Vikram Rana Investigates: Tales of Murder and Deception in Hyderabad

by Sharmishtha Shenoy

  Veena, who had been listening with rapt attention exclaimed, ‘Pavel!’

  Vikram smiled and said, ‘Right. Police also found his fingerprints on the photo, a second mistake on his part. Khushi herself did not want to marry Krishna. Remember, she knew all about Krishna and his womanising ways. Also, she was in love with Pavel and knew that Krishna had killed Pavel’s father. Khushi told Pavel about how Krishna was trying to marry her. Pavel was already furious with Krishna for murdering his father. Now Krishna was going after his girlfriend! So Pavel decided to kill Krishna.

  On Pavel’s instigation, Khushi started chatting with Krishna using the fake profile. Remember, Janaki used to go to Uppal to meet her daughter and mother during long weekends and holidays. She would bring her laptop along, as it was not safe to keep it in the hostel where she was staying. Pavel could have easily created the fake profile during one of those visits. Khushi was not tech-savvy enough to realise that the Facebook profile creation would directly lead the police to her mother’s laptop.

  Krishna then wanted to meet Sonia. So Khushi, wearing a burqa, met Krishna near Necklace Road MMTS station and got into his car, pretending to be Sonia. Before Krishna had time to realise anything, Pavel also got in the car and stabbed him. Janaki in the meantime had noticed the Facebook messages that Khushi had written to Krishna in her Sonia Sinha avatar. She suspected that something was seriously wrong and followed Khushi to the Necklace Road MMTS station. There she saw Krishna approaching in his BMW and Khushi getting in the car. Then she saw Pavel climb inside the car. The murder of Krishna was reported in the newspapers the next day and then Janaki understood what had happened on Necklace Road. She was scared that Khushi would be implicated in Krishna’s murder. So to save Khushi, she threatened to tell the police about Pavel. By threatening to expose Pavel, she hoped to separate Khushi from him. So Pavel panicked and had to kill her. He probably thought he would hoodwink Khushi into thinking that Janaki’s death was an accident, but she turned out to be too smart.

  Bilas also probably guessed that Pavel stabbed Krishna. What I am guessing here and I am sure that I am correct, is that Krishna had asked Bilas to follow him in a separate car and stay nearby out of sight, as he wanted to meet Sonia alone. This is the process he generally followed when he met unknown girls. I have confirmed this with another girl that he used to meet regularly before contacting Sonia. Bilas probably saw Pavel when he entered the car or must have recognised the black Alto which Pavel drove down.

  Anyway, he had been blackmailing Pavel ever since. So Pavel killed Bilas. Until this point, Khushi had helped Pavel, but once he killed her mother, she put her foot down. Her love turned to hatred. Initially Pavel tried to reason with her, but once he realised that she was determined to confess, he decided to kill her. He would have killed her last night if Reddy and I had not been there to save her. I guess her guardian angel was looking over her. Now shall we go for our lunch?’

  For the entire next week, the TV channels, the newspapers and social media were full of Krishna Mohan Dhavala’s murder story. The police were duly praised and Inspector Reddy was happy to have received credit for solving such a high profile case and was looking forward to a promotion soon. Vamsi Rao was very happy that rumours of his being involved in the murder were finally put to rest and he had sent a large cheque to Vikram in appreciation. Vikram was sitting in his office looking through all the comments about him on the Internet when the intercom rang. It was Radha. She said,’Sir, there is a young lady here in great distress. She says that she has been accused of a murder which she did not commit. Shall I send her in?’

  Vikram smiled to himself and said, ‘Yes, send her in…’

  ~ END ~

  To my Readers…

  Hello!

  I hope you have enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Among writers I am just a struggling author. But I like to think of my books as colourful little trinkets, in a shop. I hope that someone would pick it up and derive a little pleasure from holding and reading my book. Dear reader could you be that person? I shall be with you, take you to my world and shall try to make your trip memorable.

