Trixy and The Crescent Of Rana

CHAPTER 27: NANCY STRIKES

Ezhil gathered her copies of the applicant list from her drawer beneath the TV and handed them over to Nancy. Maahir picked out their victims from the lot and highlighted them to Nancy.

"Those are the three unfortunate victims of the serial killer we are after," he said, "All three of them had applied through a particular firm, Pearl agencies & Co, and were ready go abroad to work. What bewilders us is why he didn't bother the so many others in the list and stuck up with this lot. What is so remarkable about these three that he had to hand pick them for his cause? If you can find that out, it would be the real breakthrough for us. The case might even end with it."

"Oh, sounds interesting," she said, rubbing her palms enthusiastically, "Give me the whole file. Let me see."

She set herself comfortably on the single cot and started to pore over the papers earnestly, hardly blinking, for the next forty minutes or so. She spread out the sheets in a sporadic maze on the bed, circled here and there, shuffled them now and then, and kept the other two fervently heedful. Ezhil bit all her nails clean and Maahir peered over constantly in the gaps he could find in between.

"I think I've found what you want," she said finally, looking up, quite proudly.

Maahir stared at her in utter disbelief before saying, "You mean you found out what made him choose the three specifically?"

"I think," she said, "the better question is what made him rule out everyone else except these three. This list is in the order of their registration. Let's say we label your first victim as number 1. Then, your second comes at 23 and third at 52. And with every number in-between, I perceive, the killer faced some obstacle with killing them.

For example, in-between 1 and 23, five numbers – 4,5,9,12 and 17 are not dwelling in Vinpur. It would have been hard for him to track these guys and kill them, if he himself is residing in Vinpur and thus they were discarded.

Similarly, a few have formidable atrial abilities, like one man here, a Raja, is a teleporter and another is a Skull with exceptional military record. Surely, he wouldn't want to pick a bone with a soldier. A few more are neither attending college nor in a job currently. So, it's highly unlikely for these guys to come out regularly for him to kill.

Now there are only two more ambivalent guys in the list. At first, I was thinking maybe my approach was wrong. But with a little more scrutiny, I found out why these two got lucky too. They both live inside the NIACT campus."

"You mean they both study at NIACT?" asked Ezhil, wondering what it could possibly have to do with the killer.

"No," she said, "The number of students who actually study at NIACT is very small compared to the entire population residing in there. There are even two schools in the area itself. It's a mini ecosystem inside. Moreover, it's under the control of central government and security is several layers tighter. The killer was quite sensible to rule out these two guys. Now, once we strike down all the guys who fit in anyone of the four categories I mentioned above, only three members are left – 1, 23 and 52, your three victims."

"You are a genius!!" cried Ezhil, after a suspended pause, kissed her on the cheeks ferociously and hugged her hard till she choked. Nancy was swelling with pride and elation too but managed to act all humble and modest and throw a stoic shrug at their seemingly never-ending exaltation.

"Nancy," said Maahir, feeling quite high already, "That means we can predict who is going to be the next victim from the list too, right?"

"Yeah, no brainer, really," she said, grinning smugly, "Give me a sec. 53, no job. 54, not a resident here. 55 ......... Ah, here is our man. Your next victim is number 96."

Maahir wanted someone to pinch him to affirm he wasn't dreaming anymore. Nancy solving it for them was nothing less than a miracle and miracles were something he had never dared to hope for.

"Whoa, I am dumbstruck literally, Nancy. I simply don't know what I should be saying or how many thanks will suffice. If it had been a request, I would have given a cut out of our pay."

"No need, Maahir. I wasn't doing it for the money anyway. I'll consider it a single hour intern. You did give me hands on experience. Don't tell Dan I helped you though. He will make unnecessary fuss over it. Just treat me when you catch our killer."

"Sure," he said, "We'll start tomorrow itself. Who is our number 96? And where is he living?"

Nancy looked at the list and stopped breathing for a second, rendered aghast.

"Er," she said, searching for words, turning visibly white and gulped, "I'm afraid you might know the next victim, Maahir. It's Sarat Desai, 9, Taramani Men's hostel, Marabmat, Vinpur."