Scars - Part 3

Part 1 and 2

Part 3

This entire scenario was now beginning to creep out Omar. And as he thought about it, nothing made sense.

“But how are these cases related to each other?”

“Omar, I think we should reopen Rekha Mishra’s case. I am sure the person who killed Dr. Rekha is the one who killed Dr. Trisha as well.”

"We have just 48 hours and time is running out. If you believe so, then let's reopen Dr. Rekha’s case and if the killer is same I want him arrested ASAP”

Officer Abhishek with a team of officers went to Dr. Rekha’s house to meet her parents.  Her parents were happy to see Officer Abhishek, anticipating a final breakthrough in their daughter’s case however their happiness was short lived when they got to know about Trisha's murder.

They had just returned from Australia where their son lived and had no clue about the incidents which happened meanwhile. When they heard Officer Abhishek’s thoughts about the killer being the same, they broke down.

“Oh no, he killed her as well”, said Rekha’s mom in between the sobs

“I am sorry, you know the killer?”, asked Officer puzzled     

                        

“Harshad. He was her friend and was in love with her but Rekha never accepted his love. He was behind her for months but suddenly one day he just vanished and never came back.”

“Then how can you say he is behind all this? And if you knew why you didn’t tell us before?”

“We never doubted on him as this incident happened 2-3 years before her death. But when you told about Trisha then all I could think was of him. Rekha, Trisha and Harshad were school friends but when Rekha didn’t accept his love he went away from their lives. We never heard from him again but he is the only common link between the two girls.”

“If Harshad is the one behind all this, then you are as much responsible for Trisha’s murder as him”, Abhishek said and stormed out of the house while the Mishras cried in the background.

He quickly dialled Omar and informed him of the developments. They made a list of their common friends and divided among themselves so that they can meet all of them tonight itself.  After four years they were getting a breakthrough and they didn’t want to waste any more time.

One after the other they met the people in the list but to no avail. None of them was aware about Harshad. 

Meanwhile the sketch artist did his job and finally the killer had a face. 

Omar saw Abhishek lost in a deep thought after seeing the sketch.

"Do you know this face?" Omar asked breaking Abhishek's train of thoughts. 

"I don't know Omar...it looks familiar but I am not able to trace it out" 

"Just keep trying, and you will trace him out"

"Yeah"

"Okay so their friends were of no use, what next?"

"Hold on, there's one more name left on the list."

"Who?"

"Kapil Awasthi. I went to his place but it was locked. We have to check on him tomorrow"

"But if this guy also turns out like others then we will be back to square one"

"I have a feeling he wont disappoint us"

"Abhishek and his gut feeling", teased Omar and both of them burst laughing. 

The entire department was in awe of Abhiskek's sixth sense. He was rarely wrong, but that's the thing which comes when you have been in service for more than a decade.

"But on a serious note, I hope you are right this time like always"

"Yeah. Any leads on the ring which we found at the crime scene?"

"No, not yet but there are not many jewelers who make that kind of ring so sooner or later we will receive a lead, till then we have no other option but to wait"

Next day, Abhishek and Omar left to meet their last hope.

"So finally our guy is at home”, Omar said to Abhishek as they rang the bell

“Yes?”, a feminine voice asked        

“We are here to meet Kapil Awasthi”, Omar and Abhishek showed their IDs and said

“I am his wife Aditi, please come inside I will call him.” 

Both of them made themselves comfortable on the sofa. As Abhishek scanned the room, his gaze stuck at something. He nudged Omar and he too followed Abhishek's gaze.

"Is it..?", before Omar could complete Abhishek nodded.

Their gaze was stuck on the photograph on the wall, the photograph which matched the sketch they were carrying. 

To be continued...

Scars - Part 1 and 2

Part 1

She felt a cold blade against her neck and the next moment she found herself falling down the skyscraper into the maddening traffic below.

Thud

Trisha woke up with a jolt as beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. From past few days she was having the same dream every night. And every time, she would wake up scared only to find herself alive and in the safe confines of her flat, her home for the past 6 years.