  I’d be very grateful if you’d take out a little time and post a short review on Amazon and Goodreads. Your support really does make a difference. I read all the reviews posted and incorporate your feedback so that I can make my books better and more entertaining.

  You can also write to me at enquiries@sharmishthashenoy.com

  Thanks again for your love and support.

  Sharmishtha Shenoy.

  About the author

  Sharmishtha Shenoy is the author of the books Vikram Rana Investigates and A Season for Dying- A Vikram Rana Mystery. Her short stories have been published in efiction magazine and Woman’s era. She loves writing murder mysteries, the kind of books that she herself likes to read.

  Her favourite authors are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. She also likes the work of Satyajit Ray – especially the Feluda Series.

  She was born in Calcutta and has done her post-graduation from University of Reading, Great Britain. She lives in Hyderabad.

  You can reach her at enquiries@sharmishthashenoy.com

  Website : sharmishthashenoy.com

  Buy a copy of the second book, A Season for Dying in the VIKRAM RANA SERIES

  EXCERPT FROM THE SECOND BOOK IN THE VIKRAM RANA MYSTERY SERIES

  A season for dying- a vikram rana mystery(excerpt)

  PROLOGUE

  The man was leaning against a wall near the apartment reading a newspaper. He could see the entry gate and the watchman clearly from this position. It was a busy road with the traffic moving continuously. The shops on both sides of the wide road were beginning to open their doors. A tea seller and Tiffin centre nearby, were doing brisk business. But he was far enough for the Tiffin centre owner not to notice him. He melted into the scene perfectly. When he had to look like a loafer, he could look like one. It is not easy to stand on the pavement and not look conspicuous, but he could do it by the hour. He made a call from his cell. ‘Did you deliver the discounted items?’

  The answer was in the affirmative. Grunting his satisfaction, he cut the call.

  The old security guard, who had been snoozing in the shade, got up and went inside. From his observations for the past two days, the man knew that he would not come back to the gate for at least half an hour.

  He entered the gate, rapidly went up the stairs to the first floor and rang the doorbell. He could hear the bell ringing from outside. There was a delay of a few minutes.

  Sighing impatiently, he was about to ring the bell again, when a pretty young lady in her mid-twenties jerked open the door. She was clearly in the middle of washing of some kind as she was wiping her hands with a hand towel.

  She said in a slightly irritated voice, ‘Yes – how can I help you?’

  ‘Hi Padma – remember me?’ the man said ironically. He knew she was alone in the house.

  Padma looked at the man in confusion. Then recognition dawned.

  ‘Oh...it’s you… how did you find my address?’ She did not seem very happy to see him.

  ‘Never mind about that – won’t you invite me in?’

  ‘Yes, okay…come in,’ she said, a little nervously.

  ‘It’s hot! May I have a glass of water?’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ she said.

  Gesturing the man to sit on the sofa of the tiny drawing room, Padma turned to go to get the water. The man swiftly took out a small iron rod from the backpack he had been carrying and slammed it on her head. Padma groaned and then crumpled on the floor.

  The man bent down and placed his index and middle fingers on her neck. He felt a faint pulse. He took a cord from his back pack and giggling softly, put it around her neck and then tightened it. Her body convulsed for a moment and then became still. This was the part he enjoyed the most.

  After ensuring that she was dead, he brutally yanked off the simple gold mangal
sutra that she was wearing and the two gold bangles from her hand. He carefully wiped all fingerprints, removed the cord and the iron rod and put them back into his bag along with the jewellery.

  Next he took out a pair of gloves and wearing them went to the bedroom and took out a few more pieces of gold jewellery and the Rs1000 cash that were in the cupboard. He glanced around and then finding nothing more of value, went back to the drawing room and stuffed the loot into his bag.

  He took out a digital camera and took some pictures, ensuring that the drawing room was clearly recognisable. Then he went out of the apartment softly closing the door behind him. As the door had a Yale lock it automatically got locked.

