Deceiving Heartlands: An addictive crime thriller with a jaw-dropping twist (Heartlands Thriller 4) by Neelabh Pratap Singh

Author:Neelabh Pratap Singh [Singh, Neelabh Pratap]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-19T00:00:00+00:00

19

DEV

Tuesday, April 6

Dev spotted Dharam Shukla in the veranda, sitting on the same wooden chair, wearing the same sulky expression. Beside his feet sat his servant, Golu, the teenager from Dev’s neighbourhood. The post-mortem report was still awaited, but the doctor had confirmed that it was a case of homicide and not suicide.

The fact that it was a homicide had changed everything. They had to now deal with the case from the angle of a murder. Look out for possible motives and suspects.

Shukla’s face crumpled with anger as he found Dev approaching them. “Are you going to come here every day?” Shukla groused. “I don’t have anything more to tell you.”

Dev took a confrontational stance in front of Shukla, hands on hips. “For a change, this time I have something to tell you.”

Golu leapt to his feet and dragged a chair for him. Presented it to him with a sheepish smile.

Dev settled into the chair, thinking how to put the words across. To break the news to an already grieving father, it would require him to be as cold-blooded as the person who’d killed the young innocent girl. “The post-mortem is underway. The doctor has informed us that Shalini… Shalini was murdered.”

Shock and panic flared in Shukla’s eyes, face paled. His lips wobbled as a squeal came out of his throat, “What the hell are you saying?”

Dev was shocked the same way when the doctor had told him about the cause of death. The girl was smothered to death, the life choked out of her. And then her body was thrown into the canal to make it look like a suicide. “It’s not me. It’s the doctors who are saying so. The observations made during the autopsy suggest homicide.”

Perspiration beaded the man’s forehead. An inscrutable look changed his features. His jaw slackened as he yelled, “What kind of pathetic joke is this? First you say my daughter has committed suicide. Now you’re saying she’s murdered.”

Dev noticed a flicker of a movement at the door of the house. A man appeared at the threshold. It was Param Shukla, Dharam’s younger brother.

“Any problem, Bhaiya?” Param asked.

Shukla was breathing heavily, his shoulders bobbing up and down which each laboured breath.

“We’ve registered an FIR,” Dev said. “Need to take the statements of all family members.”

Param reached for his elder brother, came and stood beside him. Kneaded his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Shukla stayed silent for a while, jaws twitching. After several long moments, he said, “Keep my brother’s family out of it.”

“We need everyone’s statement,” Dev pressed. “We must know who possibly have wanted to hurt Shalini.”

“No one wanted to hurt my daughter,” Shukla howled. “She was a simple girl. An obedient daughter. No one wanted to hurt her.”

Dev felt anger simmering hot inside his skin. The man wasn’t looking to cooperate. He stuffed down the anger. He couldn’t blame Shukla entirely. The man had lost a daughter and now found out that she didn’t commit suicide but was murdered.

Param cleared his throat. “If you want, I can answer your questions.

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