Chapter 1

It was a dark, gloomy night and raining ferociously. In the evening air, the sound of
cricket’s chirping was the only noise to be heard. On one huge tree near the bungalow, an
owl, soaked in the rain water, sat still. Its penetrating flitting eyes moved around and
settled on a window through which light was coming out. It was the only window of the
bungalow which was illuminated with the rest of the lights ceasing to be on. Suddenly a
group of pigeons sat at the window for some shelter before flying off in a hurry, fluttering
their wings in fear.  They may have sensed the presence of some invisible being there.
Since the window glasses were opaque, coloured white, the interior of the room was not
visible. 

Was an invisible being present at the window? 

And if yes ... Was it trying to enter in?

Luckily, the window was latched from the inside.

In the bedroom, a figure could be seen laying in bed. As the figure turned around in sleep
its face turned to  the other side, making it impossible to determine who it was. On the
bedside table a spectacle was kept, probably the figure would have removed it before
going to bed. All around in the bedroom were bottles of wine, newspapers, magazines, all
spread clumsily around. The bedroom door was closed and latched from the inside. The
one and only window of the bedroom was closed and latched as it was an AC room. Again
the figure sleeping turned around, this time making their face to visible. 

His name was Steven Smith, around 25-26, thin build, some sparse stubbles visible on his
face. His eyes were surrounded with round black spots formed by some sort of spectacles.
Something had started to approach Steven, slowly and steadily.

Suddenly, as Steven sensed it in the sleep, he got up startled. Whatever it was, was
standing right in front of him, ready to attack. A fear crept over Steven’s face, he was
trembling, sweating and was panting within a fraction of a second. Before he could resist
or get away, it attacked him. A helpless, horrified scream spread all around the room. 
And then there was silence again. Just as it was before.

Chapter 2

There was the usual morning rush, people hurrying for the office, traffic on the road.
Therefore it was quite crowded and compact, excluding a police vehicle which rushed
through the crowd. The atmosphere around became tense, as the vehicle was rushing with
its ear splitting siren sound. The crowd on the road split immediately to provide a way
through. The ones who were walking on the footpath were looking back at the departing
vehicle with curious, fearful expressions on their faces. As the vehicle departed it left a
notion of tension on the road for a while yet things gradually returned to normality. 
A forensic team member was stood investigating at the open door of the bedroom. He was
searching rigorously for any sort of possible evidence through his thick glass lens. Suddenly
he heard the sound of shoes, somebody walking with great discipline. 
Before he could turn he heard a stern voice, “Where is the body?’’
“Sir, Here ... here inside...” He stood up straight and regained his posture as a mark of
respect.
The man he addressed as 'sir' was Detective Sam White, around 35-36, highly disciplined,
height around 6ft 2 inches with a very strong build. Sam went in, in the direction shown
by his team member.

When Sam reached the bedroom, he saw Steven’s corpse lying in a pool of blood on the
bed. His eyes were bulged out and the neck and head were left hanging to one side. His
neck was cut and it was apparent from the condition of the bed that he must have
struggled hard to survive. Sam surveyed around. One of his team members was brushing
objects in an attempt to find some sort of clue and another other one was busy taking
photographs.
His other team member briefed him up -

“ Sir the victim is Steven Smith, 25 ...”

“ Got any fingerprints?” Sam asked him before he had finished his briefing.
“ No sir... not yet” 
“ Make sure everything is covered” Sam instructed the photographer passing by.
“ Yes sir” he promptly replied.

Suddenly Sam’s attention was caught by something odd. 

He went to the bedroom door. The latch and the portion around it was broken.
“The killer must have entered in by kicking open the door. ” Sam said.
Then came the voice of Jeff, another member of the  team. Jeff was around 35, very
short, fat and had a less than distinguished appearance. 

“No sir, actually I broke it. When we arrived, the door was locked from the inside.” 

“ You broke it?” Sam said in surprise.

“ Yes sir” 

“ Back to your old routine then Mr. Bell” Sam said jokingly, but not showing so on his face.
“ Yes sir, I mean no sir.”

Sam turned and threw a glance at the room’s only window. It was closed, naturally, as the
room was air conditioned. 

“If the door was locked from inside, and the windows were closed, then how did the killer
enter the room? “ Sam asked, almost to  himself. 

Astonished, everybody looked at each other. Nobody had an answer.

“ More importantly sir, how the hell did he escape?” Jeff said.

The detective simply gave Jeff a stern look.

Suddenly everybody's attention was caught by an investigating officer who  had recovered
some pieces of hairs around the bed.

“ Hairs? Bag them and get them to the labs.” Sam instructed.

Chapter 3

Detective Sam sat in his office at the police station. An officer, Craig, then walked in and
handed him over the post-mortem documents. Sam leafed through them and the officer
sat beside him, briefing him in between about the post-mortem report.

“ It says that the neck cut is the cause of his death, but the post-mortem did not reveal
any information about the actual weapon used for the murder”
“ Amazing?” Sam said, again, almost to himself, “And what about the hairs found at the
site?” 
“ We examined those ... but they were not human hair.” Craig said.
“Not human hairs?” 

“Maybe the killer is inhuman.” Just then another officer came into the room and, 
jokingly, joined their conversation. 

And although what he said was meant to be humorous, they didn’t speak for a while,
rather, they simply looked at each other. There was an awkward silence in the room. 

“ I mean it must be from a coat or clothing.” Craig commented, trying to normalize the
atmosphere. 

“Any clue about the motive?" Sam continued, asking Craig and completely ignoring the
other officer.

“ Everything valuable in the house was intact, and we found no fingerprints other than the
victims.”

“Well, if the suspect is inhuman, they don't need any motive”, the officer intruded again
jokingly. 

Again few seconds passed with an awkward silence.

“ Look officer, this is an extremely serious matter here, so please, for God’s sake don’t
talk nonsense like this. It’s not even funny” Sam warned the officer. 

The officer looked slightly embarrassed and Sam returned to his previous conversation.

“I've been reading the victim's file, he's got quite an impressive record. We could be
dealing with some sort of revenge from an old enemy”
“If he only kills criminals...” The officer again tried to intrude between them. 

Sam looked at him with an angry glare.

“ I mean ... If he only kills criminals, at least it makes our job easier.” The officer said
with no humour in his voice and using his words carefully. 

“ Remember it's our job to protect and serve...” Sam said.

“ Even to criminals?’’ the officer asked bitterly.

Sam did not speak anything; in fact he probably didn’t have an answer to that.
Chapter 4

Paul Roberts, a 25  year old with black, curly hair, around height five feet ten inches tall
and average build, was sleeping in his bedroom. The room itself was not at all well kept
with empty wine bottles, pornographic magazines and all sorts of distasteful items littered
around. The bedroom walls were plastered with posters of naked or semi naked models of
his choosing. His bedroom was quite similar to the Steven's, the only difference was that
his bedroom had two windows, although these were also closed and latched. The windows
were not closed due to the air conditioning but rather as a  form of protection. He was
sleeping on a thick, soft, silky bed, and held a similar, thick, soft silky pillow tightly at his
chest. He was stirring restlessly. When he felt that he could no longer sleep, he got up. He
seemed to be disturbed. He strolled around the room, uneasily. He put on the slippers
which he religiously kept in the corner of the room and then left.

What to do now? ...

He thought and went towards the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen and switched on the
light. Then he went to the fridge, opened it, and took out a water bottle. Quickly, due to
his insatiable thirst, he drank the whole bottle in a few gulps. Holding the empty bottle in
his hand, he went to the foyer.

The foyer was in complete darkness. Paul sat on a chair.

Let's watch TV...

He pondered this idea and then picked up the remote which he kept on a side table. As he
switched on the TV, his eyes went wide, his face became pale and sweaty, and he started
shivering dreadfully. He saw the stream of blood slowly trickling down from the top of the
TV and beginning to run down the TV screen. Suddenly he got up, fumbled, and switched
on the light in the room.
There is nobody in the room..

Then how did it happened..

He looked at the TV
Shuffling he ran to the telephone and dialled a number. A big piece of fresh flesh was kept
on the top of the TV, which was still bleeding.
He picked up the telephone and began to dial a number with his trembling hands.

Chapter 5

Children were playing in the playground without a care in the world. Suddenly the sirens
of police cars roared into the air, scaring the youngsters who ran back to their parents.
Police cars were driving ferociously on the road. The cars departed with the speed with
which they came and turned to the right on the next turn. 

Police cars stopped by the house, making an ear-splitting siren noise. As soon as the cars
stopped, the team, under the leadership of Sam, left the cars and ran towards the house. 

" The two of you go and look around the house", Sam ordered to his two teammates.

They left behind the group and started investigating, one from the right side of the house
and the other from the left. Detective Sam and the other members assembled at the front
door. Jeff pressed the doorbell. It rang, but no movement came from inside. They waited
for a while before Jeff rang the doorbell again before knocking also. 

" Hello? Is anybody there? Open the door!", Jeff exclaimed.

One of them knocked the door again. But there was no movement inside. Sam was
becoming annoyed.

He ordered, “Kick it open."

Jeff and his two colleagues were literally banging on the door.

" Here. Push here with force", Sam advised.

" No”, replied one of the colleagues, “the latch would be somewhere here"

" Forcefully”, Jeff advised. “Give it some more force"

" Everybody just don't just be pushing. Somebody keep a guard on us", Sam instructed.
 
At last they kicked the door open. As the door opened, the team rushed in. Detective Sam
was entering cautiously holding his pistol straight in front of him. The others followed him
guarding each other. As they were about to spread throughout the house, they caught
sight of a dreadful scene in the hall. Their facial expressions faded away. It was Paul's
corpse lying on the sofa, his neck cut, eyes bulged out, head turned to one side, and the
things in the hall littered around. He was also murdered in almost the exact same way as
Steven Smith. It was evident from the littered things that he too had put up a fight for
survival. 

" Search around in the house" Sam ordered. 

Three-four members of the team spread all over the house. 

" Search in the bedroom too" Sam continued.

Detective Sam looked around in the room. He saw the TV screen spotted with a blood
streamlet and the piece of flesh lying on the top. Sam signalled for one of the
investigation team members. Immediately he went to the TV and started to collect the
evidence from there. Then Sam’s attention was drawn to the windows of the hall. Again,
the windows were locked from inside. Suddenly something odd on the sofa caught Sam's
attention. 
He reached out and touched it. It was a collection of hairs lying on the sofa, beside the
corpse. 
A strange silence filled the air. One of the investigation team members came forward and
bagged the bunch. Jeff was looking at the bunch and the piece of flesh alternatively. His
mind... not only his mind, almost everyone’s mind was filled with so many unanswered
questions. But to whom they should ask was the next immediate question.

Chapter 6

Sam was sat sipping a coffee with his associate officer, intently the serial killer case.
From their gestures it was evident that the discussion going on in between them was of
extreme importance. In between their speech, they were taking small swigs of the coffee
in order to stay alert. Suddenly, a TV news report grabbed their attention.

“ The body of a second victim was found today, the similarity and brutality of this murder
being identical to another body found earlier this week. Such connections have lead many
to feel that we are faced with a possible serial killer. It is believed that the bodies have
been found in rooms which have been locked from inside, however the police are
unwilling to comment upon this. Whilst the city braces itself for the news of any further
killings, residents near the crime scene, although shaken by the events, have been
comforted by revealing the information that both victims had extensive criminal records
which may be the motive for the killer's actions, although the police are at present not
willing to comment upon this.”

“ Well if its media attention the killer wants, he's certainly starting to get it” Sam told his
associate.
 But the officer seated across from Sam did not comment, fully absorbed in the news
report.

There was panic everywhere in the city. The serial killer was openly roaming around and
the police were unable to catch him.

How many more names were on his list?

Who was his next victim?

And why he was killing these people?

With some purpose? Or without any?...

Nobody knew the answers.

Chapter 7

Ronald Parker, aged around 25, a stylish and handsome man, was slept in his bedroom. He
was stirring impatiently indicating that he was disturbed. For a while, he tried to sleep,
stirring, moving, but sleep would not come. He got out of his bed, took a look around and
then sat down again. He took a magazine from beside the bed, lied back and leafed
through it. There was a nude figure on the front cover. 
Sex is the best way to relax, he thought to himself.
 Suddenly a loud ‘THUD’ sound came from the other room.
Startled and disturbed from his pleasurable thoughts,  he got up. 

What sound is it?

I’ve never heard it before..

Why am I so afraid and disturbed?...

Probably because of the mood I have been in today...

He went to the bedroom door, and unlocked it. He slowly opened the door and peeked
outside.

After he looked around in the house, he entered the foyer, switched on the lights, and
looked around. There was nothing odd or out of place. 

Everything is as it is...

He switched off the lights and went into the kitchen. 

In the kitchen, it was also dark. He switched on the lights and glanced around. Again,
everything was in order.  Now he seemed to have overcome from his fears. 

There is nothing there.

Unnecessary I got scared...

As he was about to return to his room, something in the sink caught his attention. His eyes
widened, fear crept over his face and he began to sweat. He started trembling. 
He saw a severed piece of flesh on the sink with blood swimming around it. Without losing
a second he ran from the kitchen. He was not sure what to do next. He went to the
bedroom, slammed shut the door and latched it from the inside. 

Chapter 8

Sam was playing golf. It seemed that it was his daily practice to play golf in order to
overcome his daily stress and tensions. He placed his ball on the tee, swung back and hit
the ball hard. It then shot through the air, travelling directly for the green. When the ball
eventually landed, it bounced three times and trembled slowly towards the hole stopping
around six feet away. Sam went to the ball. He began to read the green, estimating the
slope of the ground as he had done a thousand times before. He placed his putter behind
the ball, slowly pulled back and then made perfect contact hitting the ball in the right
direction with the right force. It treakled up to the cup face and dropped right into the
hole. Sam's face beamed with triumph. This moment of pleasure was temporary though as
his mobile rang. He saw the display caller. But the number seemed to be new. 

He pressed the button and attended the phone, ''Yes'' 

" Detective Baker here" came the voice from other side.

" Yes", Sam said, placing on his glove, preparing for the next hole.

" If I am not mistaken, you are in charge of the serial killer case ...'' 

'' Yeah" 

As there was the mention of  the serial killer case, Sam abandoned the thought of
continuing his game.

" If you could come down and meet me, I've got some information about the case which
might be useful." Baker said from the other end.
'' Yeah, Sure" He motioned his caddy to begin walking back to the clubhouse.

Sam fixed with Baker the time and place to meet and accompanied the caddy for the walk
back. 

Chapter 9

 Sam was sat across from Detective Baker. Detective Baker was in charge of his particular
police station. As soon as his phone had rung, Sam had lost all desire to play golf- this was
more important. Immediately he had left and came to Detective Baker’s presinct instead
of going to his own. As they completed their ‘Hi.. Nice to meet you’ formalities, Sam sat
across him to listen to the information he had about the case. Detective Baker took a long
pause. Though Sam did not show it on his face, his curiosity had reached to its peak. 

Detective Baker started to reveal the story, “A few days ago a case came to me.....

.... It was a beautiful town, beautiful green grass and quiet houses all around. The groups
of houses seemed to be like groups of twinkling stars spread everywhere in the sky. And in
the middle of the house groups was an ancient college building nestled in the town. 

