CID: THE FOURTH CASE

                       

Note: This story is based on the author’s fiction. It does not apply to any historical references or real-life incidents. This story is a sequel to my previous story, CID: The Third Case, and a part of the CID Verse.

January 3, 2022

CHENNAI

From the big city of more than 1000 people, a phone call came to the emergency service. Rebecca, who spoke on the phone, said: "My 36-year-old daughter Esther was found dead in my house." I don’t know what to do. "Come fast, sir."

Tejas, the newly appointed ACP of Chennai, went with the paramedic team to their house immediately, along with Abinesh. Outside the house, a 64-year-old Rebecca and her 65-year-old husband James were waiting for them. They took the police inside the house.

As soon as Tejas and Abinesh entered the house, they felt that something horrible had happened there. because a horrible stinking smell came from there. When the duo went inside, a horrible scene was waiting for them that they might not have seen in their whole lives.

Rebecca and James had a daughter named Esther. Before Tejas and Abinesh went inside, they said to them, "We went on a trip for a week, sir." Esther was alone at home. When we returned, we found our daughter in a dead state."

Tejas and the paramedic team, who entered the house after hearing this, sensed a horrible stink. It was the smell of urine and human waste. The police understood that something horrible had happened. Inside the house, on a sofa, they saw the dead body of Esther.

Her body was in a horrible situation. It looked like her body was pressed inside the sofa. She spent a lot of years on that sofa itself. There were insect bite marks all over Esther’s body. The millipedes in the sofa, the wounds in her body, and the bones were visible outside. Her face was swollen in a bright red colour, and her whole body was covered with human waste. In fact, human waste is found in her hair and inside her ear. Her body was filled with maggots.

Media also gathered in the area simultaneously. They questioned Tejas: "Sir. Who could have done this horrible crime, sir? "What are you all doing?"

Tejas angrily said, "Esther’s body was totally merged with the sofa." That means both were stuck together. "Is this clue enough?"

He asked Abinesh to come along with the paramedic team. While the media man asked Abinesh, "Is he such an arrogant person?"

"Go and study about him before asking questions, sir."

Meanwhile, Esther’s body was removed from there and sent for autopsy. The doctor who did the postmortem came to Tejas. He said, "There are a lot of reasons for Esther’s death." "There are no nutrients in her body for lots of years, and due to extreme hunger, she had a severe ulcer and died due to a bone infection."

From the report and crime scene analysis, Tejas concludes that "Esther spent more than 12 years in that sofa." Even the doctor couldn’t say when she last moved her body. Keeping the case in mind, Tejas returned home. By thinking for the clues, he smoked a cigar.

At that time, his girlfriend, Bala Raajitha, came in. Holding his arms gently, she said, "Hi."

"Hmm," Tejas said in tears. He cried a lot, kneeling down.

"What happened, da?" "Why are you crying?"

Hugging her tighter, he said, "Bala Raajitha." A new case came to me. "It was the most horrifying crime I have seen in my whole life." Tejas said everything that he saw there.

He was unable to eat for a week. Seeing this, Bala Raajitha tried to console him. However, he asked her to mind her own business and added, "I don’t need anyone." "Let me be alone."

Holding his shirts tighter, Bala Raajitha said, "You are my inspiration, Tejas." But when you are like this, why should I continue my profession as a doctor? I will resign that better." She said that and left the house.

9:30 PM

Putting the cigar and alcohol glass aside, Tejas calmed himself for a while and went to Bala Raajitha. He consoled her and brought her back to the house.

When Bala Raajitha was about to go for her kitchen, Tejas pulled her by holding her hip. Pulling her close to his face, he kissed her lips passionately. She looked at him and kissed his lips. Now, he kissed her breast, face, and cheek and took her to the bedroom, where they both spent the night making love.

The next morning, Bala Raajitha woke up from her sleep. She is sleeping with Tejas under a blanket, hugging him tightly.

