The Tranquil Predator ✔️

Chapter 24

Arjun's Pov

"So, this is all?", I inquired as I flipped through the pages of one file. It was 5.30 in the morning. My eyelids felt heavy due to fatigue. I was pretty sure the entire police station felt the same. We had been investigating all night. Many files were piled up on my desk. Few loose sheets were even on the floor. My entire cabin was a mess.

The scene was like a teenager's untidy cupboard. With three to four clothes bundled up in a ball on one corner of the cupboard. Everything looks fine for the teenager but awful and disgusting for the mother. Yes, that was the exact situation of my cabin. My officers were disgusted when they saw all biscuit packets littered on the floor or the stained coffee mugs lying on few files. And me? I didn't bother, I knew where everything was 'kept' or more like 'thrown' so the cabin looked pretty organized to me.

Our search had narrowed down from eight people to just three. My officers had sent me information on everyone who worked at Raghu's. Including Raghu himself. We had done the same for all the other meat shops and convenience stores. Only this one remained. Out of one owner and seven employees, we had removed all the females and the guys shorter than me. The only people left were:

Praveen, Raghu, and a third employee: Bala Varma.

I motioned my officers to leave my cabin and all rushed out immediately. Seating myself down on the creaky, revolving chair, I leaned back with Bala's file in hand.

Looks like there was a third player in the field.

I opened the file and started going through it immediately. Bala was twenty-two years old. He worked part-time at Raghu's store. His main work was helping his father's mechanic shop. Single child, mom died after giving birth. His father was everything for him. Was a bit rowdy in his early teenage years, he regularly got into fights with the senior boys of the school. Went to school till 8th grade then started working at his dad's mechanic shop, because his father fell ill and was weak. Didn't complete his education and has been working with his father, and Raghu to make ends meet ever since. Never got into trouble for petty crimes like vandalism, harassment, theft. No records of him being an introvert or receiving any kind of childhood abuse. No relation to any of the victims and during the time of the crime he was either at home sleeping or treating his ailing father. He is a vegetarian so obviously doesn't handle meat products that are ordered for the store. He was just a child who was devoted to his father's health.

In other words, not our guy. One down, two more to go.

Praveen Krishnan.

"Smiling Moron", I muttered as I opened his file. Yeah, I am the kind of boyfriend who gets jealous easily. Wait, am I her boyfriend? Can I be called her boyfriend? I will have to clear this matter with her once that psycho is caught.

What are we now Patricia?

Shaking my head to get back on track, I started reading his file. He was twenty-four years old. This dude's an orphan. Grew up on the streets until an orphanage took him in. He has been living in Munnar from the start. Got bullied in the orphanage by older kids. They would harass him like putting his head in the toilet or beating him in empty hallways. He used to study in a government school and finished his studies till 11th grade. After which he started working as a car washer for some time. He did all kinds of odd jobs but he still earned. Finally, he came across Neethu and Vinesh. They introduced him to Raghu and he started working at his store. He was the first employee to join. His final and most stable job is at Raghu's. He is in command when Raghu is not there. He is a nonvegetarian and is the one who handles all the meat products in his store. He knows Inspector Menon well and was also acquainted with his late son. He was one of Praveen's only friends. The neighbours hadn't seen him limping around. He walked just fine.

In other words, this was not our guy either. He had a difficult childhood and that matches with the story of our killer but he also had a positive connection with two of our victims. So it doesn't add up. Someone who was abused throughout his childhood won't kill those people who made his life hopeful.

Phew, Patricia would be glad to hear that her friend was finally out of the suspect zone.

"Right, so that leaves us with you old man", I sighed as I stretched my arms and picked up Raghu's file. I swear, if Raghu's report matches with the killer, then I will finally feel like we are one step closer to catching him. If it doesn't, well then I really don't what I will do.

Raghu Channar. Age fifty-six. He has one son, who is in Delhi right now and his wife has gone to meet her parents for few days. The report sided with whatever he told me at the store that day.

Digging in deeper I found out his father was a hunter. He used to hunt wild animals for a living. Raghu's father was also a bit misogynistic and believed in patriarchy. I can imagine dealing with such a father must have been difficult for the mother. But wasn't that the case in every house? Back in the 1960s all simple towns had the 'man is the leader' mentality. They still do though. Raghu used to see his mother get beaten up almost every day and would also, well see her cater to his 'needs' whenever he commanded her to. And since Raghu was the only son of the family, his father taught him to be 'tough'. With such an upbringing, he became a misogynist exactly like his father. He would see women as objects to be used. No wonder Patricia would dislike him. She hated the way he would look at her.

"Oh, now would you look at that!", I exclaimed in delight as I looked at a line on the report.

It said over there, Raghu recently got into an ugly verbal fight with Neethu. It was at his store when he tried to charge her extra but she gave him the exact amount her goods cost. She even talked back to him and this infuriated Raghu even more which later on led to the ugly verbal fight. And when did this happen?

On November 9th, or in other words: Few days before Neethu's murder.

"Now, here we see motive don't we Mr. Raghu?", I smiled like a Cheshire cat.

"Menon!", I bellowed. In came the old man with drowsy eyes. He looked like he had dozed off.

"Gather your men, we are heading to Raghu's house"

"Sir, he is the..", Menon couldn't even say the word.

"Can't say yet, but I am 90% sure he is. Better arrest him first. We can make him confess here. If your men won't be able to make him confess. You will call me and I will handle him", I growled.

"Sir, you sure?", Menon asked. This man wanted an explanation as to how can Raghu be the killer.

"Look here", I frowned in frustration and showed him the file, "his father was the man who believed in strength. Because of the poor treatment his mother received, he grew up believing the only way to show how strong you are is by fighting and hurting people weaker than you. He considers women  weak and inferior to him. He even had a fight with Neethu, few days before her murder. Moreover, his father was a hunter. He taught him how to hunt. Now what is the rule of hunters when they hunt their prey?", I looked up at Menon with gleaming eyes.

Menon looked back at me with confusion "Uh...see to it the animal is dead"

"Dead with minimum pain! Be humane with your kill, to minimize suffering! How to do that?", I almost cried out in excitement.

Menon looked at me with an even bigger question mark on his face.

"You bend the head to the side, in such a way that the chin is closer to the neck, which exposes a huge part of the side neck. Then with one swift move, you slice through the flesh. If done correctly, your kill dies within seconds", I finished with my chest pumping hard because of all the oxygen I used to explain.

"That matches with our predator's, modus operandi!", This time Menon was the one to screech with excitement. "Alright, sir! I am calling my men. Get to the police van. We will catch him now and finish this once and for all", he finished.

I smiled and did as I was told. Seeing this newfound confidence and enthusiasm made me happy. The murderer of his son was finally going to get caught.