Sleep Well Fighter

Chapter 7: A day to weed out

It's pretty insane to even think that a week ago we were playing detectives and now we are actually trying to solve a real murder, what are the police even doing? Did they give up on her? The inspector said he would give me clues but I haven't heard from him indefinitely.

Sumanth is what you call an embodiment of nerdery, I know it's an amusing statement coming from a nerd himself. He wears thick circular glasses with a big nose, he always buttons up this collared button, has a goofy hairstyle, and literally breathes books. He and I are different because I read novels for fun while he only studies to get first in our school and here we are in the toilet facing the walking savant of the school in the lunch break.

"Hey Sumanth, long time no see, in fact, the last time we talked was on the day Riya was raped, right?" I inquire.

"W-what rape? Oh, you mean her, the girl who died, was she raped? I am sorry to hear that man" he replies getting flustered.

"Do you watch rape porn Sumanth?" asks Akash suddenly which surprised both Sumanth and me.

"N-no, why me? Why would I watch porn?" he replies fidgeting his pocket and nervously checking out the door.

"Don't lie to me man, I saw you deleting videos on the other day as soon as the news was discussed in the classroom"

Then suddenly out of nowhere he starts crying and confesses "I am really sorry, please don't tell my mom. I am really addicted to this type of porn guys; this is the only way to relieve my stress and pressure due to my mom. I didn't know something like that would happen in real life, I am sorry for Riya, but I haven't done anything to her, it's just I unable to stop watching this porn"

"Damn that was unexpected, how did you know he was a porn addict?" I ask Akash as we walk back home.

"I had a hunch bro, I mean the guy is constantly under the pressure of getting high marks, so porn is like an outlet of stress for teenagers nowadays and there is also a stigma that watching porn is a sin, so when you combine both you get people like Sumanth, even though he deleted the videos on Saturday he is again back with them today, so unless he gets help, people like him can't change"

"Whoa, that's a pretty great study of psychology bro, what if he gets motivated and wants to make this fantasy a reality? What makes you so sure that he didn't commit this crime? not that I think he did it" I ask him.

"He can't dude, the guy is a coward, he doesn't even have guts to touch a girl let alone rape her, I am sure even you know that" he replies wearily.

"Yeah, anyway, let's freshen up and meet at the park to discuss our next plans"

"wait, I've heard that the police have removed the seal of the crime scene, let go over there and discuss our plans" he replies.

"Sounds fantastic, see ya"

Generally, all detectives start their investigations from the crime scene. It's funny we have come here today, a week after the crime. I shouldn't be surprised if we don't find anything. As I mentioned previously there is a big tree at the center, it, fortunately, survived the fire, there is a huge black stain in front of it, which is where her body was burnt, damn thinking about it gives me creeps. So, I and my friend start looking everywhere around the patch, near the bushes, for almost an hour. My friend gets getting annoyed as the sunlight is fading away.

I ask him "Bro, it's kinda funny, I mean if she was burnt at this spot (in front of the tree), was the kerosene quantity so huge that it flowed upwards towards the tree? I mean look, the slope is towards the body, so the kerosene should instead flow on another side, right?"

Hearing this question his face lights up "Bro you are genius, I missed the vital thing and was looking at other spots as the police would already have finished with this one, seems like they didn't notice this"

For the first time, I felt useful in the investigation meanwhile my friend observes around the small trail of the burnt spot, and at some point in time, the shadow of the tree shifts as the sun was setting, seeing this he looks up and climbs the tree. There on the branch exactly above the trail, he finds a red layer and then he then shrieks "so that's how it is"

"What's that? bro tell me, you are giving an evil look" I ask.

but he just breaks off and winks "Bro I'll explain it to you at the end, it's nothing significant, just a small detail, anyways call that boyfriend Manish, let's have a chat with him, I want to see what made our dear friend fall in love with him."

So, after half an hour Manish arrives. This guy looks good in any outfit but I kinda find it weird about how she accepted a delinquent like him even though she is so much girly on the inside.

"Hey man, long time no see. Are you Akash? Nice to meet you too man, Riya used to mention you both a lot, if only we had met in different circumstances I am sure we could have been great friends and have fun together with Riya"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, as you are socialising person, and we are introverts haha" replies Akash smiling awkwardly.

"Manish, I think you are the prime suspect now, even more after that fuel can has been found," I say to him.

"Yeah man, I feel like I am being watched most of the time, I think they put someone to look out for me"

"That must have been hard on you, anyway we are kinda doing investigation ourselves, I wanna ask a few questions so that I can find a way to get you off the suspicion," Akash grins.

It's creepy seeing him smile, is he trying hard to impress the boyfriend?

"Whoa, thanks a lot guys, you know it's getting on my nerves lately, I might even end up punching a policeman or two but I have been holding back because most of the evidence is pointing against me. So, what do you wanna know?"

Damn, he is even prepared to hurt the police, I am glad he thinks of us as his friends.

"First of all, did Riya ever mention about her family?" asks Akash.

"Well, she never really talked about her parents' man, she doesn't get along with them. I remember on one instance she did mention that she hates her mom, but it seems she hates her dad even more"

I am sure, it's because her dad is never at home and leaves her alone with the bitchy mom.

"Alright, do you have the messages still saved in your phone, the one you sent to her?"

"yes, here it is" he shows us the history.

At 12:30 am he sent a message to her saying 'I am sorry babe, I can't do this, let's do this maybe another time, I am not ready for this.'

At 12:31 am she calls him, and it seems like they argued till 12:40 am.

"So, this means she was alive till 12:40, this also explains that red mark on the tree and the fire at 1:00. Excellent! I understand how it was done, but I still don't know who did it," says Akash which kinda surprised me that he has already figured it out.

"Can you tell me when you lost that fuel can?" I asked Manish.

"Well I don't really remember dude like I mentioned to the police I think I lost it 10 or maybe 5 days ago, usually I fill the car's tank, but when I looked for it, I couldn't find it, so I thought maybe dad put it somewhere else and surprisingly it was found by police in the garage itself. Dad says he never touched it, it's funny, the other day the inspector mentioned about people actually seeing me buy kerosene at different shops with the same can"

Then suddenly Akash asks "Dude, normally what dress do you wear while going out?"

"Well, I generally wear a cap which has this logo of my favourite band, a light-coloured T-shirt and jeans. Today I kinda hurried here since you wanted to see me quickly and I forgot to put my cap"

"Aha, that's it! The cap, no one wears it in our town, right?" asks Akash.

"Y-Yeah, no one wears it, do you mean someone was planning to frame me?"

"Dunno, let's find out" Akash smiles wryly "Thanks for helping us out man, you can go home now"

"Whoa, it's almost 7:30, let's discuss the hypothesis while walking back home," says Akash looking at his watch.