SILENT AS THE DEAD: A Deadly Cyber Chase Begins
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He didn’t enjoy the scene. That girl looked so helpless. And this girl looked so helpless too. They both looked helpless all along in a different perspective.
It was pouring heavily now and the whole Calcutta looked like a wet cat in the rain.
19. Sunday, 2:12 PM, Mumbai
At last the car was found.
The BMW – the killer had used – was stolen from the parking lot of Metropolitan Magistrate Andheri centre of courts. Few minutes back police found it near the same spot with a changed number plate.
An electronic first information report was first lodged in Andheri police station by the driver. Inspector Mahesh Rathore, in charge of vehicle anti-theft section, decided to report it to Udit so he strode across the corridor and knocked the door gently.
Udit was waiting for a call from Calcutta. He shouted, “Yes come in.”
Inspector Rathore entered, saluted and stood patiently until Udit waved his hand towards the chairs, “Please, Rathore.”
He pulled out a chair and sat on it, “Sir, do you want the car for any forensic?”
“Yes definitely. Keep it in your possession and don’t hand it over now. We have collected few things from the murder spot. We need to match them with the car.”
“The driver came and asked about the time of deliverance.”
Udit got irritated, “How can I say that? We are in the middle of an enquiry. Tell him, it’ll take time.” He waved his right hand and tried to end the topic.
“Another thing sir.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“This car belongs to that girl’s father, sir.”
“What? You mean the girl – Sarika!”
“I don’t know her name, sir. But yes, the girl you have rescued in the morning.”
Udit was really annoyed. The killer had stolen the car of the girl’s father and used it for Diana’s murder and later he drove it to Andheri to pick up the girl. He planned to kill her in her family car. It was now quite evident from his subsequent moves. A very strange pattern of crime.
He grumbled in low voice, “We’ve to stop him.” Although he didn’t know how to stop.
Immediately after Rathore left the room, his personal mobile started ringing. It was Rakesh. He was happy to get it.
“Yes boss. Any good news?” Udit asked enthusiastically.
Rakesh said, “Sorry boss, for last half an hour I have been trying to catch PG. He’s not answering – may be he’s busy. But he’ll definitely ring back.”
“Is he in or out of the country?”
“He’s in. I talked to Vicky – his friend. Vicky told me that they had talked to each other early in the morning. He’s in Calcutta definitely but as usual very tight with his schedule. May be that was the reason he had not been answering.”
“Who is this guy – Vicky? Another hacker, I suppose?”
“No, no. Vicky is an ex-commando; he runs a detective agency – “ACME”. Actually he was my class mate. Vicky is a very good friend of PG and takes help in most cases as you know today every case has some digital root.”
“So I need to wait till he calls me up?”
“Yah, nothing doing, if you want his service you need to wait. He’s the best…please hold on for a moment, Vicky is calling me in another line. I’ll call you back with more inputs.”
The line got disconnected and at the same time his mobile was ringing – this time it was his wife – Pakhi. She would probably remind him for his lunch. They had been happily married for fifteen years having a son Ratul who was about twelve years of age.
Udit had no time for lunch today so he hurriedly picked up the phone and lied, “It was good darling. Very delicious.”
Pakhi was happy and said, “You didn’t tell me where to wait. Your message was incomplete.”
It was a bolt from the blue! Udit asked, “My message? I didn’t send you any message. Even I didn’t have any time to call you. I have been so damn busy since morning with that social engineering case – I told you that story.”
Pakhi laughed it out and Udit heard the stream of beautiful broken voice, “You’re joking with me Udit. It came from your number with your name and you’re telling that you didn’t send me any message? You’re joking with me!”
Udit was tensed, “What message? Read it to me at once. I didn’t send you any message; believe me, in the name of God.”
Pakhi read it aloud, “Darling, please come to Infinity Mall, Andheri west at sharp 3.” She stopped and added, “You told me the time but didn’t write where I should wait? At the main gate or elsewhere? I had to dress for that and before that I thought let me call you. How about the black long skirt bought in the last anniversary?”
“No.” Udit was shouting, “Listen darling, it’s a trap. I can’t explain you. Where is Ratul?”
“Why?” Pakhi was shocked in his sudden rude behavior.
“It’s important to know.”
“He is in school of course and about to leave now probably.”
“Oh, my goodness. I’ll explain everything later, darling. We have a crisis. Please, stay home. Don’t move.”
He hung up and quickly dialled the number of the school principal. He had a premonition. An intangible fear was ringing inside his mind – what the hell that old lady principal was doing? He was cursing her. He had never done that before. He lost his temper in sheer fear after he had talked to her wife.
At last the old lady principal came to the line and Udit hurriedly said, “Madam, I am Udit Kashyap – assistant commissioner of police. Have my son left for home already?”
The lady principal politely said, “I’ve received your message Mr. Kashyap. You’ll send another car today – a black Honda with a different driver at three sharp. It’s five minutes to three; your son is probably waiting in front of the school gate for your car.”
