Clueless- I

The police cars were drooling around the streets back and forth in a limitless speed. The pollution that was being caused by that noise of those sirens couldn’t be described with words.

The whole locality of Shantinagar was wide awake at one in the morning. Everyone was well wondering what had happened. The night was still young but the people were scared to death.

All the police vans with their screeching tires stopped at the end of the road. The house was named under Mrs. Hema Kharel.

The scene was that there were two corpse lying on the floor still as if they had ignored the world since a long time, supposedly of a man and a lady. A little child of around 1-2 years was crying loitering with the corpses with her hand and looked like she was asking them to wake up. The kitchen area was covered with blood. It seemed like the murder weapon was a sharp object, most probably a knife.

The corpses were in their night dresses filled with blood now. There was some warm milk on the table, probably for the child.

The living room was untouched as well as the other rooms of the house. The neighbor, Ms. Nupur Shah heard some screaming from the house and called the cops.

The bodies found, were of Mr. and Mrs. Kharel and their daughter, Jigyasha, was on the crime scene.

They must have known the murderer as there were no struggles seen as there were no other injuries. The officials were collecting the fingerprint from the crime scene.

The number of people gathered outside the house was increasing with time, though it was late in the night. The media was as always ahead of everyone else, was making up their news.

“They spared the child. Thank God.”

“I hope the one who killed dies.”

“I always had suspicion that the family was weird and now, this happened.”

The murmurs of the crowd could be heard in a distance.

“Take care of that child. Assign someone. Feed her. Take her away from here. She must have seen the murderer but call it my fucking luck, she can barely speak or interpret.” The police officer stormed out of the house.

“And call their relatives. Mother. Father. Brother. Anyone. Let them know. And grab some pictures. Look for any finger prints. It’s a fucking murder. Get serious for fuck’s sake boys.” He ordered.

“And get the media away from my fucking face.” He seemed to be fired up.

He took out a cigarette and lighted it and inhaled some nicotine inside to show the way out for his tensions. 

“Sir, I’ve contacted the brother of the dead man. He’ll be arriving soon.” One of the guys reported.

“If they are done with the pictures, send the body for post-mortem. And do not let anyone enter the crime scene.” The police officer ordered again.

The cameraman came over to the police officer with some photos. “Take a look, Mann.”

“There are no signs of forced entry. The blood could be seen on the kitchen and not anywhere else.” They both gazed at the picture.

“I caught some part of the shoe tracks, but it’s only a part. Maybe it could help.” The photographer added.

“Everything seems to be in its place. No signs of burglary. Call the lady who called us. I need to ask her some questions.” Detective Mann said.

Ms. Nupur was a young lady, struggling in her undergraduate degree. She would often sleep late at night, indulging herself with the fictional world of novels and movies.

She came forward and stood behind Mann.

“What were you doing late at night?” He asked her facing his back.

She couldn’t respond properly as she was shocked not to receive some politeness from the officer.

“I was um just about to um complete my….novel.” She felt nervous.

“Tell me what happened in detail.” This time he faced towards her but he looked serious and frightening.

“I was just reading this novel and I heard some scream outside. It seemed like some lady was screaming. I didn’t seem to care at first. People usually get in the mood this time of the night. You know what I meant.” She said with a sly smile on her face.

“Then after a minute, I heard a man scream. I looked through the window. It was pitch dark with only a glimpse of light on their window. After a minute, I saw some people, probably more than one, sneaking out of this house, bashing the door. They ran away in a bike. I could hear the bike start.” She added.

“I thought something was wrong. I’ve heard them fighting but I felt different this time and called the cops.” She further added.

An officer came from inside with some reports in his hand.

“Yes Jha, What is it?” Mann responded.

“He was a software engineer. The wife worked in some kind of bank but she was on leave for some days. Her neighbors said so.” Jha replied.

Mann, facing back towards the lady, “ So you mean to say, they fight often?”

“Yes sometimes, but that’s normal in a married life, I think so um..” The lady replied.

“You may leave. Thanks.” Mann ended the talk harshly.

Ms. Nupur walked back towards her parents and they went back to their house.

Mann was intervened by a phone call. He took out his phone from the pocket. He could see “Home” on the screen. He decided to ignore the call.

“Sir, the victim’s brother is here.” One of the officers said.

“Take him inside the house. I’ll be there in a minute.” Mann responded.

“And send these crowds away. They are fucking distracting.” He added.

He again took out his phone and typed, “Can’t talk. Stuck in a case. Sleep well.” And sent it to his wife.

