--- Criminal Minds
"How did the interviews go?" I ask as soon as inspectors Shukla and Keith and sit down on sofa in my cabin. I could see that they were exhausted after talking to the family, friends and work place of Helen for past seven hours.
"They went fine. I felt a bit sad for the family though. They had no idea that their daughter was an escort." Keith rubs back of his neck. It's his way of showing discomfort. The interviews were probably emotionally taxing.
"They lived in a different town. Helen came to the city in search of a job about seven years ago. She got into this escort business through a friend. She was one of their prime girls." Shukla says looking at his notes. There is no sorrow in his voice which I find strange. Keith looks at the older inspector and groans loudly.
"Shukla, really? The girl got in with wrong bunch of people and before she knew it, she was trapped in that web. One cannot easily get out of those places." Keith fumed. Again I see no change in Shukla's expression. I should probably pull my rank and stop this discussion. But I cannot bring myself to stop the argument which was soon to break out. The two needed to talk it out.
"After few years, she had a chance. At some point almost everyone has a chance. But the process of cleaning up is so hard that they give up at the thought of it." Shukla rallies calmly. Shukla and Keith have contradicting personalities but they complement each other.
Keith snorted derisively. "Oh, please. It's as if society opens its arms for a woman who has been around for money. It's always hard for women in these lines of business to get clean and make a new life for themselves."
Shukla looks at Keith for the first time since they started to have this conversation. "What bothers is me is not them getting out but the lack of trying. You heard what the other girls in that hotel said," he badgers on.
Keith doesn't respond. I respond instead. "What did they say?"
"She met Vimal Sharma at a social gathering which was too high profile. What's surprising is that she isn't a high profile escort in the first place. So that warrants a question – how did she get into such a party?" Shukla asks.
I shrug. "She could have been crashing the party for a very specific reason – to catch a big fish which incidentally she succeeded in." I hypothesize.
"No sir. I am with Shukla on this. It's a highly private affair. As per her best friend the invitees were all political and corporate bigwigs. You cannot crash a party like that. Maybe someone took her with them. No one would have minded then." Keith looks thoughtful.
"How was her relationship with Vimal Sharma?" I ask deviating from origins of their meeting.
"He treated her well. He rented a nice house in suburbs and took her there. He paid her compensation each month and spent a good amount of time with her. They were together for…two years," Keith replies.
"That's quite long, isn't it?" I scratch my stubble.
"They were very close. They recently went to Mexico for vacation." Keith added with traces of jealousy in his voice.
Shukla rolls his eyes at the younger inspector which I hide a smile and look at the case file. "What?" He looks at both of us.
Shukla shakes his head and picks up the next detail. "There is something the bouncer of the bar told me." He shuffles the pages in his pocket notebook and looks at the page. It's all written in shorthand – sort of symbolic language used by secretaries while they took dictations from their bosses. It was big when the world of typewriters ruled the office space.
"Helen was meeting with someone else in secret. And that person gave her a lot of money. In the beginning Helen rarely came to the hotel. She was happy with her life with Vimal. However in the last six months he and her friends saw a visible shift in her behavior." Shukla's words open a new can of worms.
"Her best friend said something similar." Keith latches on. Shukla and I shift our attention to him. "About four months ago a man came looking for Helen at the hotel. They didn't know how she knew her or how he knew she was going to be there that day. He went to Helen's room and came out an hour or two later."
"Didn't anyone ask about that incident?" Shukla asks.
Keith checks at his transcripts. He is more tech savvy than Shukla. He carries a recorder and once he is done, he gives it our IT person who transcribes it using software. Keith didn't believe in wasting paper or straining himself more than necessary. "Helen's friends' did. Apparently she was completely shaken by that…intervention and after which she fell back into her old habits of alcohol and valium abuse. She spent more and more time at the hotel but went home whenever Vimal said he would be visiting. Vimal has been too busy with politics and family business to make a note of change in her demure."
"Doesn't that hotel have security cameras? Tabloid reporters visit that hotel every week and bribe the security guy to let them have a peek at it – in case they catch any big fish." The investigation already looks tight but there are too many holes to consider.
"They do. I have already talked to the judge to sign a warrant. It could be a bit of problem." Shukla sighs loudly. I give him a questioning look. "You remember what happened last month."
Realization dawns upon me. I wasn't exactly nice to the folks there when I dragged that governor's nephew's ass out of that dump. "They have the video of the nephew in that hotel."