In the college corridor there was a rush of students, as it was break time. Some students
were chit chatting in groups while others were roaming around. John Carter, age around
22, smart, handsome, and his friend Anthony Clark, also aged around 22, were walking in
the corridor, making their way through the halls like every other college students. 

John had told his friend, “Anthony, let’s go and sit in Dr. Albert’s class.”

“Are you sure? “ Anthony said back in surprise, “I mean, you ok?”

“Just, let’s go and check. Is he still here or did he leave already?” John must have said.
Both of them burst out laughing as if remembering some incident.

Suddenly, while he is walking, John hints at a boy passing by. Anthony looked at him
quizzically. 

“ That's the boy who's been stealing from the dorms.” John told him in low voice. 

By that time the boy had crossed them. Anthony looked back at the boy. Anthony also had
lost a few things from his room. 

“How do you know? “ Anthony asked. 

“Just look at him.. Don’t you feel like he is a trained thief “ John said.
“That’s not sufficient enough! We need some proof” Anthony said.

“Alex also told me... He's seen him loitering around in the dorms late at night.” John said.

“ Really? Ok then. Let's teach him a lesson.” Anthony said enthusiastically. 

“ Yeah, one that he'll remember forever. “ John added.

“ If he lives that long.”  

Both of them laughed.

Chapter 10

It was dark in the corridor. The lights that should have been there were either stolen or
broken by residents. A shadowy image walked down the corridor, slowly. And a few steps
away from it were John, Anthony, and two of their friends; all crouched down, hiding
behind a pillar. It seemed that they had decided today was the day to catch the thief,
whatever the outcome. They were hiding behind the pillar for what seemed like forever,
waiting for the thief to appear. As soon as they saw the shadow, their faces filled with
delight. Finally, their efforts were going to be paid off, they thought. A joyful whispering
started amongst them. 

“Careful.... this is going to be a our best chance to get him.” John murmured in a low
voice, in order to encourage quietness.

They moved forward and hid behind another pillar. They were fully prepared and had
preplanned, distributing individual tasks amongst them. One friend carried a black blanket
with him. 

“ He's stopped... “ John said in low voice. 

The shadow stopped at one of the rooms. 

“ Whose room is that...? “ One of them asked.

“ Mary’s....”  Anthony answered.

The figure stood in front of Mary’s door, placing the key into the keyhole.

“ He has the key?”  Somebody whispered.

“ Must be a master key”

“ Or maybe a duplicate key. He seems well prepared”

“ He can’t deny it now ... we've caught him red handed.” John said enthusiastically. 

John and Anthony glanced back and signaled their friends to move forward. 

“ Come on... Let’s do it.” Anthony said.

The figure was trying to open the lock. 

Suddenly all of them rushed over to him. Anthony covered the thief with the blanket.
John held him firmly. 

“ Hey first let’s beat him’’

His other friends started beating the thief.

“ Asshole...”

“ Show us where you have hidden the stuff.”

“ Uuuu ...Aaaa...” From under the blanket a trapped voice was coming, 

Suddenly the front door opened. Mary came out in confusion. She must have heard the
noises going on in front of her room. As the door opened it illuminated the trapped figure
in the blanket. 

“ What is going on here? “ Merry asked scared. 

“ We have caught the thief” Anthony said.

“ He was opening your door with the duplicate key” John said.

While holding the trapped thief, John felt something odd on thief’s body. In confusion,
John put both his hands inside the blanket. As he put his hands inside, his grip eased and
the image immediately came out. 

“Oh my God Nancy? Mary cried.

Nancy Collins, around 22 was a beautiful girl from their class. John was confused, still
holding her breasts. She released herself and slapped John hard as she could.

Johns was clueless not knowing what to do next, he blurted out “I'm sorry. I'm really
sorry”

“ We're sorry “ Anthony promptly apologized

“ But what are you all doing here at this time of the night? “ Mary asked in surprise,
approaching Nancy and helping her to get up.

“Idiot... I was trying to surprise you. I came to wish you a happy birthday”  Nancy said in
irritation. 

“ Oh, thank you... I mean sorry... are you OK?” Mary asked in confusion.

She then took Nancy into her room. As John tried to enter the room to apologize her, the
door slammed shut in his face. 

Chapter 11

The students were in class. John and his two friends were sat on a desk. John's attention
was not in the classroom, however. He seemed to be restless, waiting for the lesson to
finish. He glanced through the students, looking at Nancy. Yet she was busy taking notes
and paid no attention to him. He remembered the incident last and felt guilty about it.
What must she think about him now?...
In front of his friends and Mary, he should not have done it.
He definitely should not have done it...
But whatever happened, it was by mistake..
How could he have ever known that it wasn’t a thief but Nancy...
No, but he should try to apologize to her...
But he tried it yesterday night...
And she slammed the door back in his face...
No. He should keep trying until she eventually accepts his apology..
As he was deep in thought, the school bell rang. It was break time.
Let’s go, thought John.
This is a good time to apologize...
He got up and was about to go to Nancy when she disappeared into a mob of girls. 

The college corridor was flooded with a rush of students. Many were chit chatting in
groups. John and his friends rushed through the students looking for Nancy. 
Where the hell has she gone?...
Just now he had seen her joining a group of girls...
John and his two friends were trying to find her. Finally, they found Nancy standing in the
corner, chatting with her friends. 

“ Come on, let’s go” John said to his friends

“ You better go alone... I don’t think we are needed” one of his friends hesitated.

“ No.. you have to” said John, almost pulling them over to her.

When John and his friends approached her, Nancy ignored them. She kept herself busy by
chatting. John went closer still to catch her attention. But she kept on ignoring him. Away
from them, on the other side of the corridor, Anthony passed by, wishing good luck to
John by signalling a thumbs up gesture. 

“ Nancy ... I'm sorry. “ John awkwardly said with all of his other classmates present. 

Nancy uncaringly looked at him. John was tense and became tenser still finding her
ignoring him. Seeing that John was sweating, his other friends took control.

“ We were trying to catch the thief” one of them said.

“ He's been stealing from us” the other added.

“ Nancy ...I'm really sorry... I really didn’t mean it.... Just I was trying to...” John
gathered his courage and continued. 

While apologizing, John made different postures in an attempt to explain Nancy his story.
Really, he was not sure what he was talking about or why he was making such gestures.
Finally, he stopped and held one single posture. When he stopped, he realized again that
his hands had stopped awkwardly, covering Nancy’s breast, though not touching them.
Nancy realized the same. John suddenly retracted his hands. Her angry eyes flashed with
rage at him and again slapped him hard. 

“ Shameless” she said and left furiously.

Before John could say anything she was gone. When he recovered, he found himself
caressing his cheek. 

Chapter 12

As she had finished her shopping, Nancy began to walk home. She tried to finish up things
quickly but it still took time. It was now getting dark and the road was sparsely populated.
Suddenly, Nancy felt that somebody was following her. She started walking fast with fear,
without looking behind. When she realized that she as being followed, she increased her
pace. 

“Nancy ...” somebody called out to her from behind.

She stopped for a moment and then continued. 

“ Nancy” the voice came again from behind.

From the sound, she could sense that the one calling from behind her may not have had an
ill intention. Nancy turned back to look who was calling, whilst still walking. 
As she saw John, she abruptly stopped. Expressions of irritation crept over her face. 
What the hell he was doing here?...
It’s getting too much that he is following me everywhere..
John approached her, holding a flower bouquet. 

“Why are you following me?”

John did not say anything. . 

“For God’s sake stop following me” she said with great annoyance.

Nancy turned in disgust and walked away. John followed her although keeping some
distance. 
Sensing John’s steps again, she stopped angrily. John gathered his nerve and offered her
the bunch of flowers, holding them out in front of her,
“ I'm sorry...” he kept repeating his usual phrase.

Nancy frowned.

“ I swear, I mean it.” He continued.

Nancy angrily tucked a few of her stray hairs behind her ear. John thought she was going
to slap him again. He backed away, closing his eyes in fear. Nancy realized why he closed
his eyes. Nancy burst out laughing. She could not stop laughing, seeing his innocent
childlike fearful expressions. Her anger had disappeared. John opened his eyes; kept
looking at her as she jogged further away. After moving some distance, Nancy turned,
looked at John, and smiled mischievously. John acknowledged her smile yet was confused.
She took a turn and disappeared. Though she had disappeared, John was smiling alone, as
if in a trance. He was recalling again and again her smiling face. 
Did she smile, really?...
Or was it just a hallucination? 
No.. no. How it could be?...
It’s true that she smiled...
Shall I assume that she has accepted my apology...
Yes I can assume so...
But her smile was not just a smile...
There was something else hidden in her smile...
What was it?..
John was trying to decipher the hidden meaning. And as he got it, a similar, in fact, the
same smile crept onto his face too. 

Chapter 13

Even John and Nancy did not realize that they were attracted to each other and were
becoming close. They were experiencing their fight ending up as love. They met whenever
they could during college. They met in the library or at break time or straight after
college. They didn’t want to waste any opportunity to meet. But everything was going on
secretly. They kept their love hidden from others. But how can we say it is a love when it
is hidden from others?  

It was late at night. Nancy’s father was restless, as his daughter didn’t return home until
now. He was strolling, on edge in the foyer. In fact, he had given her total freedom in the
past. But she never behaved as irresponsibly as today. Whenever she used to be late, she
used to ring at home. But, today it seemed, she didn’t bother. His gut feeling was telling
him that something was serious. 
Did she get caught up in bad company?..
Or trapped in drugs or something like that...
Various thoughts were coming into his mind, when he heard some noise outside. 

A bike stopped at the gate. Nancy got down off the bike from the back seat. She kissed
John and headed for the gate. 

From the house window, Nancy’s furious father was looking outside. He was not furious
about the fact that his daughter had a boyfriend, but about something else.

Nancy’s father sat on the sofa. In front of him Nancy stood, her head lowered. 

“Don’t you go out with anybody else but bloody Asians?” his stern voice echoed. 

Nancy was not able to speak a single word. When she was trying to gather the nerve to
talk, her brother George came in. George Collins was in his thirties, a weird person with
an eerie appearance. He stood beside Nancy. Nancy’s head was still lowered. 

As her brother stood by her side, she gathered the courage to speak,
“John is a nice guy, if you'd only just meet him.”

“Just shut up. I don’t want you to meet him if you want to stay in this house.” Her father
warned her with his final decision. 

Nancy’s eyes welled up. She ran from the room, hiding her tears. George sympathetically
kept on looking at her.

In the house, nobody dared to argue with the father. George plucked up some courage.

“Don’t you think that was a little harsh? You should listen to what she says, at least take
the time to meet him.”

“ I am her father. I know what is good and bad for her. ...And I don’t want her to suffer
like you... What happened with you... the Asian girl. Married and left you, grabbing
everything she could” George’s father said, going out of the room 

“It’s human nature that defines us, not our color” George said, looking at his father
leaving. 
Nancy’s father abruptly stopped at the door.
“And I don’t want you to support her.”

Nancy’s father left. . 

Hiding at the window outside stood some figure, listening to the conversation. As soon as
Nancy’s father left the room, the figure left the window immediately. 

Chapter 14

A female teacher was taking the class. The students were listening intently. Amongst the
students were Nancy and John.

“So, the moral of the story is that it is better to make some decision rather than not
making any at all. Be on this side or that, not hanging around in between” was the
teacher’s attempt at summing up the gist of the story. 

Nancy sneaked a look at John, their eyes meeting. They shared a loving smile.
Nancy showed a notebook to John on which was written ‘LIBRARY’ in bold letters. John
nodded in affirmation. After some time, the school bell rang and the students slowly
dispersed. 

John entered the library, looking for Nancy as usual. Since it was a break time, no
students were in the library, as hardly anyone studied during this time. Nancy was
reading, or rather pretending to read, a book whilst sitting in a corner. Nancy glanced
over and their eyes met. She got up and started to move behind a book shelf. John also
followed her. No communication signals were needed. This appeared to be their daily
practice. Though Nancy was going behind the bookshelf without a word, her mind was
filled with thoughts
Whatever may happen today I have to take the final decision...
For how many days will we be hanging around in between like this?
What the teacher concluded after the chapter was actually right...
We have to take some definite decision...
Either one side or the other...
Now, enough is enough...
John, following her, also had many thoughts in his mind.
Generally, Nancy used to signal him after the period was over...
But this time, she had signaled during the period...
There was probably something wrong at home...
From her face, she seemed to be in a dilemma...
Did she change her mind under the pressure of her parents?
So many thoughts of so many things were revolving in his mind.

As Nancy reached the place from where they could not be seen, she stood in the corner on
one leg, resting the other on the wall behind, waiting for John. When John reached her,
he stood in front of her, trying to read her expressions. 

“So, it’s decided, today at eleven o’ clock. Be ready” Nancy said.

John felt relieved knowing that Nancy had still not surrendered to her parents. 
But to what was going on in that head of hers?...
Is it not strange, her behaviour that day?...

“Nancy, don’t you think we are rushing into things. We should wait for a few days. Let’s
see if things change” John tried to convince her.

“ John, things never change on their own. We need to change them” Nancy said firmly.

They were discussing this for quite some time. John still was not sure about where she
stood.
But in one way, she was right...
Sometimes, it is better to make immediate decisions...
John contemplated this. 
But am I ready for that ...
Am I ignoring my parents totally?...
But no...one day, eventually, we need to break this deadlock...
John was trying to come to some decision so that he could remain firm on it later. 

Behind the racks, where John and Nancy were discussing this, there were two further
racks, behind which somebody was listening to their conversation, hiding.

Chapter - 15

Many thoughts were circling John’s mind. Whatever the decision he was going to now
make, he was thinking about the consequences. From the discussion in the library, he was
now sure about three things.
Firstly, this was the first time he was exposed to the sternness of Nancy.
He was sure that she would never leave him... or never even think about it...
Yet now, he was beginning to doubt himself.
Secondly, is he sufficiently stern within like Nancy?...
Is he capable of sticking to her in bad times too?...
Thirdly, will the bad times change him?...
He was contemplating and judging himself. 
But no... I have to be stern and firm.
I need to take some firm action.
Once the decision is taken, I have to stick to it, regardless of whatever happens
afterwards..
Ultimately, John made his mind.
John closed the door and started to pack his necessary items into a bag.
Will everything be okay?...
Should I tell my parents?...
John finished packing his belongings. 

He changed his clothes and pondered over what he was doing. Some item was left. He put
it in his bag and zipped it up. He heard the peculiar sound of the zip, which he always
liked. He held and kept the bag on the table and rested himself on a chair. He must have
relaxed for few seconds, when his mobile vibrated. He looked at the display screen. It
read ‘Nancy’. Immediately, he got up, picked up the bag and cautiously exited the room.

Slowly and vigilantly, John came out of the main door and pulled it closed. 
Ambling, he came out of the compound gate and pulled that closed too. On the road,
Nancy was waiting for him, sitting in the taxi. He walked over to it. Their eyes meet; they
shared a smile. 

John squeezed in beside Nancy and closed the door, taking care that it didn’t bang loudly.
They hugged each other sharing a tender look and a winning smile. Their taxi drove off. 

Now their taxi was far away from their houses and was moving with some speed. Nancy
and John were now enjoying the cold breeze of the air coming in from the open taxi
window. But were they aware of the fact that one more taxi was following them. 

