A Killer In Town...

“Tell me, John, why did you kill him?”

His question turned me silent.

"You have to answer JOHN."

"It all started after that case," said I, while staring at the desk.
                                               
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22nd November 2015

I rushed to the meeting room, where Harish was addressing the entire team. The room's environment appeared tense, but, few of my fellow colleagues did welcome me with a smile.

"Like I was saying," continued Harish, "three naked female bodies;  all badly bruised were found dumped in Hebbal Lake, in 1995. The killer got a nickname- HEBBAL LAKE KILLER. By 1998, the count raised to thirteen dead women, and, eight missing."

"Any arrests or suspects at that time?" asked one cop.

"NONE," said Harish. "He is very smart, as all the bodies recovered were cleaned before discarding.  Till 2001, more than forty dead women cases had queued up on our desks."

"Any evidence, lead or pattern?" asked another cop.

"Only one apart from bruising, " he said while running the victims pictures on the projector. The skin around the thigh area of all victims had been peeled off.

"In 2005, the DNA matching technique was launched in India. We felt we were more advanced in catching him, but the tests neither revealed any clue nor even a single fingerprint on the victim's bodies."

Everyone's face reflected with a baffled expression, which was followed by a low, but unsatisfied murmur, from the cops.

"Then comes the second shock about this case, all the killings stopped in 2006," said Harish.

"That means the killer ran away?" said another.

"We believed yes, as no-one reported any cases related to missing women and dead women bodies for about a year-and-a-half. But last month, four women bodies were found dumped in A.B.M.P garbage burial zone, near Yehalanka, and they seemed to like this," he said while displaying them on the projector screen.

The pictures were of the decayed bodies, but all showed a similar pattern i.e. bruises as well as the peeling around the thigh.

"The wounds and peeling match, and, I feel that there is a possibility that our long-lost killer is back. So we have re-opened the Hebbal Lake Killer case, coz I feel it's been a high time since this sicko is running free on streets. Let's get him."

"YES," all the cops responded in unison.  It seemed as if the room was stuffed with intense electricity after that response.
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