THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF MURDERS

           The dusk had passed and the night was about to fall. The long road seemed wearier and moreover frightening now. The jewel merchant, N. Anantha, tightly gripping his bag sat in the car as he ordered the driver to hurry up to the farmhouse. They just had started mounting the steep hill and right after the turn, they saw some animal lay dead on the road. As the animal was right in middle of the road, they couldn't go pass it and had to stop the car. Anantha asked the driver to move the animal a bit aside the road and quickly get out from the deserted place. The driver got down from the car and walked towards the animal; as he was struggling to move the animal, he heard a shrill voice of a jackal nearby. He looked around for anyone lurking in shadow and grabbed the lying animal by the neck to throw it by roadside. As he raised with animal in his hand, he saw a group of men cladded in black in front of him. The merchant sitting in the car was also surrounded by these men. Sensing the grave situation, Anantha lured the men with the bag full of money, and begged to let them go. But, the black-cladded men were not there for money, the leader of their gang stepped in front of the merchant and pulled out a yellow handkerchief and strangled the merchant to death. One of the other member killed the driver too and the bunch of men walked away in the dark night...  

***

Hundreds of miles away, sitting in front of the television, Ketan shivered as he saw the news of three mysterious murder s in a row at three different places across the nation. The mysterious thing about the murder was that the method of killing and the yellow handkerchief sewn with a medallion in it! Although the occupations of the victims were similar, police were unable to solve the mystery and it raised terror throughout the country. The murders had taken place at random dates and at three different parts of the country-the merchants were terrified- no place was safe- the news scroll kept rolling on the TV channel. Ketan smirked," Such activities are rising these days!!"

"We need not worry brother" Manish responded, "We are above those unfortunate merchants, we don't deal in thousands and lakhs or travel in cars on deserted roads."

But these words didn't soothe Ketan. Lost in his thoughts he continued with his breakfast and left for office in his car.

Manish was Ketan's cousin and a couple of years younger than him. He helped Ketan in managing the diamond business empire set by their fathers in Mumbai around 20 years ago. The business was well set and spread beyond India to 4-5 more countries. Being a Gujarati family they stayed together sharing the joys and sorrows, supporting in times of difficulties and enjoying together on festive seasons! The family business was doing well and everything was going smoothly, till these news of random murders of merchants disturbed one and all of their family. Ketan used to take extra care of himself now a days and also kept a caring eye on Manish.

***

The police on one side were frustrated with this case of 'The yellow handkerchief murders'. The case was complicated mainly as the incidents had happened at different places not even in close proximity of each other which would have made it easier to locate the residence of the maniac murderer.

"Not just that, the furtive yellow handkerchiefs used to strangle the victims are so old fashioned in these modern days! Who would use such handkerchiefs purposely and WHY??" Inspector Arvind Jadhav added one more aspect of the murders. Arvind was the chief inspector in command of this case and it was the most challenging case in his career till now! He had been honored with many accolades in his career and was intentionally handed over this enigmatic case.

"Yes Sir! That is one of the weirdest thing in these murder cases", Sub inspector Patil said nodding in affirmation.

"From whatever data we have till now what we can infer is that the victims targeted are only the merchants throughout the nation." Patil added.

"And surprisingly these murders are not done for money!" Arvind said pointing out one more strange behavior of the murderer in this case. Albeit the victims were the wealthy merchants carrying huge amount of wealth in forms of gold, diamonds, cash money, etc. none of it was found touched at the murder spots.

"There has to be some reason behind these random killings at three different places!" thought Arvind looking at the pictures of the victims lying at the murder scenes with their neck draped in the yellow handkerchief and the gold-colored medallion facing front. He sensed déjà vu looking at the handkerchiefs and the medallions closely. Something vaguely clicked in his unconscious mind. Arvind strained his memory to remember where had he seen such medallion earlier? A minute of solace and another look at the medallion brought a sparkle in his eyes. He repeated the way of murders all over in his mind and exclaimed, "We got a clue Patil!"

