Crime Control Squad

Chapter 18

"Now what?" asked Vikram as he joined the others.

"We wait. What else can we do?" Ruby was in complete disappointment with the no progress they were making.

"He is scared, terribly scared of something. He has no clue what's going on. He is just replicating what he did in the previous case imagining the same things are happening now," explained Vedant.

"So what do we do? He is our only suspect. Probably he doesn't know anything about the murder too. Also...we can kind off speculate what must have happened during the rape case and why he confessed. What are we expecting off him now?" Vikram was slowly losing interest.

"The truth that he confessed on his own. We are trying to blow up the cover. We need Samar on our side. Once he is, we can confidently pursue finding evidence to prove his innocence. We need to break Samar and make him realise that it's very important for him and his family to be with the truth. He is the one person who can help us provide justice to two families- Kiran's and Veerkaran's." Vedant realised that his investigation was in a complete mess. He had different paths opened to reach the killer but was stranded halfway in every path. He couldn't decide on which path to stream his troops. He basically had a little over a day to find the killer. It would be a shame if he and his team failed the challenge and had to hand over the case to someone else. May be he should have bargained for more time. He couldn't understand the reason behind the deadline at the first place, a sudden deadline. 3 days to close a murder investigation was near to impossible. If the Commissioner was pressurised, if his senior officials were forced to stop him from investigating the murder, there had to be genuine reasons. What could that be? Was it because he was getting close to catching the killer? Was the killer a top politician or celebrity who had to be protected? Was it all political? One thing he had always made sure was never to succumb to political pressure. He wouldn't in this case too.

"Ruby, you be here and see if you can talk to Samar," said Vedant.

"But Sir!" Vikram couldn't believe his boss was letting a junior, a psychologist to interrogate their prime suspect. Just because he wasn't able to make Samar speak out didn't mean he was incapable.

"I am not doubting your capability, Vikram," said Vedant reading his officer's mind. "I want you to do something else, something important. Come along."

"I'll make a move too, Mr Vashisht. I will be sent a detailed report by our lawyers. Call me if you want anything." She shook hands with Vedant and left.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Vikram coldly still not happy with the way he was taken away from the interrogation. Vikram and Vedant were walking towards the stairs. "You have taken me away from the most significant task. What else can be more important?"

"You are a senior officer for God's sake! Stop sulking," Vedant raised his voice. Vikram hadn't been in the best of his behaviour and thought process. He knew it must have been irritating for him for not going anywhere with his line of interrogation but that didn't mean he would close his mind to the rest of the possibilities. Samar was a tough candidate. Vikram had been getting nothing out of him from the time he spoke to him in the prison. As much as he understood Vikram's frustration, his resentment was no way justifiable. Every member was feeling the same disappointment and impatience. But they were all moving through the smallest of the gap to see if it could lead them anywhere. They were struggling within themselves not to get their morale down. This case hadn't been the easiest of the case because of its connection with an old case. A fresh case would have been different. An old case with a suspicious closure wasn't the best of the help. To top it, media, deadlines and sending important documents to another team; he as a leader had to keep the team together, focused. His team would need a break too, not that they weren't used to such stressful situations.