Patang

by Chattopadhyay, Bhaskar

  ‘Hello, sir! Here, this way, this way!’ Rathod heard a voice above the din of the crowd. He looked around to see Aditya waving his hands in the air furiously. Rathod walked towards him.

  ‘Come this way, sir!’ Aditya said, indicating a cordoned-off passage.

  A constable raised the rope as Rathod and Aditya ducked below it and crossed over to the other side.

  ‘What happened here?’ Rathod asked Aditya.

  ‘Looks like murder. Apparently the victim was an old man, around 60 years old. His…’

  ‘Wait a second – what do you mean “apparently”?’

  ‘Well, I haven’t seen the body yet.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Has no one told you yet?’

  ‘Told me what?’

  ‘The body is up there.’ Aditya pointed towards the balloon. Rathod was so surprised that for several seconds he couldn’t speak. ‘Up there?’ he finally asked in an incredulous tone.

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘You mean…on that balloon?’

  ‘That’s right, sir. Taped to it.’

  ‘What the hell?’

  Aditya hesitated for a moment, looked around to check if anyone else was within earshot, and then said in a low voice that sounded particularly ominous, ‘Just like a kite, sir.’

  Rathod wasn’t surprised. He could now appreciate why the media had been so quick to speculate about this particular murder. As it is, when a serial killer is operating in a city, all murders are usually attributed to him, irrespective of whether it was committed by him or not, but this…no…this was something else. This had Tony’s name and MO written all over it.

  ‘How do I get to see the body?’ Rathod asked.

  ‘I’m not sure yet, sir. I think they will be bringing it down soon.’

  Rathod looked around and saw Prashant Kulkarni standing with his team, their eyes fixed on the balloon. Prashant was one of the best forensic experts in the force, and Rathod had worked with him on several cases. A bright and dedicated individual, he commanded tremendous respect amongst his colleagues. Rathod walked up behind him and cleared his throat.

  ‘Oh my God! Chandrakant Sir?’ Prashant seemed pleasantly surprised.

  ‘How are you, Prashant?’ Rathod asked as he shook his hand.

  ‘I’m fine, sir. How have you been? It’s so nice to see you.’

  ‘What a mess, eh?’ Rathod gestured towards the balloon.

  ‘Oh yes, tell me about it. I was just telling the team that there’s no way the girl could have planned the entire thing.’

  Rathod looked at Aditya once and asked Prashant, ‘What girl?’

  ‘Oh, haven’t you heard?’ Prashant said. ‘It seems the body was discovered by a young girl from IIT.’

  ‘Skywatcher?’

  ‘No, not a skywatcher. Apparently, this girl was flying some sort of a mini-plane or something which went and hit the balloon, piercing the body and killing the man instantly.’

  ‘Plane?’ Rathod asked. He had no idea what Prashant was talking about.

  ‘You know, one of those remote-controlled planes that one can fly from the ground?’

  ‘I see. But what was the man doing on that balloon?’

  Prashant laughed and said, ‘No idea. That’s all I’ve heard so far.’

  ‘What’s this I am hearing about the Patang Killer then?’

  ‘Aah, that’s bullshit. People say all sorts of things.’

  ‘So, you guys are waiting for the…’

  ‘…body to be brought down, yes. I refuse to go up there… heh heh…’

  ‘Where’s the girl?’ Rathod asked. He knew it would take a while for the body to be brought down, and he was in no mood to waste time.

  A few minutes later, Rathod found himself standing a few feet away from a teenage girl clad smartly in a pair of jeans and a white shirt and presently being questioned by an officer. He watched the girl closely for a minute. Then he asked Aditya to wait, walked up to the officer and spoke to him briefly. The officer nodded and said something back. Rathod returned to where Aditya was standing and said, ‘We’ll have to wait for five minutes.’

  ‘What do you think?’ Aditya asked, pointing at the balloon.

  Without looking at it, Rathod remarked, ‘Difficult to say. Let me speak to her first.’

