“I saw him briefly on the drive. He was running away.”
“But you’ve formed the opinion that he’s a vigilante?”
“Yes. We’ve been assuming that it’s some kind of organized crime war going on. But what if we were talking about a personal vendetta? What if this were the family of one of the victims? What he said to Maya suggests someone driven by a desire to do …”
“Good?” said Santosh.
“In his mind at least, yes.”
“Saving Maya was a humane act, but even hit men have a moral code,” said Jack.
“It’s not just that. It’s his interest in the essay, not to mention his MO.”
“You said yourself, the gruesome murders could be a warning,” Santosh reminded her.
Jack cut in. “I gotta say, I’m warming to Nisha’s theory. The Godfather movies get it right: when organized crime cleans house they do it in one fell swoop. Boom, boom, boom. Not one at a time like this, giving the enemy time to regroup and prepare. You said yourself, Santosh, that Thakkar’s increased his security.”
“So have Jaswal and Chopra,” said Neel. “Whatever our killer’s motives, he has the great and the good of Delhi in a spin.”
“It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch,” said Nisha tartly, earning a penetrating look from Santosh.
“There are armed guards in this very hospital, too,” noted Jack. “No doubt here to look after Dr. Arora. They’ve all got them. Nisha’s right, Santosh, this is a rogue agent we’re dealing with here.”
“Then the motive is revenge, and we must work out who is the killer’s next victim,” said Santosh.
“In the meantime, I’m not comfortable leaving you here,” said Jack. “It seems we’re investigating on two fronts now: a vengeful serial killer and an organ-harvesting operation—and they’re as defensive as each other. Someone tipped off Ibrahim about you. What’s to stop them having another go?”
“I’ll be on my guard, Jack,” said Santosh. “But for the time being here is where I want to be. What are your plans?”
Jack pushed his hands into his jeans pockets and stood thinking for a moment, chewing his lip. “I think it’s about time I had a word with our friend Mohan Jaswal.”
The Private team went to leave but Santosh called Nisha back. She hung by the door, unwilling to meet his eye.
“It’s not just Maya who went through an ordeal the other day, is it?” said Santosh, pulling himself up in bed a little.
“You almost lost your life.”
“That’s not what I mean, and I think you know it.”
“She’s alive and unharmed, that’s the important thing. If only I could say the same for Heena.”
“For Maya things could have been much worse.”
Anger flashed across her face. “You don’t say.”
But Santosh plowed on. “Things could have been worse if not for the intervention of the killer. I can’t be the only one who feels that if this killer is targeting the men behind an organ-harvesting scheme, and if he’s killing the likes of Amit Roy, then maybe he’s doing the world a favor.”
And now she was rolling her eyes. “Oh God, not you as well. I got this from Sharma. He went as far as to insinuate that the killer and I were in league together.”
“You’re an excellent shot, Nisha.”
“It was dark. What if I’d killed him? What if I’d killed him and he turned out not to be the killer but a burglar who was in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
“We have to stop him, Nisha. The fact that he saved Maya cannot have a bearing on that.”
“I know,” she said tightly. “Can I go now, please, and get on with the business of trying to catch him?”
“Just as long as you are,” he said.