The Tranquil Predator ✔️

Chapter 7

Patricia's Pov

Praveen escorted me back home and then left to manage his boss's store. Within an hour two police officers came over. They were the ones who would be guarding my house till this killer was caught. Neethu and Vinesh were back from their relatives' house and were briefed on the entire ordeal. Without a single question, they got to work which was prepare meals for the two guests we had. It was basic hospitality.

And me?

I was lying on my bed looking up at my reflection on the circular dial of the fan. A lot had happened since morning, I needed some time to wrap my head around the whole matter.

So the one time I decide to take a holiday and go to live in a quiet town surrounded by greenery, a serial killer decides to make an entry. And note none of this ever happened before in this town. So this is the first time.

Wow. Just. Wow.

And the 'Arjun' I met on the plane is a well-known homicide detective and currently leading the case of this serial killer who is busy harassing the town and roaming around killing people, especially that town where I am staying. Is it a coincidence?

Impossible.

The chances are so rare.

Nah, it can't be him. There are so many Arjun Malhotras in India. Not necessary it will be that airport guy only! Tossing and turning in bed I kept repeating all these thoughts over and over again.

I had to admit, I wasn't cooperating well with the police. Now you would expect me to be that curious girl who is asking questions to the police, racking her own brain, finding leads to crack the case herself, and getting into trouble every now and then the way they do in movies.

Instead, here I am lying on the bed, munching on some snacks, cursing and whining every now and then because my holiday is ruined and doing nothing apart from being a burden like the useless, defenseless creature I am.

Knock knock

Someone's at the door. Must be Neethu again. After she got to know about all the incidents that happened last night, she had been worried since. Checking up on me every hour to know how I was feeling, whether I needed something or not. She was behaving like a concerned mother.

A very irritating mother to be exact. I mean it was sweet how concerned she was. But still, I needed some privacy which she was not giving me.

"Come in!", I grumbled.

And there she came strutting in with a tray in her hand and a bright smile plastered on her face. It was a smile so big it would split her face in two if she made it any bigger.

"Good afternoon! U must be hungry so I made you Neethu Krishnan's speciality", she chimed.

I just reacted with a dry smile. Neethu noticed my forlorn face. "What's wrong dear?", she inquired. However, she knew what was bothering me. Setting the tray down on the side table she sat next to me and held my hand, rubbing my knuckles with her thumb in a reassuring way. That did feel better.

"As you know our town has been dealing with this problem for a month now", she said with sadness in her voice. "The first victim was officer Menon's seventeen year old son"

I shuddered. Officer Menon? The one who I yelled at? The one who I called incompetent? His own son was the first victim?

"You came here two weeks ago and when you did we knew it would be dangerous for you. My husband wanted to tell you to leave immediately but how could he? You looked so happy here. A girl from a big city finding joy in this little town of ours. It overwhelmed us. We didn't want to ruin your trip or give you any reason to hate our town. So we decided to hide this truth from you", she said in a broken voice. "We are truly sorry Ma'am!"

And she broke down into tears. I couldn't help but feel sad for her.

For them.

These simple minded people living in peaceful town with an outsider like me. Of course they didn't want their town to have a bad image in front of me so they hid the entire fact. That was how much they loved their town. And all these people be it Neethu, Vinesh, Praveen, or even Officer Menon all of them have been nothing but kind to me. The least I could do was cooperate with them and not behave like a self-centered girl.

I smiled at her and pulled her into a tight hug. And she cried on my shoulder. It was obvious things weren't the same for her or anyone who was living in that town. They were as scared and confused as I was.

"We will pull through this don't worry. Be strong.", that was all that I could say. But I guess those few words of mine cheered her up. She looked at me and smiled.

"Yes Ma'am we will.", she said sniffling.

Knock knock

Who could it be this time?

"Come in!", I ordered. And in came Vinesh with a smile on his face. He looked as if he was going to throw a party because something good happened.

"Finally!", he chimed.

"Finally what?", I replied. Neethu and I had a very confused look on our face.

"Finally our town is safe! That murderer is caught!", Vinesh yelled tears of joy streaming down his eyes! "And guess what! He is dead!"

What!

I was still confused. Serial Killer dead? That was unusually fast! Was Vinesh saying the truth or did he hear some other news and interpreted something else. Neethu on the other hand was overjoyed.

"Come on! Officer Menon is in the hall! He will tell us everything.", Vinesh said as he held Neethu's hand and rushed out of the room. I immediately followed.

Three of us ran downstairs. There was Officer Menon, his eyes were red-rimmed as if he had been crying. He looked at me with joy. Holding my hands he said "Thank you so much ma'am. If it weren't for your help, we would never have located this criminal. And look at god's grace. He was already dead when we found him", Officer Menon sobbed.

Of course, he was happy. His son's murderer was finally brought to justice, not by the police or by the court but by God himself.

"That is amazing though, but do you have any idea on how did he die?", I asked.

"We don't know yet, but detective Malhotra said he looks like he died from internal bleeding. He was lying in the forest on his stomach, there was a big rock on which he was lying. Detective Malhotra thinks he tripped when he was chasing you last night and his chest hit that big rock which lead to internal bleeding and eventually his death", Officer Menon replied.

Well, that was karma. And finally, he was gone so that meant the town folks could live peacefully again. We were busy rejoicing and so we didn't acknowledge the person who came inside the house.

"Stop celebrating. The postmortem report isn't even here yet and I said how he died. I never said he was the person we were after", a voice spoke sternly behind me. I turned around because I recognized that voice instantly.

It was him. That airport guy. Arjun or should I say Detective Arjun Malhotra.