Twenty-Five
Mr. Paul's Villa,
8:30 P.M.
Syna and Akash sat down on the floor, surrounded by piles of sheets, documents and papers, which contained all the quotes written by The Known-Unknown, brought along with Dexter's help. He desperately wanted to join them, but could only do so after working hours. They found it necessary to bring together all substantial knowledge of his previous murders in a meticulous manner, as the key was concealed in those quotes and codes.
'Look at this quote.' Akash said. '"If you want to chase me, you first need to identify and pursue my mentors".' And he looked at Syna, with the expectations that she might know who his mentors were.
'The way Mark Hallows had described him, I feel that it might be History. After all, he kept saying the same thing, only History can help us.' She shrugged.
'My question again, whose history? The history of a serial killer?'
'Who knows? If we are talking about him, he's clearly different from any of the serial killers I have heard so far.'
'I agree.' Akash said. 'Some of his actions match those of a few famous serial killers, while some don't.' And that's when they looked at each other.
'Maybe we should-' Syna said and Akash got the message instantly. 'Yes. We should jot down all his common and uncommon points and compare them to the other killers.' He said, excitedly.
They grabbed two blank pages and started to pen down all the points, according to their own views of perception, separately. Akash was glad that he had read so many crime stories, both fiction and non-fiction, related to famous serial killers such as Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, The Zodiac Killer, BTK, etc. While Syna had her own judgement and knowledge. After a few minutes, they placed their findings, side by side.
'First difference, many serial killers were child predators.' Syna read. 'But our target has never killed or molested any child in his single murders. Mass-murders were a different case, I suppose.'
'Second interesting point, unlike the other serial killers, he has never raped his female victims. We only have two cases where a female was raped, isn't that right?' He said and looked at a pile of sheets.
'That's unique.' Syna said, looking at the point. 'None of the male victims were humiliated sexually, either..'
'We have only 2 cases of rape. But I presume they were committed by either Rahul Arora or Mark Hallows'
'I suppose the answer to that question now lies in the grave.' Syna said meekly, and Akash sighed.
'What's your next point?' Akash asked.
Syna explained to him her third observation, which was about his letters! The Stalker's letters and audio tapes were all sent to the cops instead of the media. While other notorious serial killers had the habit of sending it to the media, he was the opposite.
'Well, here's another one.' Akash said, pointing to his sheet. 'Forming organizations and recruitment. Very few serial killers would ever do that, for I believe they never trusted anyone else when it came to their world of crime. Furthermore, it would have been difficult for them to convince people, for many of them were introverts from childhood.'
'And convincing people requires exposure and effective communication.'
They were getting a closer insight into his mind, it helped them to differentiate between him and the others.
'Our guy is also very intelligent.' Syna said. 'Studying historical characters, as Mark had said and planning things perfectly, beforehand.'
'This point confuses me.' Akash said, picking up Syna's paper, pointing to the term, "Revenge".
Syna explained to him how many serial killers in the past had committed murders for revenge. Some killed for pleasure, while a few others killed for revenge on beauty, hikers, children, riches. One major trigger for most of the serial killers was love. Akash heard her out patiently.
'Could revenge be the only trigger for someone to commit so many murders and three mass-, wait, four mass-murders?' He asked Syna, and she had nothing to retort with.
'Can't see any other motive for so many murders.' She said.
It was obvious to her; she had never come across any criminal at this level. That's when something struck her and she hurried over to a particular bundle of papers. Hastily, she took out the paper and pushed it on Akash's face.
'Hold still.' Akash said, trying to read. '"Even the great 'Zodiac Killer' would have approved of me as his successor".'
*************************
Somewhere in Shimla,
8:47 P.M.
Jeel rummaged through everything, but found very little denominations of cash. Her destination demanded a bigger amount, she had no savings left either. She always tried to sneak in newspapers from vendors while buying food, to keep a daily update of what was going on with the case.
