Meet your future self
What happens when the head of police comes at your doorstep because a murder scene you wrote has been replicated?
Koel was surprised Riva didn’t call her. She called to whine and get her prompt changed everyday.
She checked her Whatsapp. Riva had read the message.
Koel shrugged and let it go. Maybe the writer was busy. She knew her friend would call about the day’s prompt. There was only one thing that Riva never tried in her stories. Koel even wondered if she ever read the genre with how much her writer friend hated science fiction.
She grinned at the thought of Riva scrunching her nose at the message, “What would shock you if you met your future self?” and throwing the phone away with a huff.
So, she was the one shocked to find Riva’s mail just an hour later in her inbox.
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I had a dream a while back. I called it a nightmare at that time.
Now that I think about it, it was not actually that scary. Raj said that it looked like a great opportunity. And maybe it would be. With just a few tweaks, of course.
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Riva was sleeping when there were frantic knocks on their front gate. When Raj opened the door, it was the Commissioner of Police, one of his close friends.
Riva thought he needed Raj’s help. But it was her he was asking for. Her husband made Prithvi sit and offered him a drink. The man looked like he could use one. She had never seen him that nervous. Granted, he still looked composed, but there were signs of stress. He tapped his foot on the floor till the couple sat with their drinks.
“What can I do to help?” Riva asked as Raj placed his hand on hers.
“I need you to come with me to the murder site, Ma’am.” He was a friend. But this was a professional request. Raj’s hand tightened around hers.
“Why?” She asked.
“I remember Raj telling me once about one of your novels. The scene I am coming from today. It is an eerie copy. As if someone has used your book as a guide.” Prithvi didn’t waste time in getting to the heart of the matter. He sat his glass down on the side table without taking a sip.
Riva was shocked. It took her a minute to gather herself. It felt like she was in a movie when they come to frame the writer for a crime based off their book. She knew she should have stuck with other genres!
Raj tensed beside her. He knew which one. He knew his friend would not accuse Riva of something like this. But everyone else would “Who else knows about this?”
“Just the team and the family. The inspector in charge was smart enough to call me directly.” He shook his head at Raj, “I have kept the media at bay for now. But come morning, they will know, Raj. It is a high-profile case. The wife is already creating a scene.”
“Is it someone we know?” They knew a number of influential people with Raj’s position and her popularity. Riva had to know who.
But it was not the question running through Raj’s head, “When did it happen?”
“I am not sure, Riva. Do you know Kandhari Lal? He is a jeweler from South Delhi.” At Riva’s denial, Prithvi turned to Raj, “It happened at ten.”
“We both were home at that time. Our staff will corroborate the statement.” Raj gave him a nod. Riva looked at him in shock. The idea was at the back of her head. She knew she could be blamed for it as the murder scene looked similar to the one that she wrote. But to actually be a suspect, it was beyond something she ever imagined in her life, “We also have CCTV cameras on all the exits. I came back home at five. You can take all the recordings.”
“I know you didn’t do it. But this is a formality we would have to do.” Prithvi leaned forward in his seat. He was in casual clothes, meaning he was dragged to the scene, and had come straight here.
“How do you know that?” Riva questioned.
“There is only one deviation from your plot. The body was thrown out from the window of a fifth-floor hotel room.”
Riva put her glass aside. She needed her wits about her now. Raj motioned for their housekeeper to get the footage. He had been standing at the corner of the room from the start. He wouldn’t budge till he knew everything was alright. The dogs were also getting restless at the night intruder. So he took them away with him, “Give me the details, Prithvi.”
“The jeweler was there for a weekly appointment with his mistress. When he reached, there was no one in the room. There is no sign of anyone entering or leaving the room after he went in at eight. We have checked all the cameras.”
“Are you sure there has been no tampering with the footage?”
“The cyber team is working on it. We won’t know for sure till tomorrow. He fell face front. There was a knife in his back. And his mouth was foaming. Poison too. Whoever was behind the murder, they didn’t want him to live at any cost.” And it was similar to the killing in her book, but still.