..... Detective Baker took a break while telling the story. Sam looked at him, wondering
why he had stopped. Baker picked up a glass of water kept in front of him and took a
swig. When the office boy came in with refreshments, Baker gestured that he served Sam
and his staff first.

Chapter 16

Due to the appearance of the office boy, there was an interruption in the story being told
by Baker. Sam and his partner’s curiosity had reached its peak and they now eagerly
awaited the remaining part of the story. After all of them had finished their refreshments,
Detective Baker continued to narrate the rest of the tale...

... The taxi had reached the railway station. John and Nancy got out, paid the driver and
went to the ticket window carrying their bags. They still had not decided where to go.
They just wanted to leave the city. A train, ready to leave, was waiting at the platform.
John asked the lady at the ticket window if he could buy two tickets for that particular
train. After buying the tickets, they were searching for their compartment. They didn’t
find it with too great difficulty, as the compartment was not too far from the main door.
They heard the last warning bell and rushed into their compartment. After they searched
for their seats, they kept their luggage, taking care of its safety. Suddenly, the train
started to move. As the train started to leave, Nancy rushed to the compartment door
taking John with her. She wanted to see her city for the very last time. Nancy and John
were sitting beside each other. As they ran away, they had lost all of their home support
and, now, they only had each other’s support. They had left behind all of their relations,
all of their dear ones. Nancy’s head rested on John’s
shoulder.                                                                            

“So, how you are feeling now?” John asked trying to ease the
atmosphere.                                                                                     

“Feeling great!” she replied, pretending to be happy.

 John knew though she was not showing the kind of lonely emotions she was going
through. John held Nancy firmly.                                                          

 “Do you remember something?” John asked her, smiling, holding her more firmly.“A
special incident when I held you like this.”                       

 “How could I forget?” She remembered the hostile incidence when he had trapped her in
the blanket, holding her down firmly.                                 

“ And you too...” Nancy caressed his cheeks, reminding him of the slap she had thrown. 

Nancy and John burst out laughing. When their laughs subsided, Nancy said, looking at him
fondly, “I love you.”                                                                                           

“I love you too” came the response.

They embraced in a tight hug. Nancy was staring out of the window, though there was
nothing but complete darkness outside. John looked at Nancy.     

“Do you know why I was holding that flower bouquet?” John said reminding, her of the
incident when he apologized. 

How could she forget?  In fact, it was the moment when their love story began.

“Obviously, to apologize.” Nancy said curiously.                                       

“No ...No ... to stop my hands from making any unpleasant postures, which could lead to
another slap.” Nancy and John burst out laughing again. 

Their laughter died slowly. There was some silence, joined by the sound of a running
train. Suddenly, Nancy had a gut feeling that someone was following them and was in
their compartment. But how was that possible? Because nobody knew about their running
away except John and her.

Chapter 17
Crowds of people were moving onto the platform with their belongings. Many of them,
whilst carrying their luggage, were struggling to find a way through. Many were worried
that their train might have arrived and that they may miss it. On the platform, in the
corner, was a gang of four men - Steven, Paul, Christopher, and Ronald, playing cards and
waiting for their train to arrive. Christopher Anderson, who was around 25, stern looking
and physically strong, seemed to be their leader. Christopher looked up at the information
screen overhead.

"Still plenty of time before our train arrives. We can play at least three more games" he
said whilst dealing the cards.

" Paul, write the score on this slip.... " Ronald said as he removed a paper slip from his
pocket using one hand while his other hand held the cards. 

He handed the slip over to Steven who passed it onto Paul.    

"And Steve, don’t try to cheat" Paul warned. 

As Christopher finished dealing, suddenly something caught his attention. He kept on

staring in anticipation. In the crowd were Nancy and John holding each other's hands. The
way they walked and looked around made it easy for anybody to notice that they were
new in this town. Christopher’s mouth remained partly open and his eyes widened.

" What a beauty!" he exclaimed. 

Steven, Paul and Ronald also took a glance and were soon unable to avert their eyes. Her
beauty infatuated them.     

"The lovebirds seem to be running away from their nests" Christopher's experienced eyes
concluded.                                                             

"I wish I were that guy with her" Paul said.

Christopher snatched back the cards from each of them and

said                                                   " Hey, look. Let’s play a real game." 

Their faces beamed with happiness as they knew the hidden meaning behind what he said.
In fact, it was not the first time that they had played this particular game. All of them
cheered in unison and stood up.

"Hey ... look... we shouldn’t lose them" Ronald said.                         

So they started to follow Nancy and John, keeping a safe distance so that they could not
notice them.                                                              
“Steven, you better go ahead, as you can’t see properly through your glasses” said
Christopher, pushing Steven ahead. Steven went ahead running, taking care that Nancy
and John still didn’t notice him.

Nancy and John wandered around the city throughout the day. They did not realize how
quickly time passed. Now it was evening. John and Nancy were walking on a sidewalk,
their hands entangled. Ahead, they saw a street vendor selling red heart-shaped balloons.
They walked over and John generously bought a bunch. He gave it to Nancy. The thread
then broke, as it was not strong enough, and the balloons started flying up into the sky.
John then ran, trying to grab the balloons by jumping at them, but could not succeed. The
heart shaped, red balloons, colliding with each other, were going up into the sky. Nancy
burst out laughing seeing John’s struggle to retrieve the balloons. Yet, far behind John
and Nancy were Christopher, Ronald, Steven and Paul, following them unnoticed. Nancy
and John stopped at another street vendor for ice cream. They bought one and started
eating a single ice cream together. Whilst eating, Nancy giggled, seeing some ice cream
on John’s face.                                                                                         

“What’s wrong?” John asked in surprise.                                             

“Look at yourself” Nancy said pointing to a vehicle mirror nearby. 

John then looked into the mirror and burst out laughing. He then cleared the ice cream
which he had on his face and tenderly looked at Nancy.

“When you think about it, we like the same things” Nancy said.          

“You know, it’s a perfect match” John said proudly. 

While eating ice cream, Nancy’s attention was caught by Christopher’s odd stare from a
distance. As soon as their eyes met, he averted his stare. Nancy felt some oddity in his
look and his overall demeanor.                                   

“John, I think we should move.” Nancy then started to move forward and John began to
follow her, confused by her sudden change of mood. 

After they walked for a short distance, they entered a clothing shop. It was now around
10’ O clock at night. Nancy was going through the dresses on display inside the shop.
Nancy wondered whether or not the boy was still following them. She peeked out of the
shop though a slit. As she looked through the slit, again her attention was caught by
Ronald and Christopher discussing something outside.

“John, don’t look back. I think we are being followed” Nancy said in a low voice, as John
was stood where he could still be spotted by them. 

“By who? Where?” John asked in confusion.                                            

“Let's move. I don’t want them to find us.” She then took him outside the shop and they
began running up the sidewalk, pushing people out of the way.

Chapter 18

Now Nancy was completely sure that they were being followed. Both her and John were
panicked and confused as the town was completely strange to them. To get rid of the
group of men, they were running up wherever the roads lead them to. At last, they
reached an area which was virtually empty. Nancy looked behind. Christopher and his
friends were right behind them. Her heart skipped a beat. John wasn’t sure what to do
next. All they could do was to walk as fast as they could so that they could get rid of
them. As Nancy and John walked ahead, the road was dark; there was nobody on the road
other than them and the guys following.                                     

"It seems they saw us" Steven pointed out to his friends.                         

"Let them" Christopher said uncaringly.                                                      

"They seem to be scared of us now" Paul said.                                       

"They should ... In fact it’s the scare which is going to work now.... Sometimes, a scare
makes one weak" Ronald explained. 

John looked back and saw them approaching quickly towards them.                           

“ Nancy! Come on, let’s run” John said, gripping her hand tight. 

Holding each other’s hands, they started running.                            

“Shall we go to the police?” Nancy said, gasping.                             

“Where are the police around here? And if we decide to go, they might be already for
searching us....” John somehow managed to say whilst running.

Nancy and John then entered a narrow alley. Christopher and his friends also started
running behind them. As they were about to follow them into the alley, a big truck pulled
across blocking their pathway. They waited until the truck drove away. When the truck
passed, they saw that the alley was empty. They then ran  down the alley and stopped at
the other end looking around for them but failing. Christopher and his friends looked all
around them, standing in the small square. However, they were not able to see them.

“Let's all split up and find them. We can’t lose them” Christopher said. 

They then spread in all different directions. Nancy and John were hiding in a large
drainage pipe lying beside the road. They tried to squeeze themselves in more as they
heard footsteps of somebody running towards them. Now they were completely trapped
with no chance of escape. They just had to keep calm and squeeze their eyes shut just
like a cat, as they didn’t have any option other than that. Suddenly, Steven came running
near the pipe. John and Nancy were silent so they didn’t give themselves away easily. He
came closer still and looked around. 

They could hear his frustrated words,“Where the fuck are they?” 

Steven saw the pipe and thought maybe they could be hiding in there. He went closer for
an inspection. He was about to bend down to look into the pipe
when                                 

“ Steve, come here quickly.” It was Christopher calling out for him loudly. 

Steven then went over to Christopher and began to move away. John and Nancy sighed in
relief when hearing his departing footsteps.

Chapter 19

In the hotel room which Nancy and John had booked, they sat on their beds across from
one another. John gently brushed some hairs from her face.

“I was scared that they might have found us” Nancy said.                     

She was still unable to come out of the panic she felt.                          

“No need to worry sweetheart. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise you” John
tried to console her. 

She looked at him with great pride. His consoling words really worked, almost like a
medicine, she thought. Slowly, John slipped near Nancy. She looked into his eyes. John
was unable to avert his eyes from hers. They stared at each other for a long while. They
noticed that their heartbeats and breaths were increasing. Gently, embracing one
another, they lied down on the bed. John leaned onto her and held her face in his hands
as if he wanted to stare at her forever. Gradually, he lowered himself on her and his warm
lips gently rested on her soft lips. They passionately started kissing. In the excitement,
John rolled on the bed holding Nancy firmly. Thud, the sound came - they both fell on the
floor. John fell over Nancy. Nancy pushed him away, screaming with pain.

“Aahhh! You trying to break my legs, or what?’’ Nancy screamed.      

John got up, trying to hold her.                                                              

“I am sorry. I am so sorry” John apologized. 

Nancy pretended to get ready to hit John. John pulled back his head and closed his eyes
with fear. Nancy grinned. She pulled his face towards her, holding firmly, and kissed his
lips wildly. He also responded. They didn’t care to get up from the floor; in fact they did
not want to waste a single moment. They made out on the bare floor. Suddenly, there was
a gentle knock on the door. A frightful silence. Was the knock real or just a hallucination?
Again, there was another knock but this time a little louder. 

It may be room service...                                                        

“Who’s there?” John asked loudly.                                                        

“It’s the police...” came the voice from outside. “It’s important that we talk to you.” 

Both of them slowly got up from the floor and shared an apprehensive look. Nancy
buttoned up her top whilst John buttoned his shirt. How the hell had the police reached
here was a mystery to both of them. John went to the door and looked through the
peephole. Nothing was visible, only darkness. As he unlatched and tried to see through the
slit, all four of Christopher, Ronald, Paul and Steven entered forcefully into the room.
Before they knew what was going on, Christopher locked the door from the inside. Ronald
made Nancy quiet by keeping his knife on her neck. Christopher also placed a knife on
John’s neck, as part of a preplanned thoughtful move. Now everything was in their
control. They shared an evil, victorious smile                            

“Steve, fix his mouth” Christopher ordered. 

As Nancy tried to scream, Ronald kept his other powerful hand over her mouth.              

“Paul, fix her too.” Steven fixed John’s mouth, hands, and legs with tape. 

Paul fixed Nancy’s mouth and hands in the same manner. The way they have executed the
thing until now, they seemed to be professionals and experienced in such activities. Now,
a wicked smile crept over Christopher’s face.                                                                 

“Hey, put something over his eyes. He might not be able to bear it.” Christopher said. 

Steven fixed a bandana over John’s eyes. Now, John was able to see only the dark yet was
still able to hear the laughter of the four intruders and the helpless moaning of Nancy.
Chapter 20

John suddenly found everything to be quite peaceful and calm.                        

“Hey, you can take off the bandana now” John heard Christopher’s vicious, irritated voice
command. 

John felt the bandana being removed from his eyes. The bandana was wet, as his anger
and helplessness was erupted out in the form of tears. As the bandana was removed, he
saw the scene in front of him. His face frowned, brows furrowed and his eyes became red.
Lying before him was …Nancy’s nude body. Her neck was hanging over to one side. Her
eyes were open and white. She was dead. He tried hard to release himself and help her
when, suddenly, something hit him on the head and he lost consciousness. When John
eventually gained consciousness, he found that he was no longer tied up. However,
Nancy’s dead body was gone. He immediately got up and looked around panicking. Was
this some horrible dream? He wished it was. Yet how it could be?                        

“Nancy” he called out loudly, though he knew that there wouldn’t be any response. 

His head was still hurting from where he was struck. He checked with his hand. Looking at
his fingers, they were completely covered with blood. Now he was sure whatever he had
experienced was not a dream. Immediately, he bolted out to search for her. John looked
around frantically again, running until he reached the end of the corridor. He went to the
elevator and pressed the down button; he took one last look around. The door opened and
he entered the elevator. Where the hell did they go? Where is Nancy’s body? Or have they
disposed off it? He went out of the hotel and ran around ferociously. There was darkness
everywhere, barely anybody on the road. On the corner, he saw a taxi driver standing
leisurely. He may know something about them, John thought. He went over to the taxi
driver and enquired. The taxi driver gestured something towards the left. He then got into
the taxi and told the taxi driver to drive. The taxi drove off. However, they found nothing
as the streets were still empty. Disappointed, John came back and entered the room and
locked the door from inside. He looked at the bed. The bed sheet was wrinkled. What
should I do now, he pondered? Shall I go to the police? But they might arrest me and file a
charge against me for this murder. In fact, it’s me who is responsible for all of this. Not
only murder but also rape. He sat on the corner of the bed; hiding his face in his knees, he
started sobbing. Lifting his head up to breathe, a paper slip lying on the floor caught
John’s attention. He got up and wiped his tears with his sleeves. Paper slip…We never had
such a paper slip, he thought. John picked up the slip. It was the same slip on which Paul
has written the playing card scores against each of their names. He turned over the slip.
There was some number written on the reverse side which appeared to be a mobile
number. He got up resolutely.                                                      

“Assholes! I'll get you” he cried out loudly.

Chapter 21

Sam was listening attentively, sitting across from Detective Baker. The story he was
telling about John and Nancy had finished long ago. Yet, those present in the room were
so moved by it that nobody talked for a while. There was an unnatural silence in the
room. 
How could a love story so sincere and so pure end like this?
Everybody had a question on their minds. 
Nancy and Johns love story had touched everybody’s heart. Sam decided to break the
silence, controlling his emotions.
“Did John report the crime?”  

“ No”

“Then, how do you know all of this?” Sam asked.

“George Collins, Nancy’s brother reported the crime” Baker replied.

“ But how come he reported the crime... I mean how did he know? Did John meet him?” 

Sam was firing questions, one after the other.

“No. John never met him...’’ Baker said.

“Then how the hell did he know about the killers?”  Now Sam seemed to be getting
frustrated in his quest for answers.