She woke him up and said, "Tejas." That girl, Esther, might be affected by a rare neurological disorder. We call it "Locked-in Syndrome" in medical terms.

"What does it mean?" He asked by kissing her cheek and lips passionately.

"Tejas. That means all body parts will stop functioning. except their eyes." Unable to believe her, he said, "How are you saying this?" "Are you joking?"

"I just said my point of view." "You can investigate other professional doctors also, Tejas."

Hugging her tight, he kissed her forehead and said, "Bala Raajitha." I was quite harsh. I am sorry. "Thanks for this valuable information."

Embracing him, she said, "I love you, Teja."

"I love you so much."

Now, Tejas met Abinesh, and both started to intensify their investigation. Abinesh meets another doctor named Mansoor, who’s famous across Chennai.

There, Abinesh told him about the case that he and Tejas handled without hiding the facts.

Mansoor said to Tejas, "Sir. Esther had social anxiety. That is, they will not be social with other people. They will not mix with others. "They will not even go to the place where there are people."

"Why, doctor?" asked Abinesh, to which Ahmed replied, "They are afraid to go to such places, sir."

Suspecting Esther’s parents, Abinesh and Tejas, take them under their interrogation ring. In the interrogation cell, Tejas asked Rebecca and James, "Tell me." "Whydid Esther come to such a state?"

Both of them said to Tejas: "We looked after Esther very well." We will clean and feed her correctly. She had a mental problem. That’s why she didn’t come out of the living room. She will not even move from the sofa, sir. "We will keep a towel near the sofa, and she will use that for urination and human waste."

They added: "Sir. We have no thought of taking Esther to the doctor. "Because she didn’t ask us to take her to the doctor."

Rebecca said, "Esther didn’t have any pain, sir." Tejas and Abinesh are sceptical about their statements. With the help of the lawyers, Janaarth and Thilip Rajan (who helped Rishi Khanna and Abinesh in Anjali’s case), they filed a case in the Madras High Court.

The recorded video of Rebecca and James’s confessions is submitted in court.

Now, Janaarth and Thilip Rajan said, "My lord." Definitely, what Esther’s parents said is not true. She must have been in severe pain. So they should be charged with murder."

However, the opposition lawyer, who is in favour of Rebecca, wishes to question Tejas, who investigated this case.

"Tejas…Tejas…Tejas…"

As he came, the lawyer asked, "How did you come to the conclusion that Esther’s parents failed to take care of their daughter?"

"Sir. This was the most horrifying crime I have seen in my whole life. After I inspected Esther’s body, I cried and didn’t eat for a week. When we investigated her parents, there was no emotion from James. He stood like a tree. But Rebecca was a little sad, and she cried, sir. What is more strange in this means is that Esther’s parents were well known by all of them in Chennai, and they were respected by all the people. Rebecca was in local politics, and she was a police before. This information shocked Rebecca and John. While giving this information, Tejas smiled at Janaarth, Thilip Rajan, and Abinesh.

All three have investigated Rebecca and James’ backgrounds. It was at that time that Tejas got to know about her profession as an ex-police officer. Now, he continued: "So she can definitely help Esther out of it, sir." Esther’s father, James, worked for a charity. Even though they were known by many people, most of the friends didn’t know they had a girl child.

The judge heard all the points made by Tejas. At the same time, photos of Esther’s crime scene were shown to the judge by Thilip Rajan and Janaarth. The wounds in her body, the maggots and the visible bones all the photos were shown. He couldn’t even look at the photos fully.

Controlling his tears and emotions, the judge said, "Both of you didn’t take care of your child." That’s why this horrible incident happened. "The verdict will be declared soon."

When this news came out in the media, one of Rebecca’s neighbours, Sukumar, said:

"I haven’t seen Esther in 15 years, and she was a fun and happy girl. Like all other children, she used to play with our children. But when she was 14 years old, Since then, she has not been allowed to play with other kids. When I asked, they said she had mental problems. That time she was studying in grade 9. She was homeschooled for some days.