Arvind rushed to the table and lay down the map. He marked the places of the murders starting from Mumbai-Pune expressway in Maharashtra, then to the right on the way to Maa Tara Tarini Temple at Odisha and the recent one at Top Sengattupatti in Tamil Nadu. Looking at them randomly didn't make any sense, but when Arvind joined the murder places it formed an inverted triangle, which made Arvind even more confident about what he was thinking. But then he became serious and kept thinking and staring blankly for a couple of minutes. Sub inspector Patil who was not understanding anything all this while spoke up to disturb his senior's chain of thoughts, "Sir, could you please enlighten me with what you came across and what this triangle means?"

"The yellow handkerchiefs and the medallion gave me a hint. I had seen them long time ago and read about them. Around 200 years ago there was a cult lead by Thug Behram who is known as the most notorious badass in the history of criminals. He used to assassinate people with such a cloth sewn with medallion. And these murders were not for money, but in the name of Kali Maa. So to confirm my notion, I checked the places which earlier looked random now mean a lot. The inverted triangle is the symbol for Kali Maa. So this confirms that the killer is the believer in Kali maa and has no interest in the monetary benefits. But...." And Arvind's voice faded away.

"But what Sir?", Sub inspector Patil inquired.

"Since we are speculating that the motives of the murderer are not monetary, and does random killing, it would be tough for us to know who is the killer? How many more murders are lined up!!"

"No Sir, it won't be tough, as u said the murders are being done for no purpose other than pleasing Goddess Kali Mata. It gives a chance to be sure that there would be more killings and may be its just last one at Mumbai."

"How can you be so sure about this?" Arvind snapped.

"Sir, if we join the places it forms an Inverted triangle but an incomplete one! If we follow the trail of the murderer, he/she started at Mumbai, headed Odisha and then at Tiruchirappali. To complete the triangle, he/she would surely offer the last and the biggest sacrifice at Mumbai..." Patil explained.

In the haste, Arvind had forgot to consider this piece of clue and realizing his fault, he started looking up for anything more he could get form the evidences available. Arvind observed that the killings were roughly a month apart, precisely, on amavasya or a new moon day and so the last murder was about to happen soon. Reaching out to his calendar he saw that he had just 48 hours left to locate the exact place where the murder would take place and who would the victim be!

***

Ketan was arguing loudly with someone over the call. He seemed very mad at the other person.

"You are not understanding Vikram. I got a better deal so I took it up. Business is to be kept away from emotions, relations, friendships. I'm sorry for the loss you have to bear but I can't keep the deal with you. You better get that in your head!", Ketan explained to the other guy.

"I would not have purchased the diamonds bearing such a huge amount of debt if you had not ordered. I cannot give it back to the person from whom I purchased. You are becoming selfish, you little piece of shit! You messed up my deal, you will have to pay scoundrel for this and many things!" yelled Vikram losing his anger and any sense of decency.

Vikram was one of the very good friends Ketan had made in his corporate career. He had agreed for a deal of diamonds in billions, but cancelled at the last moment when he got a better deal from another party this morning.

Ketan got engrossed in another deal with a guy from Dubai who wanted to purchase a beautiful necklace having the best diamond available at Ketan's shop, on the eve of Dhanteras. Manish standing nearby was helping Ketan to show the customer the intricacies of the best diamond they had. Ketan, troubled by the fight with Vikram, was unable to convince the customer and that's when Manish stepped in and started about the diamond all over and somehow cracked the deal with his good communication skills. After the customer left the shop happily, Ketan looked at Manish pleasingly and congratulated him on the deal, turning around Ketan offered prayers to Kali Mata, in whom he believed so much...

On returning home Ketan and Manish quickly changed in the festive attire, performed a short puja as it was one of the Diwali festivals and as the whole family sat down for dinner later, Ketan proudly told about the deal which Manish cracked today. But when Manish explained the whole event about the argument and then Ketan's disturbance, everyone was silent but supportive to Ketan's decision but Ketan's wife. She tried to convince Ketan to patch up with Vikram and retain their friendship.

***

Sitting in dim lit room, at his table the murderer adored the last yellow handkerchief left with him. The last offering to Lord Kali maa! The amavasya was just a day away and so was the last murder, he thought. The medallion shone in the dim light of the table lamp. A wicked smile ran across his face. The phone buzzed and after a short conversation he stood up and walked away to meet someone.

