ANTI-SOCIAL NETWORK Read Online Free Page A

want to help you.’
    Richard, looking shamefaced, nodded his head. ‘Yes, I know, ma’am. Thank you for your efforts.’
    ‘So promise me that you will make it to the counselling session tomorrow.’
    Richard looked up and nodded a yes. Naina smiled for the first time, flashing a glimpse of her perfect teeth. She cast a last look at the computer screens and then back at Richard. ‘As far as I’m concerned, you’re just playing computer games here.’ Richard smiled back in the response to her infectious smile. She turned and walked out of the room. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ she said, waving goodbye.
    As soon as Naina left, Richard grabbed his cell phone and punched a number. The phone was picked up but before the person on the other end could even say hello, Richard barked into the phone, ‘You chutiya, X! You’re lucky you’re my cousin otherwise… Anyway, now you owe me a month’s worth of free supply.’
    From the other side, X sounded extremely apologetic. ‘Sorry, bro…yeah, no problem. But has that bitch left?’
    Richard’s temper immediately flared up. ‘Aye, you cunt of misery! Don’t call her names, she’s a nice lady. I’ll talk to you later. Chal, fuck off now!’ He cut the line but found himself still agitated at what had happened. He casually walked across to one of the wooden tables and slid open a drawer, from which he took out a plastic vial. Reaching for a CD lying on the table, he emptied the contents of the vial on to the CD and cut them in two perfect lines. Then he quickly snorted each line, letting the buzz hit his brain.
    He turned to the computer screen and mumbled to himself as his fingers began to fly over the keyboard. ‘Scarecrow is back… after a short break.’

6
    ‘A nd so you’re suggesting that this nineteen-year-old girl was alone and managed to kill someone in such a gruesome manner?’
    Virkar’s reply was a plain, ‘Yes.’
    ACP Wagh sat in front of him, stone-faced. ‘Virkar, I think this time you’ll be proven wrong,’ he said, shaking his head. Virkar had just finished explaining his theory on the Blue Nile Resort killing and ACP Wagh, with barely suppressed impatience, had listened to Virkar’s long-winded explanation about how the depth of the knife wounds indicated that the killer did not have a powerful build and the fact that there was no forcible entry into the shack. They had also found a strand of long, silky black hair stuck between the dead young man’s fingernails. There were no traces of hair in the adjoining bathroom or blood spatter in the bathroom sink or shower outlet. So the killer had not washed off any blood from her hands or body. The pattern of blood puddles on the floor pointed to the fact that the killer had worn some kind of a waterproof coat that she had brought with her to avoid blood being spilled directly on to her body and to not leave any traces of her DNA.
    All this clearly indicated that the crime was premeditated by an intelligent mind. The dismembering of the penis and taking it suggested revenge or psychological payback for some kind of crime that had been perpetrated by the victim, who had been identified as Rajesh Chawre of Bangur Nagar, Goregoan. A quick check of all missing persons reports at various police stations had yielded young Rajesh’s photo which, when matched against the dead body, had confirmed his identity.
    ‘You have no definite proof that the killer was a girl, Virkar. Perhaps she had an accomplice who did the actual killing, you know, like the Neeraj Grover-Maria Susairaj case.’
    ‘Yes, but the depth of the knife…’
    But ACP Wagh cut him off, his voice now slightly raised, ‘Arre, Virkar, you’re hung up on the depth-of-the-knife-wound theory. What if her accomplice was one of those thin, scrawny boys you see standing outside colleges nowadays?’
    Virkar managed to maintain an even tone as he replied, ‘There is no evidence of any thin, scrawny boy on the premises.’
    But ACP Wagh