“Months before , John had written a letter to Nancy’s brother about this incident. In
addition, he had informed him about all four culprits...The brother promptly reported the
crime” Baker replied. 

“What was the outcome ?’’ Sam asked.

“The case was investigated but since we couldn't find the dead body or John, who was the
only eyewitness, the case was dropped and still remains unsolved” Baker provided him the
information.

“Where is John?”

“Nobody knew anything, not even whether he is dead or alive. Even after the incident, he
never contacted his home. The biggest question here is that if he is alive, why is he
hiding?”

“The reason is clear” Sam’s partner claimed, who was quiet until now.

“ Yes. The reason I brought this case to your attention is that I think John may be involved
in all of these murders’’ Baker said.

“ Yes, you are right. His involvement in the murders would make sense. But, how can he
enter the crime scene when the place is closed from all sides and how he is killing the
victims? This is becoming something of a mystery” Sam said.

 “How did Nancy's brother take the news of the case being dropped?” Sam asked.

“ Badly.... He came here often to follow the progress of the case. In fact, he could have
asked everything over the phone... but no... He comes personally... In fact, I felt sorry for
him. But what we can do? We have our limitations” Baker expressed his concern about
George.

“I think we can add Nancy’s brother to our list of suspects” Sam said.

“ I don’t think so. I think you should meet him. Although he is little crazy, he is a very
simple and straight forward person” Baker said.

“ But we should consider him as one of the possible suspects” Sam said. “Until proven
otherwise.”

Baker pondered over this and eventually nodded in affirmation.

Chapter 22

Ronald and Christopher were sat in a foyer, drinking, with looks of worry on their faces.
One after the other, their two friends were killed brutally. Firstly, when Steven was
killed, they were not sure whether the murder has to do anything with Nancy's murder.
However, after Paul's murder, their fears were confirmed. They knew that one of them
was next. Therefore their faces were covered in fear, an emotion which they were trying
to overcome with drinks. 

"Didn't I tell you at the time? " Christopher said. 

Ronald simply looked at him quizzically. 

"Don’t leave that asshole alive. We should have killed him too along with the girl''
Christopher said, taking a swig of whisky, grimacing. 

They were not only suspicious but were sure about John's involvement in the murders.

" He never seemed to be so dangerous" Ronald said.

" It’s revenge! Revenge makes a man dangerous" Christopher said philosophically. 

" But still I am not getting it .How is he committing the murders? Not only that but how
did Paul’s flesh get into my kitchen sink? My house was properly closed at the time, all the
doors, all the windows were properly closed and latched." Ronald explained, perplexed. 

Ronald looked into a void and said, "Seeing all of this, only one thing seems to be possible"

" What’s that?'' Christopher asked, filling his empty whisky glass. 

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Ronald asked in a dilemma, not sure whether to ask or not. 

" Don't talk nonsense! There must be a way that he’s performing these killings" Christopher
said.
" I agree... but at times, it just confuses me" Ronald said.

" Don't worry. We will get him, before he gets us" Christopher tried to console him.

" Shall we ask for Police protection?'' Ronald asked.

" Police protection? Are you nuts? What we are going to tell them? That we killed a girl,
sorry, it won’t happen again, please protect us?" Christopher said ridiculously.

"All that stuff comes afterwards. Now the issue is to protect ourselves, you know" Ronald
said.

" But going to the police and asking for protection...It’s risky-" Christopher seemed to be
reluctant. 

"Just leave it to me." Ronald said confidently, cutting him off in between. 
Chapter 23

Sam was sitting around, drowned in his own thoughts. Jeff, his team member, came into
his office. 

“Sir, I have an idea. You know, how the killer must be entering and leaving the crime
scene.” 

The detective cocked his head at Jeff. 

Jeff went out of the door and closed door from that side.

“Look now” he said loudly, so that his boss could hear.

Sam could see the latch of the door started moving slowly. He looked on, surprised. The
latch moved slowly and the door got locked.

“Sir, did you see that?” Jeff’s voice came from outside.

The latch of the door then started moving from the other side slowly and the latch
became unlocked. Sam looked amazed.

Jeff opened the door and came in, hiding something in his hands.

“ How did you do that?” Sam asked, bewildered. 

Jeff disclosed a huge magnet from his behind and held it in front of Jeff. 

“It’s the power of this magnet” Jeff said.

Sam looked at the magnet and then at the latch, which was made up of iron. 

“Jeff, for your information, the latches at the crime scene were made up of aluminum”
Sam said. 

 “Oh, it was aluminum. That doesn’t matter; I have got solution for that too” Jeff said,
realizing something. 

Sam looked at him dubiously. 

Jeff removed a stone necklace from his neck and broke it. He collected all of the stones in
his one hand and pulled behind a nylon thread. He pocketed the stones in his other hand.
Now, he held a nylon thread in his hand. 
Sam was looking at him with confusion. 

“Now, look at the second trick. Just come with me” Jeff said.

Sam followed him.

Jeff went to the door and inserted a nylon thread into the latch hole. 

He held the nylon thread ends in both hands and said “Please, go out of the door.”

Sam followed his instructions. Jeff also went out of the door, holding the thread ends and
closed door from that side.
The door was closed and the thread, which was still in Jeff’s hands, was attached to latch
through the miniature slit between the doors. Jeff slowly pulled the nylon thread with
both hands. He then released the one end and pulled the thread with his other hand. The
complete thread came out, which was now in his hand. 

“Now, try to open the door.” Jeff insisted Sam.

Sam pushed the door. The door was latched form inside.
Astonished, Sam stared at him.

“Now I am sure.” Sam said.

“About what?” Jeff asked.

“What you must have been before you joined the police force” Sam said jokingly. 
Both of them smiled. 

“But tell me one thing’’ Sam asked.

Jeff looked at him quizzically.

“ What if the door is locked with a key from the inside?” Sam asked.

“ Then there must not be any way to open it. Other than...” Jeff didn’t finish his
sentence, scared at it’s ludicrousness.

“Other than what?’’ Sam asked.

“ Other than some ghostly powers” Jeff concluded.

Chapter 24

In the conference room, there was a meeting. On the wall, a white screen was hung. The
layout of two houses, side by side, appeared on the screen from the projector. Using a red
laser pointer, Sam was explaining…

“Mr. Parker and Mr. Anderson …” Sam started.

Christopher and Ronald were listening carefully.

“These are the spots in your houses, where the cameras will be fixed. In the bedroom,
there will be three cameras and in the rest of the house, there will be three more
cameras fixed at different places. These cameras will be connected to a circuit TV where
our surveillance team will be continuously monitoring the activities in your houses” Sam
was outlining. 

Christopher, under his breath, murmured in Ronald’s ear, “Do you think it’s going to
work?”

Ronald looked at Christopher and without responding to him asked Sam, 

“What if the killer stays away from the cameras?”

“Gentlemen, we've installed moving cameras therefore your whole house will be under
the cameras view. Let me assure you that this is the most effective trap we have arranged
for the killer. The killer cannot escape if he tries to intrude. Literally, our technical staff
have taken all of the necessary steps to design this surveillance arrangement.” Sam tried
to clear their doubt. 

“What you are going to do with the killer after you catch him?” Christopher asked.

“ He will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law” Sam assured them.

“What if they escape?” Christopher then asked.

“Like the people who killed that innocent woman, Nancy?” One of the officers sitting in
the audience said, smiling ludicrously.
Christopher and Ronald threw piercing looks at the officer.

“ So, in your eyes, we are already guilty” Ronald said furiously to the officer.

“ Despite the fact that we haven’t been found guilty in a court of law” Christopher
warned him. 

“Mr. Parker, easy! Let’s not beat around the bush. Right now, the issue is how to protect
you. Whether you are guilty or not isn't the issue” Sam tried to calm them.

“ You just concentrate on our security right now. Everything else will be taken care of
later on” Christopher said in a commanding voice, staring particularly at the police officer
who tried to provoke them. 

In fact, the police officer was actually included in the team to protect Christopher and
Ronald. He hadn’t liked it. Sam also gestured the police officer to calm down. Yet, he was
so irritated that he left the hall. As he left, the atmosphere in the hall calmed down, for
the time being. Sam continued to further explain his scheme. 

Christopher and Ronald were still doubtful about the police; whether they were capable
of protecting them or not. However, at this moment in time, they didn’t have any other
alternative other than to rely on them. 

Chapter 25

In the police station, a man was sitting across from Sam’s empty chair. The detective then
rushed in and occupied it.

"So, you have information about the case?" Sam asked.

" Yes, sir." the man said.

Sam looked at him and waited for him to speak further.

"Actually, in my neighbourhood, Nancy’s brother, George, lives." 

The man started to narrate the story...

... In a small colony, there was a house: a highly ventilated house. The things going on
inside were visible for the rest of the neighbourhood. 
A man sitting in the foyer could be seen from the window. It was George, Nancy’s brother.
Grown beard, disorganized hairs. This time, he appeared more undone and eerier than
before. He was sitting in his foyer, in front of the fireplace. He held a cloth made doll,
probably made by himself.
He picked up something from a plate kept on his right side and murmured some
unintelligible words.                                                 

“Abs thee baa rass keyeetin stata”

He threw the material from the plate onto the fireplace. The fire blazed up. 
Again, he murmured some similar unintelligible
words.                                                                                                             

“Katsii Nantdi Vasharpat rerrat stata”.

Again, he threw the material kept on the plate onto the fireplace. The fireplace blazed,
this time more wildly. He kept aside the doll, bowed against the fireplace and rubbed his
forehead on the ground. 

A man was watching this from the outside. 

The man saw that George had got up and made a strange shrieking sound. The man
watching from the neighborhood was startled. 
George held the doll and again made the strange shrieking sound. An eerie silence then
fell. Eerie silence spread everywhere. 

“I hope you’re ready to die Steven” George said to the doll.

“No... I don’t want to die, George I apologize I am very sorry. I'll do anything for you,
please forgive me” George was mimicking a voice for the doll, as if it was pleading.

“You will do anything? Can you bring back my sister?” George said in his own voice.

“No! How can I do that? It’s not in my power. I can do anything but that” the doll then
replied, via George’s voice.

“Is it? ...then be ready, give me your life.” George talked with the doll.

The man was still listening and watching, now hiding just behind the window. 

It was midnight and the street was empty. George vigilantly came out of his house and
looked around. He hid the doll in a bag he was carrying. He locked the door.
Coming out of the gate, he vigilantly looked around again. The road ahead was dark until
the end. He started walking quickly down the road.
The man watched George from the window. It was so dark outside that he was not visible
to George. The man watching him turned from the window and walked away.
George was walking ahead speedily and the man followed him without coming into
contact.

The man followed George and reached a cemetery. The trees had grown high and were
densely packed around the cemetery. The owls sitting on the tree watched carefully. The
wailing sound of a dog unsettled the environment. The man was not comfortable in this
fearful surrounding. But he didn’t want to return unless he knew what George was after.
As George entered the cemetery the man watched from behind the cemetery boundary
wall, with an astonished expression on his face. George was digging a hole in the ground.
He removed the doll from the bag, placed it in the hole. Again, he murmured something,
filled the grave with soil and stood on it to flatten it down. 

....Sam was listening intently to the man sitting across from him.

“The next morning I could not believe my ears when I heard the news of Steven’s murder”
the man concluded.

For a short while, nobody spoke.

The affair had taken a whole new turn now. 

“So you think he’s the killer? “ Sam asked, entering into his investigative mode. 

“ No. He is using black magic to execute murders because the night Paul was killed, he did
the same thing” the man said.

“ Do you believe in all of this?” Sam asked, incredulous. 

“No, I don’t believe in it, but I know what I saw” the man replied.

Sam’s partner, who was listening from a distance, walked over to where Sam and the man
were sitting.

“ I was sure from the beginning that the murderer was not a human force.  It must be
some ghostly power” 

An awkward silence arrived. Everybody looked at each other.

“ Now he has made a new doll...” the man said.

Chapter 27   
      
Ronald’s house was in complete darkness with the chirping sound of insects and the
wailing of a dog the only sounds in the background. Suddenly, a group of birds, sat on the
tree for shelter, flied away, fluttering their wings in fear. 

Two police team members, Richard and Eric, were monitoring each and every activity in
Ronald’s house on CCTV. Both Richard and Eric were in their thirties. Richard was honest
and quite boring; the exact opposite of Eric who was tall and shrewd. One of the rooms
from Ronald’s guesthouse was allocated for surveillance purpose. Disturbed, Ronald curled
to the walls in the room, anxious that he was visible on the CCTV.
“I would have love to monitor the bedroom of a sexy couple” Eric said jokingly.
 
Richard didn’t show any interest in his partner’s attempt at humour. 

“I would even love to monitor the bedroom of a funky married couple like you and your
missus” Eric continued. 

Still, Richard didn’t respond. 

Suddenly, there was some movement on one of the monitors. A black cat walked across
the bedroom.

“Hey, look! There's a cat in the bedroom” Richard said.

“We're not here to monitor the activities of cats and dogs. If my father would have known
that one day I would have been sat here watching cats and dogs like this, he never would
have allowed me to join the police” Eric said with sarcasm. 

Suddenly, as the cat jumped on a square box kept in the corner, the monitor screens went
blank. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Eric said, getting up from his chair. 

Richard also got up from his chair. 

The humorous expressions from Eric’s face were replaced by ones of worry and confusion. 

“Come on. Let’s go and check out what’s happening” Richard said, darting out of the
room.
Eric followed him. 

Somebody was slept on a bed. The telephone beside it kept ringing continuously. A hand
came across from the bed and picked it up.

“ Yes?” It was Detective Sam’s voice.

From the other end, Eric said, “Sir? Ronald has been murdered the same way the other
two has been.” 

“What?” 

Suddenly, Sam sat up. He switched on his bedroom light. His sleep was completely ruined.

“ What? Are you sure?” Sam wanted to make sure again, as he was not able to believe
what he had just heard. 

“Sir, Ronald has been killed” Eric spoke from the other side.
 In spite of the continuous camera monitoring. What the hell are you people doing down
there?” Sam groaned. 

“Sir, actually a cat jumped onto a transmitter module. It became dysfunctional. We went
in to repair it and that is when we found the body” Erick tried to explain. 
Chapter 28

As soon as Eric had finished, Sam got up and headed for Ronald's house. 
After so much caution, what is it that gets Ronald killed? ...
Already, the image of San’s team was on the verge of being disgraced...
And this time, Sam had been damn sure about the success of the plan...
Because it was impossible to escape from six moving cameras...
Then what went wrong?..
As Sam's vehicle was driving so fast on the road, his thoughts were also running with the
same speed. 

Sam arrived and entered the bedroom. Ronald’s dead body was lying on the bed, blood
spread everywhere. Detective Sam inspected the body and the room. The investigation
team were already on the scene. They were busy, searching rigorously. Richard and Eric
were also there. 

"Any clues?" Sam asked.

"No, sir" His partner replied.

Sam went around the room, inspecting carefully. He bent down and checked under the
bed. Suddenly, he jumped backwards. He saw two shining eyes staring at him from under
the bed. The eyes started coming closer to him. Suddenly, the eyes came abruptly to him
as the thing jumped onto him. He defended himself by bending aside. It was a black cat,
collar on her neck. She came out and ran out of the door. The cat stopped outside the
door, turned, and looked back. There was an anxious silence in the room. The cat stared
at Sam for few moments and darted away.
A few moments passed without any conversation.