Udit shouted, “Please call the security at the gate immediately and stop my son. It's urgent. It was a hoax message Madam. Someone hacked my mobile and that’s why I’m calling you.”
The old lady principal was short in hearing so she said, “Okay, my son, it’s no problem at all. The message was enough.”
Udit suddenly remembered her hearing impairment and used more loud voice, “Stop my son, stop my son, stop my son. Do you hear me now?”
The old lady said, “Okay my son, it’s clear, I won’t stop him.”
“No, no, no. Please stop him. Stop him. Stop. Oh, my God.” He felt tired. So many things went on since the morning – one after another. It exhausted him.
“Stop?”
“Yes, stop. Stop him. I’m coming.”
“You’re not coming? Will you send another car?”
“No, no, no. I’m coming. Coming, coming.” He was shouting like a mad man.
“Okay, you’re coming. I will stop him.”
Worn out, Udit was breathing heavily. He was out of puff. It was going over again and again in his mind. The killer hacked his mobile now but how did he come to know his involvement in this case? Was there any insider? Suddenly his peaceful world had turned upside down. He started suspecting everything.
There was no time to waste. He jumped to his feet and suddenly broke into a sprint towards the commissioner’s room. The killer was now after him. He hacked his number and started sending messages to everybody. What he’d do next?
His mind was not working any more. He was cursing his profession now.
20. Sunday, 3 PM, Calcutta
The continuous activities exhausted PG.
It was good that he got some money. But he had exhausted himself by the whole affair; specially the later half of the day made him tired.
It was a great puzzle why Jacky had instructed a good looking girl to follow him? Who was the mystery man who had been following him for a long time since the morning when he went to Jacky’s place? PG’s curious mind was restless. It was eager to find out those unanswered questions first.
He was also burning with curiosity – what was in that video?
The detail of another follower was equally mysterious. His name was Krishna Chad. He was from detective department of Calcutta police. Someone instructed him from Calcutta police headquarters. It seemed strange to PG. It was impossible for Calcutta police to have known things so earlier. It could only be possible if they tapped Jacky’s phone line. In that case they had been watching everything from the beginning. That might have been a possibility if someone from Calcutta police had had a connection with that mysterious video from the beginning. That was why they were taking interests; big brother police had been watching Jacky for some time for that reason only. But how they got involved? Who had instructed the big brothers to tap Jacky’s line and follow PG?
PG remembered the early morning episode of phone-tapping detection. He then correctly detected that someone had snooped on Jacky’s line from outside.
Jacky had an interest to know his hideout so that he sent a girl to follow him secretly. It was not anomalous. Jacky had ample reasons to know PG’s next steps. Especially for that woman – Tara Sen. Now PG knew her address. Jacky started suspecting PG. Jacky had a suspicion that PG might contact Tara Sen although PG had no intention to contact her. He even didn’t know who that lady was. But it was true that someone mailed that video to Tara. So Tara Sen had been a part of this plot.
Yes, the video – PG suddenly remembered he had to watch the video.
He slowly sipped his cappuccino and opened up the folder in his laptop that contained the video. Before viewing it he disconnected the laptop from internet.
The picture quality was bad. But the audio was clear. Jacky was enjoying his time with two similar-looking girls. They were twin sisters. One sister was taller and more reserved type. The shorter one was more active and she was undressing Jacky while the pervert industrialist talked dirty. Now Jacky was fully naked. The shorter sister held his staff firmly with her hands fondling it but the manhood failed to raise head. Now she started undressing and Jacky called another sister loudly. She came up with a glass of wine.
Jacky bellowed, “She is Rahi and you?”
The taller and more attractive girl said, “My name is Rahela.” It didn’t sound very friendly though her voice was beautiful.
Jacky waved his hand and took the glass of wine. He called her loudly and asked her to sit on his lap. But the other sister, who was topless, came up and sat on his lap. She was now topless having only panty that covered her well shaped loin.
The audio part of the video in this part was not clear but it was evident that the taller sister was about to leave and asking Jacky’s permission.
Jacky was not happy with it but the shorter sister assured him another more steamy session.
PG got irritated and closed the video.
“A nice and clean bastard.” PG grumbled. Someone must have been trying to blackmail Jacky. He sent those girls and took the video with hidden camera. It was a sting. Now anybody could do a sting on any person. It was so easy. In fact PG had recorded the whole session he had gone through in Jacky’s place.
PG opened up his red backpack and took out the white shirt. He picked up a chip from the second button and placed it in an electronic device. It had recorded everything – from the start to the end. Now he felt empty. He was no more interested in this dirty affair. A filthy video, a grimy plot of blackmailing. PG decided not to attend any more call from Jacky. He earned enough money. He was already in the middle of an interesting open source project. He wanted to clear his mind.
He had only one concern left. The girl – Tate; she returned empty handed. PG was eager to know Jacky’s reaction. Did Jacky have another plan to track him? PG was curious so he started retrieving Jacky’s call record. He was all ears – wanted to know what Jacky had said to Tate after she returned back.
