The Tranquil Predator ✔️

Chapter 15

Patricia's Pov

"I did what I thought was right", I huffed. "And I saved your life, didn't I? A thank you would be nice"

"Alright, thank you, Patricia"

"Better"

And the awkward silence filled the room again. It was suffocating and made me uncomfortable. Fiddling with the sleeves of my pajama I looked around the room. I tried my best not to look at him but from the corner of my eyes, I could see him staring at me with a faint smile.

Break the silence Patricia!

"So, you were close to him, right? Could you see his face?", I asked.

"No, it was way too dark. The only description I can give is that the serial killer is a male, he is slightly taller than me and he had this.."

I leaned forward with interest. What did he have?

"What? He had a what?"

"A weird smell, he smelt like mutton blood, or chicken"

"He smelt like meat?"

"Yes! Precisely, he smelt like meat", He exclaimed with gleaming eyes. "The killer smelt like meat! I need to see Menon immediately!"

Arjun got up from his bed and sat up straight. The minute he tried to stand, the stab wound reminded him of its presence and he grimaced in pain gripping onto the bandage that was wrapped around his stomach.

"You need to rest! Look at yourself. You can barely walk!", I complained as I helped him lie down on his bed again.

Suddenly, the door opened and a worried Praveen showed up. "Everything fine in here?", he asked with a concerned look on his face.

"And who the hell are you?" Arjun asked blankly.

"Uh...well...I work in a store sir. I respect you and your work a lot-", he started fumbling with his words.

"No, I meant who the hell are you to her", Arjun said sternly.

"He is a friend of mine. The one who took me home that day I was chased.", I replied this time.

"Oh, how close are you two?"

"That's none of your business"

"Oh-ok"

Praveen was awestruck. He couldn't believe how rudely I talked to the detective and shut him up. But for the two of us, this was an entirely normal conversation. Arjun eyed Praveen with suspicion. He didn't like him one bit and he made sure to show it to everyone. Poor Praveen could feel the hatred or more like jealousy radiating out of Arjun. In the end, I had to take Praveen out of the room before an actual dog-fight broke out.

Author's Pov

The next few days were chaotic. The police were busy at the crime scene looking for clues like fingerprints or anything they could get their hands on and were also simultaneously taking Vinesh's statement.

The old man was beyond traumatized. Why wouldn't he be? They had been together for thirty years after all. Vinesh narrated the whole story to the police over and over again. Even answered the questions they had. During this entire time, he didn't shed a single tear. Because he didn't have any more strength left. He was devoid of all emotions.

Patricia on the other hand still wasn't out of the shock of losing Neethu. Like Vinesh, she too gave her statements accordingly. Praveen was by her side 24x7. He kept her company, he kept her calm. The lunch date they were supposed to have was canceled (obviously) but that didn't mean they didn't stop meeting. He spent time with her and would check up on her now and then.

And the serial killer? He did nothing for the next few days. Where ever he was, he was basking in the publicity he was getting. The local media named him 'Tranquil Predator'. Yes, there was nothing tranquil in his work. In fact, he was the opposite of tranquil. However, the name was coined by his method of killing.

1 throat slit. The victim would die in an instant. There were no signs of struggle and the murder would be committed in a 'neat' way. It was as if the killer was very calm while taking the lives of these innocent people.

Arjun was discharged from the hospital and he resumed his work immediately. He had to face a lot of criticism of course. The town folks had started to lose their hope and love for the great detective who they believed was going to protect them. Arjun got bashed left and right for his incompetence in handling the case and preventing another mishap from occurring.

Not a single person even bothered to sympathize with him. It didn't matter to them that he had just survived a deadly attack trying to catch the killer. The only thing that mattered was he was losing in front of this devil. Arjun didn't bother much about what the local newspaper had to say. He had dealt with criticism before. What troubled him was the constant thought of not being able to catch him. Even though he was so close.

This angered him and kept him up at night. The only lead he had was the guy was taller than him and smelt like animal meat. Following this lead he went to different meat shops across the town, interrogating them again and again.

Sitting on his desk he kept going through all the case files. When finally it struck him.

"Menon, we have visited all the meat shops in this town right?", he asked looking at the senior officer in front of him.

"Yes sir"

"What about supermarkets or convenience stores? They sell meat too right? The packed ones"

Officer Menon thought for a while and finally said:

"Well now that I think about it, we haven't visited the convenience stores. We visited the shops that sold only meat and nothing else"

"Well then, time to visit the convenience stores as well", Arjun concluded.

Visiting convenience stores was just an excuse for him. In reality, he wanted to interrogate that guy who was so dear to Patricia. He felt something was off about him. He didn't like him one bit.

He wanted to interrogate Praveen.