On hearing the shouts again, Erika started walking towards the direction of the voice, splashing her way through the water. She could feel that she had done all of this before, and it felt like a Deja Vu. But as she was getting closer to the origin of the voice, the voice’s direction would change. So she changed her direction. But this time, she knew precisely where she had to look, and she turned. As she turned towards the voice, she saw a tall man standing at the entrance where the door should have been. He had chains tied to his hands and legs and was a little hunched, due to the weight of the iron chains. He raised his hands a little and called out, “Come, Erika. Come”. This time Erika was a bit hesitant in moving towards the man as she could remember how it did not turn out well for her, the last time.
“Biscuit, come to daddy. We will go somewhere safe and away from all of this,” the man said.
Erika couldn’t control running and hugging her father, so she started to walk towards him. As she reached him, he took her face in his palms.
“Here you are. You have turned into such a fine woman now,” he said. “Come on, we will go away, away from all of this chaos. You are too naïve for this cruel world Erika. You are not cut out for this”
“Daddy, I am!”
“Oh no, you are not, little dumpling,” he said with a smile. “You are still naïve enough to be so sure that you could find answers to all the problems. You just won’t be able to, because of your incompetency. You are too weak to survive. You are a little kid. Come to daddy,” the man raised his voice while tightening the grip on her face.
“It’s hurting!” cried out Erika as her face started to turn pale due to the tight grip.
“You will get what you deserve, dumpling,” said the man tightening his grip more.
“Daddy!! Noo. It’s hurting. Leave me!!”
“Daddy!!”
“PUSH HIM AWAY ERIKA,” called out a voice from the dark. “Push him away!”
Both the man and Erika looked in the direction of the voice. Slowly the figure came closer and became clearer.
“Richa!?” exclaimed Erika.
“Erika, it’s high time you stop giving into your insecurities and guilt. This man is not your father,” said Richa stretching her abnormally long arms. Erika couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“Let it not overpower you and engulf you.”
“Dumpling, I am your father. Are you going to leave your daddy?”
“No, he is not your daddy!”
“Dumpling,” called out the man again.
“No Erika, don’t fall prey to this again.”
“Dumpling!”
Erika was confused about what to believe and what not to, as both of them were calling her out and the decibel of their voices kept on increasing with every passing second. She closed her eyes as she couldn’t bear the chaos. Then she suddenly opened her eyes and started walking towards Richa.
“You are going nowhere!” exclaimed the man and pushed Erika.
“Dad! No!!” she exclaimed as she fell into a void, a never-ending void. She kept on falling deeper, the figures of the man and Richa becoming hazy and their voices dampening, as she continued sliding further into the void.
“Help! Help!” she cried out as she kept on falling into that never-ending void.
“Erika! Erika wake up,” shouted Avinash.
As she opened her eyes slowly, she saw a blurry image of Avinash bending over her. She woke up all of a sudden startled. She felt a heavy spin in her head as she sat up hurriedly.
“Oh, take it easy now,” said Avinash helping her up. “You have just escaped death. So I guess, you need to relax now.”
“All I remember is jumping out of the car,” she said, holding her head.
“You jumped, and the truck crashed into the car. You have a head injury,” said Avinash. “You have been unconscious since the past 12 hours, I guess.”
“The key chain?” Erika asked hastily.
“The doctor said you are out of danger. So we brought you home. And yeah, the key chain is safe with me,” said Avinash, showing her the keychain.
Erika was still feeling dizzy as she held her head in her hands, closing her eyes.
“I was about to inform the superiors about this accident, so that legal action could be taken in this matter,” Avinash said.
“Oh no, don’t!” exclaimed Erik opening her eyes. “We don’t want any legal action. I am completely fine, and if Sawant knows about this, he would just pull me off this case,” she added.
“You do know the extent we had to go, to re-open this case on such short notice. Can’t jeopardize that now” she said, still holding her throbbing head.
“Okay, if that’s what you want. We will not do that,” said Avinash
“My father wasn’t a good man. I just kept blaming myself for what I put him through” Erika started abruptly, staring up. “It was his fault. All this time, I thought that I had let him down, and that I owed him something. But no, I do not owe him anything. He got what he deserved. I am going to get to the bottom of this and unearth the truth,” she added, now looking up at Avinash, tears rolling slowly down her brown cheeks.
“Even I want that Eri... I mean ma’am,” consoled Avinash.
“Only Erika is fine too, I guess,” she said half smiling. “We need to go to the mental institution where Richa was admitted. I think we might find something there.”
“I don’t know what makes you think that I am going to trust you on that, but we will do that tomorrow. I will get the warden of that institution online tomorrow so that we can video chat with him,” suggested Avinash. “Traveling in this condition is not advisable for you”.
“I am fine though. It’s just a head injury,” Erika said.
“We are a team, right? So do trust me on this matter.”
The next day no one in the villa spoke a word to Erika as they saw her come out of her room. They just stared at her and walked past her as if she were just one of the tenants in the villa and not a police officer in charge of a homicide case. Everyone had a sense of fright on their faces as they were clueless as, who must have tried to harm Erika. As planned, Avinash connected with the warden of the ‘St. Mary Rehab Centre’ over a video call.
