Read Online A Cut-Like Wound by Anita Nair - Free Book Online Page B

hug hisfeet and ankles, so when he stretched his leg and kicked the creature in the corner, he would feel the impact at the back of his skull.
    The impact of all eighty-three kilograms of him slamming into a spot. The crunch of metal against bone. The shredding of skin and laceration of flesh. Kick. Kick. Kick. Till it screamed for mercy.
    Gowda tried hard not to slouch, and allowed his pet fantasy free rein. This time the man in the corner had a face. Assistant Commissioner of Police Vidyaprasad. IPS Cadre.
    Gowda had known a few fine IPS officers in his time. But ACP Vidyaprasad was not someone Gowda could summon any deference for, let alone admiration or respect. The man was a bloody joke. And what added to Gowda’s ire was the thought that this fool was so much younger than him, with not even half the experience Gowda had in the field. And yet the ACP talked down to Gowda as if he were a recalcitrant child who needed to be made to toe the line.
    ‘What’s this I hear about you going to meet the witness in his house?’ the ACP snapped. The senior officer had summoned Gowda to his office for his monthly quota of advice, recrimination and threats.
    ‘Why? Is something wrong with that? I have always seen that a witness is less guarded in his own environment.’
    ‘Sir.’
    ‘What?’ Gowda asked carefully.
    ‘When you talk to me, you need to say sir. Do I have to remind you that I am your senior officer?’
    ‘Oh!’An image swam into Gowda’s mind: the howl of pain from the ACP’s smashed mouth as Gowda’s boots slammed into his ribs once again. It offered a soupcon of comfort that would allow him to mouth the hated ‘sir’. Witha devilish gleam in his eye, Gowda murmured, ‘Sir, if that’s all, sir, may I, sir, leave now, sir?’
    The ACP frowned. Was he being ridiculed? Gowda was a problem. Always had been. The man was a good police officer. If only he would stick to procedures and established police practices. Instead, he made it hard for himself and the department by choosing to do as he saw fit. Surely the man should know by now when he ought to back off.
    The wireless crackled. The ACP cocked an ear. Gowda sighed.
    ‘What about that burns case? Don’t waste too much of the department’s time on that, do you hear me? Close it as quickly as you can. There’s no need to waste the department’s time or money on scum.’ The ACP flicked the case sheet in front of him and peered at the name. ‘You don’t even have a name for him, I see. This lowlife is of no consequence, alive or dead.’
    ‘A man was murdered. Whether he’s a lowlife or not shouldn’t matter,’ Gowda spoke quietly.
    ‘That’s precisely it. He is … no, was lowlife.’
    ‘That’s beside the point.’
    The ACP’s eyes narrowed. ‘You know, as I do, that it’s going to be a C report. We have nothing to take it forward with. Not even a missing person’s complaint. What I am pointing out to you, if you want to know, is the likelihood of the DCP coming down on me. I don’t want to have to answer for your squandering of time and resources. Besides, it’s Ganesh Chaturthi soon. Do you realize that half of Bangalore is going to descend on the lakes near your station house to immerse their Ganeshas?’
    Gowda thought of the giant painted Ganeshas; pink torso-ed, with painted-on gold jewellery and green robes,mounted on a truck and led through the roads with much singing and dancing to the lakes in his station zone. Ganeshas who would dissolve into a heap of mud and carcinogens, killing the fish and polluting the water. For which he was to stand guard and aid the process. Gowda grimaced.
    ‘I want you to concentrate on law and order for that week when the Ganesha immersion begins.’
    ‘It’s almost a month away…’ Gowda murmured.
    ‘Well then, there’s Independence Day coming up … And there’s some information on illegal betting in your jurisdiction area. There’s a great deal you need to do, Gowda.’
    Gowda stared