go in tomorrow morning?" Geet asked.
"I'll talk to Mrs. Bhagat in morning and get her permission," Satya said. "You should probably take sir ji. Emily and I will meet David tomorrow," he added. Geet nodded.
"Did you get a chance to interview the neighbor next to Guhas?" Geet asked Emily.
"I did and here is where the whole Guha case gets weird," Emily said and flipped through her notebook. Geet and Maan exchanged a discreet look.
"The inhabitant of the room which is closest to Guhas master bedroom is a kid, Vansh Arora from the victim, Pratik Guha's school. He is two years older than our victim but they do walk to the school bus stop together in the morning. He meets Pratik every morning right outside Guhas gate which his mother and few other neighbors vouched for. On the morning after murder he went to Guhas residence when Pratik didn't come out of the house since no amount of yelling garnered any response from any of the residents."
"Did he see something?" Maan asked.
"Vansh went around the house as was his habit to call out Pratik's name when he thought heard a woman's voice singing lullaby. Without realizing its importance, he yelled out the boy's name but was met with silence. The singing stopped then and he believes that it could have been coming from his house which is very much valid since his sister in law sings loudly while working around the garden."
"Did you ask his sister in law?" Maan asked.
"We did. She said that it is quite possible that it was her and she doesn't remember what she was singing," Emily replied. "Sorry Maan," she apologized looking at his crestfallen face.
"When there was no response, Vansh went to school alone."
"Why didn't he go inside the house via the main door?" Geet asked, puzzled.
"Vansh doesn't remember that part. He doesn't remember if the door was open or not as he simply walked past it as was his habit and went to the window of his interest," Emily said.
"Can we talk to him again please?" Geet asked.
"I'll see if his parents agree for an interview, okay?" Emily asked made a note of it.
"What about house help and the driver?" Maan asked a moment later.
"The driver is the house help's husband and they had taken off for few days. Their alibis are solid as they were not even in city when the murders happened. The driver's cousin was getting married in a town about three hundred kilometers from here. There are dozens of people who saw them at the wedding that night." Emily said.
"That explains why the crime was discovered only by afternoon," Geet remarked.
"Did the killer know about the house help and driver's predicament?" Maan asked.
"If the killer is in and out of the house in few hours, it wouldn't have mattered. They would be long gone by dawn break," Emily replied.
The group fell silent as each of them were lost in their own thoughts.
"Let's call it a night. We will regroup again tomorrow night and compare notes," Maan said.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"Did you see that in Geet's house?" Emily asked revving the engine as Satya slammed the door.
"What?" He asked.
"Geet doesn't have even a single picture of her mother in her house." Emily said not looking at him.
Satya simply stared at her.
To be continued.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Book Talk
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