Chapter 1:
"Little heavy on the old spice?" Riya said nodding at Shree, walking inside a room filled with forensic analysts, local police and her team.
"I think its Hugo Boss." She heard Arjun few feet away and inside bed room. "Body is this way," Arjun walked outside the lobby and into living room and cocked his head indicating her to follow him.
"The victim is Piyush Malhotra," Shree said waking in front of the two. "He was found in bathroom this morning by his secretary – Ketan. When Piyush didn't turn up at work or picked his phone for most part of the morning, a worried Ketan visited the house. He found the front door was ajar when he came in." Shree explained and stopped in front of the bathroom door.
"I hope you ate a light breakfast." He smiled mirthlessly at the two of them. "Welcome to the morning of horror," he said and opened the door.
Riya had maintained her composure as they entered bloodied bathroom. Piyush Malhotra was lying in his bathtub, naked and slashed up. The shower curtain had lost the pastel color and was tainted with blood splash.
"I am glad I skipped breakfast," Riya said humorlessly. The sight was nauseating and the mutilation of the body didn't help the sight. She heard Arjun chuckle next to her as he opened the cabinet above sink and checked the contents.
"Forensics have made their initial sweep. Rathore sir wanted you two to look at the crime scene before the body is taken." Shree said. "I will be outside," he said and walked away. He didn't want to be at a ruthless crime scene any more than necessary.
"There is so much anger here," Arjun said standing several steps away from the bath tub.
"It's rage and hatred for the man, by the looks of overkill. There must be at least thirty stab wounds on his torso alone," she said bending over and peering at the victim.
"Thirty six," Rathore's voice corrected her from the doorway. "That's what the forensic guys could count for now." He said and waited for the two to complete studying the crime scene.
"How long has he been dead?" Arjun asked.
"He was dead sometime between ten and eleven last night. The cause of death is actually cervical blunt force trauma." Rathore replied.
"He died because he was hit on head?" Riya asked turning around to see her boss. Rathore nodded. "So are these stab wounds post mortem?" She asked surprised at the development.
"They aren't sure it. It's possible either way." Rathore answered.
"What was the weapon for blunt force trauma?" Arjun asked retreating away from bathtub. Rathore moved out of doorway closely followed by Arjun and Riya.
"It was a cricket bat. Piyush played cricket during weekends and the bat was found in the study– bloodied with the blood stains on it; victim's blood I guess." It was Chotu who answered Arjun's question. "I checked with neighbors about our victim and the general consensus is that he was a decent man who kept for himself and didn't mingle much around society. They aren't sure of his social life but I think we can get more on that from Ketan and his other colleagues at work," he added.
"Where did the knife for stabbing come from?" Riya asked.
"From kitchen," Shree said walking up to them and held up an evidence bag with bloodied knife in it. "The killer got everything from the house. It's as if the killer knew that the house would provide the weapons needed for the act." Shree said thoughtfully.
"That's quite organized behavior. But look at what happened after the victim got hit on his head – he was dragged from the study and taken all the way till bathroom and then slashed the man. Why not take the victim to the bathroom attached to the room next to study?" Riya asked, frowning.
"It could be because the killer wanted to put the victim in bathtub and only one bathroom has it. What's stranger is there are no bloodied clothes in the house," Shree said. "If the victim was hit on the head by cricket bat the blood would have spilled over on clothes. Forensics didn't find any bloodied clothes." Riya looked at him impressed with his observation.
"The victim arrived home somewhere around eight in the evening as vouched by the security guard. He didn't see anyone entering the apartment complex but he can't be very sure because between nine and nine thirty, he was eating dinner and wasn't paying attention." Chotu said consulting his notes. "And yes, that's his usual dinner time."
"It's the overkill that's bothering me." Rathore said picking up the conversation thread. "One hit was sufficient but the killer stuck around and made the murder much gory. The kill was personal and the killer probably knew the victim very well." Rathore finished and looked at Arjun.
"Why is there such a strong smell of perfume in the room I was first inside? It's not the master bed room and seems more like guest bedroom. It doesn't look lived in but is kept impeccably clean and organized." Arjun said looking past Riya's shoulder.
"And I agree with you Rathore. The overkill isn't a good sign." Arjun finished. The group fell silent for a moment, each preoccupied in their own thoughts.
"Arjun, Riya – talk to the victim colleagues. He was pretty distraught when we came in first. Shree – you are with me; we are interviewing Ketan. Chotu – talk to rest of the people here in building and ask them about if they have seen any of victim's friends coming in or out of the house in past one week." Rathore gave out assignments. "Let's regroup in five hours."
To be continued.
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