The Blood Mystery: Chapter 5

Veer and Indra returned with a box containing all the DNA samples Veer had collected during the autopsy.

"Who was it?" Sumedha asked, taking the file from Veer's hands.

"Ajay Mithil. An employee at Dutt's company. HR had filed a missing person report after Mr. Mithil hadn't shown up for a few days. By the time we found him, his body was already decomposing." Indra explained.

"When exactly did you find him? And how long had it been since he died?" Sumedha asked. It was a crucial detail-she needed to know how much she could extract from the nails and hair, if anything at all.

"We found him two weeks ago. He had been dead for about three weeks." Indra answered.

Sumedha nodded and touched the nails and hair.

She tried to tap into the memories, but the nails weren't enough.

However, the hair gave her the image of a person. Thanking the gods for her photographic memory, she asked Indra if he could call an artist to sketch the face she had seen in the memory.

Indra nodded and immediately asked one of the officers to call for the artist.

"In the meantime, I can show you the images of all the suspects. See if the one you saw is among them." Sunjay said, handing her another file he had asked someone to fetch while she was concentrating on the memory.

Sumedha nodded and took the file.

She flipped through the photographs of all the suspects but didn't find the person she had seen in the memory.

"What about the family members, or Mr. Mithil's team members and colleagues?" she asked, puzzled.

"The family members never mentioned any of them as suspects." Indra replied.

"Do you have information about them?" Sumedha pressed. She had a hunch that the killer was among those who hadn't even been suspected.

Indra nodded and retrieved a file containing information about all the employees at the company where Mr. Mithil had worked. Sumedha went through the photos and information-and then she found him.

"Here he is. The face I saw in the memory. Mr. Khanna. I don't know if he's the one who killed Ajay Mithil, but this was the face that appeared when I touched the hair." Sumedha said, pushing the file toward Indra and Sunjay, with Khanna's photo and information placed on top.

"Get him." Sunjay ordered. "Tell him it's just a small interrogation. Let's say we have a psychologist with us now who wants to ask a few questions."

Indra nodded and left the office with a smirk. His sister's return had turned out better than he had expected.

She was solving cases faster and noticing things the others had missed, the details that were making a real difference.

If he ever saw Mishra again, Indra would beat the man to a pulp. And if his empathy was reading Sunjay right, the man would probably join in. Indra had never been more grateful for his abilities.

A wide smile spread across his face. Dr. Aryan wasn't even trying to hide his feelings for Sumedha. Indra made a mental note to tell Veer never to hurt his sister-but judging by Veer's emotions, the man would rather die than harm Sumedha.

It took thirty minutes to bring Khanna to the office and into the interrogation room, where Veer, Sunjay, and Sumedha were waiting.

"May I know why I've been called in again?" Khanna asked as he was made to sit across from Sumedha.

"Just a small inquiry. I'm a psychologist, and I'd like to know what Mr. Mithil was like in the office-how he behaved with his colleagues." Sumedha said, flashing a professional smile.

Khanna nodded and gave his answer.

It was exactly the same as before. He hadn't even changed the wording. It was as if he had rehearsed it multiple times before delivering the same lines again.

"Mr. Khanna, may I ask where you were when Mr. Mithil died?" Sumedha inquired.

"At home." Khanna replied.

"But you said earlier that you were at your aunt's house when asked the same question," Sumedha bluffed, watching his reaction carefully. She wanted to see whether he would panic and say he lied before or claim that he simply forgot-after all, it had been three weeks.

"I'm sorry. I must have forgotten. It's been three weeks, and I have so much on my plate. I tend to forget details like this quickly." Khanna said with an apologetic expression.

He was lying. Sumedha could tell instantly.

She subtly signaled Veer to read his mind.

Veer gave her a slight smile-her instincts had been spot-on. Khanna had been present when Mithil was murdered.

"Don't lie to us, Mr. Khanna. We have a telepath here who's confirmed that you're lying." Sumedha said, rising from her chair. "So, I suggest you tell us the truth, or you might never see the light of day again."

Sunjay, who had given Sumedha the lead for this interrogation, was impressed. She had handled it all perfectly, from her questioning sequence to the body language she used while delivering the threat.

If she hadn't been fired, she could easily be in Indra's position now.

He felt a surge of anger toward Mishra, the man who had dismissed such a brilliant officer without ever realizing her true potential.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The choice is entirely yours." Sumedha added, her smile sending a chill down Khanna's spine.

"I... I'll talk. But please... please provide protection for my family." Khanna begged, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Sunjay immediately picked up his phone and ordered officers to be stationed at Khanna's house. Once he got confirmation that they were secure, he said, "Speak now. They're safe. They have guards protecting them."

Khanna nodded.

"It was Arjun Dutt-Ashish Dutt's son." he revealed.

Click 'Chapter 6' to read next chapter.