"That was the cat, sir'' Richard broke the silence in the room.

"Where is the transmission box?" Sam asked. 

" Sir, right here" Eric pointed to one of the corners.

A box had fallen on the ground. 

Sam went over to the box and picked it up. It was broken. He studied it, upside down and
held onto it. Something at the bedroom door suddenly caught his attention. 
He went over to it. The door was broken and the latch was locked with chains from the
inside. 
"Jeff, come here" Sam called out.

Jeff went over to him. 

"Look and tell me now what your theory says?  How the latch would have been locked with
chain on after the murder is executed" Sam asked, pointing at the latch locked with the
chain. 

Jeff carefully observed and said, 

" Sir, I am getting convinced."

" About? "

" There must be some inhuman, invisible powers in these murders" Jeff said, absorbed in
his thoughts, looking into the void. 

Everybody looked at him with a bewildered look. 

Chapter 29

Sam was pondering over something whilst having a discussion with his partner in between
his thoughts. 

"There’s one thing I don’t understand" Sam told his partner, staring into space. 

"What?" his partner asked.

"Up until now, three murders have happened, right?" 

" Yes...So?"  

" During all the murders, George was aware of who was going to be murdered and when he
was going to be murdered” Sam said. 

" Yes"

" Moreover, during the third murder, George was in custody." 

" Yes, you are right" his partner replied.

" What does this mean?" Sam asked, almost to himself.

" That his black magic is working even whilst he is behind bars" his partner concluded
enthusiastically.
" Don't talk nonsense" Sam snapped. "Try to think rationally" Sam continued, trying to
control his rage.

His partner's face gloomed. 

Some time passed without any conversation.

" Look, when we went into George's house, we noticed one thing" 

" What?" his partner asked.

" That his house was so ventilated that everything was visible and audible in his
neighbourhood" Sam said.

" Yes ... so what?" His partner looked at him in confusion.

A flash of thought struck the detective’s mind and suddenly Sam got up. His face beamed
with happiness as if some puzzle had been solved. 
His partner also got up without understanding the reason for Sam’s change in mood.

“Come on" Sam said, moving to the door in hurry.

His partner followed him. 

Abruptly Sam stopped, turned and instructed his partner,
" Okay do one thing. Tell the team to be ready for a special mission."

His partner was totally confused. He was not understanding what his boss was up to. 
Special mission?...
Has he found the killer?...
But whatever they had discussed, it did not imply anything like that..
Then what does he want to achieve with the special mission?...
Before his partner could ask anything, Sam went out of the door before stopping, looking
back and saying sternly,                        
"Hurry up! That was an order!"

Immediately, the partner came into action, picked up his phone and dialled a number.

Chapter 30

Police cars sped through the traffic on the road. The loud, piercing police sirens unsettled
the surrounding. Traffic was giving way for them to go. Due to the sirens and all of these
police vehicles moving at the same time, a fearful curiosity spread amongst the people
watching. Making their way thought the traffic and taking turns abruptly, they reached
somewhere around George’s neighbourhood. As the vehicles stopped, a team of police
came out in a hurry.
“Come on! Surround the whole area. Quick, the killer cannot escape” Sam ordered.

The police team ran to surround the area. Their movements created a tense atmosphere,
which could be seen on the neighbours’ faces, peering through their windows. 

With a few police officers, Sam moved toward one particular house. The man who told
George’s story was already outside his house, astonished, looking at what was going on.
Sam went over to him. 

“Would you please tell us from which houses George’s activities can be seen and heard?”
Sam asked him.

The man went forward and showed Sam, pointing to the houses, 
“Those two.... and the third one is mine”

“We need to seal off those areas” Sam said, taking few team members to those houses.

Apart from those three houses, Sam added three more houses to his list. One after the
other, they started to visit the houses. If the door was closed, they would knock. When
the house residents came out, the expressions of fear and surprise could be seen on their
faces. In between, Sam promptly gave his team members the appropriate instruction.
After inspecting the houses, one after the other, at last they reached their final house.
They knocked on the door. There was no response although they waited for a long time.
They suddenly became alert and prepared for a possible attack with their loaded guns.
Again, one of them knocked on the door, only this time a little harder. Still there was no
response. 

Now Sam decided to give an order, 

“Kick it open.”

A member of the police team, Jeff, who was expert in such activities, kick opened the
front door.  As soon as the door broke, as caution, all of them backed away before slowly
entering the house, guarding each other. 

No sign of life was apparent inside the house. The kitchen and the foyer were empty.
Slowly, they went into the bedroom. The door was open.
They peeped in; nobody was there. Only a table sat in the corner. 

As they entered the bedroom, all of them were stunned. On the table, there were pieces
of skin, loafs, blood spread everywhere. Detective Sam's eyes widened. Everybody looked
at each other with a ghostly silence. At once, everybody had a lot of questions on their
minds. However, they didn’t have the courage to discuss them out loud, not even among
themselves. Sam looked at the bedroom window. It was open. 

“Collect information about the resident” Sam ordered.

One of the team members went outside and returned back after a while holding some
documents.

“Sir, we've contacted the landlord and he's on his way, but he said the house was being
rented out to one Ewen Foster” the officer said. 

“Make sure I see him first when he arrives. Call forensics. I don't want anyone else to
enter this apartment until everything is bagged and printed” Sam instructed.

Outside in the crowd, a murmur started “The landlord has arrived. The landlord has
arrived!” 

“Who is the landlord?” Sam asked.

An aged person came forward and fearfully responded in a low tone, “I am”

“So, you must have all of your residents’ information then, like address and all?” Sam
asked him.

“Yes, I have.” He handed over to Sam a paper slip. 

Sam took the slip. It contained Ewen Foster’s address, phone etc.

“ But seeing all of this, I am afraid it may be fake” the landlord said in hesitation. 

“Have you not verified it before renting it out?” Sam snapped back. 

“ No… I mean.. I was about to do it” He said, clearing the sweat from his face. 

Chapter 31

Sam looked at the display of his ringing mobile. His partner was calling; he answered it. 
"Yes?'' 

"Sir, we have the whereabouts of Mr. John Carter, Nancy's friend" 

"Good. Very good" Sam said enthusiastically. 

Sam's partner gave Sam the address and asked him to come down quickly.

.... John Carter was lying on his bed, coughing wildly. His beard had grown long and his
appearance was extremely scruffy. It seemed that he had been lying like this on his bed
from many days now and had rarely been going outside. 
When Nancy was raped and murdered, John became very depressed and upset and was
unsure about what to do next. He felt from the bottom of his heart that the culprits must
be punished. But how? He was not sure about this. John roamed around on the dark
streets on a night, or stood at the beach in the evening watching the sun set. Probably, he
thought that his situation was quite similar to the setting sun, in the respect that his own
light was slowly fading. It had became his regular practice to roam around the city in the
day time and after he became tired, he used to sit in a bar, drinking uncontrollably. But
for how long would he continue like this? Slowly, his roaming around decreased yet his
drinking increased. Gradually, he became in ill health and was now so weak that he could
not even get up from the bed. Though he was on his bed, he had been drinking. As soon as
he used to lose the effect of drink, he used to recall all of the terrible memories of
Nancy's rape and murder. And then he used to drink again. A vicious cycle. 

John was lying on the bed, coughing badly. He tried to get up yet seemed to be very
weak. In an attempt to stand up, he fell down to the ground, coughing loudly. 
Blood came out of his mouth whilst coughing. He was scared.
I must go to doctor...
But how can I go when I am so weak?...
I should call out and get the neighbours’ attention...
But he was so weak that he could not even speak out. 
What should I do?...
Finally, he made a decision. With the blood in his hand, he started writing something on
the ground...

A man talked into a

phone,                                                                                                                               
                            "Hello, police station?"

He waited for the response from other side.

"Sir, I haven’t seen my neighbour in seven days. We have tried knocking his door, but
there is no response. There’s an awful smell coming from his apartment and I think we
need someone to come and check it out" the man calling said.

The man again waited for the response from other side.
"Thank you." The man disconnected the phone.

A police team headed by Detective Templeton reached the address given by the caller.
They found the man waiting for them. He escorted them to a flat with its front door
closed. As soon as they reached it, they had to cover their noses to avoid from the bad
smell. They knocked on the door. No response. The door seemed to be latched from
inside. They knocked again but there was still no response. At last, they kicked the door
open. They covered their noses, as the smell intensity grew. Slowly, they entered the
house.

Inside the bedroom, the police saw a decomposing corpse lying on the ground. Holding
their noses tight, they moved closer. There was something written on the ground in front
of the corpse. One of the police team members went forward and read -

“I am sorry Nancy, I could not save you. But don’t worry, I shall have revenge.” 
Chapter 32

Sam was sitting across from Detective Templeton, who had handled John’s death.
Detective Templeton started to provide information about the
case:                                                                                     

"His death has occurred due to bronchitis and heavy drinking." 

"How did you know it was him?" Sam asked.

"The room in which his body was found, we found some documents too. These confirmed
that he was John Carter. Also, one of his photographs circulated by Detective Baker to all
police stations came to us..." Detective Templeton then removed a photograph from his
drawer and placed it in front of Sam. 

"This photograph and the information sent by Detective Baker made our job easy when
trying to find John's address and relatives" Templeton said.

"Have you contacted his parents?" Sam asked.

" Yes, we have called his parents. They have identified him as their son. Post-mortem also
have identified him as John Carter, 22." Templeton said.

" When did he die? I mean how many days before you found him dead?" Sam asked.

" According to the post-mortem, it must have been early March" the officer said.

"March?!" Sam pondered over and realized, "Shit! Around the time the first murder was
executed. ...That means he is not the killer." 

"It seems" Templeton agreed.

Some time passed without any conversation. 

It means the thing that Sam doubted is going to be true...
When Sam had received information about John Carter from his partner, he was very
happy...
He had thought, at last, once and for all, the case was going to be solved. The killer was
going to be caught. 
But today, the case had taken one more twist. 
Looking at the death time of John Carter, there was no chance at all of him being the
killer. 
"If John Carter is not killer, then who is ?" Sam asked, almost to himself.

All the people present in the office looked at one other with apprehensive silence as none
of them knew the answer. 

Detective Templeton removed one more photograph from his drawer and placed it in front
of Sam. Sam picked it up and looked closely at it for a while. It was the photograph of
John Carter on the ground and the writing in blood on the ground in front of him. 

It read, “I am sorry Nancy, I could not save you. But you don’t worry I shall have
revenge.” 

Sam had understood why Detective Templeton wanted to show him the photograph. 

"I am just sick of hearing that there is the involvement of some ghostly powers in these
murders. Did you want to say the same thing to me by showing me the photograph?" Sam
asked Templeton.

The detective looked at Sam and his partner's face alternatively.

"No. I don't want to say anything. I just wanted to bring it to your notice how the message
written on the floor and the incidences happening are matching exactly” Templeton said. 

Chapter 33

The prison was covered in darkness. George was sitting in the corner of his cell drowned in
his thoughts. Suddenly, George got up and started ripping off his clothing.
He tore off his shirt. Out of the torn cloth, he made a doll. After completing the doll, a
menacing smile crept over his face.

“Mr. Christopher Anderson, it's your turn now” he said fanatically to the doll. 

A police staff on duty darted to the phone to report this to his senior. 

Christopher was sitting in his foyer, drinking, and smoking tensely. He seemed to be tired.
Lazily, he got up and walked around the room. He sat on a chair, drowned in his thoughts.
Suddenly, he sensed somebody’s presence in the kitchen. The sound came in as if
somebody was dealing with kitchen utensils.
Who would be in the kitchen at this hour?
Every door and windows was already closed...
Or is this some kind of hallucination?
Suddenly, the loud sound came of some utensils falling to the ground from the kitchen. 
He got up.
What’s this?
His heart started pounding heavily.
He felt he was in fear unnecessarily... It must be something else he hears the like cat or...
He tried to console himself and calm down. 
Christopher slowly approached the kitchen. Silence! All sounds had stopped.

Christopher opened the kitchen door ajar and peeped in.

There was nobody inside...
Warily, he entered the kitchen and looked around. There was nothing. He took a walk
around. 
Where is it?! There was nothing!...
Or, am I getting hallucinations?
But there was a utensil on the ground. 
As he turned to leave, he heard something breaking in the foyer. Christopher, startled,
rushed towards the foyer.

As he came in the foyer, he found his glass had fallen on the ground and broken. Whisky
was soaking into the carpet. He looked around. There was nobody.
Christopher’s face started fading with menacing expressions. The effect of whisky was
totally gone. 
What's going on?
What's happening to me?
How the hell did this glass fall onto the ground?
He sat on the chair, again drowned in his thoughts. He picked up the whisky bottle and
started to drink big swigs directly from the bottle. 

Chapter 34

Sam was sipping his morning tea leisurely, sitting in the foyer. He was watching TV, but
his mind was more focused, probably about the serial killer case. The speed with which
his thoughts were running was quicker than Sam changing through the channels. Finally,
he stayed on a cartoon channel. For a while, he watched the cartoon to ease him from his
tensions. He then switched over to the Discovery Channel as the programme seemed to
attract his interest. He kept aside the remote and started to watch the channel with keen
interest.

On the Discovery Channel, a program was being shown about a mouse. The mouse wore a
belt and miniature wires were connected to its head. 

The anchor narrated, "Whenever a living organism makes an action, it is inspired by a

signal to its brain. If we are successful in giving similar signals from outside the brain, we
will be able to control the organism and can instruct the animal to do various activities."

A computer was then shown on TV. A scientist was sitting across from the computer. Sam
was still watching the program with interest. The scientist sitting across from the
computer talked.
"Through this computer, we will transmit various signals to the chip, which sits on the
mouse neck. Through that chip, the signal will be transferred to the mouse’s brain.
Accordingly, the mouse will act. "

The mouse was shown closely on the TV, with a minute chip clipped onto its neck. 
Sam, astonished, with his mouth open, stared at the TV. 

The scientist talked further.

"There can be plenty of instructions and corresponding signals. Right now, we are
successful in giving only a few instructions to the mouse." 

It then showed the computer software running. The scientist operated the software and
pressed the ‘right’ button with a mouse pointer.
The mouse turned right and started running. Subsequently, the scientist pressed the ‘stop’
button with a mouse pointer. The mouse abruptly stopped. He then pressed the ‘left
button’ and the mouse turned left and started running in that direction. Next, he pressed
the ‘jump button’ and as a result of which, the mouse jumped whilst running. When he
pressed the ‘stop button’ again, the mouse stopped in front of some food. As he pressed
the ‘eat button’, the mouse started eating the snacks in front of it. Now and again, he
pressed the ‘stop’ button and the mouse would stop eating. At last, the scientist pressed
the ‘attack’ button, the mouse started biting and rupturing the food in front of it
aggressively. 

Suddenly a flash of thought came into Sam’s mind. He was recalling the past incidences
one by one...

When the two police team members, Richard and Eric, were monitoring each and every
activity in Ronald’s house on the CCTV, a black cat had jumped on a square box kept in
the corner and the monitors went blank. And when they reached Richard's bedroom, they
found him dead. 

Sam then got up slowly. He remembered the next incidence.

