The Tranquil Predator ✔️

Chapter 9

Arjun's Pov

The ride to the forensics was pretty quiet. And throughout the ride, my mind was fixated on only one person.

Her.

"Patricia Fernandez. So that is her full name. And finally, I figured out where she lived" I chuckled at that thought. Honestly speaking when she said she was heading to Munnar I figured we would meet or at least bump into each other because even I was going to Munnar and this place isn't that big.

But being so close that she might be the sole witness in a case I was working on was something I never thought of. But then again, at least I got to see her. That too without even looking for her. It was as if our paths were destined to cross.

Closing my eyes I tried to imagine her face. She looked just like a chipmunk. A cute one to be precise. Those big black eyes staring at me, curious to know what is going on. A huge fan of Sherlock Holmes. Now that was obvious, I mean the way she was watching that show on the flight. Trying to understand the plot and racking her own brains as if she would crack the case before Holmes was hilarious to watch.

I love the way my presence affects her. I speak to her and she starts stuttering. I look at her and she starts trembling. It is amusing to watch. I wanted more.

"I wonder how would she react if I ki-"

My flow of thoughts was interrupted when I noticed we had reached our destination. Getting off the vehicle I walked inside the small building. I know what I had said earlier, maybe the killer wasn't caught, maybe the fight wasn't over. However, this was just my theory. Who knows, maybe the person we are after was this man. The only way to find out was by studying the postmortem results.

I shrugged away all the thoughts that were racing through my head and cleared my mind. Walking into the room where the body was kept I looked at the man carefully.

"Ah Detective Malhotra, you are finally here", said a voice behind me.

It was Dr. Nair.

She was in charge of the forensic discoveries of all the murder victims in this case.

"Sorry for the delay ma'am, got a bit busy at work", I smiled. "Anyways, what news do you have for me?"

"Well not much, just that this man lying here is a serial sex offender. He had harmed women before. I went through his file. He has been charged with flashing in public, touching women inappropriately, and passing lewd comments. Basically, he is a scum. However-", she took a deep breath and said, "he is not our serial killer"

I knew it.

"Now why is he not the serial killer, I guess you already know mighty detective but let me tell you something else to add on to that deduction of yours.", Dr. Nair continued.

"Go ahead I am ready to listen", I replied. The 'if he wanted to kill he would have not wasted time in doing so' deduction was already correct but what else was there?

Dr. Nair removed the cover from the body showcasing his torso. There were blue-black bruise marks on the chest region.

"See these bruise marks? They aren't made from the rock he fell on. If it were a rock then he would have tiny cuts or scratches on his chest because I saw that rock, it had sharp edges. These are fresh bruise marks, indicating someone deliberately hit him in the chest multiple times. This led to the internal bleeding and then ultimately death", she said.

"So this man didn't just die because of an accident, he was murdered. Which means there was someone else in the woods that night?"

"Exactly, this person had harmed many people, he had many enemies so there is a possibility the person who killed him was close to one of his victims and that person killed him for revenge or this can be the job of that murderer you are looking for but that is a highly unlikely chance isn't it?", she finished and looked at me for a response.

"It is not actually. On the contrary, I think this is the job of our killer. I have spent two weeks here. Two weeks studying the cases and also interacting with the town folks to know about their mindset. These people are extremely simple-minded. No matter how much they might hate this man, they would never go as far as to kill him. Not to mention they are already scared with what's going on in their town.", I said looking down at the body, specifically at the bruise marks.

"But doesn't the killer stick to his Modus Operandi? All of his past victims died in a similar way. This man was different.", Dr. Nair questioned.

There was an eerie silence in the room. Until finally I spoke.

"It is because he wanted to create a diversion. This guy served as the perfect scapegoat. And the chase with Ms. Fernandez served as the perfect opportunity. He caught the guy, killed him, and then made it look like he died by falling on a rock and bleeding internally. Adding Ms. Fernandez's incident of 'escaping and surviving from a possible assault' was a perfect story. We would think he is the killer and we would shift our attention from the actual killer.", I finished and started laughing like a maniac. Dr. Nair was bewildered. My laughs were loud and terrifying. My eyes were dark and I was running my fingers through my hair. She really thought I had lost my senses.

Maybe because I had. This guy was really good, I had to admit and it was going to be extremely hard to catch him. He was dangerous too. Murderers get called 'serial killers' when they kill three or more people within a month with a significant period of gap between them. This guy was a psychopath. A murderer with not a single shred of moral or remorse in him. All he cares about is how to satisfy himself even if it means taking lives. This dude already claimed five victims in two weeks. Then he stopped when I entered the scene and finally claimed his sixth victim today after another two weeks. Note, killing this sixth victim wasn't for fun. It was for diverting our attention.

He really thought I was going to fall for that trick?

My maniac laugh finally stopped and I took deep breathes to calm my beating heart down. Finally, I looked up at the doctor.

"Well if he finds pleasure in killing people. I find pleasure in throwing such people behind bars", I chuckled darkly.

This case was going to be so much fun. It's not always I get handed such interesting cases from my superiors. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins in excitement.

"Thank you for your time doctor", I said as I bid goodbye and exited the building.

Sitting in the vehicle I looked at Officer Menon with sparkling eyes. This monster wanted to play a game with me and I was sure as hell ready for it but first I had some unattended work to finish.

"Officer Menon, it's getting dark and cold. Drop me at the Fernandez cottage and go home", I ordered. Officer Menon looked confused but didn't say anything.

I looked outside the window as the car started.

"Oh sweetheart, there was someone else in that woods that night wasn't there? You just didn't think it would be that important to let us know? How insensitive",  I smiled.