Warlock

by Vickram E Diwan

  “I am going to Moolchand Hospital in half an hour,” he said looking at his wristwatch. “After recording her formal statement, I’ll go to Rudolf Schönherr’s estate and investigate the matter. I have also called the people from the laboratory for collecting forensic evidence, a photographer and also a video cameraman. Because of the pressure from above, we have to present Schönherr in the court tomorrow itself. And therefore we have only this evening and the night to verify the girl’s statement and collect as much evidence, as we possibly can against the accused. Only the Public prosecutor will be able to effectively argue for his Police remand and request the Judge to quash the bail plea, which his lawyer will undoubtedly submit.”

  “I’ll go to South Extension right away,” sub-inspector Bishnoi said getting up.

  “Send assistant sub-inspector Jeevan Prasad here; I’ll send him to Mehrauli Police Station for taking the custody of Schönherr and bringing him here. Although I am doubtful it will succeed, I will still try to interrogate him and make him confess his crimes in the night, it will certainly be worth a try. And after you are finished with South Extension, go to this address in New Friends Colony,” he ordered giving him a paper from a writing pad.

  “Vincent Costello,” he said reading from the paper, “Who is he?”

  “I don’t know as yet; his visiting card was found in Schönherr’s wallet when he was taken into custody. Our men will be handed the wallet and the visiting card, when they go to the station, to bring him here; but assistant sub-inspector Yadav told me the name and address on the phone when I had talked to him earlier. He mentioned that this person dealt in lingerie and his office was in Hauz Khas. Go and talk to him and if he knows anything about Schönherr bring him here.”

  “Why should we send assistant sub-inspector Jeevan Prasad to Mehrauli; when you yourself would be going there?”

  “Because we are pressed for time; after going to Moolchand Hospital and taking the girl’s statement, I have to go to the farmhouse to collect evidence, as I have told you. I don’t have the time to go to the Police station to take the custody of the accused and bring him here,” he said in an irritated voice.

  “Sorry sir!” his subordinate apologized and saluting him left the office.

  It was around half past four in the evening when Inspector Thakur was able to reach the Moolchand Hospital in Lajpat Nagar, where Payal was admitted. He found the Police clerk waiting for him in the lobby. Outside her room, he saw a crowd confronting a constable. “What is happening here?” he asked in an authoritative voice.

  “Who are you?” Boldly asked a woman with gray hair, catty eyes, and a dominating face.

  “I am Inspector Uday Thakur, the investigative officer of the case involving the girl inside the room.”

  “She is Payal’s mother,” explained a young woman stepping forward. “I am her friend Shalini; this is my boyfriend Naresh and that is Abhay, our family friend.”

  “Why are you people creating a scene here?” asked the Inspector sternly.

  “This constable has not allowed us to meet Payal since morning,” she complained.

  “A.S.I. Rajveer Yadav had ordered that no one was to visit the girl,” explained the constable after saluting the Inspector.

  “And he was right,” said Uday, “listen to you people, I know that you are that girl’s family and well-wishers, and I understand your concern and desire to meet her, but you’ll have to wait until I have taken her statement. This is the standard legal procedure and no one can be allowed to circumvent it. Only after I have taken her statement and verified the same, I will be able to book Schönherr, who had tormented her.”

  “You mean Rudolf Schönherr?” asked Abhay in a surprised voice. “What had he got to do with Payal’s disappearance?”

  “That’s what I am here to find about; because this girl was rescued from his farmhouse in Mehrauli, when he was trying to murder her. You can ask her the details when I am finished; now if you’ll excuse me,” he said and knocked gently on the door walked into the room, followed by the clerk.

  Inside the room he found a young woman lying on the bed, with her head slightly raised with help of two pillows and a nurse wearing white uniform sitting on a stool next to her. “Hello, I am Inspector Uday Thakur from the Crime branch,” he introduced himself, “Ms. Payal Chatterjee?” After she had nodded her head in the affirmative he said, “Your case has been transferred to our department and I am here to take your statement?”

  “Has no one come to see me? Have you informed my friend Shalini?”

  “Your family and friends are waiting outside; you will be able to see them after you have given me your statement,” he explained to her.

  “Where is that Inspector; who rescued me in the morning?”

  “He was from the Mehrauli Police station; as of now I am the I.O. (Investigative Officer) of this case and I assure you that we’ll take stern action against those people who have made you suffer in this manner.” After he had sat down with the Police clerk on a settee in the room, he turned to the nurse and said, “Please excuse us, sister.”

  “Doctor had said the patient has suffered great trauma and nothing should be done to aggravate her condition,” informed the nurse as she stood up.

  “I’ll keep that in mind; please wait outside until you are called.” Said the Inspector and waited for her to leave; as the nurse opened the door, Payal got a fleeting glimpse of Shalini, Abhay, and her mother. She was surprised and relieved to see her mother there. She heard the cop saying, “Miss Payal I advise you to tell only the truth; because your statement will be verified and will form the basis of the charge-sheet against the accused, as and when it shall be presented in the court. Without fear or prejudice tell us the truth, so that we can proceed as per the law and get the guilty punished. First of all, you tell me what had happened in your own words.”

