Bombay Shaman: Nightmares at Dadar

PART V - Investigating the scenes

The apartment of Swetha was like any other middle-class apartment, an assortment of basic furniture of cheap quality to meet the everyday needs of a common man. Three garland-decorated photos hung in on eastern wall of the living quarters along with portraits of Gods and Goddesses; they were the photos of deceased family members. Two of the photos were of an elderly woman and man; they were old, black and white, belonging to the seventies. The third one was of a woman past her thirty, it was a recent one, and it probably belonged to Swetha's late mother. Even though she was smiling in the photo, Kumaran felt as if that woman, wherever she was, was far from happy, worried and in great unrest if anything.

The father then opened Swetha's room. The lights were off. Kumaran switched them on. It was plunged in chaos. The bed had its sheet off and the blanket had become a carpet. The computer had been left on over a desk ladened with emptied coffee mugs, puckered papers, and stationary. The wardrobe was open, clothes scrambled inside. Files and documents were mopping the floor. Dirty, unwashed dishes of meals were being partied upon by flies. Every single aspect of the room seemed like it belonged to a greatly disturbed mind.

Kumaran looked at the father, thinking he didn't care to clean his daughter's room, but he himself was awestruck as if seeing it for the first time.

"This seems... was she mentally okay?" Edha asked.

"She was always silent near us," the brother said with a sore throat, crying silently. "Maybe providing for the whole family alone was too much for her..."

"My daughter..." The father fell to his knees, whimpering. "I never knew... that my little daughter was so troubled..."

Kumaran knelt beside him and tried to support him. "Uncle, I will save your daughter, trust me. Please, you have to stay strong for your children."

"Yes... just please save my daughter."

"Please brother, save my sister..." The brother joined his hands and pleaded.

Kumaran nodded.

"Kumaran, is this the work of that demon too?" Edha asked, her fists clenched.

"Lemme look around a bit more."

It took a ten minutes for him to thoroughly check the whole apartment, every corner of it.

"Hmm, there is nothing wrong 'bout the place," He said finally. "No evil energy. No demonic presence. No cursed object. No influence of black magic. It is clear of it all."

"Then? What is your conclusion, Kumaran?"

"Too early for any conclusion. However, there is a pensive sadness to this place. If it was only her room, I won't be surprised. But the whole apartment? Not normal. And it isn't only recent. Have ya two been depressed too? Be honest please."

"No, just the usual worries of any family." The brother said.

"Hmm, alright." Kumaran shoved his hands into his pockets. "Ya go back to hospital and attend to Swetha, I will go inspect Mrs. Shipra's apartment and see what I find."

"But we don't have keys to her apartment?" Edha asked.

"Don't need em."

"You're gonna pick the lock?!"

"Not my way."

"Then?"

"Ya will see."

The old apartment building of Mrs. Shipra was painted with moss and smelt of stagnant water and aged bricks. It was a poorly maintained structure. Her apartment was in the sixth floor on the backside.