He had started listening to Jacky’s conversation and he straightened up all of a sudden. The summery of his talks was shocking.
One of the girls he had just seen in the video had already been killed in the morning and other’s life was in danger now. Jacky was discussing with somebody about the murder. It was not a distant past. The video was recorded last night. And one of the girls was murdered in the morning.
PG was stunned. He couldn’t believe his ears. He opened the video; again he had a look. Yes, that smaller one of the twin sisters; she was dead now!
21. Sunday, 3.25 PM, Calcutta
Jacky was talking to someone called Mustafa.
Through his penetration system, PG eavesdropped on Jacky’s phone calls. They were discussing about the girl.
Jacky said, “Mustafa, we have to protect this girl at any cost. She is the only witness now. We could force her to give a statement; still we have a chance to prove that it was an attempt to malign my character. They actually planted those girls to blackmail me. But to do that we need to save her first.”
Mustafa said, “Sir, do you have any contact number?”
“Yes, note it down.” Jacky told him the number.
PG took a mental note. He typed the number and through his penetration tool-software he started tracking the girl. He didn't waste time.
Mustafa said, “Sir, it will be better if you call her and tell the situation. She will be convinced if she gets a call from you.”
Jacky was worried and it reflected in his voice, “Mustafa, I fear for her life. Her sister was killed by the blackmailer early in the morning. The same man killed Peter and Grass. Can you get his plan? He wants to kill everybody associated with that video so that in future nobody could claim that he or she had been implanted. We’d never be able to establish it as a fraudulent plot.”
Mustafa said, “Sir. I understand it, but we need to track the girl and reach before them. Please talk to her and get the location. If they track her first they will kill her definitely.”
PG had already started tracking the girl and almost got her location-detail. His software was busy getting the GPS signals emitting from that number. He tracked it in a minute.
She was hiding near Tangra now. It was near China Town. Was anyone tracking the same number at the same time? PG wanted to know that. This tracking software was widely available. Anyone with a medium range of hacking knowledge could track any phone number.
PG was no more listening to what Jacky was saying. They would never be able to locate the girl. But some one might have already detected the number as they had feared. Was it true? He had to find it out first.
On PG’s monitor there was a complex looking map showing few obscure figures around a number – the girl’s number. On the top left corner there was an image of Globe – it was circling round and stopped for a moment; again started circling round the screen.
It stopped and started blinking. PG clicked on the spot and it zoomed out to full size.
“Oh, my goodness…” PG murmured in astonishment. Another tracking device was busy in Calcutta.
It was not Jacky’s number. Nor his office port was used for doing that. PG was trying to locate the computer which had been the source.
The source stunned PG. The GPS tracker showed the source had been generated from Calcutta police headquarters. Somebody was trying to locate the girl from the police headquarters – but why?
Really it was a big puzzle.
There were so many unanswered questions haunting him at the same time.
Why somebody from Calcutta police sent a man to follow him in the morning? Why they had been tapping Jacky’s phone line and tried to know his contacts? Was there anyone from Calcutta police – connected in this grim plot of recording a sex-video and blackmailing Jacky?
PG stared at the ceiling. His mind went empty
for a moment. He could save the girl – a call girl. As always the superior and inferior souls were fighting inside him.
The inferior one said, “This is not my business. Fuck it off and forget the whole episode. I got the money and I’m contented.”
The superior soul ventilated, “You will always repent this day. You could have saved a girl’s life. And you didn’t.”
The inferior one said, “She is a cheap call girl.”
The superior one said, “It’s good to be a call girl rather than sleeping with the boss for a promotion. A call girl never cheats with her family. She knows what she does.”
An image of a little girl in blue dress standing in front of a red door suddenly crossed PG’s mind. He got the answer. After taking every precaution for staying anonymous he dialled the girl’s number. PG felt the excitement once again. His heart was pounding with every ring.
It was ringing. And it started raining again. The outside was grey and misty. The rain stopped for a moment but there was a black-grave-looking-cloud hanging over Calcutta precariously.
At last, after a long wait, a girl’s voice – feeble and choked with fear – answered.
PG briefed her whole situation and told her to leave the place at once. He told her to meet at hotel Day-Night in China Town at sharp four although he had no definite plan how to save the girl. And he reminded her in heavy voice: after that he could not save her.
22. Sunday, 3.45 PM, Calcutta
No time to lose.
He took a quick look at the computer clock and realized he had no time to waste.
He hurried to take a cab and checked his personal mobile. Since morning till this afternoon he had got no time to answer any call. He tried to evade the followers.
There were three missed calls from his friend Vicky and a message – 'please call me when you’re free. It’s urgent'.
PG and Vicky studied in the same college. After graduation Vicky went for military academy and became a commando trainer. PG opted for computer science. In an operation Vicky was injured and decided to quit the army. Beside, he didn’t like the army life. Vicky took voluntary retirement and started a detective agency ACME. They came close again – in many cases.