  Payal told the Inspector everything, from her first meeting with Rudolf Schönherr to her rescue by the cops; both Uday and the clerk accompanying him were amazed by her account of the Circus, Warlock, sacrifice of a baby, and the hunt. Inspector looked a little doubtfully at Payal when she was finished; his face twitched to one side and he wasn’t sure of her sanity.

  “Don’t look at me like that Inspector,” she said, “every word of what I have said is true.”

  “I cannot mention all the details in an official Police report; because it is presented in a Court of law. Please narrate your statement once more, this time slowly for the benefit of the clerk here, which will write it down. Delete any reference to the supernatural, so that we can proceed appropriately.”

  She nodded her head and went on to record her statement on the same lines, which the Inspector had directed. After the long statement was finished, he got it signed by Payal and left the room, wishing her a speedy recovery. He also left the instructions that she or any of her friends or a member of her family was not to talk to Press or anyone else before Rudolf Schönherr had been formally booked by the Police under specific charges, under the different sections of Indian Penal Code. As soon as he left the room, everyone waiting outside rushed in and Payal had an emotional reunion with her kith and kin.

  A Police S.U.V. screeched to a halt before the gate of an estate in Mehrauli; the constable on guard approached it and saluted the Inspector sitting next to the driver. “You are from the Mehrauli Police Station?” He was asked.

  “Yes, Sa’ab!”

  “A.S.I. Yadav told me about you,” said the Inspector, “hop in and show us around this place.”

  “You are from the Headquarters Sa’ab?” Asked the constable respectfully, after he sat inside the vehicle that moved on the muddy road inside the farmhouse.

  “We are from the Crime Branch; this case has been transferred to us,” replied Inspector Uday Thakur. “How long have you been here?”

  “From the morning Sa’ab,” he replied. “I was also with A.S.I. Yadav, when that man was arrested, who was trying to kill the girl with a sword.”

>   “Has anyone come here or tampered with evidence?”

  “No sa’ab; I was at the gate of the estate and the other constable was at the farmhouse inside.”

  “Is there any other way of entering this place?”

  “The whole wasteland is surrounded by a fence; and the portion that had been knocked down by the fire engines had been erected back temporarily, by tying it with iron wire.”

  The crime branch Inspector got down after the S.U.V. stopped behind a Toyota Prado parked in the porch of the bungalow near an artificial lake. He was followed by A.S.I. Soorajpal and four constables. “When will the people from the laboratory reach here?” He questioned his assistant.

  “They should have been here by now,” A.S.I. replied looking at his wristwatch, “maybe they have been caught up in the peak hour traffic of the evening.”

  Inspector Uday nodded his head and walked away; he took a round of the building, carefully studying it’s layout, showing particular interest in the glass pyramid above, about which Payal had told him earlier. He turned to the constable and made him narrate the entire chain of events; how they reached the farmhouse and what they saw. After which Uday went inside the house, accompanied by his able subordinate Soorajpal, through the unlocked door.

  When the lights were switched on, the cops found them in the drawing room; a framed photograph of Rudolf Schönherr was kept on the mantle above the fireplace. As if he was reminded of something, he turned to the assistant sub-inspector besides him and asked, “Where did Schönherr get the baby that Payal said he had sacrificed at the altar?”

  “He must have abducted it,” reasoned his subordinate.

  “I was also thinking on similar lines; first thing tomorrow, go the missing person bureau of our department and scan through their records for the past fifteen days. Start with the area that falls under the jurisdiction of Police stations within a ten-kilometer radius of this farmhouse. If there are any reports of a missing baby, bring the details of the case to the office.”

  “What if there are no such reports?”

  “Increase the scope of your search, to cover the entire city; the National Capital Region, all the towns, and cities in the vicinity of Delhi. If we can find the identity of the victim that Rudolf Schönherr sacrificed and link him with its abduction, our case against him will be immensely strengthened.”

  “He sacrificed babies?” The constable from the Mehrauli Police station who was accompanying them asked in a voice of disgust.

  “The girl you people rescued in the morning has told me that this man is a vicious Tantrik,” the Inspector informed him.

  “How old was the baby?”

  “Around six months; why do you ask?” Uday noted his unusual interest in the matter.

  “About a fortnight back some villagers came to our station sa’ab; they said that a man had attacked two girls, who had gone to a nearby jungle to pick up stray wood. When they ran away one of the girls forgot to pick up her baby brother. On returning to that spot later, accompanied by villagers, they could not find the child.”

  “Where did it happen?” Inspector Thakur asked sharply.

  “Near Rajkori forest Sa’ab, but our S.I. Sa’ab didn’t register a F.I.R.; because there was no reason to believe that the man had come there to abduct the baby. The father of the child is a poor labourer, who cannot afford to pay any ransom and at that time it appeared that the attacker was targeting the girl, to rape her in the forest. And the baby that she left behind could have been dragged away by an animal. The villagers also thought the same and did not pursue the matter; these poor people have too many children and as such are not devastated by the loss of one of them,” he gave his personal opinion.

