“Was anyone with him?”
“Not that I could tell, but it was dark. I could be wrong. Can I go now?” Jagdish asked impatiently.
I nodded, “Come down to the station tomorrow and sign on your statement.”
Jagdish rolled his eyes.
“Don’t make me come down here looking for you,” I said sharply, “Get it?”
Jagdish walked away. I knew he would come, he was too scared to disobey.
“One thing I don’t understand Chetan.” Shammu Shammi had been standing in the background quietly listening to our talk.
I looked at him questioningly.
“Do you really think the killer drove back in Rajat’s car?”
“Yes, everything points to that. He knew where Smruti stayed, he knew where Rajat Sinha stayed. He knew him. This was no random murder.”
“Could be a she..” Shammi interjected.
I nodded. “Could be. We should ask Prerna’s team to take a look at the car too.”
Shammi was on the phone before the sentence left my mouth.
We got in touch with Rajat’s Sinha’s service provider. They were very forthcoming with his phone records. News had already reached them that Rajat Sinha had been murdered. The manager even recognized me from my picture in the local newspaper.
We decided to head back home after that. It was already dark and I hadn’t read a single report completely. Before I spoke to more people, I wanted to get my basic facts right. Shammi drove that night, while I studied the phone records.
The records showed no incoming and outgoing activity for the past week. No calls were answered. Switched off maybe? But Smruti had called a couple of times and the phone went unanswered. I made a mental note to get her phone records too to check when was the last time she called.
I browsed the week before that. Till Thursday, heavy activity. Calls mostly, as expected from a business man. And on Thursday night, everything stopped.
Rajat had received a call from someone around 9. Just like Smruti had said.
I thought for a moment and the pulled out my cellphone and dialed the number. The phone rang twice and then I heard a woman’s voice:
“Hi, you’ve reached the Mitwe's. We’re not in right now. Please leave a message…”
