Chapter 41

Sabari was surprised by Inspector Mahadev’s claim that there is a link between the report that he was going to prepare and Prathap’s murder.

“I hope you were there in Prathap’s residence after he was killed… “

“Hmm.. yes”

“And there was a refrigerator that we located in his room…”

“Ya?”

“Did you notice anything abnormal?”

“Ab..normal.. like what?”

“You might not have.. I can explain… The refrigerators that we use at home is maintained in a Zero degree temperature.. “

“Ya.. “

“The one that was found in Prathap’s residence was maintained in minus twenty-degree temperature. You have to maintain such a subzero temperature for ONE reason. To protect endangered microorganisms that can be dangerous to human beings. In other words, he had been using his refrigerator as a Farm for maintaining Microorganisms. Our forensic team examined and gave a report that Mr. Prathap might have been doing so, to use it against human. At the same time, we got the sand particles that we received from the construction site. So, if your report concludes that the same genre of microorganisms have been used in this case too, it would help us expedite our investigation.”

“Ok Inspector… I will get you the report by 10 AM tomorrow. Is that fine?”

“Perfect. Please don’t delay it anymore”

“Sure.. “

“Thanks… I like to ask you this… Are you in any kind of trouble? “

That question alerted Sabari. “Why this question?”

“I see some strain in your tone”

“Oh.. Not at all… I’m… Just… trying to digest whatever you said… nothing more”

“You are right… Unbelievable truth are tough to digest… Ok.. Let us meet tomorrow morning then..”

“Sure .. Thanks”

Sabari disconnected the call and turned to Prasanna and Ananya. Prasanna asked, “Any interesting news from Inspector?”

“He is expecting a report from me..”

“Oh!!!... that one… It is a report on the microorganisms that ate up Vasudharini’s dead body…correct?”

“Ya”

“Are you sure that you are gonna prepare the report?”

“It was an order from the Police department and I should oblige”

Prasanna giggled and said, “It is the first time in my life that I hear an incident where the cops are expecting a report from the assassinator”

“I didn’t kill anyone”

“Oh.. If not you, is it your wife?”

“No way”

“If you both aren’t, why didn’t you report it to the cops?”

“I don’t give a damn about your opinion on us. The fact is that we did not kill her and we don’t know who did. Vasudharini was killed by someone just after Prathap’s murder. If we had reported this to the cops, they might have linked both of these murders and all the eyes would be on me as the number one suspect. I didn’t want to hamper the Bionic Project either. So, I decided to dispose her body. That’s it. Now, with all recent happenings, I regret what I have done and not in a position to continue my research. I want to get away from all these and have a peaceful life”

 Prasanna put his right hand on Sabari’s shoulder in a friendly way.

“That is why I recommended you to abandon the project. It won’t help you. So… you are ok to abandon.. right?”

“Yes”

“Ok then.. As I suggested earlier, meet Sidharth right away, resign and get some sort of acknowledgement from him”

“I don’t know why you are insisting me to get an acknowledgement from him…What are you gonna do with that?”

“You need not know…. Get me whatever I asked for. We are late already…. You have five minutes to decide… Don’t make me take the extreme step.”

Prasanna took out a German pistol from one of the pockets in his shorts. That shook Sabari and Ananya.

Prasanna continued, “This is magnum German pistol and fully loaded. You can either get the letter or die here peacefully along with your wife.”

Ananya turned to Sabari and said, “Sabari!!! Don’t argue with him anymore… If the letter is the one that is going to save us, please get it. Don’t worry about me… I know to protect myself”

Prasanna smiled at Ananya, turned to Sabari.

“Your wife is a living proof to certify that I’m not a bad guy. Don’t delay. If you start now, it would take an hour to reach Sidharth;s residence, an hour to get what I wanted and another hour to return back. Three hours altogether.”

Even before Prasanna completed his sentence, Sabari started to walk down the stairs.

In the next few minutes, Sabari was driving his car through the East Coast Road towards Sidharth’s residence.  It took almost an hour to reach and daylight was almost gone.

Sidharth’s posh house stood in the center surrounded by a compound wall. At first look, Sabari noticed that most of the lights in the rooms were switched on and it was visible from outside.

Sabari parked his car and walked towards the gate. The gate was not locked and he pushed it to open. As he pushed it, he could see the pathway and with well-trimmed grass on the either sides.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw couple of police SUV’s parked behind Sidharth’s BMW car. His mind began to wonder.

‘Why are the cops here?’

‘Did they smell something about Sidharth on Prathap’s murder?’

Sabari couldn’t wait anymore and walked towards the entrance. The lights were on in the hall. A policeman was on his mobile speaking to someone. He encountered Sabari, looked at him and said, “Yes?”

“Sir… I’m Sabari... I’m working for Sidharth in his organization as a research scholar. I need to meet him urgently to get a letter from him.  Also, I saw police vehicles outside.. Anything wrong?”

“Oh… Seems like you didn’t hear the news… You cant get any letter from him anymore”

“Why?”

“Mr. Sidharth is no more. He has been killed an hour ago.”