The rest of the day was passed without anything unusual. Ravindra was busy in his routine work after Satya left the station. It was 7 pm and suddenly Ravindra felt a hunch in his gut that there is something bad about to happen. The thought took the shape of a firm doubt and the door of his cabin was flung open. The constable came in with a horror-struck face and told sir, ‘Gayatri Maa was murdered in her own home.’ Ravindra’s heart missed a beat. He just stood up from his chair and almost mechanically followed the constable towards his jeep.
He called Satya while he was going to Gayatri Maa’s home. For a second Satya could not believe her ears. One more murder, what is happening to this beautiful town. She quickly called her team members and started towards the location given by Ravindra. Ravindra reached there and he felt something. Every atom of air was stunned and there was some inexplicable gloom around the house. He entered the house. It was an old house with two storeys and a big garden before the house. There was absolutely no sound and Ravindra could hear his own heart racing 100 miles an hour. The body was found by her servant. So, Ravindra asked him the usual questions to the servant. Deep down his heart he knew that nothing useful will be revealed so he was not paying any attention and was eagerly waiting for Satya for apparently no reason. But his heart was yearning her presence.
Satya came in from the front gate and her eyes were looking for Ravindra. Four eyes met and a little nudge of heads and both walked towards the room where the crime was committed. The room was at the last of the house and the windows were towards the jungle. A strange thought hit Ravindra’s mind that Suraj Sinh’s room was similar. A distinct burning smell pushed this thought away and they entered the room. The body was tied up to the bed and both hands and legs were tied apart. There were numerous burn marks on the body and the smell of burning flesh was still there. A red-hot rod was shoved inside Gayatri Maa’s mouth. Both her lips and the skin around the lips and chicks was burnt badly and pieces of skins were hanging via some thin veins. Satya could not see and hid her face in Ravindra’s chest. Ravindra was still looking at the rod. The rod was pushed inside the mouth so hard that there was a whole at back of the skull and pillow cover was visible through that whole.
Gayatri Maa suffered enormous trauma before she was killed. It seemed like a personal vendetta. But who could have a vendetta against such an old woman? Satya’s forensic team started to collect the evidences from the room and to take pictures of entire crime scene. None of them ever witness such cruelty in their entire careers. Almost everyone puked inside but no body dared to say anything. Ravindra thought something and went to look outside the window. The entire jungle was blanketed with darkness. The entire area was calm as if it were stunned to witness such gruesome act. As soon as Ravindra turned back, two red eyes were visible on a nearby tree which were constantly staring Ravindra’s back. Ravindra felt that too but he did not look back immediately. He walked towards Satya and whispered, ‘look outside the window and tell me what you see?’
Satya walked casually towards the window and glanced outside the window. For a split second she thought that she saw two red eyes. Satya blinked her eyes and whoosh there was nothing. She tried to look thoroughly but could not find anything. She came back to Ravindra and said,’ there is nothing there. I saw some animal on the tree, but it was not there, probably my illusion. Both walked out but with a million thoughts in mind. Satya asked, ‘What do you think Ravindra? Who can do something like this? This is inhuman. How can someone torture an old lady like this?’ Ravindra was also in the same dilemma and did not know what to reply. He said, ‘Should I drop you?’ Satya felt happy but did not show case any feeling and just nodded. Ravindra asked the constable to send the body for post-mortem and he started the engine. It did not start. The jeep vibrated a little but no ignition. It was strange, the jeep was serviced only yesterday. After the third try, it started, and they started towards her home. They reached home in a while, but nobody dared to say a single word to each other. It was a bad omen and may be a series of many horrific nights. Ravindra asked her to come to station tomorrow and left. Satya was just standing there, expected a different see off but she did not get that. With a deep sigh, she went inside her home.
She took a bath just to shake down all the feelings or memories of that scene which was carved deep into her mind. As she came out of bathroom, her doorbell rang. Her heart sank. It was 11 o’clock. Who can be there at this odd time? She was sweating as if she were in a very hot room. Her heart was beating so fast that it could come out of her chest anytime. With a shaking sound, she asked, ‘who is it?’ Ravindra said, ‘It is me, Ravindra.’
Satya could not believe her ears and asked again, ‘Is that really you Ravindra?’ Ravindra said yes and she opened the door. She could not control herself and just hugged him tightly. Ravindra pampered her for a while and asked, ‘Can I seat now with a naughty smile on his face?’ She let go him and said yes. Let me bring the board in, said Ravindra. He brought the board in and put in the drawing room. Ravindra asked for a cup of coffee and started to put the collected information on the board. Soon, Satya came back with two cup of coffees and looked at the board. Now there are three victims on the board. Ravindra was scratching his brain very hard to find the motive or any connections among the victims. Suddenly, he remembered a detail from his conversation with Gayatri Maa’s servant. She used to work for Suraj Sinh but stopped working for him around 15 to 17 years ago. That was the first clue…
Will this clue help Ravindra to find out the killer? Or this will deepen the mystery more? To know all the answers please read the next part. Please provide rating and reviews whenever possible. Thanks.