Mann Kumar has been serving the police for about eleven years. He was in his early forties with his yellowish color skin and a rough tone, helped him reach where he was, right now. The hair was all dyed black, with his stocky body. He was fond of smoking. He was married for almost nine years now and had a seven year old daughter.

It’s been only two years that he was promoted as a detective. The pressure that came up with the job had affected a lot in his personal life. The family was together only because of their child.

They had parted ways in silence but couldn’t express it through words. His parents died in an accident five years ago, and he was their single child. Basically he had no one left except these police cases and an almost stranded family.

A man looked like in late thirties, all dressed in black, with his slippers on was sited inside the van. He had a thick gold chain hanging on his neck. The moustache was clearly showing his manhood and there were few drops of sweat rolling down his forehead, reflecting his nervousness.

“So you are the victim’s brother?” Mann asked.

“Yes. Yes, sir. I’m Madhav Kharel, his brother.” He replied.

He was shedding some tears but at the same time, was trying his best to stay still and control himself.

“I am sorry for your loss. But it’s a formality here. I hope you understand.” Jha started with the questions.

“Set aside your melodrama and ask that man some useful shits. We need to end this case soon. I can’t even open my eyes. Too damn sleepy.” Mann intervened.

Mann lighted another cigarette and sat there in one corner.

“What did your brother and his wife do?” Jha asked.

“He was.. a software engineer in um..uh.. Jinx Technologies. He used to do some stuffs, I have no idea. What he used to do.” He was blabbering weird things to himself.

“Calm down, sir. Someone, get him some water.” Jha signaled his officials.

He gulped the water in a single shot. He took a deep breath and somewhat looked like he was back to his senses.

“Now tell me what did your sister in law do?” Jha shot him with another question as soon as he looked normal.

“She worked in a bank, Gramin Bank, I think so.” He replied.

“You don’t fuckin’ remember where your elder brother and his wife work. What kind of asshole brother are you?” Mann shouted in anger.

“Mann, please. Just stop now. Don’t lose your senses now. Just wait outside for now. Let me handle this.” Jha tried to calm him down.

“Handle it. I am off for tonight. We’ll continue with this tomorrow.” Mann walked towards his vehicle.

“And bring me those reports and pictures from the crime scene in my car.” He ordered one of his officers.

Jha entered the van and started interrogating Madhav again. The night was almost bidding goodbye for the sunrise to be welcomed.

Mann reached his home almost at four in the morning. He tried his best not to wake up anyone and carefully made his way to the drawing room in snail’s pace.

He threw his coat on the small bed there and placed the reports and files on the table.

He then switched on his table lamp and took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit one. He fixated his eyes on the reports and the pictures, to see if he could find a breakthrough.

The cellphone in his coat pocket started to vibrate and shove away his focus. It was Jha calling.

“I knew you wouldn’t sleep. Find anything on those reports?” Jha asked.

“Nope. You? Did the brother become any useful?” Mann tried his best to keep his voice as low as possible.

“Kind of. The man, Jayant worked as a software engineer and the lady as a banker, as you know. Their daughter, Jigyasha was the sole witness of the murder. The mother had taken some days leave until she finds someone to take care of her child. The brother was a loner, no children; his wife died in less than a year after their marriage from some fatal disease. He didn’t marry then. Their parents were all dead, so they were the only people left for him as a family.” Jha replied.

“I, again went to Ms. Nupur, hoping to get any useful information and she said that someone, most probably Jayant came home only half an hour before she heard someone scream.” Jha added before Mann could respond anything.

“How can she be sure that it was Jayant?” Mann asked.

“Exactly the same question, I asked her. She heard, shutter of the garage opened and someone park the car.” Jha said.

“That means, maybe the murderer was following him and waited for the right moment to strike. The wife was just a wrong person in a wrong place.” Mann thought for a while and replied.

“So did you check the car? We may find something.” Mann said quickly. He couldn’t keep his voice lower this time because of the curiosity evolving inside.

“I am right outside the garage. Thought you would wanna search together. You love doing this.” Jha said.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Mann ended the call.

He took his coat from the bed, gathered the reports and how could he forget those precious cigarettes. He exited the house slowly. It was almost five and the glimpses of the start of a new day was about to be seen.

He threw all his belongings in the backseat and got inside the car and drove away. In the other room, his wife was wide awake, making no noise and pretending like she didn’t exist. It seemed like she was up from the time when he got back home.