Keeping Secrets

Chapter 2

A small convoy pulled through the horde of journalists and cameramen into the archaic, majestic gates of Barnette Villa the next day. The commotion at the entrance was evident from a distance, but the officers had to make it through the chaos without indulging in any of it. It was just about noon, but dark clouds and non-stop rain made it look like a gloomy evening. Once inside the gates, the picturesque duplex villa was beyond the curb down a short driveway, and set at the perfect spot with big, screened windows overlooking the valley on one side and lush coffee estates interspersed with neatly stacked rows of silver oak on the other. The huge lawn housed a swimming pool, which undoubtedly seemed newer than anything else in the compound.

About 10 youngsters were gathered around the poolside table at a distance. Most of them seemed to be in their late teens and were still sobbing, while a few paced up and down, anxiously talking on their phones and looking extremely distressed. The incoming convoy was quick to catch their attention and tint their disbelief and sadness with just a little bit of fear.

An officer who looked barely 40 years of age was the first to emerge from the vehicle. Gaurav Acharya was the youngest person to ever head the crime branch. He was accompanied by a team of five officers and a medical expert along with her forensics team. Gaurav had recently and voluntarily retired from the Anti-Terrorism Squad's Special Operations Force and moved to the small, peaceful hill station to avoid the kind of cases he was here to investigate. He was dressed in crisp formals and heavy-duty boots that made him stand taller than his height of 5'10". His short salt-and-pepper hair was neatly trimmed like his beard. His lips were dark purple, scorched from years of chain-smoking and stood out on his dusky face.

His sharp peripheral vision caught a glimpse of each of the youngsters, as he directed a few of his subordinates to collect everyone's phones and basic information and investigate their link with the victim. Meanwhile, he himself headed straight in to meet Raghav, the owner of the villa, and reach the crime scene along with the rest of his team.

The reception area of the villa looked impressive for a small town homestay, with two life-size white marble statues of Indian women carrying earthen pots on their veiled heads and waist, placed on either side of a sleek black marble reception desk with a white oak top and weaving an ancient grandeur into the otherwise contemporary setup. The officers mechanically followed Raghav up to the first floor and into the first bedroom from the stairs. As they moved further away from the ornate reception and approached the room where a dead body lay awaiting them, the air seemed to get heavier and their lens of observation got sharper. The urge to find something of relevance had to be stronger than any other emotion a crime scene evoked.

They found Nikki's lifeless body sprawled across the brutal scene that greeted them in the room. The lower half of her body was still under a bloody blanket, but it was hard to recognize what was left of the bubbly young girl. Her face and torso looked bruised, making it look like she had been bludgeoned before being stabbed countless times. The stabs and blows had only been made to Nikki's chest, neck and face. The mattress around her was soaked in dried-up blood. Gaurav also spotted a thin, bluish ligature mark enwreathing her neck, and in a terrifying twist, her unrecognisable face was turned to the side, and her bloodshot eyes had been left wide open, staring at the empty half of the bed.

Gaurav had been in the ATS for five years, before taking a year-long break and returning to the Crime Branch. He had seen countless dead bodies in his career, but it never got old. The sight of a young life ended so vehemently and whimsically, well before time by someone who thought they could get away with it always got his blood boiling. A young girl had been murdered in such a violent, grotesque way! This did not look like an incidental killing or manslaughter, as they called it. There were no signs of a struggle and nothing else in the room seemed out of place. Her charger was still plugged into the socket next to the bed, but her phone was nowhere to be found. There were too many things about the scene that were strikingly out of place. For one, the amount of blood Nikki had lost despite all the stabbings was way too little for a person who was still alive and a bit much for someone who wasn't. Secondly, amidst the bruises and stabs on Nikki's torso, Gaurav could see faint scars of wounds that did not look fresh. There were similar marks on her upper and inner arms too. Disturbingly, the latest stabs were not consistent with knife wounds at all. It seemed to be from something that Gaurav's experience and knowledge indicated had a jagged edge and lacked a fixed shape.

A crime like this was unheard of in Gwam. It was a small, peaceful hill station where everyone knew everyone. People were ingenuous and unsuspecting, often leaving the main doors of their homes unlocked to make a quick trip to the grocery store during the day. The place being remote, a sense of community was essential and strong. During summers, the cool hilly weather attracted tourists. Students and hoi polloi from cities and industrial areas nearby were especially drawn to the tranquil, lush scenic little town. Sure, there was a drunk nuisance or a misdemeanour reported every now and then, but it was certainly not a place where anyone would fear for their lives. That was the main reason that Gaurav too, had chosen to move here. He wanted to live a balmy, conflict-free life for some time and enjoy the privilege of not having to turn himself insane if he wanted to do a job he loved. Now, it was never going to be the same again.

That's exactly what each member of the group was thinking to themselves. It was never going to be the same again, without Nikki. She was the first one to encourage people to get over small differences, the one who would drop everything to be there for her friends. She never held back and was generous with all that she had. It was hard not to love Nikki. She was such a goofball, she always ended up saying and doing silly things and never gave up the opportunity to have a good laugh at herself. She always dressed in the happiest colours and was kind to everyone around. She was known to give the best hugs and there was nobody in the whole college who didn't love her. The world was never going to be the same without Nikki.

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Once Nikki's next of kin had been informed and her body had been sent for an autopsy, Gaurav headed down to meet all the guests of the villa at the gazebo: the five remaining members of the group, along with the two other girls and the boyband who had the two rooms below. The owner and three staff members of the villa were interviewed by his team members. Unfortunately, there were no cameras at the property, except one that was placed at the main gate about 300-400 metres away from the entrance of the villa.

At the gazebo, it was easy to tell apart the members of each group, as they stuck close to their friends. To be fair, it was a terrifying situation to be in. Young adults often tend to act rashly, with no fear of consequences; but this was everyone's worst nightmare. A much-awaited, fun trip had taken a fatal twist. Not many friends who set out on a holiday would imagine having to return without one of them. Nor had any of them.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Gaurav was compassionate but firm. "I understand this is a very sensitive time, but I hope you understand that my team and I are here to find out who did this to your friend. Every moment we lose is a chance lost to find Nikki's killer, and I am sure none of you would want that. I am going to ask you all a few questions right now, and I want you to step forward or raise your hand if you want to speak. Alright, now, which one of you found Nikki this morning?"

Kevin, who was leaning against a pillar stood upright and took a step forward, his arms still crossed before his chest. His head fell low sharply as he said, "It was me."

Kevin stammered as he tried to describe the sheer horror of what his camera had accidentally captured. He had woken up a little before 11 a.m. to find the restroom in their room occupied, and decided to use the one in Nikki's room. At first, he was surprised to see two people sleeping there, but he just assumed that it was just another friend who might have just felt too crammed in the big room. Anyway, he decided to click a picture, so that the rest of the group could tease and annoy them later. He sneaked up closer, holding his phone up, to see who was in bed with Nikki, and despite the harmless prank in his mind, he was not ready for what he was about to witness. It was his bloodcurdling scream that had awoken everyone else in the vicinity, and of course, a very fazed Aryan, who seemed to have been sleeping peacefully next to Nikki's bloody remains with his face turned the other way.

The only thing more shocking for Kevin than finding one of his best friends battered to death on a fine holiday morning was seeing another one wake up in utter shock right next to her.