“We are from the goa police, and we would like to ask a few questions about a homicide case,” said Erika.
“Sure. We will be glad to help the goa police in whichever way possible,” the warden replied.
“Does the name Richa Malegaonkar sound familiar to you?” asked Erika, directly getting to the point.
“Richa...Oh yeah, Richa,” said the warden, trying to recollect.
“Yeah, right, we just had a few questions about her,” Avinash said.
“I am afraid, without a warrant, we can’t share any details related to the patient. Strict privacy policies,” said the warden.
“Okay, so how about any incident that might have happened or anything peculiar that made Richa stand out?” Erika asked.
“This is a rehab centre, ma’am. All incidents that are considered abnormal in any other institution are considered normal here,” replied the warden.
“Yeah, but anything that might even be remotely surprising for you guys?” asked Avinash. “Anything that she said or did? Something that might help us know anything about her, maybe?” he added.
“We need to know something about Richa. She is an integral piece in a puzzle. Please understand,” pleaded Erika.
There was a silence for few minutes as the warden sat there thinking and going through Richa’s file that he had pulled up on his computer.
“Yeah, there were a few complaints about her telling people that she could talk with the dead,” he said.
“But isn’t such claims normal for a psychologically disturbed person?” Erika said.
“Yes, it is. But “actually” talking to the dead, now that isn’t normal,” he said. “Richa had been caught conducting black magic in her cell four times. Photos were found in her personal belongin
gs. Few being personal and few being of the relatives of the other cellmates, who might have smuggled them in with the hope of talking with their dead relatives,” he added.
The duo was taken aback by this new piece of information.
“When did she stop doing that, though?” Erika asked.
“We did take strict action against her by putting her into solitude. But she continued to carry out the black magic. And then one day, she suddenly stopped,” informed the warden.
“Any particular reason why that might have happened?” Erika asked
“Well, we don’t know because whatever we tried to do wasn’t helping. But I guess it stopped after that visitor who came to see her a few months back,” said the warden. “She never had any visitors, but yeah, it was definitely after that visitor came by,” he added.
These were some new revelations in the case.
“Apart from this, is there any other peculiar thing that you might like to add?” Avinash asked.
“I am afraid not sir. This is all I have,” answered the warden.
“You said you had confiscated a few photographs,” Erika asked.
“Yes, we had”
“So could you show us those by any chance?”
“They are in the system now. We have everything digitalized now. So I couldn’t show it to you even if I wanted to right now,” said the warden. “But I could email them to you if you are okay with it,” he added after a pause.
“Yeah, that would be great,” said Avinash giving the warden his email id.
“And also could we get the names of all the visitors she had till now, that would be great,” said Erika.
“Thank you, Mr. D’mello. We appreciate you for giving us your valuable time and co-operaton,” greeted Avinash and hung up.
“We might have something here,” suggested Erika reclining on her chair.
“Yeah, I hope we do,” said Avinash as his phone chimed.
Chapter 16
“This case is taking way more time than expected,” said Ishaan. “I thought this was an open and shut case. All the pieces are right in front of you,” he added, as Kaajal passed him the clean dishes.
“I know. It feels like she is onto something. She has interrogated us at least a dozen times now, asking the same questions again and ending up at same point,” Kaajal said. “Wonder what is she even getting at?”
“There is something more to it, I guess. There has to be, or else she wouldn’t be wasting her resources at this,” Ishaan said.
“But we have nothing to with the murder that was committed that night. We were the prime witnesses, period. End of the story,” said Kaajal geting breathless and leaving the kitchen.
“Issey kya ho gaya?” wodered Ishaan.
As Kaajal was leaving the kitchen, one of the constables entered and said, “Madam ne sabko living room mein bulaya hai.”
Everyone had gathered in the living room. Vibha shut the windows because dense black clouds were hovering over the villa, indicating that a storm was due. Everybody was comfortable in their places, and that’s when Erika entered with Avinash. She sat on the chair, facing everybody in the living room.
“This case seemed like an open and shut case, and it still does, if you read the file,” said Erika placing the file on the table. “A full proof case where there was even a conviction. Hence the case was closed,” Erika added.
“Exactly what we have been telling you,” said Nishant.
“But there is always more than what meets the eye, Nishant.” “A dreadful night. A house party. A dead body. A bunch of prime eyewitnesses and a suspect followed by a conviction. Now that’s what I would call a perfect, cliché setting for a novel,” said Erika.
Everyone sat frozen in their seats, wondering what Erika was trying to get at.
“The doors locked, the windows shut tight. No one had entered or exited. No signs of forced entry. Nothing. Crime in an airtight environment. Now that’s intriguing,” said Erika. “Not always do we come across such crimes,” she added.
“That’s why we had a suspect, who was an insider right? The housekeeper. It was the work of an insider. Hence the perfect crime,” said Ishaan.