“Have you found his mistress?”
“Yes. She was late. She was getting her key from the reception when the body was thrown down.”
“What about his wife? Shouldn’t she be trying to hide the fact that her husband was cheating on her?”
“I think she knew about it already. She slapped the girl as soon as she arrived, blaming her for everything. There were two more ladies and three men in casual clothing in the lobby, but she went straight to her.”
“Where was she when this murder happened?”
“At a kitty party. Fifteen ladies as her alibi.”
Riva pursed her lips, then opened her mouth to ask another question. But the police officer spoke first, “Riva, I am working on every possible lead. And I can brief you all about it on the way. But there is something I am missing. And I need your help for that. You can call it helping a friend, working as a private investigator, or whatever you want. I need you to come with me. I need to solve this before it reaches the media. The man was not only rich, but the only son of a minister in a high position. They will turn it into a political scandal soon. My force can’t afford that right now.” Festivals were just around the corner. A scandal like this could turn into protests and fights breaking out all over.
But it made Riva think, “Is it something the opposition would do?”
“I can’t say for sure, but it is a possibility. Will you come and check if you can tell me something more?”
“But it is an ordinary killing. Why do you say it was copied from my book?”
“Because the killer took his blood and wrote “Sorry” all over the room.”
“Still…”
Prithvi shook his head again, “I know. But it was the last message from his phone that drove me here?”
Riva gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, “No.” Raj stood up to get his gun.
“He sent out a list of all the shady dealings he did to everyone on his list. And that is not even what I am worried about. The killer made him leak important information about his father to some contacts. Ten in total. Lawyers, Businessmen, and some politicians too, including the Minister. My men are rounding them up and refraining them from doing something. These are all powerful men. They won’t sit quietly for long.” Riva could now understand why he was at their doorstep. This situation was going to spiral soon. She gave a nod to Raj who made his request to accompany her to the site.
“Of course,” Prithvi said as she went inside to change.
Raj came in after excusing himself, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
“I can’t just leave it be, Raj. You heard how bad it is.”
Raj gave her a tight nod. There was no way of convincing her otherwise now. She would go, no matter what.
It was hard to watch a scene she had written come alive. And she almost puked at the sight of so much blood marring every surface of the hotel room. They were ushered in from the back gate to avoid people.
Riva was brought in on every piece of available information till her head spun. She was piecing everything together when a young man came running to Prithvi while holding a laptop, “Sir, I found something.”
“It is his son.” She said as she stepped out of the room.
All the men in the hallway looked at her with wide eyes. And then at the laptop screen that showed the original version of the footage, with Kandhari’s son in a hoodie entering the room and leaving it after two hours.
“How, how do you know?” The cyber expert asked her.
She took the concerned people inside the room. She showed them a ring beneath the center table covered with bloodied food, “It is the same one I saw on his grandfather’s finger in the photos. And the dead body still had it, so the only person left is the son.” She shrugged, “His father was physically stronger, so the poison. Stab from the back to not look him in the eyes. The apology,” she waved her hand around the room, “for his mother. And the messages were the last piece of revenge.”
She explained and turned to leave without saying anything else or accepting any appreciation. Raj followed after shaking hands with his friend who breathed a sigh of relief. The footage showed a person of the same build, but they would at least have evidence.
A constable was dragging a crying manager to the van. Two hard slaps made him open his mouth about the money he got to turn a blind eye. He was screaming that he didn’t know about the murder as the vehicle took him to the police station.
“They might call you on every tough case now.” Raj parked the car and came around to help her out. He picked her up at the signs of exhaustion on her face.
“He came to my book signing once.” She spoke in his ear before laying her head on his shoulder.
He threw his head back and laughed out loud at the innocent look in her eyes as he took her to their room.
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Koel grinned as she read through the story. No one could drag out a science fiction piece from her friend.
For more Riva and Koel, head to this page.
This story is based on Writing Prompt #3 by
. Check out her page for more prompts like this. She is amazing.If you don’t want to miss out on stories like this,
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