She took out her mobile and checked the time. It was 2 in the morning. 

She collected her thoughts and went to kitchen; she poured herself a glass of cold water and went to the balcony for some fresh air.

“I need to take a break. It’s been so long I took a proper holiday! It’s enough I am going to take a break from everything specially these nightmares”, she thought to herself.

She closed the balcony door and moved back to her room to catch up on the remaining sleep but she failed to notice the shadow in her room which retreated back into the dark. 

Part 2

Trisha was a Psychiatrist at one of the top hospitals in the country and was one among the best in the hospital. She had everything ticked off from her wishlist, she had a nice home in one of the posh areas of the city, earned double of what her fellow doctors were earning and had a nice set of parents who supported her all through everything.

Little did she know about the danger lurking around the corner which was coming closer with every passing second.

Next day the news channels were abuzz with the new scoop coming in. 

“Renowned psychiatrist Dr. Trisha Kashyap found dead”

“City of Murders: Another promising life lost”

“Dr. Trisha Kashyap Murder Case: Are our women safe?”

Officer Omar and Abhishek reached the crime scene. 

"Sir, it looks like killer was known to the victim, there was no sign of forced entry and no sign of struggle as well"

Omar looked around the room and scrutinized the crime scene to the very detail. He saw the security guard standing at the corner. His gaze met Omar's and he walked towards him as he saw his gesture.

"What's your name?"

"Sir, Madhur"

“Since when are you working here?”

“Sir, 4 years”

"Did you see anyone coming or going yesterday night or anything suspicious?"

"No sir, no one came here yesterday but..."

"But, what?"

"Sir, today I saw a man standing outside the apartment early morning. It is the first time I saw him."

"Didn't you ask him?"

"I did, but he left in haste without saying anything"

"Do you remember his face clearly? Can you help our sketch artist with his details?"

"Yes sir, I remember it."

Omar nodded and asked Abhishek to call the sketch artist. 

"He will reach within 45 minutes", Abhishek informed Omar

"Great"

Meanwhile both the officers checked the flat and interrogated the neighbors. Abhishek also checked with the building’s Secretary about security guard’s credentials but it was all clean. He used to work in the building opposite to the apartment and was sincere at his job.

Meanwhile Omar found a ring on the floor; he picked it up and saw the initials AK engraved on it. He quickly put it in the evidence box to investigate further. 

Abhishek saw Omar looking towards the window. Working with him since 5 years, he knew exactly what Omar was thinking. 

"Omar, I don't think the killer came from the window. This is the 12th floor, right in the middle of 24 floors of this building and its impossible to climb up from the ground or down from terrace", Abhishek said

"I think you are right. We need to meet victim's friends and colleagues to reach the killer"

At Police HQ, the officers went into tizzy. This new murder had added to the mounting pressure.

“I don’t care how you do it but I want the murderer caught within 48 hours”, the commissioner ordered Officer Omar

“Sir, we are working on it closely and are investigating everyone related to the doctor. Also, one of our officers is on the way to meet her parents and check if she had any enemies and to know more about her friend circle. We are also interrogating the security guard and the sketch artist is on his way. By end of the day, we will have a face to this killer”, Officer Omar informed.

“All that’s fine but make sure this murder case is solved as soon as possible, the people are already raising questions on their safety and this case has added fuel to the fire. There’s a lot of pressure from media as well as they are following this case closely, our one mistake can ruin things.”

“Yes sir”

Back in his cabin, Officer Omar was in a deep thought. Though he had assured Commissioner he will solve the case, he had no idea how to proceed. He had reached a dead end in this investigation.

According to Dr. Trisha’s parents, she didn’t have any enmity with anyone. She was a kind hearted girl who could never do any wrong to anyone. Even her friends and coworkers agreed with them. 

“If it’s not personal and professional, then what else could be the reason”, Officer Omar thought to himself.

The ring which Omar found at the crime scene did not belong to Trisha which meant it was killer's ring. This was a great lead as those kind of rings very few people use to make. He had immediately asked one of his officers to find the jeweler who sold this ring in the hope to find a clue related to killer.