From the moment Jeel had woken up, she knew her day would have tragic moments in store for her. Her fear grew more intense when she read the article about The Known-Unknown. She heaved a sigh of relief, initially, when she saw his name. She had been unaware about The Stalker's intensities of crime. It was only when she read through all the articles which described his murders and mass-murders, that she realized how horrifying and hazardous the culprit was.
She took this as her perfect opportunity to escape, the police were diverted towards someone else, someone who was on a completely different level than her, in committing bad deeds. Yet she was afraid, she was present at the crime scene, she had seen things she wasn't supposed to. This thing endangered her as a suspect and even her life, after she learned about The Stalker's deeds.
She made her choice and decided to take the plunge, 'Hello.' The voice said weakly.
She remained silent and held her breath.
'Hello?' The voice said again. 'May I know who is this?'
Slowly she swallowed her breath and gathered the energy to speak in her fake voice.
'David-' She said, and could instantly hear quickened breathing from the other side.
*************************************
'This quote about being the successor of "Zodiac Killer", it has erupted numerous theories and conspiracies among the scholars.' Syna said.
Those were the facts; out of all the quotes The Stalker had written, only the above quote mentioned a 'name', a real name, not just a random one. It was the name of one of the most notorious serial killers, who called himself, "Zodiac Killer". Akash explained to her everything that he could about the Zodiac killer, he had also shaped his own symbol, as a form of representation. His symbol was a circle with a cross on it. Till date, the investigators have never been able to find out with certainty who the Zodiac Killer was.
'I have also read many theories conspiring around this quote.' He said. 'But the problem is the Zodiac killer lived and operated in California, there's no way he could have had any contact with him.'
'Maybe he took him as his inspiration? And hence used the word 'Mentor' in another quote of his?' Syna suggested.
'I have no clue, Syna.' He said, annoyed. 'They don't have a lot of things in common. The Stalker's methods and techniques are different, as we'd discussed through those pages, earlier.' His tone was a little harsh, which Syna noticed. She placed her hand on his and shifted closer towards him,
'Tell me, honestly.' She said, looking him in the eye. 'How does your anger seize control over you in such a prompt manner?' and Akash broke eye contact with her immediately.
'I wish I had an answer to that.'
'It ended things between you and Catherine, right?' and Akash looked up instantaneously, Syna pressed his hands with a knowing look.
'It sort of did. I haven't gotten any response from her, so I assume it has.' He said, trying his best to avoid looking at her beautiful face.
'Maybe she wasn't the right one for you.'
'At this point in my life, I don't know what's right or wrong for me.' He said, staring at his uncle's picture on the wall. Syna followed his eyes.
'I understand how you feel about losing someone who was close to you.' A long silence followed.
'When I was nine, I had a loving family who took care of me.' She began. 'My sweet mother, a protective elder brother and a respectable father, who was a police officer. One day, something came up at work, he returned home and since then his behaviour towards us changed forever.' This got Akash's attention and he looked her in the eye.
'When I grew ten years old, he told me that my birth was a burden to the family.' Her voice was low. 'That he had suggested to my mother for abortion, as they were happy with a single child, who was smart and brilliant, just like him. That exchange with my dad broke me.' Teardrops fell through her cheeks; Akash grabbed her hand instantly.
'Day by day things worsened, and he started to become violent towards all of us, even my brother. We didn't know what had gone wrong with him, even his department began labelling him as a disgraceful officer. Then, one day, he disappeared, just like that. We never saw him again.'
'I am sorry to hear about that.' Akash said softly.
'We were troubled by my father's ill-wishers. And then a year later, my mother passed away. My brother and I swore on that day, to become respectful police officers, who would revolutionize the system. And now here I am, severed from my past, but not from my vow.'
Akash offered her some water and gently brushed her back. She gave in to him, resting her head in his arms, clutching his hands firmly.
'So, what happened to your brother, did he keep his vow?'
'He did. Far better than me.' She said, wiping her tears. 'You just met him yesterday in my cabin.'
*******************************
Every year, humans have made new discoveries and enhancement in all possible fields, but if only they attempted to discover what is within themselves, they'd realize they are much more than just bones and skulls.
~The Stalker