When the detective went around to Ronald's bedroom for investigation, he bent down and
checked under Ronald’s bed. He found two shining terrible eyes staring at him. 
Then the eyes started moving closer to him and suddenly the eyes came abruptly towards
him as if the thing was about to jump on him. At that time, he defended himself by
moving aside and found that the eyes belonged to a black cat, which ran out of the door. 

Now every puzzle was becoming solved in Sam's mind. 

Now, I should waste no more time...
I must hurry...
Detective Sam darted out of his house for the next course of action. 
Chapter 35

Sam stood at the stand on the podium, facing the audience sitting in front of him. 
In front of him, sitting, was Christopher, other police officers and his partner. 

"We have an idea on how the killer may be executing the murders." Sam took a pause and
regarded his audience.

"Therefore, we have devised a plan to get the killer as well as to protect the killer’s next
target, Christopher. Now, I don’t think that there is any way for the killer to escape" Sam
said confidently.

" Last time you said the same thing and yet he was still able to kill Ronald" Christopher
said bitterly.

" Mr. Anderson, I think that first you should see the plan and then make a judgement" Sam
snapped.

Sam switched on the projector. On the screen, a diagram appeared.

"Until now, the killer was probably using an animal, a cat, to execute the murders. I
mean, I know it sounds ridiculous but I am sure about it" Sam said.

There were some sniggers in the crowd. Sam again pressed a key. On the screen, a clipart
picture of a cat and a man working on computer appeared. 

"The killer sitting here at the computer probably gave instructions, which were then
transmitted with wireless technology, as we see a cat with a belt on its neck. There must
be a receiver hidden in the belt, which could probably receive those instructions. Then
those instructions must have been sent to the cat’s brain. Following those instructions,
the cat must be attacking the victim and I am damn sure that the murders executed till
now must have been executed in the same way." 

Sam, again, operated a handheld wireless mouse lasered pointer. The screen went blank. 

"This is how the killer is operating. Now, about our plan..." Sam then took a deep breath
and put aside the remote. 

"The plan is divided into two parts" Sam continued, judging the reaction of the audience. 

"The first part is to detect the cat and trace the origin of its signals. This way, we will be
able to locate the killer." Again, Sam took a pause for few moments and continued. 

"The second part, we will prohibit the cat to reach the victim i.e. Christopher’s bedroom,
so that he will be protected." 
Sam picked up the remote again and operated the mouse button. 
On the screen, the layout of a house appeared. 

"This is Christopher’s house’s layout. We are going to divide the house into two regions."
Sam pointed towards two concentric circles in the diagram with the laser beam.

“See, in this diagram, the first outer circle represents the first region and the inner
concentric circle represents the second region.” Sam was pointing at the circles
alternatively. 

Sam then steadied the pointer on the outer concentric circles shown in the
diagram.                                                                 

“When the cat enters this outer region, we will be able to know its presence because we
have fixed the trackers here and the signal detector.”

Sam stopped moving the laser pointer and fiddled with the device in his hand. 

“The signal tracer will find out the origin of the signal. Once we get the origin, we will be
able to locate the killer and be able to catch him red handed” Sam said.

The detective started pointing the laser on the inner concentric circles in the
diagram.                                                                

“When the cat reaches this inner second region, the signal blockers fixed there will block
the instructions sent by the killer. Then he will not have any control over the cat.” 

After he finished, Sam regarded the mob sitting in front of him. The officers seemed to be
convinced by the plan, disregarding any doubt from before. 
Sam looked in particular at Christopher.  
                                                                                                                                   
“Do you have any questions Christopher?”

Christopher shrugged, as he seemed to be unconvinced with the

plan.                                                                                       

“Let’s see” was his pessimistic reply.

In fact, he was very much disturbed and upset inside and was not in mood to understand
the plan. It was quite obvious as he could see his name clearly next on the killer’s list. 

Sam looked at his team and instructed,“So come on! Let's go and get to work.”
Chapter 36
Two police staff members, Richard and Eric, were monitoring the CCTV in front of them,
sitting in the surveillance cabin, which was Christopher's guest house converted.

"At last! We have the fulfilling task of keeping an eye on cats and dogs" Eric said
sarcastically. 

"Three days of this crap is enough; I’m done!" he then said in irritation.

"And I didn't join the police force to protect rapists" he continued to moan.

Richard didn't respond. 

For a moment, Eric kept quiet yet was soon complaining again. 

"The boss has this theory of cats and dogs, but there’s one thing I don't understand" Eric
said.

Eric looked at Richard, expecting Richard to ask 'Which thing?' Yet he was too absorbed in
his work and didn't speak.

"You know which thing?" Eric asked shaking Richard’s shoulders.

He just blankly stared at him and continued.

"Who could be the killer? If we consider John... but he is dead... and if we consider
George...yet he is locked up. Then who could be the killer? '' Eric kept on questioning and
answering his own questions.

Richard was still just sat next to him, making no response. 

"Hey, are you like this at home too?" Eric asked in irritation.

Richard just looked at him.

"If you are like this at home, then how do you have kids? I'm surprised ?" Eric was trying to
tease and annoy him. He thought that maybe he would talk to him due to this. And yes,
his guess proved to be right.

Richard turned to him, in his defense and said "Is it required to speak for having kids?"

"You are right;  your neighbors might be taking care of it ... silently"  Erick said, still trying
to annoy Richard.                                           

Richard then furiously picked up a wireless phone to throw at him. 

Eric got up and ran around laughing. 
Suddenly, there was a beep on the control board.
"Something is happening" Richard said.

There was some movement on one of the monitors. A black cat walked across. 

" That cat again!" Erick said.

" See the belt on her neck... " Richard said.

"That means... as Sam says, the belt must contain a receiver" Eric said.

"And it seems the receiver has detected something! That's what the beep is about" Richard
said.

Eric picked up the wireless phone and spoke into

it.                                                                                                                         

"Sir, there is an intrusion. The cat broke into the house" Eric informed his Boss.

" Good. Now try to trace the origin of the signals" Sam directed.

Suddenly, the signal tracing instruments came alive on the computer. 

"Sir, we have already taken care of that" Eric said, looking at the computer. 

"Great job, I’m on my way " Sam said and hung up the phone. 
Chapter 37

Richard, Eric, and Sam were looking at a CCTV monitor on which the activities of the cat
were visible. Before Richard could explain to Sam what was going on, Eric took charge of
the computer. Richard kept looking at Eric, trying hard not to show any expressions on his
face. On the computer monitor, a city map was visible. A red spot showed continuous
blinking at one place.
Eric pointed at that spot.

''The signals are coming from this location."

"What’s the distance between where the signals are coming from to this location?" Sam
asked.

Eric keyed in some statistics to get an answer. But by the time he had finished typing,
Richard was ready with the answer, "Sir, it is around five kilometers to the east of this
place." 

"Give or take a few meters" Eric added. 

Richard again looked at Eric with a look of disgust. 

Sam stood outside the house, his mobile in his hand. He instructed his team, 
“Right, I want you all to remember your positions. We've only got one chance at this. If we
mess up, then we don't know what he might do. So all units are designated to protect this
house keep watch. I don't want anyone getting in or out. The rest of you come and
assemble at the cars.”

Around 15 police team members assembled at the cars. Sam was instructing the police
officers. “We have got the place from where the killer is operating. Therefore, we are
dividing our team into two. Firstly, a team of 7 people have their job of protecting
Christopher... And the remaining 8, that is you and me... We have to execute the second
part of the plan... that is to catch the killer”

Sam walked towards his jeep.

“Now all of you quickly get to the killer's house.” 

Everybody rushed towards their cars.

A group of cars ran speedily rising up a big cloud of dust, which settled down slowly, as all
cars were gone. 

Chapter 38

In Christopher's guest room, which was converted into a surveillance room, Eric was
operating a computer. Richard looked at him.

"It’s surprising" Richard said.

" What is?" Eric asked.

"Sam has gone yet still you are working hard at it" Richard said sarcastically.

" No, I am checking how the signal can be stopped so at least I can get home at some point
tonight" Eric snapped.

Richard snatched the keyboard from him. 

"Hey! I am just kidding" Eric clarified.

Suddenly, a beeping started from the control board. Both of them looked at the control
panel and then to the TV screen. 
On TV, it was showing the cat near the bedroom.

“It seems that the cat has reached the signal-blocking region” Richard stated.
The beeping sound started making noise  more intensely.

“Look, the cat has reached the signal-blocking region!” Richard said and picked up the
phone. Yet before Richard could say anything, Eric snatched it from him. Richard could
not do anything other than to look at him with a frown on his face. 

“Sir, the cat has reached the signal-blocking region.” Eric informed Sam.

“O.K. Just keep monitoring it” Sam said from other end.

“Yes, sir”

“I am just around the corner. I will take care of the killer here and both of you look after
the situation there” Sam instructed him.

“Yes, sir” Eric said.

The phone was then disconnected from the other end.

“Now the killer’s instruction will not reach the cat” Richard said with enthusiasm, looking
at the monitor.

On the CCTV, it was showing that the cat was confused, not able to move forward or
backward. 
Suddenly, the cat erupted into a huge explosion. The explosion was so intense that their
cabin also shook. Everything in the cabin vibrated. 
The computer and the CCTV went off. It was an unexpected shock for both of them. They
both then got up quickly, confused and scared. 

“What the hell just happened?” Eric asked, terrified.

He was so scared that he was breathing heavily. 

“Is it a terrorist attack?’’ Eric asked, trying to control his heavy breath.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Didn’t you see... the cat explode?!” Richard asked.
Richard now darted towards the door. 

“Come on, quick! Let’s go and check it out” Richard said whilst leaving the room.

When they reached Christopher’s bedroom, they saw it had exploded completely. The
bedroom was no more a bedroom. The bricks, walls, cupboards and furniture were littered
everywhere. 
From the debris, the partial, upper portion of Christopher’s body was visible. They
removed him from the debris and checked his pulse. He was dead.
Now Richard and Eric turned their attention to the other parts of the house, where their
colleagues were posted. Some of their colleagues were lying injured. They ran to their
aid.

When Eric came out of the shock, he composed himself, removed his phone from his
pocket and dialled a number. 

Chapter 39

Detective Sam’s car and the other police cars were speeding down the road. They were
well aware of the killer’s location, but now it was very important to catch him before he
could escape. The speed with which the vehicles were running, was similar to the
adrenaline running through Sam’s veins. He was checking all possibilities, presumptions
and combinations in his mind. And he was deciding what would be his strategy for each
possibility. His phone then rang. 
He looked at the mobile display and answered the phone.

“Yes?”

“Sir, there's a serious problem here” Eric’s voice panicked from the other end.

As he heard about the problem, he felt his heart violently increase its beat. 

“What?” he asked over the phone.

“Sir, the cat here exploded like a bomb” Eric informed him.

“ What?” Sam said in astonishment.

He was getting one shock after the other.

“But how come?” Sam asked further.

“Sir, It seems that there was an explosive in the cat’s belt and maybe it was programmed
in such a way that if the signals were blocked to it, then it would explode.” Eric expressed
his opinion. 

“Is Christopher safe?”  Sam asked, the first thought that came into his mind.

He was hurried to know whether they were able to save him or not.

“No sir, he is dead” Eric said solemnly.

“Shit. And our people?” Sam enquired.

He is gone... Okay ... fine...
At least, our people should not suffer..
He felt that from the bottom of his heart. That was no way that he ever had sympathy for
Christopher and his gang. Yet, as a police officer, it was his duty to protect them.

“Two were injured. We're taking them to the hospital” Eric updated him.

“Look, you take control of the situation there. We are almost at the location where the
signals are coming from.”

“Yes, sir”

“Take care of our people” Sam said and switched off the call.

“ Come on quick! We need to hurry. Otherwise, the killer may escape” Sam said to the
driver whilst pocketing his phone.
Chapter 40

Sam and his team reached the place from where the signals were coming. 
A warehouse was visible ahead in the huge open space. 

"The computer has indicated the place here. He must be in the warehouse" Sam said,
trying to relate the map in his hand with the place around. 

"Yes, sir" the driver said, looking at Sam for the next instruction. 

"Take us to the compound" Sam instructed.

"Yes, sir" the driver said, turning the vehicle into the open space.

The group of cars also followed them into the open space and started marching towards
the warehouse.
All the cars stopped in front of the warehouse. Sam took charge of the phone. 

"Troop 2, troop 3 quickly surround the warehouse from all sides" Sam instructed whilst
getting down from the vehicle. 

The police then all got down quickly from their jeeps. 

"Troop 2 go the from left and troop 3 go from the right." He made his instruction clear, so
that it should not lead to confusion and chaos. 

Troop 2 members started running around the warehouse from the left and the troop 3
members started running around the warehouse from the right. If the killer was in the
warehouse and if he intended to escape, he had to breach the chain made by them around
the warehouse and that was almost impossible.
Making sure that his troops had completely surrounded the warehouse, Sam and his team
ran towards the door of the warehouse. 

"Troop 1 is entering the warehouse. Everybody be ready, we don’t know the count inside."
He informed the others on his mobile while running.

Everywhere inside the warehouse was dark, except a computer monitor glowing. A black
silhouette of the killer facing the other way was standing in front of the computer. Only
the back of the killer was visible. The killer hurriedly collected his things and put them in
his bag. Suddenly he stopped. He sensed somebody’s presence in the warehouse. He
listened attentively, without turning. 
How can it be?
Until now, nobody could reach me. How is it possible now?
Unnecessarily, I am getting hallucinations...
He shook off the negative thoughts from his mind and continued packing. 
As he continued to put the things in his bag, suddenly, he heard Sam’s stern voice
warning 
"Put your hands where I can see them. You are under arrest.”

The killer smartly tried to slip his hand into his bag. Suddenly, a bullet fired beside him.

“Don’t do anything stupid” Sam warned.

The bag he was holding fell down as he raised his hands. Slowly, he started turning. 
Sam was guessing. Who he could be?
And why he had killed the victims so brutally?
As he turned completely and Sam saw his face, it was Anthony, John’s college friend. 
Sam, with his officers, slowly moved forwards and surrounded him from all sides. Sam
informed his teammates outside on his mobile about the killer’s arrest. 
Chapter 41

Sam and his associates were still gathered around Anthony. Anthony’s resistance was
finished. Two of Sam’s associates had handcuffed him and were standing beside him.
Anthony was bombarded with a series of questions from Sam, yet everyone was curious to
know one specific question. Why had he killed those four culprits? The subsequent enquiry
be conducted later on, but they were desperate to know the answer of this specific
question at least. 
Anthony also realized that there was no other way out than to speak up. He started to
narrate his story - 

... These were John, Nancy and Anthony’s college days. A teacher was teaching and
amongst the students Nancy, John, Mary and Anthony were sitting. Anthony stole a glance
at Nancy. Anthony got upset when he then saw Nancy sharing a glance with John. 
Anthony was the top student of the class...
Most of the girls would be glad to be his girlfriend...
But the one who stole my heart is ignoring me...
His ego was crushed. 
No, it was not possible...
Maybe she is unaware of the fact that I love her..
I must find some way to reveal it to her... 
When she would come to know it, automatically, she would start loving me...
Or at least Anthony hoped.

It was the afternoon. The college had just finished and Nancy was going home. Anthony
followed her quickly, trying to catch her. As he was within reach, he called out loudly,
"Nancy..” 