“The fact that we have re-opened the case means that all the conclusions that were drawn earlier are not true anymore, due to the emergence of the new pieces of evidence,” informed Avinash leaving Ishaan shocked.
Erika bent down, took out a newspaper from her bag, put it on the table, and said, “This is a Times of India newspaper dated back to 24th September 2000. Read the headline on the third page”.
Kaajal picked up the newspaper from the table. Turning to the third page, she read, “Daughter of MLA Sikandar Sandhu abducted” she continued, “The 20-year-old female has reportedly gone missing since last night, that is 23rd September. The police have registered a FIR and have started an extensive search for her”.
“When is your birthday Abhimanyu?” asked Avinash
“23rd of September” Abhimanyu replied.
“Oh! That’s a coincidence now, huh” mocked Avinash.
“And you had thrown a party on the same night, right?”
“Yes, obviously I had” he replied.
“And on the same night we find a dead body with a massacred face. In no way the body could have been identified. And all you need is a careless investigation for messing up the case,” Erika said.
“Vibha tell me how much time does it take to reach from the outskirts of the city to the villa by a cab?” she asked.
“Around 10 minutes,” Vibha answered.
“Could it happen that someone who left from this villa but never reached their home at the outskirts?”
“What rubbish! What is this? A joke?” snapped Nishant as Vibha sat clueless as to what to answer.
Erika called the constable and whispered something in his ears. The constable went to the door and brought a couple along with him.
“This couple lives near the outskirts of Bardez, and their son hasn’t returned home since the past twenty years,” Erika said.
“Was he a guest at the party?” Ishaan asked
“Yes, he was. He left the party but never reached his house”, answered Erika.
“That’s odd. Do we know his name?” he asked. “And how is this connected to the case?” added Ishaan.
Avinash bent down and took a printed photo, and handed it to Ishaan.
“This is the same photo you guys showed us that day during the interrogation,” he said. He eventually realized whom they were referring to as the son in the photo. His eyes widened, and Ishaan looked up in amazement.
“Like how is that possible?” asked Ishaan.
“Yes, it was Vivek, the missing piece in the puzzle. He was there at the party but not on the guest list, hence was never interrogated that night,” Avinash said.
“Yeah, he was there. Richa had brought him along if I am not wrong,” said Ishaan. “But he was only there at the party for a very short time,” he added.
Erika thanked the couple and signalled the constable to take the couple to their house.
There was no stir in the air, as all the occupants in the villa sat silently, wondering if whatever the police said had any truth in it. The dark clouds that had engulfed the estate, were a signal that a storm was at bay. And just then, there was a sharp bolt of lightning followed by a rumble of thunder. Implying that the storm had already arrived, and there was no escaping it now.
“Vibha, where were you on that night after the party wrapped up? Which was around eleven,” asked Erika.
“That is too specific. I might be around here only somewhere. Can’t remember, though,” she replied
“Fair enough. So let me help you jog your memory,” said Erika asking Avinash to give her a photo from his bag. “Here you go. This is from a CCTV camera from a nearby villa, and this is you in your casual t-shirt and jeans helping a man carry something.”
“It seems like a heavy sack to me,” said Avinash pointing at the photogr
aph.
“But I never left the villa at all,” said Vibha. “I was… I was in the bedroom.”
“Bedroom, huh. What is that you were up to? Like a moment back, you couldn’t remember anything, but now, that is quite specific,” Erika said, getting up from her chair.
“Even I vaguely remember not finding Vibha anywhere after the party,” Ishaan interrupted. “I mean, I don’t remember most of the party as I was very high, but I did want some painkillers, and Vibha was the right person in our group when it came to medicines. So I was trying to find her but couldn’t find her anywhere,” he added, looking at Vibha.
“Oh, I see we even have a witness now saying that you were missing from the party. That’s enough to make you a suspect and take you in for some interrogation at the station.”
“But I didn’t say she was here,” said Ishaan, pointing at the photograph.
“But I did not do anything!” cried out Vibha.
“Just imagine if this news about she being a prime suspect in a murder case leaks out, then her career might just get over,” said Avinash.
“No, it wasn’t me!” cried out Vibha.
“What if she gets convicted? What then, huh” suggested Avinash intensely
“Vibha, you have no alibi, and this is enough for taking you in for some rigorous questioning.”
“But no! I wasn’t with this guy. No, trust me!” said Vibha sobbing.
“Oh No! Vibha you are checkmate.”
“There is no escape now!” said Erika raising her voice as the atmosphere in the villa had intensified and the hysteria and chaos were reaching its peak. The others in the room did not know what they could do to stop this commotion as Avinash and Erika were heavily accusing Vibha, and she was crying out loud, justifying herself.
“That’s not Vibha in the photograph!! Because she was in the bedroom making out with Vivek because he never left the Villa!!” Kaajal shouted out loud as the clouds overhead could not bear the water in them any longer, and they burst open, pouring down on the villa.
“Vivek was with us. He never left the villa,” repeated Kaajal, her voice getting dampened by the noise of the rain hitting the windows.
Into The Shadows Page 10