The tube light flickered in the large and dusty room. That was the only sound heard in an almost full room. Papers, people and systems all fluttered around without any purpose. All eyes were on the wall clock ticking away at it's own pace, not moving fast enough for the people in the room.
The clock stuck eight. Everybody expected a climaxing sound but that wasn't the case. A typical office clock doesn't make the booming announcement of the new hour like we see in the movies. The minute hand moved to 8:01. The phone rang. Kamala picked the phone.
"Hello emergency control room" she said breathlessly.
"Hello Kamala" the voice on the other end said.
The entire room burst into a flurry of action, all noiselessly as possible. Kamala adjusted the headset and pressed the ear muffs as tight as possible.
" Hello Kamala…" the voice repeated .
" He...hello.." Kamala stammered, yesterday of training and experience forgotten in that moment. The commissioner was in the room, glaring at her and moving his hands at her, asking her to continue.
" It's a lovely night again. A lonely night once again." Those words as soon as they were uttered sent a chill down her spine. Those words indicated that the Chennai police team had a long night ahead of them…once more. A night that would take them though the by lanes of Chennai, running around to solve cryptic clues given by that chill voice and finally end in the discovery of a slain child.
"Have you? I mean.. have you done it again?" Kamala asked, praying it was not the answer she knew she would get .
"It is a lovely night , Kamala. The moon is so bright. Not like last time. Where it was dark and raining. The beauty of God and his creation couldn't be appreciated as it was meant to be", the voice replied.
This is what made Kamala lose her cool the last call. She had shouted at him , calling him a monster, forgetting protocol. She cursed that she had taken the first call weeks ago and for accepting the demand that he speaks to her alone. But a good reprimand by her superior had tamed her down. She was prepared and much calmer this time.
"What do you want?" She glanced at her superiors listening in on the call. She took a deep breath and decided to skip protocol once more. Perhaps there was time to save the child this time. "Where is the child?" she asked directly.
Her superiors looked stunned and was waving their arms around in anger. This guy was a maniac and they didn't want to lose him this time. The tracking was on and they were cutting through the GPS faking methods the killer was using. There was silence on the other end. For a second it looked as though the call was disconnected.
Then a low laugh started. "Ha ha ha…always in a hurry. Kamala" the voice said. A sigh of relief amongst the superiors.
"Just like today morning at the bus stop. Not even waiting to see if Karthik boarded the bus", the voice continued.
The entire room was paralysed. There was no noise yet everything was deafening. Kamala stumbled, fell into the chair behind her. Karthik. He said Karthik.
"Such a lovely boy. Very well behaved. Smart too. Science seemed to be tough to him but was really good at history." The voice continued.
The room started to swirl into a dizzying spiral. Karthik. Just eleven years old. Kamala couldn't hear or say anything. Her mouth was wide open, stuck in a spasm. People were rushing to her. Her superiors were shouting instructions to everybody in the room. But she couldn't hear anything. Karthik.
"Did you know that he loved the trip to Gingee that you took him? Even though half the time you were busy with the bandobust duty and controlling the emergency room." The voice continued.
"Kamala we got the location. We got the location. A patrol is on its way", someone said shaking her by the shoulder. She couldn't respond. She heard voices. Frantic. Urgent.
"Why do you police feel that you are invincible. You are human. You are emotional. You are sentimental. You have happiness and sorrow just like every other person. You have dependants, a family. You are …touchable. " His voice echoed.
Kamala couldn't get any word out. Images of past crime scenes rushed through her mind. Interspersed with images of karthik. Like a horrible photo album. Bad images and good memories one after the other.
" Kamala? You there?", The voice mocked.
" Ye..yes …"
"It's time for me to go now. I can almost hear the sirens. Bye for now Kamala...", said the voice before silence once again over powered the room.
Kamala waited for the second call. The call from the crime scene. From the police standing over the body. Except this time it was her son lying down there .