  ‘Yes, but this is crazy, don’t you think?’

  ‘You bet!’Rathod agreed. ‘I’ve been dealing with criminals for almost 20 years now, but I haven’t seen anything like this before.’

  ‘I don’t think anybody has seen anything like this before!’

  Rathod looked around at the ground. The crowd was swelling by the minute. Shaking his head in frustration, he turned towards Aditya and said, ‘By the way, I know what Tony’s “clue” meant.’

  ‘Really? You figured it out?’

  ‘Yes, see here.’ Rathod looked around and then carefully took out the kite-shaped flake from his pocket. He spread out the flake around the joint and showed it to Aditya. ‘See?’

  ‘Oh my God! This means…’

  ‘…that he has an accomplice!’

  Rathod was surprised to see that Aditya didn’t seem convinced and looked at him doubtfully, as if he didn’t agree with his logical explanation of what the clue meant.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘Nothing, sir…it’s just that…’

  ‘What?’

  ‘If Tony had an accomplice who has now gone on a killing spree, why would he tell you?’

  ‘Well, he hasn’t told me that in as many words. But he has left me a clue. It’s like one of his…’

  ‘Puzzles?’

  ‘Yes, exactly.’

  ‘Yes, but do you think that’s what the clue means? I mean, you can’t be absolutely sure, right?’

  ‘Well, yes, it’s a hypothesis, but a very plausible one.’

  ‘Umm…I’m not so sure, sir.’

  ‘Well, then…what do you think the clue means?’ Rathod’s voice carried a slight tone of irritation.

  Before Aditya could respond, they heard another voice: ‘Sir?’

  Rathod looked around to find the officer who had been questioning the girl now looking at him. ‘Everything all right, sir?’ he asked, in a tone that suggested that everything was not all right. His eyes had found the small kite-shaped flake in Rathod’s palm. Rathod quickly put it back into his pocket and hesitated for a moment. Then he said, ‘Yes, yes, absolutely…are you done?’

  For a few seconds, the officer didn’t respond. He looked at Rathod curiously and said, ‘Well, we tried speaking to her, but she seems to be in a state of shock, which I think is quite natural, given the circumstances and her age.’

  ‘So she hasn’t said anything?’

  ‘Nothing at all, except that she wants to speak to her father. You are welcome to try and talk to her. I’ll come back in some time.’

  ‘Thank you, officer.’

  Rathod and Aditya walked up to the girl, who seemed really shaken up. She was sitting on a chair and staring blankly at the ground. It was quite natural for her to feel that way, Rathod thought, especially given the fact that she was not outside the cloud of suspicion yet. He looked at Aditya and made a gesture, suggesting that he lead this time. Aditya nodded understandingly and took a step towards the girl.

  ‘Miss, I’m Inspector Aditya, this is Mr Rathod. We’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.’

  A slight shiver of terror shook her body for a second, but the girl didn’t reply, nor did her expression change. Rathod watched her closely. Her lips were trembling. She was clearly in a state of shock. Aditya glanced at Rathod and made a second attempt. ‘Miss? Are you all right?’

  There was no response. Aditya looked helplessly at Rathod, who nodded, suggesting that he was going to take a shot. Aditya took a few steps back and Rathod walked up and sat down in the empty chair beside the girl, looking around with a sigh. After a pause, he said, ‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’

  The girl still didn’t re
ply. It was as if she had turned into a block of stone.

  ‘All this greenery?’ Rathod continued.

  Very slowly, the girl raised her head and looked at him. Aditya noticed that she had tears in her eyes. She simply kept staring at Rathod, who now turned towards her and smiled. ‘You know, I had read somewhere that there’s a reason why we like watching greenery. Experts say that since the very beginning of mankind, for several million years, we saw nothing but greenery all around us. Hence, our eyes have sort of become accustomed to seeing green. It’s a phenomenon called “imprinting”.’

  The girl kept staring at him as Aditya watched from a distance with great reverence. It was an absolute pleasure to see the master at work!