  “That man could have been Schönherr; the place where the incident is said to have taken place is not very far from here,” said the Inspector, unable to hide his excitement. “Did you people take down the name and address of the complainant?”

  “No Sa’ab,” the constable replied in a regretful voice. “But I know the area, there are only a few tiny hamlets, scattered around the forest and we can easily find the man whose baby was kidnapped,” he said confidently.

  “Sooraj!” Uday Thakur said turning to the A.S.I. accompanying him, “Take this constable with you in S.U.V. and go to that place, find the man whose child had gone missing and come back with him and the girl who was attacked. It is imperative that we establish Rudolf Schönherr’s link with that abduction.”

  “But Sir; for all we know, the baby may have been taken away by an animal, as the people at the Mehrauli Police station had thought.”

  “How many years have you been in the Crime Branch?” Uday asked in a stern voice. “We do not ‘assume’ things in this department, but investigate a matter thoroughly; the laid-back attitude of Police Stations does not work in our section, at least not on my watch.”

  “Sorry sir, I’ll find the parent of the missing child and the eyewitness and bring them here,” A.S.I. Sooraj said in agreement.

  “That’s the right attitude, but it takes you a long time to locate them, before coming here call me on the phone. If our work here has been completed, you’ll have to bring them to the office. But don’t leave it for tomorrow on account of the night; I have to interview them before Schönherr is presented in the court in the morning.”

  “Yes, sir!” The A.S.I. nodded his head determinedly and prepared to leave.

  “Take a constable with you and make him stand outside the gate of this estate. The people from the forensic science department and photographer, they all may find it difficult to find this place in the darkness. Our man can guide their cars here when he sees them on the road outside.”

  After his subordinate had left, Inspector Uday Thakur went around the place; the layout of which was exactly as Payal had told him in the hospital earlier. He saw the bedroom, kitchen, its door that opened in the back, and in the powerful flashlight outside, which he had ordered to be switched on, he could see the ‘U’ point in the tracks of the toy-train.

  He went on the terrace, with the staff from the Police laboratory, when they arrived sometime later. They were all amazed to see the glass pyramid, the horrifying idol, altar and strange pagan drawings on the floor. “I want you to pick up samples of blood from here and any fingerprints, which you can find. You will find at least two sets of prints of Schönherr and Payal. And I want this Pyramid videographed, so that we can show the court, what kind of place that man had built here. Also take still photographs of this place, one shot of the pyramid from outside, one of the inner sanctum and also of the idol, altar and these strange drawings on the floor.”

  “Both the idol and the altar are cemented with the floor,” informed the man from the forensic science department, “They can’t be taken out of here.”

  “No need, just collect the blood samples and fingerprints; the photographs and videographic evidence of this place should be enough for the court. And if the Judge is interested, he can always tour this place to see it with his own eyes. After you are finished here, come back downstairs and pick up the fingerprints from the car on the porch outside and also from the rooms, kitchen, and toilet. Try to pick up as many prints and any other forensic evidence that you possibly can. And I want photographs and videography of the tracks of the toy-train as well. Because it is getting dark now, you’ll both have to come back tomorrow, to take photographs and record on video, the place where toy train had derailed, its debris, Circus, ruins of Gypsies, every place in this vast farmhouse,” he ordered and went out of the glass pyramid.

  He called his assistant, on his mobile, when he reached downstairs and had sat down on a high chair in the drawing room. “Bishnoi; what’s the progress so far?”

  “I have been able to verify the girl’s statement; her name was on the list of students of the Schönherr’s Institute in South Extension. I had questioned the staff at the institute, but they feigned ignorance and were not willing to give a statement against their employer. I have seized
the computer, on which all records of the students and attendance register was maintained. I am going towards New Friends Colony to talk to Vincent Costello and will bring him to the office if he knows anything worthwhile about Schönherr.”

  “Good work; keep it up,” said Inspector Thakur and disconnected.

  About an hour later A.S.I. Soorajpal came back with a frightened labourer and an eight-year-old girl. “This is the man whose son had gone missing when his daughter was attacked in the jungle,” he said introducing them both to his superior.

  Both sat down the floor before Inspector Thakur; and prompted by the constable from the Mehrauli Police station, the poor man tried to describe what had happened. Not finding his narrative helpful or descriptive, Inspector turned to the girl instead. “What is your name?” He asked.

  “Rita,” she replied confidently.

  “You tell me, what had happened that day in the jungle?” He asked. “Don’t be afraid, we are only trying to find out and to punish the man who had attacked you.” The girl nodded her head in understanding and confidently narrated the incident. After she was finished, the Inspector asked, “Did you see that man? Will you be able to recognize him?”

  “Yes Sa’ab,’ said she.

  He showed her the framed photograph of Rudolf Schönherr, which he had picked from the mantle above the fireplace and had kept upside down on the table beside him. “Is this that man?” The girl looked at the photograph closely and nodded her head in consent; she became so excited that she was unable to speak for a while. “It is all right, do not be afraid,” he said in an effort to calm her.

  “This is the man who had attacked me Sa’ab,” she said in a matter of fact voice.