Let's End Your FEAR

Chapter 9

Nakuul started staring at the man with a silly little smile on his face

"Holy shit. I never put it together. Do you know who that is Viraj? That's Karan Singh."

"Yeah , the son. That's what I said...."

"No no, he's the Karan Singh. That bottom feeder PI attorney with all those TV ads. Don't- let- them- jack- you- around Karan Singh. That one. Jeez, poor Imran. Can you imagine having a sleazeball like that as your relative?"

Karan Singh was yelling at the officer, punctuating his verbal assault with wild, flailing gestures that made him look like a psychotic windmill.

"God, look at him. Goddamn attorneys think they own the world."

Shetty stood up and motioned for the officer to let Karan through.

"Try to feel it a little. This guy just found out his father was murdered, and his own mother wouldn't call to tell him."

"Doesn't make him any less of a sleazeball." Viraj stood reluctantly as Karan Singh made a beeline towards them, taking a quick step back when the man swooped in on them so close he could see every single vein in his very bloodshot eyes."

"You guys the detectives?" He eyed Yadav's shorts suspiciously.

"Yes, sir. I'm Inspector Yadav and this is Inspector Shetty."

Karan stuck out a palm slick with sweat and pumped both their hands while he bobbed back and forth on his feet. "Karan, Karan Singh"

Nakuul was about to go through the standard condolences, but he didn't get a chance.

"So what the hell happened here, guys, what do you think? Robbery? Drive-by?

"It's pretty early in the investigation, sir. We haven't even finished questioning..."

"Oh!" Karan pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. "I can't believe this happened. There are a hundred people in the city who want to kill me, including my own wife, and it's my father who gets killed."

Yadav's brows lifted, " Mind if I ask who want to kill you , Mr Singh? Other than your wife, that is."

"I'm a PI attorney- I'll fax you a list. Goddamn it, he was just an old man. Who the fuck would kill an old man that brutally? Where's my mother? Where's Imran?

"They're back at the scene, Mr Singh, but if you don't mind, we have a few questions..." Shetty's mouth hung open on his last word as Karan Singh sped away without a backward glance.

'Interesting interview technique" Yadav commented. "Pumped that sucked dry, is what you did. Still, I think we might want to do a little follow up to ask, like where was he last night, did he kill his father, stuff like that."

Shetty glared at him, then noticed an older uniform he hadn't seen before ducking under the crime scene tape across the driveway entrance, walking towards him. " You know this guy?"

Yadav squinted across the lot. "Oh hell yes. Ramesh Verma. Don't say anything about his hair."

"Huh?"

"He got his first set of plugs. Looks weird. Little tufts of hair and lots of bare space."

Shetty caught himself staring at the man's head as he drew closer. " Damnit Viraj, this is like not looking at an elephant."

"Yeah, I know.... Hey Verma."

The officer nodded a somber greeting while Shetty stared at his bizzarely patterned pink scalp.

"Shekhawat and I just finished the door-to-door for the whole block. We'll have to come back and hit a few who weren't around, but most of them were home. Sunday and all."

"Let me guess," Yadav added. " Nobody heard anything, nobody saw anything."

Verma nodded. " Right. But.......it was weird."
He looked around, cleared his throat, shuffled his polished shoes.

"We must have hit about 20 places, houses and businesses... Man, it was really weird."

Shetty dropped his gaze from Verma's head to his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Verma shrugged helplessly. " A lot of them cried. And I mean a lot. The minute they heard Mr Singh was dead, they started to bawl. Men, women, kids... it was awful."

Shetty's gaze sharpened. This was starting to get really interesting.

"I just don't get it. I mean, this is the city. Half the people who live here don't even know their neighbours, and then you get to witness this." Verma jerked his head toward the street - "and you gotta wonder."

Yadav got to his feet and looked over Verma's shoulder at the empty street.

"What are you talking about?"

"You been out to the street lately?"

Verma cocked his thumb toward the driveway.

"Take a walk, then. You'll want to see this for yourself."

Shetty and Yadav walked across the parking lot, through the opening where the driveway cut into the hedge, and then stopped, dumbfounded. The sidewalk in both directions was jammed with people of every age and race imaginable, some weeping quietly, others stern and stoic, all standing still, perfectly silent. Nakuul felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Yadav watched as more people crossed the street and slipped quietly into the rank of mourners.

"God, A celebrity death show indeed."

A tall brown kid next to the tape kept raising his hand just a little, trying to attract their attention. Nakuul walked over and leaned in close to him.

"Something I can do for you, son?"

"Um... Are you the inspector?"

"That's right."

The kid was probably good-looking under other circumstances, but now his face was blotchy and red and puffy around the eyes.

"I am Yash Kumar? And this is Jayesh Sheth? We work for Mr.Singh and Mr Syed told us to stay home, you might want to talk to us? But...we had to come, you know?"

Shetty thought they looked like a couple of lost puppies. He raised the tape and gestured them under, suppressing the instinct to pat them on their heads and telling them everything would be all right