Into The Shadows by Aayush Borulkar (smart ebook reader txt) 📗

“We decided that we would put the dead body in the refrigerator and then call in the police the next morning and feign innocence because we had actually nothing to do with the murder,” said Nishant.

“So framing Ram Lal the accused, was never part of the plan?” asked Avinash reading the file.

“No, it was never the plan,” said Nishant.

“We were equally amazed when Ram Lal was caught for this murder. But then we were too naïve back then and decided to save our own skins and let an innocent take the fall,” said Vibha, still sobbing.

“But why would a murderer choose a house with so many witnesses? Wouldn’t it catch more attention?” asked Avinash.

“Sir, a villa with six crackheads. A house party with lots of drugs involved and a villa that is way outside the city limits. What better place to hide the body?” Nishant answered. “Even if Vivek would have succeeded in his plans, we wouldn’t have been able to open our mouths and attract an investigation. That would just ruin our future. We didn’t know any better back then,” he continued.

“So just because of a few drugs, you chose to ruin a man’s life,” said Avinash, disgusted.

“We did not! We have already told you that! That was never the plan” said Kaajal.

“And plus, we have not committed any crime. We left those three men near a hospital and surely didn’t kill the woman,” said Nishant, getting aggressive.

“Unless Vivek never reached the hospital,” said Erika, staring at Richa.

“What do you mean?” asked Vibha, aghast.

“I took a sample of the soil that we dug the other day and gave it to the forensics. It seems that the soil had been tampered with,” she said

“Tampered how?” asked Vibha

“The soil had an abnormally high percentage of acid in it. These levels are only found if there is heavy acid rain, or some sort of acid has been poured on it externally,” explained Erika.

“We also checked with the institution Richa was admitted to, and it seems that she was heavily into black magic and had tried to summon a bunch of souls. One of them being Vivek,” said Avinash showing the photos that the warden had sent.

Nobody could believe their eyes as Vibha passed on the mobile to the others.

“That means Vivek could never make it to the hospital huh?” asked Nishant.

“No, he never did” answered Avinash

“But I hope you are not hinting that we did it, right?” asked Nishant covering his face with his palms.

“Oh, not you all, but certainly one of you. Isn’t that right, Abhimanyu?” asked Erika as she glanced up at Abhimanyu, who was standing quietly by the window all this while.

“Uh, what?” asked Abhimanyu as he stood near the window, clueless.

Chapter 19

“We checked with the institution and found out that Richa had only two visitors during her entire stay there. The recent one being a few days back, which was Kaajal, and one five years back where we saw a bulky 5’10” man, with an oversized coat and a cap entering and exiting the institution. The name in the register was obviously fake, but he could not escape the security cameras,” explained Erika showing the snapshot from Avinash’s phone.

“Doesn’t his structure resemble yours?” Avinash asked turning to Abhimanyu, who was standing by the window.

“I hadn’t met her in a long time and just wanted to check on her if she was okay,” he answered

“Yeah, right. Then why do this?” asked Erika handing him a printout of the security cameras. “He was caught slipping something in a small sachet to one of the staff members in that facility.”

“What!?” asked a confused Vibha as she snatched the print out from Abhimanyu’s hand to have a look.

“But how did you even get these. What about the privacy policy of the intititution ?” asked Nishant.

“It’s because the source of this evidence is anonymous,” said Avinash looking at Erika, turning the recorder off.

One Day Before….

“We have a strict privacy policy, Sir. I am sorry I cannot help you,” said the warden.

“Could you help us in any other way then? Otherwise, we will have to get a warrant and make it completely official and then obtain the evidences. And it would become official that your institution is involved in an ongoing homicide investigation, and that is bad news for business. Isn’t it?” said Avinash.

“Also, if your superiors get to know about this. They are not going to be happy either,” added Erika. “Though, we understand your situation, we are compelled to take legal course of action,” said Erika, slowly closing the laptop.

“Wait! Wait!” shouted the warden. “Let’s get to a middle ground. I will cooperate and send you the required names, photos, and CCTV recordings of those two days when Richa had some visitors. But I do not want you guys to make this my official statement or mention the source of this evidence.”

“But then you will have to get the recordings discreetly. How will you tackle that?” asked Erika.

“I am the warden of the facility ma’am. Don’t worry. You will get the required files,” he added.

Present Day…

“Hence the evidence has no official source,” added Avinash taking back the printout.

“So Abhimanyu, there is no escape from this now. Why don’t you just spill out what exactly happened with Vivek that night, after the incident?” asked Erika, switching on the recorder.

“When you are a teenager, there are like a million chemical changes occurring in your brain. These force you to take decisions that either destroy or build your future. A limbo that needs to be broken out of,” said Abhimanyu.

“That was a dreadful night, but more was in store….

Back to the dreadful night…

After they decided on what was to be done, they split up. Vibha and Richa started cleaning the whole living room. Kaajal was in the kitchen, emptying the fridge contents to make space for the dead body. Nishant and Abhimanyu picked up the unconscious bodies and put them in Vivek’s cab.

“I will take dad’s gun with me, just for protection,” said