Dreamy Red

Episode 15 - Rewinding into the Past

The person who was hit by the bullet was none other than Karthik. He got hit on his left shoulder. He was admitted to Krishna hospital by the management of the cafe. Karan came to the crash site as soon as I had called him. Together we took the car to the police station for further investigations. It was an unlicensed red coloured Volvo S6, the same as was in the Chirathu Vilas. We found another blue button and more blood smears inside the car. I asked Karan to check with all the car dealers and brokers to get information on the purchase of red-coloured Volvo S6 cars in and around Jaipur. Then I left for Krishna hospital because the manager of the cafe told me over the phone that he was waiting for me to get the bills cleared. I also had to check on Karthik's condition and interrogate him.

*****

I reached the hospital around 3:30 PM. Karthik was admitted to the common ward. He was unconscious and was wearing a hospital gown. He had his shoulders wrapped in an off-white bandage. A tall and dark-skinned man wearing a yellow shirt and black formal pants sat on a stool beside Karthik. He was Ahimadabul Arzul, the manager of the cafe. I approached him and greeted him. "Hi, sir. I'm Bibbitha. I was with him at the time of the incident. I was keener on finding the attacker that I forgot to attend to him. Thank you so much for admitting him on time. It means a lot", I told him with gratitude. He nodded and said, "It's alright. You were just doing your duty."

"By the way, did you inform his family?", he asked anxiously. "Yes, I informed them via phone. They are living in Lucknow. I don't think they will be able to come. I promised them to get him on the phone when he wakes up. And regarding the payment, please give me your bank details and I'll make sure that you get it all back", I told him convincingly. He smiled and sent me the bank details via email.

The doctor arrived once the manager left. The doctor told that Karthik was hit in the shoulder and there was nothing to worry about. The doctor submitted the bullet to me in a plastic sachet. He also gave me his clothes which were stained with blood. I placed it on a table beside Karthik's bed. I noticed that the buttons on the shirt were similar to the ones we had found in the car. I pulled one button from the shirt and put it in the same plastic sachet where the bullet was and I put them in my sling bag.

Karthik did not get hurt neither did I catch the culprit. Was he trying to outsmart me if he was involved in the crime? He was at Nishanthi Villa at the time Arpitha was murdered in the highway forest. So it would have taken him at least about 15 minutes of travel even at 120 kmph speed to reach the spot. So it was impossible for him to kill Arpitha. Either he would have staged the shooting at the cafe and the murders with some help which I strongly doubted to be Sidhanshu or he was totally innocent. The worst thing was that the Guptas were unreachable for any contact. My hypothesis was that both Karthik and Sidhanshu worked together for the murders or else someone was trying to frame them. Anyways, I confiscated Karthik's phone. Surprisingly, his call logs were empty. But I knew the right person to call for, Arjun. Arjun promised to send the details before nightfall. I couldn't interrogate Karthik because he was unconscious. So I left for the forest to check for evidence.

*****

Naveen's and Arpitha's bodies were taken away to the lab. The outlines of their bodies were drawn on the forest floor somewhere far away from the highways. Arush was guarding the area with his baton in his hands. "Hi mam", he said when he saw me coming. "Hi Arush", I greeted him back. "Ravi sir asked me to guard the spot till you come. So I have been waiting for so long. Shall I leave now??", he asked sincerely. "Of course yes. But send someone else here to help clear up the mess after I have photographed everything", I told him. He nodded and left.

I must have spent more than an hour checking for bootprints or any other such clues. But I didn't find anything useful at all within a radius of two kilometres. So I left for the police station as it was almost 5 PM.