As she heard the voice coming from her behind, she turned to see Anthony. Anthony
ambled and joined her. 

“Yes?!” she replied, looking at him with surprise, because, generally, he never used to
talk to her. 

Yet today was the exception; he was not only talking to her but also running behind her
trying to catch up with her. She had made a special impression on him as he was top in
the class. Not only she, but of all the girls in the class used to have a special regard for
him.

“Actually I want to tell you something important” he said.

Nancy looked at him, trying to read his expressions and continued walking. He also walked
with her. 

“Actually ...” he tried to select the proper words, “I mean... I want to propose you. Will
you marry me?” He selected the important words and spoke out immediately. 

She never expected that he would come out with such nonsense. 
He must be joking...
She again regarded his face, trying to interpret his emotions.
From his face, at least, it was evident that he was not joking ...

“I am deadly serious” he said, sensing her confusion.

Again, she tried to judge him. She knew him very well, as they were classmates. She was
well aware of his nature. Generally, he was shy and joking on such topic was not his style.
Nancy was exactly opposite. She was outspoken. Therefore she spoke out immediately,
about her feeling about him. She never thought of anybody else other than John as she
loved him very much. 

“Anthony, I am sorry but ...I can’t” she said.

Anthony got a huge shock, as he never expected this. 
Anthony looked at her face still in shock.
How can she so easily dismiss me?
His ego was completely shattered.

“But why?” he asked in irritation.

She started to walk fast. He again ambled to join her.

“Look, I am top of the class. After college, I am planning to do research in Neurology. I

have a bright future ahead of me. If I could get a nice partner like you, I am sure I will
progress much more” he tried to convince her.

“Anthony, you are nice and a bright young man. But I just can’t think of marrying you” she
tried to console him.

“You know... I love you.” Now he was pleading.

“Still, I can’t” she said.

“But, why? ...” he shouted angrily.

“Because I love somebody else...” she said.

Nancy continued walking and Anthony waited back looking at her in frustration and
despair.

Chapter 42

It was evening and young couples in love sat in the park. The flowers in the park waved
with the pleasant breeze of air. In the corner, Nancy sat supporting herself on a tree
trunk. John rested his head on Nancy’s lap. 

“You know how much I love you” Nancy said, gently moving her fingers through his hairs.

John tenderly looked at her. Nobody talked for a few seconds, yet the silence was not
awkward. After some time, John got up and gave his hand to Nancy to help her up. 

“Come on, let’s go. It is getting late” he said.

She got up whilst holding his hand. 

They walked away, their hands entwined.
From behind the tree, Anthony came out, who had been listening to them from behind a
tree. His face frowned... 
.... His narration had finished. Anthony was sitting on a chair, surrounded by the police,
with handcuffs around his wrists. Sam was sitting face to face with him, listening to him.

“I used to love her very much” Anthony said, sighing deeply. 

“When I came to know that she loved John, I was so upset. Yet I slowly persuaded myself
that just because I love Nancy does not mean that it is necessary that she also should love
me. She should be free to love anybody” Anthony said further.

“Then why did you kill those four people?” Sam came to the point.

“Because I loved her more than anybody could have loved her” Anthony said proudly.

“John also loved her, but he did not kill anyone” Sam said, trying to provoke him.

“He was a coward. He was not worthy to be loved by Nancy” Anthony said, hatefully. “You
know that after her rape and murder, he wrote me a letter.” 

“What did he write?” Sam asked.

“He wrote that he wanted to take revenge, he had identified the victims, but he was not
able to gather the courage to kill them.

"In such a situation, tell me what I should have done! If he couldn't do it, then it was my
duty to take revenge because I loved her, though she didn't feel the same” Anthony said
furiously. 

He was speaking so fast and fervently that he was panting and his face became red. When
he stopped speaking, he was sweating badly. He suddenly sat down as he felt his limbs
weaken. He hid his face between his knees and burst out into tears. 
Everybody around looked at him with sympathy.
Chapter 43

A handcuffed Anthony came out of the warehouse, surrounded by armed police force, for
he was not some simple killer; he was a serial killer, who had killed four victims, one after
the other. The police took Anthony to a car. Sam waited back at the warehouse gate. He
seemed to be moved by the incidence. 
He needed to spend some time alone...
The important task of catching the killer was over...
Therefore, it would not make any difference if he did not accompany him...
He could also do the detailed investigation of the warehouse by waiting back...
He signalled towards his partner,
“You go ahead. I’ll catch up with you.”

The car in which Anthony sat started and drove away. The other cars also started and
followed Anthony’s. A big cloud of dust rose. Sam kept looking at the settling dust cloud
and the departing cars with a gloomy face.
As all the cars left and the atmosphere around became quiet, the detective walked near
to the warehouse door. Whilst walking, he looked up at the sky. It was pink and the sun
was about to rise in few hours. He then came back down to earth and lazily entered the
warehouse.
It was still dark in the warehouse. He looked around at the glowing computer monitor.
Sam went to the computer and saw the software running on it. He tried to operate the
software. Some buttons he pressed at random. A device kept besides the computer
started blinking. He held the device. It was a signal receiver, on which there was display.
The display showed the ‘In signal range’ Instruction= ’LEFT’. He kept back the device. He
again pressed the button on which ‘Right’ was written. The signal receiver blinked and
showed ‘In signal range’ Instruction= ’RIGHT’. He pressed other buttons ‘ATTACK’. The
signal receiver blinked and showed “In signal range’ Instruction= ‘ATTACK’ He held the
device and started observing it carefully. Suddenly, he sensed something outside the
warehouse. Holding the device in his hands, he went outside.
He came out of the warehouse and looked around. 
There was nobody here.
Then what was that sound?
Might have been something else...
As he turned to go back in the warehouse, the blinking device in his hand caught his
attention. His face went pale and white. The signal receiver showed ‘Out of range’ and
Instruction= ’NIL’ He kept on looking at the device with his mouth open. There was an
accumulation of so many doubts in his mind. 
Suddenly, he sensed something around him. A black cat ran into the warehouse. He looked
at the device and then at the warehouse door through which just now the cat had
entered. Slowly, he started moving towards the warehouse door. He vigilantly entered the
warehouse. Whilst entering the warehouse, one question was troubling him. If the signals
could not reach even outside the warehouse, how had they reached the four victims’
houses?

Chapter 44

Perplexed, Sam slowly entered the warehouse, moved forward and looked around for the
cat. It was already dark in the warehouse and the cat was black, so it was difficult for him
to find it. He took a wide look around the warehouse. In one place, he found some files
covered with dust. He went over to the files. The files were on a shelf. He was curious to
know what those files contained. He stretched up to get the files. Still, he was unable to
reach the bunch. So he jumped and tried to reach the bunch. In an attempt to grab the
file, a photo fell onto the ground. The frame broke and the pieces of glass scattered
around. He held the broken frame and tried to see what it was, but since it was covered
with dust and there was no sufficient light, he was not able to see. He went over to the
glowing monitor and cleared the dust on the photo. As he looked at the photo in the
frame, he was stunned. 
When Sam was about to recover from the shock he had just experienced,  the monitor
started flickering. 
It may be some type of electric problem.
Therefore, he went to check the plug at the back of the computer. 
As he looked at the plug, he got aback.
He saw the computer power cable lying aside. Though the computer was not plugged in, it
was still working.
Must be some kind of trick...
Maybe this power cable belongs to something else...
He checked the power cable from end to end. The power cable was supposed to be in the
computer. 
Now, his hands started shivering.
Whatever he saw, he had never seen before in his life. 
Suddenly, the flickering of the monitor stopped. He looked at the monitor. There were
still expressions of astonishment mixed with fear on his face.
Suddenly, a ghostly wind started flowing violently in the room. Though the wind was
flowing, Sam was sweating badly. Ghostly images started appearing on the monitor. Sam
did not understand what was happening. Whatever was happening was out of his grasp and
understanding. At last, a beautiful image of Nancy came appeared on the monitor. Though
the image was beautiful and attractive, a wave of fear still ran through the detective’s
body. Slowly, the image started to turn into a ghostly one. Again, a big blow of air came.
The magnitude of the blow was so high that Sam fell onto the ground. He could not bear
the shower of the blow as his limbs were already weakened with the fear. While he had
fallen onto the ground, he realized that he was losing consciousness. Before becoming
unconscious, he saw two big tears dropping down the face of the ghostly image which was
Nancy. 

Chapter 45

Sam was lying unconscious whilst a series of past incidences were flashing back in his
mind.... 

... Nancy and John were hiding in a drainage pipe lying beside the road. They tried to
squeeze themselves in more as they hear footsteps of somebody running towards them.
Now, they were completely trapped. They could not run away. They just kept calm and
squeezed together, closing their eyes like a cat, as they didn’t have any other option. 
Suddenly Steven came running near the pipe. John and Nancy were silent so they didn’t
give themselves away to the people after them. He came closer still and looked around.
They could hear his frustrated words,
“Where the fuck are they?” 

Steven saw the pipe and thought maybe they could be hiding in there. 
He went closer to the pipe. He was about to bend down to look into the pipe when....

“Steve, come here quickly” Christopher called out to him loudly. 

Steven looked in that direction and ran off. John and Nancy sighed in relief, hearing his
departing footsteps. 
As Steven left, John removed his mobile phone from his pocket. He had switched it off so
that no one would be able to trace him. He switched it on and dialed a number. Nancy
quizzically looked at him.

"Anthony, our classmate is from this town" John said, while hearing the dialling tone.

"Hello?" John said into phone as it was picked up from the other end.

"Hey. Where are you? Everybody is looking for you here" Anthony's voice asked.

John told him the whole episode in short. 

"Nancy and myself are trapped here..." John told him about the real problem that they
now faced. 

"Trapped ? Where?" 

"Some crooks are following us. I don't know where we are and I don't know what they
want" John said.

Nancy signalled John towards the clock tower which was visible from the pipe.
 
"Yes, we are near the clock tower" John continued.

"Hey, don’t worry! Look, calm down first. In such a big town, those culprits can't harm you
in any way." Anthony said.

"Yeah. You are right" John felt relieved from these encouraging words. 

"Do one thing. Flag a taxi down and tell the taxi driver to take you to the Hilton hotel. It's
in that area " Anthony instructed.

They saw a taxi coming from the opposite side of the road. 

"I’ve got a taxi. OK, bye. I’ll catch you later" John said and quickly cut the line.

Both of them came out of the pipe. The taxi stopped in front of them as John hailed it. 
They got into the taxi.

"The Hilton hotel" John said and the taxi continued down the road.
Chapter 46

Christopher and his friends were still searching for Nancy and John. As they were all
exhausted, they returned to the square from where they had started. Firstly, Christopher
and Steven came back and stood in the centre of the road with a gloomy face each. As
they saw Ronald coming and gasping heavily, Steven asked,
“Got her?” 

Ronald shook his head in negation. 

“Where the fuck could they be?” Christopher asked in annoyance. 

They felt hopeful again as they saw Paul approaching them. However, he showed his
thumbs down from the distance.

“Go and find her! Don’t comeback until you have her” Christopher shouted at them
furiously.

Christopher’s phone then rang.

“ Hello?” Christopher answered the phone without showing any interest in having a
conversation.

“Hey, it’s Anthony” the voice said from the other end. 

It was Anthony, John and Nancy’s class mate. 

“Yeah, Anthony” Christopher responded weakly.

“I have arranged a special treat for you” Anthony said sinisterly.

“Look, we are not in a mood to be messed about with right now” Christopher said.

“Then this might help you calm down. A new girl in this town is being sent to a place for
you to enjoy.” 

“A girl? New in the town? Wait... Is she with her boyfriend?” Christopher asked.

“ Yes.”

“ Does she have dimples on her cheeks? “

“Yes” Anthony answered.

“Does she have a lion tattoo on her arm?”

“ Yes, but how do you know?” Anthony asked with surprise.

“ Hey, it’s the same girl Ronald, Paul, Steve and I have been trying to find all morning!
Just now she escaped from us.” 
Their faces blinked with happiness. 

“ Really?” Anthony asked with surprise.

“ You've done a good job. We have been looking for her desperately. Tell us where she is.
Tell us and we'll give you anything you want.” Christopher seemed to be in very happy
mood now.

“Which you'll deny later on.” Anthony expressed his doubt.

“ No, it’s a promise.” Christopher was now the happiest man on earth.

“Two thousand dollars from each of you.” Anthony decided to take full advantage of the
situation.

“ Done” Christopher agreed without any consideration.

Chapter 47

Christopher, Ronald, Paul and Steven were sat around a table, partially consumed with
whisky glasses in their hands. They seem to be disturbed and were drinking heavily,
absorbed in their own thoughts. There was a tense silence amongst them. 

"Why did you kill her?" At last, Ronald broke the silence and the protocol to never ask
anything to Christopher. 

Today, Ronald was drunk and the time had come when he could not stop himself. 

"Hey! She died accidentally" Christopher said shrugging carelessly.

" Accidentally?"

Though Christopher was trying to show his carelessness, he was deeply upset inside.
Christopher took a swig of whiskey to hide his anxiety.

" She was making too much noise, so I closed her mouth and I didn't know that I also
closed her nose" Christopher clarified.

" What do we do now?" Steven asked.

Amongst them, Steven and Paul seemed to be the most horrified.

"If the police catch us?" Paul expressed his concern.

"Just pretend nothing happened; we were here last night playing cards...Even if something
goes wrong, we will manage it. This is not the first time we have had to kill somebody"
Christopher said, pretending to be confident. 

"But those were by you and were intended" Ronald said.

"What's the difference? Killing is killing" Christopher said.

Suddenly, they sensed somebody's presence at the door followed by a gentle knock.
Everybody stopped talking and seized up for a few moments. They looked at one another.
Who could it be?
At this time of hour...
Could it be the police?
There was silence in the room yet plenty of questions were speaking loudly in their minds.
Christopher signalled Steven to check out the door. Steven went and opened it cautiously.
There stood Anthony in front of him. Steven gestured him to come in. Anthony entered
and Steven closed the door.
Ronald poured Anthony a shot of whisky.   

"Hey, sit down and join us." 

Anthony took the offered glass and sat from across them. 

"Cheers!" Ronald cheered, colliding his glass with Anthony's

" Cheers!" Anthony also cheered and joined their company.

Chapter 48

Christopher, Ronald, Paul, Steven, and Anthony were drinking together and emptying their
glasses one after the other. Christopher and his three friends were at their peak.
However, Anthony was drinking with caution. 

"So, Anthony, why are you roaming around so late at night?" Steven asked, patting him on
his back. 

He seemed to be sufficiently drunk. 

"I actually came to you, regarding the treat." Taking the opportunity, Anthony went
straight to the point.

"Which treat?" Paul asked. 

He probably didn't understand or he was pretending so.

"He is talking about the girl." Ronald made it clear before Anthony could speak.
"By the way, did you enjoy the treat?" Anthony asked.

Everybody became serious. Anthony looked at their faces in confusion.

"Look, the treat was good initially but at the end…" 

"You know, it happens sometimes that initially the food tastes nice but, in the end, it
starts tasting sour because of the settled salt at the bottom" Ronald completed Anthony's
sentence.

"I don’t understand what you're talking about" Anthony said looking at them in confusion.

Steven looked at Christopher and asked, "Shall we?"

" Why not? He has the right to know! He is our partner in the act" Christopher said.