***

Inspector Arvind had warned all the police station in Mumbai to keep an eye for any suspicious activities. Being Diwali festival everyone was in high spirits, it was bright and cheerful everywhere. There would be no place for the slayer to attack any merchant, thought Patil. But Arvind was still worried as they couldn't know who might the next victim be and hence had kept a vigil on all the merchants in the city. Irrespective of the festival, all the policemen at work followed the orders and performed their duty the whole day, as they usually do during any festival. Arvind was in touch with all the main officials of different places in Mumbai to see if there was any update. The whole morning went smoothly, the afternoon passed and so did the evening; but there was on news of any suspicious activity

The first murder had taken place on 2nd August at night time around 11:30pm, while the second murder was done in the day time around 9am on 1st September and the last murder again at night 10pm of 30th September. So Arvind, was not sure of the exact timing anything would happen. Since the night had begun and the whole day was no news, Arvind had ordered everyone to look out more cautiously. Just when Arvind's phone buzzed. With great anticipation he attended the call, and looked dumbstruck with what he heard.

"Hello, any news Kamat?", Arvind asked.

"Sir, a bad news. The renowned diamond businessman Ketan Shah was found dead in his car few hours ago." The constable from Bandra replied.

"So? Anything to do with our case?" Arvind inquired heartlessly.

"Yes Sir. The same yellow handkerchief was found near the body." Came the response.

Arvind at once rushed to the Diamond Market, where Ketan was found dead near his office. He was dejected as he couldn't avoid the murder and catch the murderer. He thoroughly examined the crime scene to see if the murderer has left any clue. But similar to earlier times there was no clue to be found, the murder was quick and clean. Arvind quickly hurried to the building's security room to see if he could get any footage where things look apprehensive, but as the murder had happened just outside the building premises the CCTV cameras were not of much help.

***

The tragic incident had gripped Ketan's family on a festive occasion. The untimely evil demise of Ketan was a literal shock for every family member. Manish had lost his fatherly idol, his guide in the business and he looked lost now. Ketan's wife was crying madly. The whole house was eddied in deep horrifying darkness on the festival of lights; all of a sudden!

***

The police had sent the body to autopsy and were waiting for the results. Inspector Arvind was still revolving the thoughts of all the murders doggedly in his head. His gut feeling told him something was not right. He felt he could see it with his eyes but could not find out clearly what it was. He thought, "Ketan Shah was a follower of Kali Mata despite his contrasting ancestral beliefs. So why was he murdered in the name of Kali Mata? Why was he sacrificed?"

Looking over at all the crime scenes' pictures again, Arvind found something unusual. The difference was very slight and so one could not make it out at first glance. The handkerchiefs in all the earlier murders were extremely crumpled and creased while the handkerchief used in the last murder was not creased to that extent. This made Ketan doubt the authenticity of the killer. He eagerly waited for the autopsy outcomes now. He ringed up a few subordinates and got the results in no time. Holding his breath, Arvind opened the results and found his guesses to be right. He called up Patil and both set on a way to Ketan's home in Bandra.

On interviewing the family members, they came to know about the recent argument between Ketan and his old friend Vikram. On further investigation with Vikram the police came to know about the illicit affair between Vikram and Ketan's wife. This was a strong reason for doubting Vikram for the murder of Ketan, but surprisingly he had an alibi for the time of the murder.

"So what if he has an alibi, he might have asked someone to kill Ketan the same way as the earlier murders." Patil suggested.

"No Patil, the murder is not caused due to the Yellow Handkerchief this time. The autopsy results confirmed that the murder was caused by asphyxia but not due to external strain on the throat. It was due to the chemical drug known as succinylcholine or 'Sux'." Arvind revealed.

"This means that the murderer had administered the drug from within. So it has to be some family member." Arvind added further.

Now the person under suspicion was Ketan's wife, Vidya. She surely had an affair with Vikram but had no intentions of killing her husband and end a happy going life. She claimed that she was ashamed of what was going on between her and Vikram but then Ketan was not able to give her time and she got attracted to Vikram. She still liked her husband a bit. The genuine tears by Vidya made the police feel she wasn't the culprit and further interrogation with her made clear that she wasn't involved in the murder.

