Corner Store(Part 4)

It did not take much time for Kashyap to realize that Omkar was dead. Anala had lost her consciousness, probably due to the injury on her head. Ambulance was called. Anala was coming back. Kashyap helped her to get up. Anala was given first aid and taken to hospital for a checkup. There she was declared to be normal. She just had a cut, and no internal injuries. She was soon sent home.

At Anala s place…
Kashyap had come to enquire her. “Anala what happened at Omkar s place? You were found at the site of murder. Why were you there, and how did you get yourself injured? Please explain everything”.

“Inspector last evening I had a vision of Omkar getting killed. So I came to warn you, like you had instructed. As you were not there I left you a note. Then I went to warn Omkar about this. I explained everything. He said he would be alright. I had dinner there and we were just having some conversation, I was very tired and drowsed away sometime in between the conversation. That s the last thing I remember about last night. And today morning I got up, the clock said 6. I was very thirsty. So went to the kitchen to get some water. There I saw Omkar down on the floor, blood all around. I lost control and fell down, something hit my head. That s the last thing I remember”.

The clock again. It was stopped at 6. And the calendar was marked on 25th March as D day. And Omkar was killed at 3 am on march 16. the murderer was playing a game. Killing people and warning the authorities of the next murder.

‘Could Anala be a suspect? She was found at the site of murder. And all the 3 victims were related to her in some way or the other. All the 3 victims were killed by an item bought at Corner Store. Anala had a vision of all the 3 being killed. But if she was the murderer why would she warn the police about about Omkar? No she can not be a suspect. But definitely there is something fishy’ thought Kashyap.

‘Omkar wore a thread on his right hand and reports said that it matched with the one found in Neha s hand when she was killed. Had Omkar killed the 2 girls? If so who killed Omkar? Was he one among the group of killer who were responsible for the murder of the 2 girls?’ many more such questions kept shooting in Kashyap s mind. And so was one more question. Who would be the next victim? March 25th was not very far away….

Anala was broken. She had almost seen 3 people get killed. Images of those bodies kept swirling in her mind.

One night when she was sleeping she saw all the murders happening, like she had seen it many times after Omkar s death. And the murderer too. She was shocked. How could this happen? Why was this happening to her? She had no solution. She was not in a state to tell this to anyone.

March 26th
Inspector Kashyap was tensed. 3 murders in his area. Immense pressure from higher authorities. If the serial killer was still active there should have been a murder last day. Why was nothing reported? Only solution he could think about was to visit Anala and ask her if she has had any vision on the previous day.

He had to make a forced entry into Anala s home as no one answered the door bell in spite of the TV being on. Right in front of the TV was Anala, sleeping peacefully, sleeping an eternal sleep.

Cause of death : sleeping pills, well beyond prescribed limit.

There was a diary on the table, with a pen in it. Anala wrote regularly.

Feb 11th : “why did I get that vision? I never had such problem….. “

Feb 12th : “I have lost track of time. I do not know where I was between 8 30 to 9 30 last night. Why do I not remember?”

March 6th : “again, I do not remember where I was between 11 30 and 12 30 this noon. It was in this time interval that Neha was killed.”

March 20: “I keep getting dreams of the murders over and over again…..”

March 25th : “ same dream again. But this time I saw the murderer. It s me. I killed the 3 of them. Something is wrong with me. I must surrender. I must not be the murderer of one more innocent life….”

Next to the TV there was one more diary. It said Jwala s property. A pen in it. Anala s photo on the cover page. Kashyap could not understand it. But flipped through the pages. Last few pages…

“ Poor Anala. She thinks that it is her who killed the 3 people. She tried her best to save them. To save them from me. But I am Jwala. Anala is nothing compared to me. She was about to prevent Omkar s murder and break my series. But I succeeded. Anala should not live. I am better with out her. Say good by anala….”

Reports said that the finger print on both the pens were that of Anala s. Past medical records said that she suffered a mental disorder. Anala would imagine people getting killed and Jwala killed them in the exact manner. Or Jwala planned to kill people, and as Jwala was part of Anala, she too would get glimpse of the plot…

PS: Anala s death occurred at 6 pm on march 25th