  Stuffing his gloves in his pocket, he peeped over the stair case landing. The security guard had gone away again. He lazily went down the stairs and exited through the gate. There had been no witnesses and the entire operation had taken less than twenty minutes to complete. He smiled to himself – a self-satisfied gloating smile. He mentally struck one name off his list.

  1

  LETTER TO THE PRESS

  The Telangana Times editor Mr. Kinshuk Jain had just walked in to his office. It was 10:30 in the morning. His personal assistant Suresh hurried in.

  ‘Anything urgent?’ the Commissioner asked.

  ‘No, but there is a mail which I think you should look into.’

  ‘Can’t see it. Which email address did you send to?’

  ‘I have sent it to kinjain@telanganatimes.com.’

  ‘Did you send just now?’

  ‘Yes – the subject of the mail is “A Season for Dying”.’

  ‘Hmm...sounds interesting…Yes – I received just now.’

  Kinshuk clicked open the mail.

  This is Prakash, I am writing to you as I have read your editorials and think that you are one of those rare species – an honest journalist.

  I am the murderer of Padma Manepally. I am attaching photos of her dead body taken in her apartment today to prove that I am indeed the killer. The Hyderabad police are too stupid to catch me. Old ladies make nice soft targets. I think I will wipe out an old lady next. It will happen on 15th April. I’m not joking. Just go to Anand Apartments, 1st Floor, Ghansi Bazaar, Hyderabad, Telangana 500002, if you want to confirm the murder.

  Catch me if you can.

  Mr. Jain frowned on seeing the email, ‘What the hell is this? I see there are many attachments.’

  ‘The person has attached a series of photos of a young woman lying dead in what looks like a drawing room. They were extremely gory.’

  The editor clicked open a photo and quickly closed it with a grimace.

  ‘I see that it has been sent from an address called prakash2016@gmail.com. Hmm...looks like a crank mail. Also, the date is 1st April. Obviously it is an April Fool’s prank,’ Kinshuk Jain said with a glance at the calendar kept on his desk.

  ‘Call up the Charminar Police Station OC and alert him so that he can check this out. Also send Sankalp along with our cameraman to Charminar. If it has really happened, then we will be the first one to report the news. Okay, so what are the other news about?’ They then moved on to routine discussions. Sankalp was a young promising reporter working in Mr. Jain’s team.

  Commissioner Sanjay Kumar was thinking of taking his morning coffee break, when he received a call from Kinshuk. They knew each other quite well as Kinshuk had covered quite a few conferences called by the Commissioner. ‘Hallo Sanjay, this is Kinshuk speaking. How are you?’

  Sanjay Kumar, who was a publicity hungry person, maintained a warm relationship with all press reporters. He now responded warmly, ‘Arre Sanjay. I am good. Tell me how can I help you?’

  ‘Sir, I have received a mail from someone called Prakash, informing me that a murder has been committed in Charminar. I am forwarding the email to you. I have already informed the Charminar police station OC and I thought that I must call and inform you as well.’

  ‘What happened?’ the Commissioner frowned to himself.

  ‘Padma Manepally, a housewife has been strangled to death. The murderer has sent a lot of pictures along with the mail. He says that he will target old ladies next.’

  ‘Oh God! I really hope that this is a hoax. Anyway, thanks for the tip. I will talk to the Charminar OC Inspector Kannan.’

  ‘I have already tipped off the OC. He said that he will go to the address given in the mail and check.’

  After finishing his call with Kinshuk, the Commissioner felt that this case would need to be handled by a senior police officer. His thoughts immediately jumped to ACP Gopi Reddy. The previous year, Reddy had solved two very high profile cases. One involved the murder of the wife of the noted industrialist Gaurav Lohia while the other involved the murder of a high profile property developer Krishna Mohan Dhavala. He was a very honest and sincere police officer. He was soft-spoken and a good listener with a very dry sense of humour. ACP Gopi could also empathise with the victim’s kith and kin and this helped him during his investigations as they felt very comfortable in his presence and opened up to him. His active role in solving these two cases got him promoted to the role of Assistant Commissioner of Police. The Commissioner knew that in this unusual case, because of his qualities, Reddy would be the best man to tackle the job.