  ‘Even now, when we see green, our mind dances like that of a child’s. All our weariness washes off, our troubles suddenly don’t seem to bother us anymore, and we feel…happy! We feel safe! It’s a psychological thing. Happens with us all the time.’

  ‘Imprinting?’ the girl asked.

  Aditya breathed a sigh of relief. A soft smile appeared on his lips.

  ‘Yeah, imprinting,’ Rathod nodded.

  The girl was silent for some time. Then she asked, ‘Are you from the police?’

  Rathod thought for a few seconds and said, ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m in trouble, right?’

  Rathod smiled. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Sakshi Kanwar.’

  ‘You see, Sakshi, in this country, we have a provision in the law that says that an individual is innocent until and unless it has been proved beyond any reasonable doubt that he or she is guilty. So, no, you are not in trouble. So far, you’ve simply been a witness to the discovery of a murder victim. In other words, you are just what your name says you are.’

  Sakshi smiled softly. She seemed to relax a little. ‘I called my dad. He’s on his way to Mumbai. He…and his lawyer,’ she said.

  Rathod smiled, ‘That was an intelligent thing to do. Now, I assure you, I’ll keep you out of harm’s way until your father arrives. All I ask of you is to tell me what happened here today.’

  Sakshi thought for a few seconds and then said, ‘There was an event being held here this morning. The IIT annual robotics championship. I had made a drone – it’s like a flying…’

  ‘I know what a drone is. You designed it yourself?’

  ‘Yes. Designed, developed and assembled.’

  ‘Very impressive. Please continue…’

  ‘I was flying the drone around and it had a camera fitted to it. I was projecting the POV of the drone live on that large screen over there. The crowd…everyone was going crazy…’

  ‘I’m sure they were. So you took your drone up to the balloon?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I…I just wanted to impress everyone – the judges…the sponsors.’

  The balloon was now being brought down. A quick glance towards it told Rathod that Honda was probably one of the sponsors.

  ‘Please continue…’

  ‘When the drone got closer to the balloon, the camera caught a…disturbing visual…’

  ‘Can you describe it for me?’ he asked gently.

  Sakshi looked like she couldn’t, but Rathod waited for her to say as much. Perhaps knowing that the man meant well, she gathered all her courage and made a gallant attempt –

  ‘An old man…he was stuck to the balloon…I’m not sure how…but he was up there…and he was…n-naked…’

  ‘Did you recognize him?’

  ‘No…I’ve never seen him before. I swear!’

  ‘I believe you. What happened then?’

  ‘I…I lost control…my hands and feet became numb…and I don’t know how…’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘The drone…it…it turned towards the man…and…’ Sakshi covered her face with her palms.

  ‘All right, that’s enough. You’ve done very well.’

  Rathod and Aditya exchanged glances. The first officer had returned by now and Rathod told him everything Sakshi had said. The officer told him the body had been brought down, and Rathod set off to investigate, with Aditya in tow.

  ‘Do you believe her?’ Aditya asked.

  ‘Do you have any reason not to?’

  ‘Don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence that this… what is it called?’

  ‘Drone.’

  ‘Yes, drone…that it lost control and found its way directly into the man’s chest?’

  ‘Not at all. In fact, I think that was most likely.’

  ‘Why?’ Aditya was perplexed.

  Rathod stopped and turned towards him. ‘If my guess is right, I think we’ll find that the camera was aligned to the principal axis of the drone…’

  ‘In English, sir, please?’

  ‘Think of it as a miniature plane, with a camera facing the nose of the plane.’

  ‘Oh, okay.’

  ‘Yes, and in that case, after the first visual of the body was picked up by the camera and shown on the screen, the girl’s inquisitive mind would have subconsciously wanted to find out more about it. And, under such circumstances, it is perfectly possible that, unknown to herself, she steered the drone directly in line with the body just to have a better look at it.’

  ‘Oh God! Is that what you think happened?’