This series of failure was disappointing. Arvind and his colleagues in this case had started to believe that they had missed the insane serial killer who was aimlessly killing merchants for fun in the name of sacrifice. It was a week past the murder of Ketan Shah and it created a fear in the whole merchant community as the richest and thus the safest merchant in the city was an easy target for the murderer. After the demise of Ketan, Manish took over the business and tried to balance the business after the heavy setback. Things were different for Manish now and he had to be on his own!!

***

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes."

Arvind came across these lines while he was reading 'The Hounds of Baskerville'- one of the famous cases of Sherlock Holmes. Trying to get a break from the office work, he was reading this book trying to divert his mind from the failure he had to face in this twisted case. Pondering over these lines, Arvind thought of his case. His face brightened up. He decided to start the case investigation again with a new approach keeping in mind the obvious. He looked up at all the four murders and the evidences collected. It took just a day then to find the killer and Arvind decided to meet the killer in person.

Inspector Arvind reached Ketan's home at night when everyone was about to sit down for the dinner. He had also called Vikram at their place.

"I have finally found the serial killer in this twisted case of Yellow Handkerchiefs. And that serial killer is right now in this room," declared Arvind in a dramatic way.

Everyone looked astonished as Arvind said this. As everyone assumed that the serial killer was maniac and couldn't be one amongst those present in that room. Arvind further continued, "This plan was well devised and executed. The earlier killings were done for namesake, while the main target was Ketan!" Inspector Arvind broke the ice," We neglected the most obvious person in this case. Manish. He is the only guy who would be most benefitted by Ketan's death!"

"All the things went as per his plans. He hired professional killers to kill the innocent merchants and since it should look like the age old Thug Behram murders, he paid the killers heavily so that they won't touch the money carried by the merchants. He had done all the arrangements to make this murders look like serial killings with no motive. Manish very well knew it would be difficult for any professional killer to reach a man of Ketan's level and so he administered the drug, Sux, to Ketan through his evening coffee and appointed a person to drop a crumpled Yellow Handkerchief, same as he had used for earlier murders, nearby Ketan's body in the car."

"But the flaw in this plan which Manish missed was very small one and I realized it. The handkerchief was less creased than if it had been actually used to strangle someone. Manish was thinking the Sux won't be detected in the normal autopsy, but when I realized this difference I had asked the doctor to perform couple of more tests. And my doubt was cleared. Then remained the job of finding the person who had done this."

"Since the Sux was given through food and Ketan had recent argument with Vikram, the first suspected people were Vidya and Vikram. The other thing which we realized during this investigation, the illicit affair of these both, made us think that Vidya had done the act but then on the day of murder, Ketan did not have any food from home, whereas he ate in a nearby restaurant. So the only thing left was the evening coffee. The evening coffee was given to Ketan by his usual office boy and so there was no reason for any mixture in that unless someone mixed the drug after the boy delivered the coffee in Ketan's cabin."

"This is where Manish made the mistake same like me. The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes." Arvind quoted the line from the book he read. "Manish missed the obvious thing that he would have been seen by someone in the cabin along with Ketan. To show he was away at the time of murder, Manish had skillfully arranged a meeting with one of the customer in a nearby restaurant. He took some time amidst the meeting to reach office, share a coffee with Ketan and mix the drug in Ketan's drink, and rush back to the meeting; which would prove his alibi."

Sub inspector Patil, who was standing beside Manish quickly cuffed Manish's hands and admired his boss for solving the case. Manish red with anger and shame could not utter a word in the beginning, but later spoke up," Ketan was dumb-headed. He could not handle the business. Just because he was elder he was bestowed the responsibility of the business and thus the entire empire setup by both of our fathers. The business should have been divided equally, but Ketan was not ready to split it and kept handling the affairs poorly. Moreover, many a times he got the credit for many good deals while I was ignored every time. This made me feel jealous of him. I knew that he won't share the business and won't give up until he is alive. So I devised a plan to kill him, but in an extremely astute and smart way which would suit my intellectual." Manish derided.

The Shah family which would be together every Diwali was torn into pieces this time. Inspector Arvind walked away with Manish, as Manish's wife remained dumbstruck by her husband's deeds. That added one more piece of feather in the cap of Inspector Arvind who was renowned in the city for solving the most twisted cases.

***

'Sometimes we don't need to think copious, we just need to think clearly and precise.'

-Arvind J.