Tejas and Abinesh saw this news and met Sukumar. When they interrogated him, he said, "Sir. Before 5 years, another neighbour told me that: "It’s been days since I saw Esther." I thought she was married and consoled him. One time I asked her parents about Esther’s marriage life. But her parents said that she was not married and was at home, and the next second itself, they changed the subject, sir. Why was she at home? Why is she not coming out of the house? They didn’t share anything about it, sir.

"Thanks for this valuable information, sir," said Tejas and Abinesh. After coming out of his house, Abinesh said, "Very strange, Tejas." This neighbour didn’t know what was going on inside. So he also didn’t notice it.

A FEW MONTHS LATER

April 2, 2022

Both Rebecca and James were arrested on April 2, 2022. They were given second-degree murder charges.

However, Adhithya (a common man in the court) discussed the matter amongst the public by telling his friends: "That woman is an aspiring politician." So, the ruling party will bail her out with their influence for their own gains."

"How are you saying this, man?" Stupid fellow! "Are you a big expert?" Janaarth and Thilip asked that man by holding his shirts, angrily.

"Sir. First take your hands from my shirt. How dare you call me as stupid? I am an educated fellow sir. I know the ground reality of our state. You have won Anjali’s case. That doesn’t mean that you are an expert. Don’t you know that this ruling party appease for Minorities(Muslims and Christians) and missionary groups. First go and stop them, if you have guts."

Janaarth and Thilip bowed their heads down. They weren’t able to answer his questions. While this was going on, Adhithya left the court with his friends.

"Justice is for sale, right?" asked Janaarth, to which Thilip replied, "What he said is also right, only da." Within a few months, they will be out on bail. "We can’t do anything."

Tejas and Abinesh stood there with a guilty mindset.

MONTHS LATER

MAY 2, 2022

On May 2, 2022 by paying 30 crores, Rebecca and James came out in bail. The trial has not come yet due to internal politics and interference by the ruling party.

Seeing this, both Tejas and Abinesh felt that they were defeated for the first time in their lives. Meeting Dinesh, they request a transfer to Hyderabad in order to forget about this case. Failing to convince them, Dinesh eventually agrees to transfer the duo.

As they came back to the house, Tejas saw Rishi Khanna, who’d been transferred to Hyderabad. But she came for a visit to see Abinesh (Manickavalli), her 6-month-old daughter, and Anjali’s family members in his house. They were talking with Bala Raajitha for some time.

Now, Rishi came personally to Tejas and asked, "Sir, How did they easily stop this trial? "Hasn't the date really come?"

"Yes sir. "The date was not announced yet."

"What was my question in this case means, there is a possibility to happen like this in olden days. I heard a beautiful girl was locked in a room for 30–40 years by her mother. That, too, is for loving a boy. But that happened before 50 or 60 years. But this happened in 2022. Not even a single relative went to Esther’s home? Not even a single person asked about her. Her parents should have gotten a doctor to check on her. But they didn’t. "So they wanted her to be dead?" Tejas was unable to answer his questions.

At that time, he gets a call from Dinesh. He said, "Tejas." As per your request, I have made arrangements for your transfer to Hyderabad. "All the best."

Now he looked at Abinesh and said, "Abi. Get ready, da. "We have to pack everything immediately."

"Where?" asked Rishi, to which Tejas replied, "We both are transferred to Hyderabad, Rishi."

Epilogue and Conclusion

So readers. What do you think about Esther? couldn’t even think about how she spent each day. Comment on your opinions about this story without forgetting.

If the investigators are investigating what it means, they will know most of the truth by looking at our body language. Their next question will come based on that only. So the body language is a replica of what is there in one’s mind. Body language is very important. There is meaning for every eye contact and body movement. It is important to personal, professional, and business life.

CID: THE FIFTH CASE—TO BE CONTINUED