The conversation with Raghavan, though a little off, seemed more of a protocol. Police investigation involved suspecting everyone unless proven innocent.
Half an hour later, Vishal, Basava and a second constable Ahmed were in front of Mitra’s penthouse. The terrace surrounding the penthouse was neat with potted plants and a wooden shelter frame with a healthy creeper growing round it.
There were a couple of wires stretched between two distant iron poles, set for drying clothes. Clothes were hanging on them, a little stiff and ruffling with the evening wind. They had not been removed for a while then.
Vishal opened the door of the house and switched on the lights like he was used to.
Everything was neat and clean, the minimal furniture consisting of a couple of longue chairs, centre table and plastic stools all arranged in order. A wall projected in the middle of the hall, serving as a partial partition between the bedroom space and living space. The bed was made and had not been slept in.
Clearly, Mitra had left her home for office and had not been back after that. She had gone missing on the way home.
They returned to the police station without a clue only to get the information that Mitra’s cell phone had lost signal near her home, probably been turned off around eight PM and that the phone might still be around there.
Raghavan was busy with another high-profile case and as he headed out of the police station, he came across Vishal who was pacing restlessly just outside the main door entrance.
“It’s better if you take off for the day. The constables will analyze the CCTV footages and give us the details tomorrow. Based on that we can start investigation tomorrow,” he advised Vishal.
Vishal nodded and bid him a ‘Good Night’. He knew staying there wasn’t going to be of much use, given the constables were all busy with a multitude of cases and they needed time to look into the footages. Wearily, he bid the couple of constables he was working with greetings for the evening and left the police station.
As he walked towards Mitra’s house, he couldn’t help feeling anxious, nervous and nauseated. The darkness and chill of the winter night crept through his skin in an ominous way.
Passing through the narrow lanes, he thought they should look around on the roads for any clues about the kidnap.
The darkness and lack of bright street lights negated the possibilities of any search activity.
That’s the first thing we should do tomorrow morning. Maybe once we get an idea of what happened through the CCTV footages. Vishal made up his mind about his course of action for the next day.
Mitra’s house, usually cosy with her presence whenever Vishal visited her, felt really cold that night. He had always loved how she kept everything in order in her home.
The furniture was in monochrome shades of brown wood and white cushions and bedding. It felt peaceful there, especially when she played some light music and made coffee for him, chattering away cheerfully.
That night, the same order and silence made the house seem very bare, dark, cold and haunted by Mitra’s absence.
Vishal woke up the next day bleary eyed, lack of sleep evident on his tired and worried face. It was almost thirty-six hours since he last spoke to Mitra. If there was any hope that it was all false alarm, that she would communicate him somehow and come back home, it all vanished the minute Vishal opened his eyes to silence in the house.
He showered as quickly as he could and rushed to the police station. Raghavan and Basava were not in yet and the few constables who were actually at their seats were busy conversing with complainants, victims and perpetrators, all of random cases. Vishal paced about on the porch of the station till he saw Ahmed approaching, signing in for the day, and rushed forward towards him.
“Any news? Anything from the footage?” he asked Ahmed urgently.
It took a long moment for Ahmed to recognize who the sudden inquisitor was and what was being asked of him.
“Oh, yeah... right...” he muttered as he remembered Mitra’s case. “The details should be with one of the new constables. I will get that. But I can’t let you in on any information till I have briefed my seniors.”
He walked past Vishal nonchalantly. Vishal scoffed and stepped after Afmed, catching up with him. Walked along with him, Vishal's words came out with a tone of ridicule, “Really? Didn’t you listen to your superiors yesterday when they explicitly gave me the right to participate in the investigation? You can tell me the details now.”
“I know that. Still, I need to consult with others before giving out any information.” Ahmed walked up to a constable who was busy filling out some documents, asked him for the reports and stood studying them. He turned around to see Vishal almost fuming at him.
Before Vishal could say anything, however, Basava walked in. “What’s happening there?” his voice rang clearly.
Ahmed and Vishal both looked sideways at him, watching him approach them.
“Mitra’s case. I got the CCTV footage details,” Ahmed replied calmly.
“Ok. We will talk at my desk.” Basava turned back, walked to his workstation with the other two following him and fidgeted with the paperwork on his table. “Tell me,” he instructed.
“She left office at 7:03 PM, that was when her ID card was swiped out. Her office sent the ID card swipe details and the CCTV footage of her leaving. She walked out of the IT Park and caught a bus at 7:16 PM. It takes around twenty-five to thirty minutes to reach the bus stop near her home. So, she would have reached there around 7:45 PM. There are no CC cameras in that area, along the roads leading to her home. It is usually dark from the bus stop
till her house, very few street lights. She should have gone missing from somewhere there.”
Basava sat pondering for a few moments. “Ok, I will report it to the Inspector and then we will go out for investigation.”
He stepped away from his desk, dialling Raghavan’s number in his cell phone and signalling the other two to stay where they were. He greeted Raghavan as he picked up the call, his voice lowered and walked away reporting.
A couple of minutes later, he came back to his desk and declared, “Okay, Ahmed, type out the details in a report and send it to the Inspector. Once it’s done, we will go out and ask around the area if anyone witnessed anything.”
An hour later, the two constables and Vishal were standing in front of the bus stop where Mitra usually got down.
“Tell me,” Ahmed queried. “Why aren’t we considering the idea that Mitra might have gotten down the bus midway at some other place? Or maybe, she didn’t get down the bus here at all?”
“Because, she had no other motive or purpose or work that would have deviated her from going home straight. Besides, she would have kept me posted if anything popped up on her way,” Vishal answered.
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