80 Chapter 80

"Don't leave me alone. I can't live alone. Stay, just stay – today tomorrow, forever," he was said to her, politely. His tears failed him. He sat there like a statue frozen.

Meanwhile, the manager Ramona had called showed up.

"There is a little boy locked in his bedroom. Can you let him out?" she asked.

"Sorry, I only have the master key for the front door," he said.

They both heard Ankur crying loudly inside. Who knew how long he was he locked in the room? Ramona felt pity for him. She wished she was stronger so she could just break the door open and get him out.

Sneha stood there, still crying and shrieking. In her distress, it never occurred to look for the spare keys.

A few neighbours had gathered by then. Soon, the police came and broke down Ankur's door. When it opened, they saw Ankur howling. His room was a mess. Bloodstains covered his bed sheet, the floor, his computer table.

He immediately ran outside to find his mother. He couldn't comprehend the situation. When he saw Mala, he stopped crying and walked over to look at her. He stood there with bloody feet. Sneha came to him and hugged him tightly. He pointed towards Mom. He grabbed Mala's arm and shook it. It was his way of saying, "I'm hungry," but Mala didn't move. She just lie there. Mom wouldn't get up. He was so hungry that he pulled Sneha to the kitchen. He pointed to the refrigerator. Sneha let out a cry then reluctantly gave him an apple. Her appetite was completely lost.

She went back to Papa and held onto him tightly. Papa talked to himself. He wasn't listening to anyone. He wasn't looking at anything. His gaze was transfixed on Mummy…

Police filled the apartment. Sneha heard the clicks of their cameras as they took photographs of the crime scene. As soon as Sumit heard about it, he came over, too. He couldn't believe it. Mala was murdered. Why would anyone murder her?

Sumit wanted to say something, but he had been a cop long enough to know that there were no words to console Raj and his family. He looked at Ankur who was now sitting quietly on the couch. Although the police tried to convince Raj to move away from Mala's body, they weren't successful. He just sat there and kept talking to her. Ramona stayed by Sneha and looked after her. She knew Raj would come out of the shock eventually, but it would take some time.

The bullet wound looked nothing like Sumit expected. It was a small round hole on the forehead, oozing dark, crimson blood. The entry wound was small, but the exit wound was quite a mess. Most of the back of her head was gone. The weapon used to kill her must have been a country-made pistol and it must have been fired at a close range; it could have been at point-blank range. The bullet was like a small missile that entered perfectly and blew out the other side of the head. Someone made sure that Mala couldn't be saved.

The blood had spread around the head and half of the body. Some had flowed inside Ankur's bedroom. The body was slumped towards bedroom door. Blood was splashed on the wall and the carpet. He followed the red trail into Ankur's bedroom. It was a mess, completely covered in blood.

He looked at the computer. The media player was still open, but had reached the end of the playlist. He looked around, searching for anything that could be used as evidence. All of a sudden, he noticed something shiny just behind the door. He bent over and looked at it. It was a key. The key to Ankur's bedroom. Mala must have slipped it under before she was shot.

If the shooter wanted, he could have killed Ankur. Afterall, he was the only witness to the crime, but he let him live. Why? Obviously he knew that Ankur would never be admitted as a potential witness and so he refrained from killing him.