  Reddy was tall, athletic and a handsome police officer. He had an imposing presence and criminals knew that he was a hard man to cross. He had gone for a jog in the necklace road area early in the morning, and after running for an hour had been ravenously hungry. He was also a big foodie, and had gone to his favourite Minerva Café for breakfast. According to him they made the best Idli in town. After polishing off three plates of Idli along with fragrant sambar and coconut chutney, he finished his breakfast by drinking two cups of steaming hot filter coffee. He felt well-nourished and satisfied. During these times he missed his good friend and ex-colleague Vikram Rana. Vikram was also a big foodie and they would often have breakfast together. They were still in touch. Vikram had opened his own detective agency and they had worked together in two high profile cases. Their relationship was now kind of symbiotic where Reddy could give official support while Vikram could get information which was simply not possible to obtain in an official capacity.

  After coming to office, he felt heavy and lethargic after his huge breakfast. He had just settled down to take a snooze, when the phone rang. ‘Reddy,’ Sanjay Kumar said over the phone. ‘Can you come over and meet me immediately.’

  ‘I am on my way sir,’ Reddy replied trying to sound less of a zombie than he felt.

  Mr. Syamjith Prasad, the Commissioner’s personal assistant was busily typing at his computer when Reddy hurriedly entered the outer office. Along with a myriad other tasks, Mr. Prasad’s job also included fobbing off people if they wanted to meet the Commissioner. Many people wanted to meet his boss daily on petty issues, and it was his thankless duty to keep them away unless the Commissioner wanted to meet them. And as the Commissioner did not want to meet too many people, Mr. Prasad had a tough job. But still he was always cheerful and smiling. Reddy, who could get angry easily, envied Prasad’s cool composure.

  Prasad winked at Reddy and shaking his head to warn him that the boss was not in a good mood waved him through to the Commissioner’s office.

  When he hovered near the entrance of his cabin, Mr. Sanjay Kumar gave Reddy an irritable look, ‘Come in … Come in. I wanted to show you something.’ The Commissioner moved his laptop sideways to show Reddy the mail forwarded by Kinshuk.

  ‘I want you to supervise this case personally, as I feel that it could rapidly becoming a high profile case which will need monitoring by a senior police officer. The killer is clearly an attention seeker and will probably kill very soon again. I can already see the negative publicity coming our way and want to stem it. Take the letter, coordinate with the Charminar police, and get moving. I will also personally speak to the Charminar OC Inspector Kannan asking him to cooperate with you. And keep me posted. We need to warn people
especially old ladies that they could be at risk.’

  Sensing this as a dismissal, Reddy said, ‘Sir, I will coordinate with Kannan immediately,’ and moved out of the Commissioner’s office.

  Inspector Kannan was in charge of Padma’s murder case in Charminar. Gopi Reddy arranged to meet Inspector Kannan and the police doctor in the first floor of the apartment complex where the victim used to stay.

  The press was camped out in front of the apartment. As there was no other breaking news, the murder was getting wide coverage. They were waiting outside the house. The main gate of the house was barricaded by the police preventing the paparazzi from entering.

  Kannan and the medical examiner were already at work when Reddy entered a few minutes later. A policeman had been posted near the front door to prevent anyone other than the police from entering. The victim was lying face down in the tiny drawing room, close to the entrance of the apartment. She had been tall and slim. She was around twenty five and clad in a simple salwar suit. The murder weapon had not been found. The killer had left no finger prints or any other clue in the murder scene. ACP Reddy sighed. He looked at Inspector Kannan and said, ‘What a brutal ending to a young promising life.’