39 STICKING TO THE STORY

Shiv was finally called inside the room. It was quite the irony how this next interrogation was. It wasn't like the interrogation he was used to, this time instead of his little interrogation room at his police station there was this big room with cleaned marble floors and a big curved table and a lot of chairs around it. There sat four gentlemen from CBI reading some reports while he entered the room. They all greeted Shiv as they caught a glimpse of him and asked him to take a seat on the chair that was placed opposite the table. They started with introducing themselves,

Kishore: Good morning Mr. Shivkumar Rathod! I am Kishore Solanki, (pointing to others) that there is Madhav Kumar, Krishnan Reddy and the person on the last chair is Sachin Kale. Don't worry, you don't have to remember everyone's name, you will be talking to me only!

Rathod: Good morning everyone! It's nice to meet you, gentlemen.

Kishore: Oh come on Mr. Rathod! You don't have to lie to us. We all know it is NOT NICE for you to meet us. I know you are already trying to figure out how you can play with us. But I assure you I am not really interested in your coverup story because believe me when I say officer I am here just for the truth, and I would appreciate your honesty!

Rathod: I'll give you what you want then sir!

Kishore: That will be the wise thing to do!... So I won't waste a lot of time, I have heard nearly everything from your colleagues and I have to say what beautiful work you all have done! None of them said anything different, I mean everyone says the same thing, seems like everyone practiced the story quite well!

Rathod: Or maybe it's just the truth!

Kishore: Truth might be one but there are always multiple versions to them, a version that suits an individual's beliefs. But with your colleagues, it seems as if.... everyone goes with the same version, quite a coincidence, isn't it Rathod Saheb?

Rathod: I don't know what you are trying to imply, Sir! These are some of the most honest officers I have ever worked with in my whole career.

Kishore: some of the most? That doesn't seem very confident, does it RATHOD SAHEB?

Rathod: Sir, due to the nature of the work we do there are often times when officers have to lie to save-

Kishore: Their skin?

Rathod: Lives! To save lives!

Kishore: I thought I got you there but I gotta give it to you, you are a hard nut to crack!

Rathod: I don't know what you are talking about, sir.

Kishore: Of course you don't! Let's get to the point, I have a detailed report of what happened that day but I want to hear your side. I know it will be pretty much the same as here but at least I would do my job honestly unlike you.

Rathod: We were investigating the 'The seventeen killer' case when the news of my son's demise came to me. I found out Vikram was murdered. When I was at my house also the crime scene, a girl approached me.

Kishore: Pooja Mahajan?

Rathod: Yeah! She said that she suspects Dhruv Shastri of having some part in the murder of my son and that's when we brought the kid to the station for interrogation. The kid admitted to killing the three victims as soon as he stepped inside the station.

Kishore: He admitted killing three people just like that, so conveniently? Didn't you use any force?

Rathod: NO! We did not use any force on him! He was playing us! He did all of it so that he could make sure Pooja was accused of Vikram's murder. He told me everything as I was interrogating him. How he killed everyone and how he entered and exited the crime scene without leaving a trace. And as soon as Vikram's death came to light, he very conveniently placed suspicion on Pooja. He even went far as to create fake evidence against Pooja Mahajan, so that she could not be proven innocent in any way possible.

Kishore: Yeah I see that on this file. You worked really hard on pinning this murder on Dhruv Shastri, I mean there is clear evidence against Pooja Mahajan but somehow the theory you gave us of how the girl was framed for it, is very convincing. But again, no practical evidence!... Anyway please continue!

Rathod: Yes Sir! So after taking Pooja under custody, the girl killed herself in the cell. She found a pack of blades from somewhere and just swallowed it! She was dead before she could be taken to hospital. And after getting the news of her suicide in the cell, Dhruv wanted to talk to me. That's where he told me how it was a setup!

Kishore: There are a lot of questions that come up with what you just said. Why would a kid as old as Dhruv Shastri kill three,… I am sorry! Four! Why would this kid kill four of his classmates so brutally for no reason at all? If this kid can agree to all of this, why would he want some girl to be framed for HIS crimes? And why is all of this so easy? I mean it's like you people didn't have to do anything, everything just happened. Everything you wanted was served to you on a plate by Dhruv Shastri! How he killed them, how he planned his murder how he framed Pooja Mahajan for his crimes, even how he managed to make evidence against Pooja How is that happening, huh?

Rathod: Kid was a psychopath! He was ill! Those three boys sexually assaulted him, and that event triggered him. That too to the extent that he was mentally broken. He just wanted revenge, thus the torture.

Kishore: Seriously? Psychopath? Ill? Mentally broken?... From the things you have written in this report, it looks like he was the most mentally stable psychopath! I mean I have seen serial killers, even psychopaths as you mention. They commit crimes out of passion, they get a kick out of it. And sure there have been serial killers who are beyond genius when it comes to leaving no traces. BUT THIS! This was one of the most well-executed series of murders I have ever seen in my life. He killed three people and as you state it, not a single piece of evidence. But he doesn't stop there, he then goes to kill a fourth person. And ironic as it is, there is evidence! A LOT OF EVIDENCE! But guess what? None of it leads to him. Instead, it leads to the one person that started this 'DHRUV IS THE KILLER' game in the first place, Pooja Mahajan. Pooja Mahajan, who also happened to kill herself the same day she gets caught. If he was mentally broken and ill then I don't even know where I stand!

Rathod: As impossible as it may seem, it's the truth.

Kishore: Sorry officer, but I still don't buy it!... Anyway, take me through the events of the encounter!

Rathod: He told us that he had his blood drained clothes and video evidence of him torturing and killing those boys buried somewhere under the ground. And according to him, it was near the place his father died. We got into the jeep, by 'we' I mean Dhruv, Vijay, Subhash, and two of my constables.

Kishore: According to the records, this happened near 4 in the morning, why so early? Why didn't you wait till morning?

Rathod: A lot of things happened in a single day, my son got killed, an innocent girl committed suicide in my station, and I knew that the next day was going to be busier than ever, so I decided to get those evidence as fast as possible.

Kishore: I guess that's reasonable… Please continue!

Rathod: I was in the front seat, Subhash was driving and Vijay and the other two constables were behind with the kid. As we were getting closer to the location, Dhruv cleverly removed the gun from Vijay's holster. He pointed it at Vijay's head threatening us that he will kill Vijay if we don't stop the car and let him go. Everyone thought he wouldn't know about the safety lock so we were trying to calm him down and pull the gun out of his hand. But he knew how to unlock it. Before we could do anything, he shot at Subhash. Bullet hit his shoulder and which resulted in him losing control over the vehicle. We were in enough speed for the car to tumble a few times and the potholes on the road just made it more sure. The car rolled 3 times and the two constables and Subhash were unconscious and only me, Dhruv, and Vijay were conscious. Somehow we three got out of the car, and Dhruv still had the gun. He shot a bullet in the air, threatening us that he would kill anyone who tried to go near him.

Kishore: Let me tell you what happened next! You tried to calm down the boy, but he didn't agree and tried to shoot Vijay, and you had to do something to save him, so you shot Dhruv! The bullet directly hit his heart! He did shoot though, but it hit the tumbled car instead of Vijay, right?

Rathod: Yes! That's exactly what happened!

Kishore: It's funny, you know? Vijay has a different version to it! According to him, he was the one who tried to calm Dhruv, and as he tried to shoot you, HE shot Dhruv! He says you lied in the report and took the blame so that he doesn't have to face the consequences!

The fact that Vijay did not stick to the story and tried to play the martyr caught Shiv completely off-guard. He was panicking, and everything seemed was now collapsing