Predator (14 page)

‘One more thing, sir. The video surveillance cameras in her building have not been working for a long time so we don’t have anything there. Her credit card details over the past few weeks indicate nothing out of the ordinary except for the purchase of a new Smartphone a couple of weeks ago. As for the rest, we have fuel and grocery bill payments, laundry, clothes and jewellery. That’s all there on her credit card, but, by God, … ’ said the voice at the other end, as though saving the best for the last.

‘But what?’ prompted Inspector Khan wryly even before the officer could complete his statement, not expecting any more wisdom from his subordinate.

‘A nosey neighbour spotted an SUV in front of Grace’s house around the same time we suspect the abduction happened. It seems that the old bandicoot, Grace’s neighbour, happened to look out of the window when a large SUV pulled up in front of Grace’s house. She said Grace was a nice girl and she never had any strangers come to her house except for Chris … ’ said the officer, knowing fully well that this brownie point could help him secure a promotion.

‘The bastard!’ said Inspector Khan, as he stubbed out his cigarette, happy that there was a loose trail here, not just wind and gas from fancy gadgets using technology that seemed to work everywhere else but in India. ‘Keep at it, officer, we’ll bust them.
By God
!’

His faith in the good, old-fashioned approach to investigation was reinstated as he strode back inside.

Salmonella, Derek and Chief eagerly looked at Inspector Khan in anticipation. He made Derek sit up and take notice when he announced, ‘We have reason to believe that everyone in Joe’s vineyard, including Joe, is a suspect. Not you, of course, Salmonella! However, I cannot issue a search warrant to search the place for there is no evidence as such for me to consider that Grace is being held captive in there.’

‘So … what’s the next move?’ asked Chief, but Inspector Khan seemed strangely elusive.

‘Do me a favour. Check on that wax-butt DJ Prince for any drug connections, do a search on Chris while I do my Top-Cop job,’ said Inspector Khan in an official tone. ‘I need the details by tonight. I’ll see you folks later. Anything … just call me … anytime.’

They watched Inspector Khan go as Salmonella fired up the digital footprint tracking process on Chris and Prince. Her own brother, her boyfriend, her father and everybody around her with whom she grew up was now a suspect.

Chief felt sorry for Salmonella. He knew all this was especially hard on her. It seemed to him that Salmonella was yet to digest the possibility of the direct involvement of her own family in the heinous crime.

Salmonella could sense that Inspector Khan was not going to give up until he got to the bottom of it.

‘I’m not going to sit around here all day watching Salmonella surf while Grace suffers,’ said Chief, getting up. ‘Come with me, Derek. Let’s get out of here and let the lady do her job. I know she is unparalleled when it comes to tracking.’

Salmonella looked at Chief with respect and a smile of confidence crossed her face. After all, they were all in this together. They had to find Grace no matter what. In the meantime, she needed time and space to get her head around all the implications.

At Joe’s Vineyard

A timid knock on the door heralded the arrival of their breakfast. Ram Singh stood in the doorway bearing two trays of English breakfast complete with bacon, baked beans, eggs and toast. Hound had barely taken the trays from Ram Singh, when Goose, who was standing behind Hound, reached over and slammed the door shut on Ram Singh’s face.

‘Jesus! Not him again. That idiot forgot to bring me my ginger tea. I wonder why these jokers let him roam around in the vineyard without a leash!’ said Goose, unable to hide his irritation that was exacerbated by the lack of sleep.

Hound forced a laugh and said, ‘Let him be, he won’t bite. He’s just plain ugly, bro.’

There was a knock on the door again. It was Ram Singh again. Hound yanked it open and barked, ‘You’ve been told not to come here! Don’t you get the message, you idiot?’

‘Sorry, sir! A thousand apologies, but there are these two police officers who’d like a word with you … ’ said Ram Singh backing off. Two, lanky, tall plainclothesmen were standing by the steps on the porch. Hound waved the cops in. Goose led them to the sit out by the fishpond at the back of the villa. Hound snapped his fingers and signalled to Ram Singh to buzz off before joining Goose.

‘What’s up, officers, how can we help you?’ said Hound.

‘We’re from the Crime Branch, we work with Inspector Khan and had some questions for you about your sister, Mr Hound. By God! I’m sorry she’s missing. We’re all doing our best to find her soon.’

