Chapter 3

I had no idea where I was. I was floating like a cloud in a clear

blue sky. The only difference was that the sky was not blue.

It was red!

Blood red!

I couldn’t see anything around me. Everything was hazy, as

though there was a blanket covering my eyes. The fog blocked

off everything in the vicinity. It was so thick that I wasn’t

even able to see my feet. I started to run, increasing my pace

every second, feeling the cold air on my face. It seemed like

I was running for ages without end, the fog became thicker

as I ran through it.

“Reena!” a voice called out from somewhere.

I stopped.

I was scared to even look around. There was nothing much

to see; the fog becoming thicker every moment.

“Reena!” the voice called out again. I turned in all directions

but was unable to find the speaker.

“Reena! Reena!” This time the voice seemed closer

“Reena! Reena! Reena!” The sound was maddening;

reverberating in all directions. I closed my ears; I couldn’t

take it any longer.

“Reena! Reena! Reena! Reena!”

I woke up with a start!

“Reena! Are you alright?” I was lying on a bed.

“I . . . I . . . am okay. Where am I? Who are you?” I asked the

uniformed man, who was standing beside me.

“I am Officer Gaurav,” he said. “I’m investigating.”

“Investigating what?”

That’s when I remembered everything.

The blood!

The body!

Sheetal’s vacant eyes staring at the ceiling!

The knife!

I couldn’t control myself.

I screamed and tried to get out of the bed.

The officer tried to control me and pin me down. ”Easy!

Easy! Relax,” he said soothingly, as I tried to get away from

him. I was no match for a police officer. After some time, I

gave up. Then the tears came out. I couldn’t control myself.

“No! No! How can I relax? It was Sheetal! Did you see her?

Did you see the body?” I yelled at him, my tears welling up.

“I am sorry about your friend. I understand how you feel,”

he said, his face showing genuine concern.

I just looked at him, still crying. He was a short, stocky

man with a thick moustache. His hair was black and scanty,

greying at places.

“I am sorry I yelled at you. It was bad... I . . . I . . .” I couldn’t

speak.

“I know,” he said, his tone more serious.

“Did you inform Sheetal’s mom?” I asked him.

“Yes. She is in the hall.” he said.

“How . . . how is she?” I asked him. He looked down, trying

to avoid my eyes.

“She.. .she is not talking much, you know, after seeing…” he

said.

“How did you.. .who... who called you?” I asked him, wiping

my tears away.

“A guy called Malhotra called the police. He said he heard

a scream. When we got here, we saw the body and you were

lying unconscious near the bathroom. Sheetal’s dad is on his

way here,” he said.

“What happened? Who did this?” I asked him, relaxing a

bit.

“We have no clue. Look Reena, you have to help us. We have

been questioning Sheetal’s mom and we haven’t come up

with anything yet. You were her close friend. You must be

knowing something,” he said, with a serious tone.

“I don’t know anything,” I said.

“Try to remember. Who would want to kill Sheetal? Do you

suspect anyone?” He bombarded me with so many questions

that I felt sick and started crying again.

“That’s enough, Officer!” a voice called out from the door. We

turned to see a middle aged guy standing in the entrance.

“Sir, I was just asking the usual questions,” the officer said.

“I am in charge of this investigation!” he said.

“Very well.” The officer turned toward me. “Reena, this is

Officer Amir. Please cooperate with him. I will talk to you

later. Take care,” the officer said, leaving the room.

The detective was a tall man and he was wearing a brown

coat. He had thick, black hair and his face was completely

shaven. He had sharp, brooding eyes, like a cat.

“Are you alright now?” he asked.

“I am okay,” I said.

“I am sorry about your friend,” he said, his tone still sounding

professional.

“What do you want from me?” I asked him.

“I just want to ask you a few questions, if it is all right with

you,” he said, with an expressionless face.

“I don’t know anything,” I shouted at him.

“Okay then! I will come back later,” he said, turning away

from me.

“Wait!” I called out. ”Please finish this off now.”

He turned towards me; his face now relaxed. His eyes showed

concern.

“Just relax,” he said.

I stayed quiet.

“We have to find out who did this to Sheetal. Every bit of

information helps. I questioned Sheetal’s mother and we

couldn’t get anything important. She was close to you. She

must have told something to you. This didn’t happen all of a

sudden,” he said.

There was truth in what he said.

“When did you last meet her?” he asked, sitting down beside

me.

“Last week. But I called her last night,” I said.

“You called her last night?” he asked, surprised.

“Yes. Around 1.30 a.m.,” I said.

“Are you sure about the time?” he asked, sceptically.

“Yes. I am sure,” I said.

“What did you girls talk about? Did she say anything?” he

asked, his tone more serious now.

“No! There was nothing unusual about the conversation.

She invited me to come over for lunch today. Wait. I heard

her doorbell ringing when she hung up.”

“Did she tell who it was?” he asked me, his eyes wide now.

“No! She hung up before that. But I heard her saying that it

must be her mom returning from the hospital,” I said. The

detective was frowning now. He started asking me something

but stopped short.

“Can you ask Sheetal’s mom if she came here around 1.30?”

I asked him.

“I will try asking her, now that you have mentioned about

the conversation you had,” he said, standing up. ”You have

some water. Are you feeling hungry?”

“No!” I said, my voice coming out as a mere whisper.

“Okay then. I will be right back,” he said, leaving the room.

I lay there, staring at the ceiling. I couldn’t believe what had

just happened. Suddenly I remembered; I hadn’t called up

my parents yet. There was a phone on the bedside table. I

picked up the receiver and dialled. After a while, my mom

picked up.

“Hello!” she answered.

“Ma” I said.

“Reena? Where are you?” she asked.

“Sheetal’s house,” I said, my voice feeble.

“Talk loudly. I can’t hear you” she said.

I kept quiet.

“Reena! Are you there? What happened?” she asked.

I started crying.

“Reena! What... Tell me what happened. Did you girls have a

fight?” she asked me.

“No Ma. Sheetal . . . Sheetal’s dead,” I said, crying all the

while.

“What? What are you talking about?” she asked, confused.

I told her the whole story between sobs.

“Dear God!” she said.

“I am scared, Ma. Please get me out of here,” I said, still

crying.

“I will call your dad and we will come there in few minutes.

Just hang on,” she said and hung up. I put down the receiver

and turned towards the door. Why is the detective taking so

long to return? Just as I thought this, he entered the room, his

face grave. He strode towards me and sat beside me on the

bed remaining silent.

“Did you ask her?” I asked him anxiously.

He turned towards to me. “Yeah. She said that she got held

up in the hospital. She came home only after receiving our

call,” he said.

“Then who rang the doorbell?” I asked, surprised.

“I wanted to ask you the same thing,” he said.

“I don’t know,” I said, the frustration apparent in my voice.

“Reena! Do any of your friends have the habit of paying a

visit during late nights?” he asked me, his eyes piercing me

like a dagger.

“No! Not that I know of,” I said.

“Oh,” he said and looked down. “Nothing seems to be stolen.

So burglary is out of the question. The only explanation is

that the person came here to kill her. Just to kill her! He

must have been right outside the door when you girls were

talking,” he said.

The very thought of that gave me the creeps. I couldn’t

speak. My body was shaking again. So the killer must have

been prowling around her house when we were talking.

The killer, who did this horrifying thing to Sheetal.

He was out there somewhere!