" What act?" Anthony couldn't wait to ask.

" Murder" Ronald said coldly.

" Don’t say 'murder'! It was an accident" Paul interrupted him. 

Anthony’s face became pale.

"Did you kill the girl?" Anthony somehow managed to ask.

" We-We killed the girl" Christopher corrected him.

" Excuse me? Where do I stand in this?" Anthony tried to make his position clear. 

"Look, if the police catch us, they will ask who gave us the information about the girl."
Ronald said.

"Then even if we don’t want to tell them, we'll have to." Paul completed the remainder of
the sentence.

"Our friend Anthony has helped us" Steven added.

" You are involving me unnecessarily." Anthony took the defensive stance. 

"Hey! One thing will be funny." Christopher said smiling darkly.

"What?" Ronald asked.

"If police hang us, we will not have much objection! We tasted the cream! But this poor
fellow will be hanged without a single taste" Christopher said.
Everybody except Anthony burst out laughing.

"Actually, I came here to get $2000 from each of you, but you people…" Anthony said.

" Hey, forget about it now. If everything would have gone according to the plan, in that
case, we would have given you the money. But, the girl got killed..." Ronald tried to
convince him. 

"Accidentally" Steven added.

"Now, to manage all this, the money will be required which we were going to give you"
Ronald said.

"In fact, we were about to ask for some more money from you to settle the case."

Everybody except Anthony burst out laughing. 

Anthony’s face frowned. Angrily, he got up and walked off, slamming back the door
behind him. 

Chapter 49

Anthony was sitting at his computer. A black cat, with a black belt on her neck, was
playing around. Pieces of wires, cat belts and electronic components were placed around
on Anthony’s table. Neurological brain diagrams were stuck up on the wall. 
Anthony swiftly pressed a few keypads and mouse buttons and a software opened on the
computer screen. The software had various menus, buttons and text boxes. Anthony
pressed on the ‘Attack’ button. Suddenly, the cat playing nearby attacked the teddy bear
in front of her. She attacked it in such a wild way that she tore it into small pieces. When
the cat was tearing the teddy bear, Anthony was proudly staring at her. As the cat
finished, a winning smile crept over Anthony’s face. 
Suddenly, there was some sound at the door. Anthony left everything and went to it. As
he opened the door, he saw a newspaper fall on the ground. He grabbed it and closed the
door, whilst leafing through the newspaper. Suddenly, something in the newspaper caught
his attention. He came to the computer, reading the news seriously.
He sat on a chair and began reading carefully. The news he was reading had the heading
'Nancy’s brother files case against four culprits’ and below the heading were four photos
of Christopher, Ronald, Paul, and Steven, visible. 
Anthony kept the newspaper on the table in front of him and pondered over it. He
remembered the incident when he had gone to them to ask for the money after Nancy's
murder...
"Did you kill the girl?" Anthony somehow managed to ask.

"We-we killed the girl" Christopher corrected him.

" Excuse me? Where do I stand in this?" Anthony tried to make his position clear. 
"Look, if the police catch us, they will ask who gave us the information about the girl"
Ronald said.

"Then even if we don’t want to tell we'll have to" Paul completed the sentence.

"Our friend Anthony has helped us" Steven added.

"You are involving me unnecessarily" Anthony took a defensive stance. 

"Hey, one thing will be funny." Christopher said smiling darkly.

"What?" Ronald asked.

"If the police hang us, we will not have much objection. We tasted the cream” But this
poor fellow will be hanged without a single taste" Christopher said.

Everybody except Anthony burst out laughing.

... Anthony came out of his flashback. 
If the case continues, at some point in time or the other, Christopher, Ronald, Paul and
Steven would pull me into the case...
No! That should not happen...
I should find some way out...
Whilst thinking, Anthony looked at the cat playing around. A suspenseful smile crept over
his face. 
If I finish them all...
Yes...
A stitch in time saves nine...

Chapter 50

Anthony decided to finish up and close the matter as early as possible, wanting to save his
own skin. He had decided firmly what he had to do and what his strategy would be. But
before that, he decided to meet Nancy's brother. He knew him on account of being
Nancy's classmate. How much George knew about the whole thing, and from who he knew
it, he wanted to know. And the most important, he wanted to check whether George was
suspicious about him or not. 

Anthony went to George’s house. As he was about to press the doorbell, he heard a
strange shrieking sound from the inside. He startled and did not press the doorbell. 
There seems to be something serious going on inside...
He went near the window and peeped in....
Inside the house, in the foyer, George held a doll, again, making the strange shrieking
sound. The silence formed after the shriek seemed to be eerie. 
Anthony was still looking into the house from the window. He tried to understand what
was going on inside the foyer. He thought it must be some sort of black magic. Yet he
never believed in such magic. He started carefully observing the things inside.

"I hope you’re ready to die Steven" George said to the doll. 

Suddenly, George changed his voice and started to speaking in a doll’s voice, as if the doll
was pleading with him. 

"No. I don’t want to die, George. I apologize. I'm very sorry. I can do anything for you,
please forgive me."

"You can do anything?... Can you bring back my sister?" George spoke again, this time in
his own voice.

"No! How can I do that? It’s not within my reach. Other than that, ask anything. I assure
you I will give it to you" George said again, changing his voice as if the doll was talking. 

"You can do anything for me? Then be ready... to give me your life" George said sinisterly.
Anthony was witnessing the whole thing going on inside from the window. Suddenly, a
thought struck him. A menacing smile spread over Anthony's face. He left the window and
went to the door without pressing the doorbell.
Chapter 51

Sam was still on the ground in the warehouse. But now he was out of the trance-like
state. Immediately, he looked at the monitor. The computer was turned off. He looked
around in the warehouse. Outside, it was quite a morning and now, inside the warehouse,
there was sufficient light. The wild breeze of air had stopped for now.
Sam got up. He held a broken frame lying beside him and looked at it. It was a group
photo of the four killers and Anthony.
Now he understood every single thing clearly that he heard earlier. While he was lying
unconscious, a series of scenes passed before his eyes, probably what Nancy wanted to
tell him. 
But why should she need tell it to anyone?
Because she could achieve what she wanted in spite of not disclosing anything to
anybody.... 
Why she would have chosen me to disclose it?
Certainly there must be some valid reason.
Certainly she must have some purpose...

The hearing for Anthony's case was going on from quite a long time. Every day, Sam used
to sit in court and used listen to the hearing. When the proceedings of the case used to
continue, a question used to always trouble him:  Why she would have chosen him to tell
her story?
Does she want me to tell all those in the court?
But who would believe me even if I did?
On the other hand, listening to such superstitious things from me, they would call me
crazy...
Not only that but they may doubt my overall capability to handle this responsible position
as a detective...
He thought deeply. Yet today, he didn't want to be absorbed in thoughts. Today he
wanted to listen to the court proceedings thoroughly, as today the result of the case was
going to be declared. 
Anthony sat in a chair and looked at the judge. All the spectators looked at the judge and
waited for the final judgment curiously. Amongst the spectators was Sam looking at the
judge also.
The judge declared his final judgment -

"Taking into account the circumstantial evidences, mainly the statement given by Mr.
Anthony Clark, the court arrives at the conclusion that Mr. Anthony Clark is guilty of
murdering Mr. Steven Smith, Mr. Paul Roberts, Mr. Ronald Parker and Mr. Christopher
Anderson. The murders were executed in a well-planned, intentional manner....
Therefore, the court orders the death sentence for Mr. Anthony Clark."
The relatives of the victims who were murdered by Anthony were happy with the
judgment, while most of the people were unhappy, as Anthony was still hero for them.
Nancy's brother was one of them who were unhappy; he immediately left the court.
Detective Sam listened to the judgment without any reaction in particular. He was neither
happy nor sad. But the question he was troubled with since so long, seemed to be solved
today. 
Chapter 52

Sam was sat opposite Anthony in the prison cell. 

"Since I arrested you, I have been in a dilemma. Why did Nancy chose me to tell all those
things to? Sam asked, not sure how to begin.

" Nancy? What are you talking about...she is dead" Anthony said, puzzled.
 
"Yes. She is dead, but her soul is still alive" Sam said.

"Detective?... Are you kidding me?" 

"No. Whatever I am talking about is true. I thought I was hallucinating at first, that my
mind was playing tricks on me, that after all these years of working with the dead, I had
finally cracked" Sam said.

Anthony looked at the detective trying to read his expressions. 

"Then I realized, I knew what she wanted me to know, And why she chose me to tell all
these things to" Sam continued.

"What has she told you?" Anthony asked, still not believing.
"That it was you who gave Nancy’s hotel address to those four culprits" Sam said.

"No, I did not" Anthony said in surprise.

"Don’t lie! Now there is no use even if you do lie" Sam said, raising his voice.
Anthony lowered his head.

"But how do you know ?" Anthony asked, trying to control his emotions.

"Nancy told me" Sam said.

"Detective, she is dead" Anthony said in irritation.

" Her soul,her ghost told me " Sam said firmly.

Anthony looked at Sam for a long moment with fear and disbelief.

"She told it to me because she wanted you to know that the four murders you have
executed are in fact executed by her...by her ghost. She executed those in such a way
that, for the world, it looked like those murders were executed by you and you are getting
punished by the court for that. She is having her revenge this way." Sam explained.

"I don't believe you. I built the electronics to control those cats. I planned it all! It was all
my work" Anthony said in disbelief.

"When I checked your Electronics and wireless transmission gear, the signals were not
even reaching outside the warehouse. So how did it reach the victim’s houses?" Sam talked
about his experience.  
                                                           
Sam paused to check Anthony’s reaction.

"Not only that she shared some secrets, which you never shared with anybody." 

"Like?" Anthony asked curiously. 

"Like they phoned you when they were trapped in a drainage pipe and those culprits were
following them. Then you asked them to flag a taxi and go to the Hilton Hotel. She also
told me about your betrayal by giving them her address for 2000 dollars from each of
them and when you went to collect the money they threatened to disclose your
involvement." Sam had now exposed him completely.

Anthony kept looking at Sam in disbelief. He was getting big blows of surprise one after
the other. He started thinking.
The information Sam told was not known to anybody other than he himself...
Then how come he got this information...
The other most important thing. How did he know about the call he made to Christopher
to tell him about Nancy's whereabouts.
Anthony was deeply absorbed in thoughts. He was becoming convinced.
But how could it be possible...
He never believed in ghosts. 
He realized that his limbs were trembling. 

"If I believe whatever you are saying the why didn’t she kill those four culprits and me
directly without creating all of the framing?" A part of Anthony still was not ready to
believe.

"That I can’t comment upon but it’s true that she killed those four and framed you for
their murders" Sam said.

Anthony became serious. He was going through each and every occasion of the murders
like a flashback and in each and every scene he was feeling the presence of Nancy.
 
"But still I don’t understand. In court, why did you lie that you had killed those four
culprits to have Nancy's revenge?" Sam asked the real question.

Anthony’s eyes started welling up. He took Sam’s hand in his and broke up into tears. 

"I never wanted her to be killed. But those bastards had killed her. I had proposed to her
and she had refused. Therefore I wanted to break her ego and that day John rang me and I
got the chance. I just wanted her to be raped so that her ego could be shattered. But then
subsequently ... things turned differently. She got murdered. Those bastards decided to
involve me too. Therefore I decided to finish them off" Anthony confessed. 

He started weeping, hiding his head between his knees.

Sam waited for him to calm down and asked, "You haven't answered my questions." 
Anthony looked at Sam quizzically.

"In court, why did you lie and say that you had killed those culprits to have Nancy's
revenge?"

Anthony’s face faded again.

"I said... please keep it between us-you and me only" Anthony pleaded. 

"Yes, I promise" Sam assured.

"Whatever I had done to Nancy, if my parents and the world come to know, what image
would they have about me? Now, at least, they are under the impression that I killed them
to have revenge of the one I loved. Even now, my image is quite high in their hearts.
Please don’t ruin it at least not until I die. I would not be able to face my parents hating
me..." Anthony pleaded ,holding his feet.

Anthony started weeping again.

Sam looked at him with sympathy. He did not know how to react. 
But- No ... The crime committed by Anthony can't be forgiven...
Sam released forcefully his hand from Anthony’s, got up and walked to the door.
At the door, he turned back, took one last look at Anthony and
said                                                                                                                           "She
wants you to know one thing." 

"What?" Anthony asked in heavy tone. 

"She will never forgive you" Sam said and turned sharply.

Sam left and Anthony kept on looking at him leave. There were menacing expressions of
fear and frustration creeping over Anthony's face. 

Chapter 53

Now within a short time, the death sentence was to be given to Anthony. Sam, an
authority to give the death sentence, and a doctor stood near the electric chair chamber.
Two police staff brought in a handcuffed Anthony. An authority checked his watch and
signalled to the police staff. The police staff took Anthony to the electric chair.

"Where is the operator?" one of the officers asked.

A person came forward and went to the electric chair operation panel. The police staff
who took Anthony to the chair made him to sit on the electric chair and covered his head
with a black covering. The police staff came out and closed the electric chair chamber.
A guard looked at the operator. The operator stood in a ready position near the electric
chair panel. The authority looked again at his watch, continuously, counting down.
Though it was common practice for these people, tenseness could be sensed in this
environment. Suddenly, the authority signalled the operator. The operator immediately
pressed the electric chair panel button. 
After some time, the operator looked at the authority with an 'it’s finished' expressions on
his face. 

"Doctor" the authority called out loudly.

The doctor rushed to the electric chair chamber, opened it and checked inside.

"Sir, he is dead" the doctor's voice confirmed from the chamber.

The authorities turned and left the place. The operator entered the adjacent room. Other
staff entered the chamber, probably to clean up.  This was an unusual occasion for Sam;
he was still standing there and observing the procedure. 
Now the doctor also left the place. The detective was still standing there yet seemed,
mentally, to be somewhere else. Suddenly, somebody came from his behind.

"Oh, I am relieved" the voice came from his behind.

Sam looked behind and was stunned. The operator was standing in front of him.
He had just entered the adjacent room...
And all of a sudden where had he come from?

"I was worried how you would manage in my absence..." the operator said.

"By the way, who operated the panel?" the operator asked.

Sam looked into the adjacent room in which the operator had entered. 

"What do you mean by whom? You operated the panel" Sam said in disbelief.

"Are you kidding? I just got here" the operator defended. 

Sam looked at him in confusion and then at the closed adjacent room. 

"Come, follow me." 

They went into the adjacent closed room.

Sam pushed the door but the door was latched from the inside. He knocked; waited for
some time but there was no response. Sam started pushing with his full strength yet the
door did not open. The confused operator also joined him in pushing the door.
Pushing, hammering, at last  the detective and the operator broke the door. Quickly 
Sam and the operator entered the room and looked around; there was nobody inside. They
looked at each other, confusion on operator’s face while eerie expressions on Sam’s.
Suddenly, something fell from above, both of them startled. It was a black cat, which
jumped. The cat stood right in front of them, stared at Sam continuously. Slowly, the cat
morphed into a decomposed corpse. The operator started shivering. Stunned, Sam and the
operator looked at it. Slowly, the decomposed corpse morphed into a beautiful, young
lady. Yes, it was Nancy. Now she was beaming up with satisfaction on her face. Slowly,
two big tears came out of her eyes and gradually she disappeared.