Goose saw the name inscribed on his badge. Officer Amar Singh, Khan’s right-hand man himself. It was evident that one was to do the talking while the other would study Hound’s reactions.

Officer Amar Singh was tall, lean-muscled and clean-shaven, with a timbre in his voice. He exuded authority.

‘I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, Mr Hound, but, by God! Grace isn’t exactly a dyed-in-the-wool saint as portrayed. We confiscated her Smartphone and MacBook Air and found several sordid pictures. We checked out her iCloud account as well. They’re really obscene, by God! Were you aware of this side to her?’ The guy in the dark sunglasses, the strong, silent one was intently studying Hound’s body language.

‘What are you talking about, officer?’ thundered Hound.

‘By God! Either you’re must be dumb or a really good actor, Mr Hound. Allow me to make myself crystal clear. Grace has hundreds of pictures of herself, naked and in compromising positions. By God! You can check them out yourself. She’s been sending them to someone via messages. Unfortunately, the recipient’s SIM card is also in her name and cannot be traced. By God! Are you aware of the people your sister is sleeping around with? Is she a porn star?’ asked Officer Amar Singh bluntly.

Goose wondered how Inspector Khan tolerated him. Had he been in his shoes, he would have thumped him every time he uttered the phrase ‘by God’, and called it an act of God, by God!

‘What are you talking about, officer? That’s preposterous! Grace is a sweet, decent woman. I’m sure there is a mistake somewhere!’ replied Hound appalled.

‘By God! A sweet, decent woman doesn’t exactly take naked pictures of her body while feeling herself and acting like a slut, wouldn’t you agree, Mr Hound?’ said Officer Amar Singh, looking Hound straight in the eye. Hound was speechless.

Not even in their wildest dreams could they have imagined Grace like that. Hound felt the world crumbling around him as the officer handed him an iPad with lurid pictures of Grace. Goose was stunned as well, but stayed put and silent.

Hound looked devastated and bewildered, and Amar Singh continued, ‘We’ve gone through her online activity before coming here, Mr Hound, so listen up. Any clues can only be useful in finding her. By God! We have complete details of her friends and all the people with whom she interacted on a regular basis.’

Hound listened intently; he felt utterly defeated.

‘We know her hobbies, her vital statistics, her relationship status and all the places she’s ever been. What’s more, we know her likes and dislikes, her taste in music, movies, books and her digital trail leads to someone very perverted, crooked and highly intelligent. By God! Do you know of anyone who could possibly harm her, given her smutty profile?’

Hound was studying the floor. To Goose it was evident Amar Singh was not out to malign Grace, and he was confident that they knew that Hound knew nothing. This was just a briefing, not an inquisition.

‘We’ve sliced and diced her profile, By God! We’ve a record of every click she’s made online and the web pages she visited in the past six months. We have used advanced image-recognition software to analyse all her online pictures to conclusively state that it was indeed Grace. By God! You’d be surprised to learn that we even know that she’s gained two kilos in the last three months,’ said Officer Amar Singh.

‘How can you be so confident that it is Grace you’re talking about, officer?’ Goose was surprised that the cops were so tech-savvy.

‘Well, Mr Goose, Grace never used any software like
‘Ghostery’
or
‘DoNotTrackMe’
on Facebook. By God! Her Facebook account was therefore an open book. She never used the
‘InPrivate’
mode while browsing. By God! We do know what we’re talking about. Grace was, sorry, is of questionable character and she’s brought this calamity on herself. Do you have any information that could help us find her?’ asked Amar Singh.

Goose was stumped, and Hound stayed silent.

‘Well, I’ll leave our cards here so you can contact us if you can think of anything. Or, you could contact Inspector Khan directly. I suppose the word “immoral” is not in the lexicon of your generation,’ added Amar Singh as a sarcastic parting shot. ‘Let’s go’, he said to his colleague and they left.

Goose showed the police officers out, as Hound lit up a cigarette. A deluge of childhood memories engulfed him. He’d failed as a brother and had lost that sweet, innocent kid.

‘Let’s have breakfast and then go for a run, bro, around the vineyard. Life isn’t all black and white. It doesn’t make Grace a bad person; some human garbage had led her astray … ’ said Goose, patting Hound on his back as he despondently stubbed out his cigarette.