"Yes. They had kept the entire thing under wraps and if this gets out, it would get viral and our department would also be under radar." Shukla says softly. He is a nice guy wanting to uphold justice using law but shit happens. And when it does it's not a nice place to be where your heart and mind conflicts.
"By department he means you." Keith is tactless, as usual. But his brazen words echo the truth that everyone tries to trudge around. I nod belatedly. "I'll see what I can do." He adds cheerfully.
"No." "No." Both Shukla and I say in unison.
"If they come to know…" Shukla starts. Keith holds up his hands in surrender and hushes him.
"We will be looking through the tapes just to find out who the guy was. We aren't going to present it as evidence in court. So just relax." He looks at me and Shukla.
"What are you going to do?" Shukla asks wearily.
"I am not telling for possible deniability. In case someone does ask in future, you can say 'I had no idea what he did'. Since you are a hopeless liar I think this is best." Keith patronized. I didn't say out loud but I kind of agreed with Keith. Shukla was a straight shooter and didn't have the tact or knack to keep track of lies. Not that anyone cared, but Shukla and his principles refused to adapt.
Shukla grumbled incoherently. "We are going back to the crime scene." I tell them. Now Keith groans. He prefers in company of living than dead, unlike me. Shukla thinks he isn't too fond of blood either.
"Do we have to?" He practically whines.
"Yes but after I buy two a late lunch," Shukla smiles and Keith pumps his fist in air and starts sprouting of names of restaurants he wanted to dine in and how his measly inspector salary didn't allow that luxury.
"How did it go with professor Gupta?" Shukla asks. My ears are warm and I shrug nonchalantly.
"She told me some things which I frankly think are hamming for most part…but it was sure spooky." I wait for a retort but neither speaks. "She wants to see the crime scene actually." I add a moment later.
Shukla peers at me without an expression and Keith fails to hide the grin. "It's a chick." Keith is being imbecile again and I ignore him. "You should invite her to this restaurant and we can all go together to the crime scene." He is excited for god knows what reason.
My eyebrows hit my hairline when Shukla agrees. "I think that's a good idea. Sort of initiating her into this madness by feeding her?" He lets the words hang. There is sarcasm and an underlying streak of protectiveness. Shukla didn't like involving civilians into investigation but since this was above all our collective intellect, he wasn't showing his regular inhibition.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," I stumble poorly. I am sitting in front of two of my best investigators and I have a bad feeling that I was going to be interrogated if I didn't appease them. Keith opened his mouth to retort but seeing my palm held up, he stopped. "It's not the worst idea in the world. It will be good if she knows you two before we walk into the crime scene."
Keith promises to find the best restaurant for all of us to dine in within thirty minutes and excuses himself. Shukla however stretches his legs and leans across the sofa. "What happened this morning?" He doesn't beat around the bush. I sigh and rub my eyes. I am badly in need of a cigarette but I withhold that temptation to give in.
"She talked about a tribe who used the symbols we saw in crime scene and that they were into black magic and stuff. And at one point she was positively scared of what she saw in photo. I thought she was going to refuse to help us but when I was leaving she told me that she has to see the crime scene."
"And you agreed?" There is no judgment in Shukla's voice but for curiosity.
I shrug inelegantly and add a nod in there.
"I am impressed." He says standing up and stretching his back. He let out a groan when his back revolted in pain.
"Why?" I know him for a long time now. The answer isn't good but I take my chance anyway.
"You are smitten with that professor. Now I have to meet her." He walks out of my cabin leaving me agape.
"Shukla," I call him out. He stands on the threshold and looks at me. "What are the odds that this isn't one off murder?" I expose the thought hiding in my head since morning.
"You think this has been done before?" He looks thoughtful.
I stand up and walk back to my chair. "The professor may call it as a ritual but to us it's a premeditated murder. We have already seen Suman's case resembling Vimal. With that thought process-"
"I will call other stations." Shukla interjected immediately. His face had already lost all traces of humor. "They may not have archive as cleanly organized as we have here but they should be able to remember a case as ghastly as this."
"Ask them go back…thirty years or even farther if that's possible." I give out order. Shukla stares at me.
"I'll get on it." He replies evenly.
I am torn between making a phone call and writing an email to Khushi.
Shaking my head for spending more time than necessary on such a trivial matter, I call professor Gupta. Nice comeback, my mind slams sardonically.
Note: Thanks everyone for leaving lovely comments on this FF. Its both awesome and overwhelming to read such awesome comments.
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