“Omar”

He was jolted back to reality as Officer Abhishek came in with a bundle of files. Officer Abhishek was not only assisting him on this murder case which had entire city glued to the news channels but was also one of his close friends.

“Yes Abhishek, go on”

“According to the post mortem report, death was due to loss of blood and it happened between 2 am to 5 am. There was a deep cut on her neck which apparently resulted in her death. Apart from that killer had also slashed both her wrists to make sure she is dead.”

“And there’s one more interesting thing”

Abhishek stopped for a moment, looked at Omar and continued again.

“Do you remember Rekha Mishra murder case?”

“Yes of course, we had to close the case as her killer was never found. Even after 4 years we are clueless about that case. But why do you bring that up now?”

“Because I think we have found the murderer”

“How is that possi…”, Omar stopped midway as he realised the similarity of both the murders. 

Dr. Rekha was a surgeon at the same hospital where Dr. Trisha worked and apparently both of them were good friends from their school days.

And coincidence being, both of them were murdered in the same manner on the same date, 29-April only 4 years apart.

To be continued...

Emotions_Take 2

The smoke engulfed the room as she lay on her bed, and smoked for the first time, tears flowing down her eyes, and images of last night playing in her mind. She was perfect girl till now and everyone used to praise her, but little did she realize that they were all using her, until last night, when her fiancé cheated on her with her best friend. She hadn’t felt so much vulnerable ever before. She felt she was losing control on her life. She stopped as the entire room filled with smoke and she was hardly able to breathe. She threw the cigarette and went on to open the windows. The fresh breeze was a soothing change for her; she let the air in, not only in her room but also in her life. She realized how stupid she was to ruin her life for not so worthy people. She was not weak, she was not vulnerable, and she was not going to let a small incident ruin her. She called up her parents and broke the engagement, called up her boss and asked for leave for few weeks and booked the tickets for Goa, and she was not going to go alone. She was going with the people, who mattered to her the most. A family vacation was long due.

And there she was, from a weak, vulnerable and crying girl, she transformed into a mature, strong and independent lady. She need no man to make her feel wanted or beautiful, she need no man to make her realize her worth. She knew she is beautiful, she knew she is capable of handling any hardships which life gives, she knew what she deserves, and who deserves her nd she knew whatever happened, happened for the best.

Like the fresh breeze, she started her life afresh, with a promise to herself that she won’t ever give importance to unworthy people, she won’t ever question her worth, and she won’t ever give the control of her life to anyone else no matter what happens.

Emotions_Take 1

Staring at the walls, she saw her whole life pass by, her life which she had spent with HIM. She relived all the happy moments, cried at the sad moments, laughed at his funny antics which always made her stomach ache and lungs gasp for breath and blushed as she remembered him flirting. And the screen went blank, like a movie ending abruptly. Now there was just a blank wall, like a blank screen.

The walls, they knew all their secrets, yet they were quiet today. May be they knew the story has been left incomplete forever. They have been a witness to his death, they have been a witness to people covering him with a white shroud, they have been a witness to seeing him go to write a new story, and they have been a witness to see her crying and begging him to come back. And now they will be the witness to her death.

She twitched her lips as another tear rolled down her face and brought her back to the reality. She resolved to complete their story. Sudden warmth made her uncomfortable, yet she was happy, after all she was going to meet him. She waited for the smoke to engulf her in itself, bit by bit and then completely.

The walls were yet again a witness to a death but now even they were happy. They rejoiced at their reunion, for where the souls meet, lies the peace.

Amidst hell, he found his heaven...
Amidst gloom, he founds his happiness...
Amidst dark clouds, he found his sunshine...
Amidst chaos, he found his peace...
Amidst hatred, he found found his love...
entangled in a web of deceit, loneliness and selfishness...
He brought her out of the shambles and started a new journey...a journey to a new world...
And so they found a reason to live, a journey to look forward to and a destination to reach.