Seems like everyone wanted him dead. Krupa’s statement did not bother me, Mrs. Sinha had expressed more or less the same views. Prerna though, was shocked. She passed me a quick glance so as to say, Did you hear that?
I nodded and turned to Krupa, “Yes he is. Very much so.”
Krupa smiled softly, “Thank you Inspector.” She looked positively delighted with the news. As she walked out, she pulled out her cell phone, probably to share the good news.
Mrs. Sinha dropped all her pretenses of being the widow and asked impatiently, “Now can I see the body?”
Prerna, who had barely recovered from Krupa Mitwe’s behavior, stared at Mrs. Sinha’s with her eyes open wide. The change in Mrs. Sinha’s demeanor was dramatic.
“Mrs. Sinha, how did those two get to know about Mr. Sinha’s death?” I was sure nobody from my team had told them.
She smiled coyly, “How am I supposed to know that?”
I didn’t believe her, but I had no choice. I led her into the morgue and showed her the body. We needed a family member to confirm the identity.
Most people are nervous and apprehensive about what they might get to see in a morgue. Not Mrs. Sinha. She looked comfortable in the morbid surroundings.
She took one long look at the corpse in front of her. “That’s him.” She said softly. She reached out to touch him, but checked herself midway.
Maybe there was some attachment in the relationship after all, I thought. She turned around suddenly, “What next?” Her cool composure had taken over again.
I sent her outside, to fill up some forms before she could claim the body. Prerna followed her. She too had noticed the sudden glimpse of emotion on Mrs. Sinha’s face.
I turned to leave when Dr. Mahajan walked in.
“Didn’t expect to see you here.” She said.
“I came with Prerna.”
“Oh!” An awkward silence ensued.
“So..” She was trying to cover the silence in the morgue. “Did you read the report I sent to your office?”
“No..” I looked at her confused. “What reports?”
“The complete autopsy report..” She saw the expression on my face. “Okay.. don’t think you have read it. Call me if you have any queries.” She turned to leave. She took one last look at Rajat Sinha and said “You know, I feel sorry for him.”
“Because he was murdered?” I asked.
“Partly, but mostly because of how he died.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s obvious that first he was drugged with something. He died because of that.”
I nodded. This part I already knew.
“Then, someone stabbed him, in a vertical motion. To do that, someone would practically be sitting on him!”
I wasn’t following her. “I don’t understand Supriya.”
“Okay, see..” She pulled out a pen from her pocket. “Suppose this was a knife, and I was to attack you while you were standing,” She drew a rough diagram for me.“The blade would leave a gash, going either from left to right or from right to left, depending on the murderer’s dexterity. But the wounds on Rajat’s body, they are like a..” She struggled to find the right word, “pin pricks, only bigger in size. The blade has just pierced his body, no trails. Understood?”I nodded. I didn’t know what to do with that piece of information though.
“Also,” she was in full flow now, in her element. “I think after he was dead for some time, he was turned over. Or maybe he rolled over. Was he found somewhere near an inclined surface?”
I shook my head. There was no way Rajat Sinha could have rolled over to where we had found him.
“Why do you think he was rolled over after some time?” it was obvious someone had rolled him over because of the way we had found him, arms tucked in neatly under the body. What interested me was that Supriya was suggesting the killer had come back!
“His liver,” She said thoughtfully. “It was ruptured by the stabbing. If he was turned over immediately, most of the bile would have trickled outside his body. But the amount of bile we found coagulated inside his body was significant. I am guessing he was turned over after 3-4 hours.”
I tried to digest that piece of information when a frantic Prerna rushed in interrupting our discussion. “You better come quick!”
“What’s wrong?” Supriya reacted before I did.
“The media..” Prerna said panting heavily, “they are here!”
She was telling the reporters what a great misfortune it was that a great man like Rajat 
“That’s great! Bring him in; I have a few questions for him.” My mind was thinking furiously, now we had a witness who could place Mrs. Sinha in the area where we found her husband’s body.
