Week 2 - N

There was a silent rumbling under the forced silence of the temple. It was mid-morning and the temple doors were about to be shut down during lunch hours, whether the lord residing inside was hungry or the people managing were hungry was unknown. There was a few scattered devotees listlessly walking the huge area encompassed by the temple's compound walls.

A separate altar to the right of the main building. A priest is there waiting for the clock hands to move faster so that he can close and go have lunch.

Two women come close to the barricade in front of the deity.

"ennama archanaiya...yaaru perukku" ( What madam, special prayers? in whose name should it be done)


"saamy perukkey pannidunga"(Do it in god's name itself)


The priest goes inside the altar and starts to say out the prayers aloud. Loud though it may be, it isnt coherent and sounds like random mumbling.

The two women outside pray for a minute, with closed eyes. They finish and open their eyes.


"yendi lakshmi, nee ooruku porenu sonniye, pogaliya ?" ( Lakshmi, you said you are going out of town , didnt you go)


"atha yen maami ketkareenga...kilambra neram varaikum polam polam nu than sollitu irunthaar...thideernu avanga officer phone panni, godown la prachnai...stock taking edukanum..seekram va appadi nu sollitar..ivarum appadiye potathu pota padiye vitutu poitar...naan kuduthu vechathu avalavuthan.."( dont ask about that. Till the last minute we were ready to go only. That's when his officer called up and told him that there was some issue at the godown and he is needed for stock taking. He just left things as it is and went off to work. That is only my fate.)


"Bhagavan irukkar...onnum kavalai padatheengo maami...inthanga prasadam eduthukonga" said the priest coming out of the altar with a plastic cover. ( God is there, dont worry. Take this prasad)


Both the women bowed down and closed their eyes, prayed for a second and then reached out for the plastic cover when suddenly they felt something sticky on their face and hands.They started shaking their hands vigorously to get rid of whatever it was. They looked up and saw the priest tumble down on the altar steps. The red tilak on his forehead grew bigger in size and finally a thin line of blood trickled down into his face. The temple's bells rang signalling the closing of the temple for lunch hours.

                           ..............................................................

" It has been two weeks now and the count is now at 7. What exactly is happening, Naveen. The CM is literally jumping down my throat. I am not in a position to answer anything to him or the media. "

Naveen shuffled himself and settled deeper into the armrest of his chair. He looked at his chief; the chief was boiling mad and about to go into one of his temper tantrums for which he was famous.

"And how did the media get a hold of this? As far as i know all were random members of the public. There was no connection between them nor are any of them reputed enough for this to become a sensational issue, but i see every news channel are now rooted on this"

" We have no idea, sir. We ourselves weren't able to piece together all these murders together till monday. We have no idea how the media arrived upon the conclusion that all of these were connected."

"That is an irresponsible answer, Mr.Naveen. You are heading this task force. You should be knowing more, telling more to me rather than telling you don't know how. Is there anything at all that you know?"

Naveen, looked up, his ego stung a little. " What we know so far is this, sir. We are dealing with someone or a group that has access to high-grade weapon technology. The likes of which i am not sure any of our police have even heard about, leave about seen and used. Sniper rifle for the first murder, suppressed pistol for the last, a frag grenade to take out a housewife when she opens her fridge. Come on sir. What do you expect us to do. The killings are all random and are done with no apparent connection. What is more scary is the use of technology and weaponry that is very expensive. I inquired with a few people. Do you know the cost of one bullet that was used in the sniper killing. An armor piercing round alone costs close to 3000 rupees. Rifle scopes start anywhere from 15000 to 15 lacs. And i am talking about imported stuff. There is no local variations available."

Naveen took a pause to see if the chief had anything to say, and when it looked like he did, he continued, not allowing him to speak," Take the last case, a temple priest in the middle of his morning duty is taken out when he is standing among devotees. The ballistics confirmed this was not a long-range shot. This was done from barely a distance of 20 feet. Even 20 feet is too long for such a shot. Which means either the guy who shot was an excellent shot or had some sighting equipment, like a laser sight mounted. Even with that such a shot is tough. And none of the other people in the temple heard or saw anything. The autodriver killing? a landmine. a freaking landmine in the middle of the city. Ripped the auto and the driver in half. What do you suggest we do? At this point, i am ready for any advice. Any directions. Any clue. We are not dealing with a normal person here nor are these normal killings. Give me a sickle murder or even a gunshot murder anyday. This is too much for our force."