‘Let’s jog towards the graveyard,’ said Hound, still shaken by what he’d heard and seen. ‘It’s probably the place where I should be right now.’

Goose harrumphed.

It was a fine day, and a mild whiff of eucalyptus hung in the morning mist in the woods as their jogging route approached the graveyard on a narrow dirt track. Birds chirped in the massive banyan trees around the cemetery and a gentle breeze stirred the leaves.

Goose made his way towards the place where Monica’s body was found. Hound sat on a grave from where the police markings of the body’s location were clearly visible. Goose touched the ground where Monica’s battered body was found, as though seeking psychic vibrations. Hound looked around, still dazed.

‘I’ve just had a brainwave, bro,’ exclaimed Goose. ‘Screw the cyber trail. I’ve got a hunch that Monica can show us the way. I’ve got a feeling that Grace is still alive. Quick! Let’s call Inspector Khan, I need to talk to him. Call Chief and Derek as well,’ Goose was incandescent with excitement.

Monica’s Diary

Inspector Khan listened intently to Goose as he talked about Monica leading them to Grace. Experience had taught him to use an unconventional tactic – to shock people who, although weren’t on his suspect list, were known to the victim – this strategy sometimes produced results and he managed to shake loose invaluable clues.

His idea of sending his men to flabbergast Hound and Goose seemed to have paid off. There was no right or wrong in this approach, Inspector Khan reckoned, as long as he was able to save a life. He first needed to make sure that these four were not involved and could be trusted.

‘Come to my office right away, Goose. I just left Salmonella’s office, Chief and Derek should still be with her. Round them up and bring them along. Tell Hound this is not the time to judge his sister.’

By the end of the hour, Inspector Khan was busy flipping through the pages of Monica’s diary for leads. Goose was right; unlike Grace, Monica was more of an offline person and maintained a diary. The modus operandi of the Predator with Monica would have been the same as with Grace.

The pattern matched when it came to sharing nude photographs – a borrowed SIM card, a lost Smartphone with location services disabled and the geo-position of the last call from the SIM made to the victim had pointed to Joe’s vineyard. He had the facts confirmed by the telephone service provider.

Because of lack of sufficient evidence at the time, the court had refused to provide an arrest warrant, so Khan had to cool his heels and wait for the next opportunity to arrest Chris or Joe.

As he reached the last page of the notes in Monica’s diary, he was surprised to find the stark similarities. It read: ‘He’s very handsome, sophisticated and chivalrous. I can never forget the night at the Club when he swept me off my feet.’

Inspector Khan hated the Club. He knew it was a den of drugs. As he reviewed his mental notes, his list of suspects formed inside his head. Chris was the addict who bought dope at the Club. Prince had something to do with the supply. Joe was shielding his prodigal son. The Club was the place where it all began for all the victims.

Perhaps Ram Singh knew something about it. But it was still too early to pin anything on them from the standpoint of the law. He figured that he would line them up for interrogation when he knew a bit more. Although what he had now was way more than what others knew.

He handed the diary to Goose and left the room. Outside, he opened his old leather wallet and looked at the picture of a pretty, five-year-old girl. Her name was Celina, the light of his life.

He remembered how Celina, a minor, was savagely raped and her body left to rot in the dense woods for days. Wild dogs and vultures had mutilated the remains for several days before it was even found. He hadn’t had the courage to find out how long she had suffered in the hands of the rapist before being killed.

If he found the culprit, he wouldn’t bring them to justice, but mete out justice his way. Civil laws may work in a civil society. Rape is a barbaric act, nothing civil about it. Inspector Khan knew that he was alive today to ensure the Predator met his Maker in the most horrible manner possible.

Fate had brought him to this town, destiny had taken Celina away from him. His soul had died with Celina. The ringing of his cell phone broke into his musings.

The voice at the other end spoke, ‘A small-time dry cleaner at the outskirts of the town reported a very tired-looking man who’d woken him up early in the morning to drop off a couple of tee-shirts, two jackets, and two of pairs of jeans for laundry. He says that the man looked sleep-deprived and had scratch marks on his face.’

Inspector Khan’s eyes lit up as he heard his officer speak. ‘Tell me more! Tell me we have a lead here!’