August Nightmares #6
Jeff — “Sangeet! I do not understand anything right now. If the person in the investigation room is not Deephika, then who is? I mean who’s the real person? Like Mr. Ramasamy asked — Was the victim even named Kabini?”
My mind was pondering so much and I felt restless after a long, long time. My heart was pounding so hard and it almost felt like I was going to get a panic attack.
“Sangeet? Sangeet?” Jeff was shaking me by my shoulder. Their voices began to fade.
I closed my eyes as I opened my mind and stood in front of their house. I assumed that the murder was happening in the house. Walked inside and went to the hall.
Kabini took her first sip of whiskey and looked at the phone waiting for a message. A paintbrush lay near her on the table.
It was strange, as Kabini was sad. Normally, people will be happy or excited or horny on their anniversaries. But she was drinking and the open kitchen behind seemed to reveal she had cooked but not eaten one piece. Kabini started to weep and kept the remaining glass of whiskey on the table and walked to her bedroom. Understandable now, as they agreed on a divorce but they lived apart in the same house.
I followed her to the first floor. The house was well lit as I remembered, although I first visited during the day, now it was at night.
I heard a noise downstairs. It has to be the murderer. It could also be Deephika. Okay, let’s assume Deephika.
Wait! Why are we not asking the right questions during the Investigation?
WHY DID DEEPHIKA WAIT TILL EARLY MORNING TO REPORT TO THE POLICE OR DID THE POLICE ARRIVE LATE?
I opened my eyes and asked the Inspector — ‘Mr. Ramasamy! Why did you wait until morning to tell me the news?’
Inspector replied with a slightly pleasing tone, “Mr. Hasan! I totally respect your methods. But she had informed the nearest police station in the night itself probably an hour later. Since it was a remote place, and the police station had only limited people, they had to wait for their Sub-Inspector to arrive and he informed me as soon as he came to know about it.”
I said as I closed my eyes — ‘Wow!’
Back to their house in my mind. Kabini was lying in her bed weeping and looking at her phone. Okay, resume!
The killer Deephika walked upstairs.
The killer — “Deephi?”
Kabini sat on her bed, wiped her tears, and said — “Pravin! Why are you here?”
I held my head — ‘Pause! What’s happening? Now my mind is behaving crazy. Anyway, resume!’
Pravin pleaded with her — “Look, I am so sorry! We should have already told you about this. I had actually called you to my home so that I can tell that in private. But I never expected my wife to be still there. I asked her to leave early.”
Kabini — “I don’t care about that. But neither of you fathomed to tell me the truth. You were my best friend in college.”
And a muffled argument went on for around 15 minutes. As the argument heated up, Kabini threw her phone towards the mirror and broke it. Then, I heard a thumping noise behind me and it was their dog. As soon as he saw Pravin, he started barking. Yeah, no pet likes a stranger in their hooman’s bedroom. As if a human should like that…anyway!
A few moments later, Deephika’s car lock sound was heard.
Pravin went near the dog. It was a beagle. He tried to calm him. Although he calmed down a little, Kabini asked Pravin to get away from their dog. He looked at her with fury and picked up the dog, and with no second thoughts, he ran towards the window and escaped with the dog.
Deephika ran upstairs and came to the bedroom — “Kabini? I heard a sound here.” And she gasped at the broken mirror — “First I see that your drawing is incomplete and a half-drunk whiskey glass. Then a broken mirror in our bedroom. What happened to you Kabini? Have you gone mad?”
Kabini spoke with a weepy, shaky voice — “Deephika! You never hesitated to lie to me right? Get the fuck out of my home. Get out of my life. You and your lover Pravin, shit! How could you do this to me?”
Deephika screamed and I opened my eyes.
My breathing was shallow and my heart was beating faster. Faiyaaz held my hand and asked if it was okay.
Jeff — “Here Hasan, have some water! What did you find?”
Drinking a whole liter of water in one go, I replied, ‘I connected the dots together and the intuition is right. But that doesn’t mean we can rule out Pravin.’
Inspector — “Wait! He is Kabini’s friend? You think he’s a suspect too?”
‘Kind of, Mr. Ramasamy! But not really. His prints were found nowhere except in their home according to Faiyaaz’s preliminary reports. His presence was there, he took the dog. We may know the reason only if we inquire with him. But the killer is not him. It was Kabini’s wife….I mean to-be ex-wife Deephika.’
Faiyaaz — “Holy shit sir! Are you a God or something? What are you smoking?”
Inspector side eyed towards him as Faiyaaz said, “Come on sir! I don’t smoke. Don’t look at me like that! Please?! Also, one doubt! You’re the Superintendent of Police. Why do we call you Inspector Ramasamy? Nothing? Okay, I’ll stop talking.”
Jeff uttered in a soft voice — “It is because he’s a friend of ours since he was an Inspector so it kinda got stuck. We implied another conclusion earlier, right? The person we investigated wasn’t even Deephika. Are we gonna deny that?”
Inspector Ramasamy asked — “Okay, this could be just a theory. What if..” and a knock on the door.
~to be continued
