I had no faith in the police. The investigation was crawling. Their response was depressing. Swathy should get justice. So, I think it’s my responsibility. I know she is with me. But where should I begin?
Geethu…
She took Swathy to Nishant. Swathy’s phone was missing. But she left her laptop here. It can help me. I opened the laptop. It was locked. A picture password blocks me. Swathy was very fond of music. The lock was a picture of a music keyboard. I have to tap in a particular order on the picture to unlock. Since it is a keyboard. It might be some combination of notes. But which combination?
Swathy had good knowledge in music theory. I once tried to learn it on my own. We used to chat about chords and progressions those days. Will it be any chord? I tried few chords. No. It’s not. Only a few trials left. I had to think more before next try.
Apologize by One Republic is one of her favorites. She once said about its music notes once while chatting. Ok, so is this a hint. This song uses vi-IV-I-V chord progression. Swathy, I feel this is it. I decided to go for it. Tapped these chords in order.
Yes. Unlocked.
Opened chrome. She has autosaved facebook password. It made things easier. Geethu was there in chat history. I started reading their chat from beginning. They started chatting about a month back. Geethu initiated the chat. Her first message was, ‘Hey, so you are a huge fan of Nishant. Me too. Have you met him? I had.’
So they were just facebook friends. They spoke of Nishant most of the time. After some days, Geethu told Swathy about Nishant’s visit to Banglore. Swathy told Geethu about her wish of seeing him. Geethu promised to take Swathy to him. Few days before Swathy went missing, Geethu messaged, ‘Swathy, your dream will come true. I have a plan to meet him. We both can meet him. I will call you and tell what to do.’ This marks the end of their chat.
During their chat, Geethu had spoken about hotel Paradise. Nishant is one of the owners. So, if Nishant has any part in this case, Paradise will be of no help. Police will also be of no help. If I went against him in public. I too will be history. No eagle flies above money. I searched for hotel Paradise on Google images. A luxurious one. As I scrolled down. A cctv footage snapshot caught my eye. I visited the website. It was part of a news of a murder. Security of a jewellery shop near Paradise was killed by thieves. The snapshot had the entrance of Paradise in it. So, if Swathy went there, this camera might have captured it. But how to access it.
I took a walk around Paradise and that jewellery shop. That camera is still there. I should access it. It was a wireless one. So, I could jam it. I designed a jammer circuit that night. Went to that jewellary, activated the jammer. Screens went black. The manager noticed it and was trying to solve it. I just went to him and enquired. I introduced myself as an engineer and tried to help him. He gave me the computer. I scrolled to that date when Swathy left me. Switched to that particular camera. Fast forwarded a lot. Yes, I saw her with a lady entering Paradise. I disabled jammer for a while, cameras came online. Disabled it again. This just made them feel that I am working on it. Fast forwarded again. A car came to the scene, two guys placed something on the car and left. Oh God, was it my Swathy. That lady left alone after some time. That’s enough. I disabled the jammer and brought things back to normal. They thanked me for the help. I just bought a small ring from there.
It’s her birthday tomorrow. I would have gifted her a ring, if she was alive.
That lady might be Geethu. Yes, it is her. I learned about her from sweeper boy at Paradise. She was dirty. She used to supply girls to celebrities. She had political support. She lives outside the town area. She goes there once in a week. Other days, she will be in the city. I followed her once and managed to find her home. I bought few electronic components and designed a taser circuit. Installed it on her door panel when she wasn’t there. She uses to come there late at night. When all neighbors had slept. She will come here after two or three days. My eyes followed her always.
Thiopental Sodium which I ordered online has arrived. It is an anesthetic drug. It can be used to take someone to subconscious state. Time has come. She left for home. It was late at night. I followed her. When she opened the door, fired the taser. She got stunned. I then injected thiopental sodium into her nerves. Carried her inside. She was in a hypnotized state. I asked her about Swathy. She responded in a feeble voice. I got the answer. Nishant. She will remember the electric shock tomorrow. But not what happened after it. I made little damage to the light switch so that it pose a risk of shock. I got back.
Nishant left Banglore three days ago. The next time he returns. I will take him to hell. The cricket series between India and England begins next week. He plays in first eleven. The last match will be held at Banglore after two weeks. So I don’t have to wait much. But how? He is always surrounded by guards.But they are blind towards dirty things he does. He uses to party at Paradise when he comes here. My mind was blank. Hovered through WhatsApp to relax. One of my friends sent me some health tips. I have read them before. That stuff which told eating mentos with cola can kill you because cyanide forms. I scrolled down. Wait. Cola and mentos can kill you? But are safe as individuals. Food can get through the security. But it will get tested. Cola and mentos will be tested safe. It kills only when combined. This is it. Even though this message is a hoax.
I should know eating habits of him. I searched a lot, and found certain special habits from his interviews. He adds beer with vodka. Which is safe. But this combination improves the potential methanol content. But not deadly. A small amount of catalyst like cynthade can turn methanol on. Cynthade is not a poison on its own. Things turn deadly only when these three combines. I bought cynthade through less used courier service using a fake name and used a college’s name as the address. I know that they don’t ask for photo ids. My IP address is always protected.
Even though Paradise is highly guarded, the utensils are washed from a less concerned area. I managed to replace their dish wash bar with one containing cynthade while the city was asleep. No cctv spans that area. Patches of cynthade will remain even after washing.
I watched him play for one last time at the stadium and went to bed satisfyingly. The alarm woke me up. Turned on TV.News channels flooded with one big news ‘ Cricketer Nishant found dead’.
“Swathy, I kept my word”
–END–
