The unexpected

A frightening murder

The patrols organized on Thursdays were of no use. One fine evening when the sun was about to set, Thambe was in charge of security in an area where crime was high. Thambe felt tired and hungry after sometime. It was almost dark, the stores, markets and restaurants were closing up for the day. There was a small Kulfi stand nearby. The stall owner, a person dressed fully in black covering most of their face, kept shouting out that the stall was going to be closed. "The last offer for today 10 rupees for unlimited taste, flavor and refreshment." Thambe, felt as if this person was calling out to him and waiting  for him to buy their Kulfi. He went towards the cart and bought 5 Pista Kulfis. The stall owner told him it will be cold and not melt for a long duration and that they were designed not to melt. Thambe could not remember what happened next.

When Thambe opened his eyes he was back in the alley, he was surrounded by many people. He was shocked to realize it was daytime. "Is it morning already." he asked, he took out his phone and was shocked to see that the time was 7 am. He was more shocked to find a dead body beside him. He saw Shivansh and Akhila arriving at the scene. Thambe went to Shivansh and said, "Sir, I have nothing to do with this, I was sleeping while it happened."  Akhila got angry, she went towards Thambe, and yelled, "What is wrong with you, you are so irresponsible and careless, you literally ruined our case." Thambe pushed her aside. "Get lost." he said. Shivansh caught his arm and slapped him. The slap echoed around the place. The people passing were shocked to see two cops fighting like this. "You are not worth working with me. How dare you raise your hand at her, that too when I am standing right here." he shouted. "I am sorry we can't do this anymore." Thambe walked away. Shivansh told Akhila, "Are you okay, you look tired. We don't have to work with them anymore. Where is Shekhawath by the way." "He is not around and is not reachable most of the time." she said walking toward the car. "We will try calling him again."

The case became much more serious now, due to Tambe's irresponsible behavior the case was fully transferred to the CBI. There was not much evidence to work with. A forensic expert Ashish Deshmukh, was hired to work on the case. The victim was stabbed with a kitchen knife, there were two stab wounds but no holes in her clothes. "Does this mean she was dressed after she was killed." Akhila asked. Ashish nodded.

Shekhawath came to work with a huge smile on his face. "My wife gave birth to a baby boy." he said happily. People congratulated him. The next day, Shivansh heard some people talking in the station, "Where is Shekhawath? Is he still working on that missing jewellery case, they said the jewellery was insured." "Yeah but still, I guess he is still with that case or with his wife, he missed his son's birth." said another voice. Even after the birth of the child Shekhawath seemed occupied with phone calls. He was in a bad mood. Many thought it was because the case went to the CBI.

The fourth victim was Monica she was a 20 year old girl. The victim has been stabbed and then dressed in a green cotton salwar after her death. Monica's father reported that she was staying at her uncle's place in Noida since she was attending a college nearby. "We stay in Gwalior, it is a rural place. I regret sending her here" he continued, all I wanted was her to have a good education. Her uncle and aunt with whom was questioned as well, "Where did she go that day." Akhila asked. "She went out somewhere at  night, I don't know where she goes. It might have been to a party, or a bar." Her aunt exclaimed, "I don't think Monica would do that. Even though she hated staying." Her husband seemed to stop her. "It is not like that." her father said. "it was just that she wanted to stay in a hostel but we couldn't afford it, she was happy with my brother's family. I couldn't communicate much with her, if only her mother was alive....."

"Later, the  people in that area were asked if they had seen Monica that day, some people reported that she came to the pharmacy. The pharmacy workers were then questioned about that day. The two ladies, Priya and Aneesa who worked there reported that the girl had come there. "It is such a sad incident." Aneesa said. "Such a thing was bound to happen, the girl was here to buy pregnancy pills. It looked as if she was of loose character. I have seen her stay outside late." Priya added. Aneesa did not reply. The ladies were the last people who had seen Monica alive. This was at 6pm. The post mortem said she was killed surely after 8pm. Where she was between this time was unknown to anyone. When asked about Monica's friends her  father replied she never spoke about anybody that much. Her uncle said that she used to go out almost everyday, with boys and girls. All of Monica's friends reported that she was not with them and she did not even come to college that day.

Shivansh and Akhila were talking about the case "It is a shame that two murders have happened in one month." he said. "Nothing is clear in this case, it seems like everybody is lying, one way it seems connected and in the other way, they seem to have no similarity. There is no certain pattern, the victims have been chosen randomly, from Munira who was a quiet daily wage worker and Rithika who was a child star. All the victims except Rithika have been raped. The only constant is the victims being dressed in a similar looking dressed after being murdered, and they have been stabbed with an implement like a kitchen knife." 

A few months passed, even after a lot of investigation there was not much of a lead. Things went on, Akhila and Shivansh got engaged in a small party. Arjun introduced the family to Tina, who he introduced as his girlfriend. "It is a secret nobody knows about it yet." he had said in a discrete manner. "Does she know" his father asked. "No" he replied unbothered. "It would not be a surprise if she knew now would it?" he replied. Tina was the daughter of Akhila's friendly neighbour Pramila. Pramila lived alone with her college going daughter Tina and was a very homely woman. Tina on the other hand was rebellious young lady.

A week later Shekhawath showed up to work with a depressed look on his face, "I have found the jewellery thief unfortunately he has escaped to US and is starting a stock operation. The MLA and his whole family won't get off my back." Even after this case was over Shekhawath seemed to be absent minded most of the time, to everyone's astonishment. Nobody understood his behavior, as he had just recently taken a week's break as well.

One day Akhila had made fried rice for herself, she got some for Shivansh and asked him if she had put enough salt. He tasted it without looking away from the paperwork and said. "Hey the salt is enough, it is perfect. She looked confused, 'I was pretty sure it wasn't enough, but I liked the taste as well, I will follow these measurements from now onwards.' she thought to herself.