Whodunit - Chapter 19 - Prerna's findings

I don’t know when I fell asleep. I woke up with a start and checked my watch. It was going to be a long day.

Over breakfast I opened the newspaper, to find Rajat Sinha’s face smiling at me. The newspaper was full of his achievements. Luckily, the newspaper guys hadn’t gotten hold of any details yet. But it wouldn’t be too long, I was sure of that. There was also a small column dedicated to the scene that had taken place at the morgue yesterday. Smruti’s face had been plastered on the front page as she had walked away from the morgue, angry that she had been denied access to Rajat. Mrs. Sinha had struck a tragic pose, exactly as one would expect a new widow to be. Krupe Krupa Mitwe made a small appearance, nothing too significant.

Shammi and I made our way downhill again. This was turning out to be a regular affair. Prerna’s office was our first stop.

Prerna was just stepping out. She smiled tiredly at us.

“Did you go home last night?” Shammi asked her.

“I promised you I’ll have the results for you.” She smiled. “Come on in, I’ll give you a brief overview.”

Before Shammi could protest and send Prerna home I walked in. I had already spent one night with the reports. Totally wasn’t in the mood to read any more.

“Ok.. So lets start with Smruti’s apartment.” She said once we were inside her office. “The blood on the phone, is indeed Rajat’s. No doubts there. The blood on the t-shirt is also Rajat’s. But..” She paused for effect. “This was not what the murderer was wearing while he or she stabbed Rajat Sinha.”

“Then?” I hadn’t believed Smruti was the murderer anyway.

“The blood splatter a stab would make is utterly different from what we found on the t-shirt. I mean, not much blood would come on the murderer and even if does, it would be in the form of droplets which splash on impact with the murderer’s body. But the stains we have on this the t-shirt, I could bet my month’s salary that the t-shirt was thrown on Rajat Sinha’s body so that it absorbs some of his blood.”

“So it’s a set up?” Someone had planned this so meticulously, but missed out on details like this.

“100%..” Prerna moved on to the other item which her team had found, the wallet.

“There’s no cash in it,” She said. “But the credit cards are here, not sure if all of them are, you have to check that, but there’s no currency note. A man like Rajat Sinha, would, at any time have some cash on him, don’t you think? Also.. I found some hair on the wallet..”

My heart beat quickened, “That’s great!”

“Not so fast.. Its animal hair.. Maybe our killer had a pet?” She suggested.

“Anyway,” she continued, “The car.. I spoke to Mrs. Sinha, and I over stepped my authority a little. I asked her a couple of questions.”

She gave me a quick glance. I shrugged, as long as she was helping with the investigation, I didn’t have a problem with it.

“She said the car was Rajat’s, but since her car had gone for servicing and Rajat’s car was available, she has been using his car. Rajat’s car keys aren’t there. Maybe in the same key ring as Smruti’s house keys? She moved some stuff out of the boot when she started using the car. I took everything and got it with me. It contained a gym bag. With some woman’s clothing. I asked Mrs. Sinha, she didn’t know anything about it. I am still working on that, but I think it’s Smruti’s stuff. Maybe the t-shirt came from there. And ya.. I analyzed the soil sample you got me. Its from the same area. But I guess you already knew that.”

She yawned suddenly..

“That’s all I have for you people right now.” She said apologetically.

“This is great stuff Prerna.” I was genuinely impressed by her skills. She blushed a little.

I sent Shammi to drop Prerna home. I myself, got ready to tackle the lawyers.

Whodunit - Chapter 18 - The Reports

I quickly hung up.

“It’s Krupa’s residence.” I told Shammi.

“Oh! Wow, this just keeps getting better and better.” Shammi said with a grim smile.

I nodded. I put the phone records aside and opened the detective’s report.

If Mrs. Sinha had hired the detective in order to get a divorce, she had nothing. I browsed through various pictures of Smruti and Rajat Sinha. All could raise a doubt about their relationship, but Rajat Sinha could claim their friendship was simply platonic. According to the report, nobody had ever seen Rajat Sinha near Smruti’s apartment. But Smruti had told us that Rajat Sinha had a key to her apartment.

The discrepancies were glaring. Either the detective had not done a good job or the report which Mrs. Sinha had seen had been edited. How Mrs. Sinha knew that Rajat was fooling around with Smruti was a mystery to me.

Woman’s intuition maybe.

Some other pictures showed Rajat Sinha with a young girl. His daughter, maybe. There was no picture of the son.

“What do you think about this whole mess?” Shammi asked, breaking the silence in the room.