The Chief started to open his mouth but shut it quickly when he realized that Naveen wasnt finished yet.

"We are doing all that we normally do and more too. We just need one break. One clue and we can close this. And since our lab cant handle such technology we have sent it out to other labs and we are waiting for reports from them before we can move anywhere in this case."

" I can understand your efforts, Mr. Naveen. I am not in doubt of your skill or handling of this case. I am just letting of some steam. High pressure from the top. You understand, right?"

"Sir, we shall get this one. We shall definitely get this one. Seven murders in 15 days. All unconnected. All common public. Use of high-grade weaponry. Carefully planned out. Our initial thought that these victims were mistakes is wrong sir. They were chosen, chosen for some reason. Yet there is no obvious connection between them. Nothing stands out. They were the choices of the killer and we dont know why they were chosen. What we know is that after all the investigation is that these killings are connected. "

"What is your next step here "

" I am bringing in the reporter from the tv channel that first broke this news. We need to know how they figured out all this was connected even before we could. " 

" Yes Yes do that. Seven murders in 15 days and all in different areas. In a day there are about 10-20 killings in the city and barely 2 or 3 make it to the newspapers and 1 makes it to the TV media. That is a good start for this investigation. Go ahead, Naveen. If you need anything let me know." Having done what he perceives as his duty, the chief gets up and walks out feeling good that he has been productive 

"Damn the pressure from the top. You should come and be on the field. Then you will know.." Naveen mumbled to himself. 

...................................................

" So Ms. Anjali, is it?" 

"you didnt know my name before you ordered me to come down here to your office? Yes Ms.Anjali here."

"Alright. lets get down to business. This alleged serial killing rumor that you have come up with...."

"It is not a rumor and you know that. In fact whenever i have tried reaching you for a comment you have always brushed me off. That denial itself is enough to show that it is a true story. "

"Let me finish... This rumor...uh...serial killing that you reported on. Where did you get the info on that. You were the first to move on that, and you are not even a local news channel. how did you get the inside info?"

"A good reporter never reveals her sources, Mr. Naveen. Just like you police never do"

"Thats for good reporting. It shouldn't be a problem for you. What you have done is basically create a sensation. A case where there is none. This is pure yellow journalism. Nothing more than that."

" How dare you say something like that. Are you denying that these murders took place.The families of the seven people don't think so. They are seeing no action being taken place. They are saying that there has been no info from the police end. We have hours of footage of interviews with each of these families. We have.."

"Hold on Hold on... I don't care what you have. I am not saying anything here. All that i am asking is how did you make the connection that all these murders are linked. In a city as big as this , there are numerous killings happening every single day. You know in a single police station, how many cases of killing and murder we register. Especially with the elections around the corner. how did you go from a list of unconnected murders to calling it a serial killing is what i am asking. "

" The modus operandi....the method of operation in all these are the same..."

" You read too many crime novels or watch too much of TV crime shows. Modus operandi..ha ha ..indeed. There wasn't a single repetition of the killing methodology in any of these murders. Yet you have named it..what is it..let me recall...yeah CHENNAI IN THE GRIPS OF A SERIAL KILLER...If that isn't sensationalism, I don't know what is."

" The actual methods may change but what about the basic concept...Its the same. Common people being killed. Has that changed? The people have a right to know. "

" The people have a right to know...not to get scared...not to get scared by headlines like this. "

"We aren't trying to scare anybody. We are simply reporting the events that are happening in the city. The people should know and be aware of what is happening. "

"Everyone in the city is now in the grips of fear, wondering what might happen next..whether they are next. You have managed to scare an entire city with your report. They are all afraid whether they are going to die."

" There won't be any more killings..." she mumbled.

"What...What did you say...how do you know that."

"Nothing .."

"Come on Ms. Anjali. Help us. We are nowhere in this case. You know something. We need to know what you know. "

" I only know that there wont be any more killings. Atleast thats what it said in the email."

"Email? what email" asked Naveen, grasping at what seems to be the break that he has been waiting for.