Killer in the Shadows! Read Online Free

handsome.
    “You said on the police helpline that you’d killed somebody.” Inspector Abhay Pandey stretched one long leg out in front of him. Last night’s hangover and exhaustion was kicking in.
    “What?” Naina swallowed. She didn’t remember making the phone call. She especially didn’t remember admitting to murder.
    “Was someone in your house?” Abhay stretched his arms and controlled a yawn as he asked.
    “I don’t understand. He…he had fallen by my bed. Did you not find him? He tried to choke me with a pillow. I couldn’t breathe. I fought him, knocked the knife out of his hand. But the room was dark and I tried to call for help, but then everything went dark…”
    “Well, we didn’t find anybody in your house but we did find a guy in a public convenience near your house. He was found dead and he had your photograph with him. Whatever that may be, you’re safe now, Naina,” the deep voice said gently. “Try to relax.”
    Panic crawled through her. “He attacked me. He was going to kill me. What happened to him?” Her breathing was ragged. “W…where is he?”
    Abhay was so tired he couldn’t even raise a scowl in protest.
Bas kar meri maa!
he thought.
Oh teri, maa sey yaad aaya
! Last night, he had forgotten to inform his mother that he wouldn’t come home in the night.
Lag gayi
.
    He made a mental note to buy something nice for his mother on his way home. After all, she was all he had. After his father’s death in an accident, his mother had raised him up. He had seen his mother live in misery, cleaning other people’s utensils and houses and had promised himself that he would give her all the comforts of the world.
    He tried to concentrate on the task at hand. His mind was running slow, thanks to the
narangi
hangover and the crime fighting he did all night in the motel room. As he turned back, he heard the door to the hospital room open and close. Shukla was trying to sneak in unseen.
    “So kind of you to grace us with your presence,” Abhay said, sarcastically.
    Constable Shukla entered the room and rattled off, “So sorry, sirji.
Woh kal raat thodi zyaada ho gayi thi
.”
    “This hung-over bearded guy is Constable Shukla and he will tell you the details of the investigation,” Abhay said to Naina.
    The man rubbed his hand over his beard. “Sirji, the team didn’t find any clues of an intruder in Naina’s house. There seems to be no sign of a break-in. Even the postmortem report of the man who died before peeing in the public toilet has come in and it states that he died due to a knockout wound on the head, not by a knife.” He stared at Naina.
    This bearded ugly man didn’t believe her. She had dealt with skepticism all her life. His glowering look said everything. Coming back to her hometown had been a mistake. Her grandmother had always told her to stay away, but then she had died and Naina had unfinished business here. She glanced at the constable; he must have recognized her name from when she had called in before.He probably thought she was a psycho. Naina forced back a sob and tried to think of an explanation, aware that the inspector was studying her. “There has to be a body. He fell right in front of me.” But then she’d collapsed, too. Her head still ached and her mind was engulfed in a pall of fog.
    “I’ll ask you some questions and the naughty man with the nasty beard will write it all down.” Abhay had added this for Shukla’s benefit as the constable’s notebook looked suspiciously devoid of any notes.
With a quick glance to make sure Shukla was recording the details, Abhay then asked, “This knife…is it yours?” He took out the knife from a plastic bag.
    Naina nodded. “It…it looks like the one from my kitchen.”
    “Can you give me a description of the intruder?” Abhay’s steady and husky voice mellowed Naina’s nervousness slightly.
    “I didn’t see his face. He was just…strong,” she said tugging the sheet tighter around herself.