  ‘The desire to look at something that horrifies you is a very potent urge, Aditya. Haven’t you seen young children watching horror films even as they peep from behind their fingers?’

  ‘Yes…yes…I used to do it too.’

  ‘Well, it’s the same principle. Do you know what we human beings are most scared of?’

  ‘Umm…no…’

  ‘That which we cannot see!’

  They had reached the cordoned area where the balloon was now being deflated. Rathod spoke to a few people, and soon, the two of them were being escorted to the spot where the body was being examined.

  28

  ‘What the hell is going on?’ Mule’s voice had a stern and no-nonsense tone and Rathod realized that the commissioner was very unhappy with how things were turning out. He glanced briefly at DCP Singh and realized that, despite the fact that he may have been enjoying watching Rathod’s shakedown, the deputy commissioner himself was under tremendous pressure. Rathod knew Mule must have given him a piece of his mind as well.

  ‘Sir,’ the DCP was saying, ‘in my opinion, these murders are in no way related to those committed by Tony Matthew. He is behind bars. Despite all the hype and hoopla about him being involved, you and I both know that it is impossible for Tony to step out of his cell even for a second. In fact, he is under constant watch.’

  ‘In that case, who is feeding the media all this nonsense?’

  DCP Singh looked at Rathod, making him feel very uncomfortable. Rathod sat up straight and said, ‘Sir, truth be told, we have very little control over what the media says or does. That is the ground reality, sir. I don’t think anyone from our department is feeding them anything.’

  DCP Singh raised his hand to interrupt Rathod. ‘Wait a minute, you mean to say…’

  ‘I mean to say that we are dealing with someone very dangerous here.’ Rathod had no qualms about telling them the truth. Mule and the DCP looked at him curiously.

  ‘Although we are currently unable to think of a possible explanation as to how this could have happened, it is not unreasonable to say there may be some truth to what the media is saying.’

  ‘What?’ the DCP exclaimed. Mule also looked surprised.

  ‘Let me finish, please. In both the Shantinagar steel mill murder and the Powai grounds case, the underlying motif of kites is undeniable. I was at both the scenes, and I saw it myself. At the mill, the victim was hung from two poles like a kite and his spine was broken into two when he was exposed to a high-speed cooling fan, which is exactly what happens to a kite when it is hit by strong winds. In Powai, the victim was simply left to soar high up in the sky, just like a kite, where he had a cardiac arrest…�
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  ‘I thought the man died when a drone pierced his chest?’ DCP Singh asked.

  ‘No, I spoke to the coroner who declared the time of death. The man was dead long before the drone hit him. Rigor mortis had set in several hours ago.’

  ‘So the girl had nothing to do with it?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But Tony is in jail. How can he be connected to these murders? He cannot walk through walls, for heaven’s sake!’

  ‘Just because we can’t explain something, doesn’t mean we can’t accept what we clearly see as the truth. Having said that, I must also tell you I do not believe that he committed these murders himself.’

  ‘Then who did?’ DCP Singh asked, impatiently.

  ‘Could be one or more people, a totally different set. They may or may not be connected with Tony.’

  ‘You mean, like copycats?’

  ‘It is possible.’

  ‘It is possible,’Mule repeated what Rathod said as he watched him keenly, ‘but that’s not what you think happened, am I right Rathod?’

  Rathod hesitated, and Mule noticed his hesitation. He had known Rathod long enough to not miss the subtle nuances of his restless behaviour. Something was playing on his mind. ‘Why don’t you tell us what you are thinking, my friend?’ Mule insisted softly.

  Rathod frowned and rubbed his hands restlessly. ‘Sir, my hypothesis is that Tony Matthew has an accomplice…’

  ‘Go on…’

  ‘This second person may or may not have been active during the first set of murders. But now that Tony is in prison, he has taken over.’

  ‘What nonsense!’ DCP Singh scoffed condescendingly.

  ‘Uday!’Mule reprimanded him. ‘Please! Let us listen to what he has to say.’