“I don’t know Shammi.  I can’t even tell if it’s a planned murder or a crime of passion.”

“Yeah. None of it makes sense. You think money has something to do with it?”

“Possible. Tomorrow we’ll meet up with Rajat Sinha’s lawyers. Maybe things will be clearer then. ” I had my hopes pined on the will. Rajat’s recent will change could be a reason why he was murdered.

“What bothers me is, if the killer was dumping everything on Smruti.. Why not leave the keys? Why take Rajat’s keys?” Shammi asked suddenly.

I pondered thoughtfully. “You think he left something there? Something that might identify him? Maybe he just forgot?” The possibilities were endless. Regardless, I called the team we had left behind at Smruti’s place and asked them to stay vigil.

Tomorrow we would visit also Krupa Mitwe and her kids. I was very interested in knowing about their whereabouts on Thursday night. That night I stayed up. Statistics say that if a homicide is not solved within 48 hours, the chances of it ever getting solved reduce by 80%.

We had already had a delay of two week.

Whodunit - Chapter 17 - The Phone Records

“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…”

Whodunit - Chapter 16 - The Anonymous Caller

I shook my head. Things were not looking good for Smruti. After the blood soaked t-shirt we found the wallet, also under the bed.

“I don’t know how..” Smruti pleaded with us.

Prerna pulled out her phone and called her team “On the double!” she ordered over the phone.

“What does this mean for me?” Smruti was visibly scared now.

“What did you do after your dinner with Rajat Sinha?” I was praying she had a rock solid alibi.

“I came home and slept.” I sighed.

“It’s time you get yourself a lawyer.” I wanted to help her. I knew someone was setting her up. She didn’t seem like a fool. She could have easily disposed off Rajat’s things in the ten days period. Someone, on the other hand, had saved it. For this very purpose.

“Oh my god!” She covered her mouth with her hand.

“Is there anyone who might want to hurt you? Financially or otherwise?” I already knew the answer.

“Tara.”

I nodded. We would have to do a thorough check of Mrs. Sinha’s whereabouts that night.

Prerna’s team arrived and took over. Smruti, was extremely cooperative and signed all the documents that would permit us to search through her house.

“The key is still missing.” I suddenly remembered. “Its better you stay somewhere safer tonight.”

Smruti nodded and rushed to the phone.

“You really think the killer will come back?” Shammi asked me.

“No, but who knows. As long as the key is with him, she’s in potential danger.”

There was nothing more for us to do there. Shammi and I decided to meet the guy who had called about the stench. He was a college student who was very very reluctant to talk to us.

I was not surprised. He reeked of alcohol and substance. He seemed to be sober though. He grimaced when he saw Shammi.

“Oh man! I already told you everything!” he started walking away.

“Not quite, I have a few questions, uh..” I looked at Shammi.

“Jagdish..” Shammi helped out.

Jagdish didn’t bother. He kept walking, “I don’t have to talk to you, I know my rights.”

I sighed. “Then I’ll have to arrest you and ask you questions.” I called out after him.

That stopped him. “Oh yeah, arrest me for what?” He turned around, and started walking towards me meaningfully.

“Peddling drugs.” I said calmly. His eyes shifted towards his bag.

“That’s right, I know what’s in your bag. Now we can do this my way, and get over with the questioning or we can wait till Shammi gets an arrest warrant for you and question you at the station. What would you prefer?”

All steam went out of him. His shoulders slumped. I had dealt with drug users before.

“Make it quick.” Jagdish was trying salvage his pride. He put his arm around his bag protectively. I didn’t care. That was someone else’s problem.

“You got to the church often?”

“Yep.” Jagdish pulled out a cigarette. I frowned. Jagdish gulped and put it back inside.

“What were you doing there? The night you reported the stench?” Jagdish smiled and pointed at the bag.

“And when did you see the Scorpio?”

“Look, I don’t know.. a week ago, two weeks ago, who keeps track of these things?” He answered casually.

“This is important Jagdish.” I said seriously. He thought for a while. “I think it was last Thursday. Yep.. it was.. I remember because I had a exam the next day, so I left early.”

I calculated mentally. Exactly ten days ago.

“And you’re confident that Rajat Sinha was driving?”

“Who??” I looked at Shammi.. he shook his head and took out a picture of Rajat Sinha and showed it to Jagdish. He barely glanced at the photo.

“Yep. That’s him.”

“How can you be so sure?” I pushed the photo in his face to make him take a second glance.

“Because! He was too old to be there! I thought he’s someone’s father busting in on them!”

Dhruv or Aarti.