five-feet-eleven frame that was terminally unbowed. Like some other cynics in the Mumbai Police, even he wasn't pleased when DCP Rita Ferreira had taken charge of the crime squad, but he had put his ego on the shelf, and now, having worked with her, he was a loyalist too.
It was time to get to work.
Rita narrated briefly her meeting with Sexy, emphasising how important the case was and spent the best part of an hour briefing the three.
'Don't risk writing off the intelligence of the perpetrators. They're clever, they're smart, and they think on their feet. They have the ability to optimise their plans as they go along if the circumstances change. Remember they were there only to steal the diamonds but improvised and ended up killing the subject because the situation demanded it. This is a homicide investigation and everything is important until proved otherwise. Capture everything, every minute detail and run it by your colleagues before you discard it. If you need anything — back up, vehicle, technical support, or just cooperation with other departments you can call me anytime twenty-four/seven.'
Nods.
So much for the pep talk, it was time to assign responsibilities.
'Here's my plan: we look into Jogani. We begin with his residence and the office — what happened to the entire domestic and business set-ups when he didn't return? I want to know everything about Ron Jogani: age, place of birth, school, colleges, friends, medical history, financial status, bank accounts, properties, anything and everything. We need to comb through everything. At this stage, we simply don't know what won't add up and we'll keep digging till we find something.'
'What about his ex-wife?'
'We need to check her background thoroughly too. Although everything indicates that she has nothing to do with Jogani, we need to clear her. Her mobile number is on the file as the Belgian Police had contacted her, she shouldn't be difficult to track down.' Rita pointed towards the photograph of the alleged murderer on the wall. 'We need to find this guy — Sishir Singh, obviously not his real name, but we need to work with the informers. Someone has to know him.' She turned to Nene. 'I can leave you to talk to the informers...'
'Yes ma'am. No dearth of them, leave that to me. I know a lot of them, I'll ask around.' Nene was ready for action.
'Good. Let's divide the tasks then. We should split into two teams. Jatin, you come with me. Vikram, you partner with Nene, both of you take charge of the snitch network. We have to find Sishir Singh.' Rita knew from experience that neither of the two Senior Inspectors required any supervision.
The pairing seemed agreeable to all.
'If he is in Mumbai, consider him found, ma'am.'
It was fortunate to have a loyal team, but it was even luckier to have a confident one. Rita thanked her stars.
'We move to Jogani's house, you guys carry on and brief all those you think can help identifying Sishir Singh. We keep in touch, and if there isn't any emergency we meet back in the office tomorrow morning. Any questions?'
None.
'Watch your backs, guys.'
***
Rita and Jatin came out of the office building. Rita asked her driver to go home. She told him not to switch off his mobile in case she needed him later though.
'Keys, ma'am?' Jatin requested, his hand stretched out to receive the car keys.
'I'll drive.'
Rita drove calmly. They turned left on Lokmanya Tilak Marg and waited for the traffic lights to turn right on to Ramabai Ambedkar Marg. Mumbai had the quintessential distinction of twenty-four-hour rush hour traffic. A river of vehicles of every size and shape and colour and brand, on two, three and four wheels stopped and moved at various speeds. Driving was by pure instinct. Everyone had a gut feeling for who to let pass, who to rush ahead of. Horns blaring, music streaming out of open windows, smoke and pollution further begriming Mother Nature. As they idled at the junction they heard a thundering motorcycle
It was time to get to work.
Rita narrated briefly her meeting with Sexy, emphasising how important the case was and spent the best part of an hour briefing the three.
'Don't risk writing off the intelligence of the perpetrators. They're clever, they're smart, and they think on their feet. They have the ability to optimise their plans as they go along if the circumstances change. Remember they were there only to steal the diamonds but improvised and ended up killing the subject because the situation demanded it. This is a homicide investigation and everything is important until proved otherwise. Capture everything, every minute detail and run it by your colleagues before you discard it. If you need anything — back up, vehicle, technical support, or just cooperation with other departments you can call me anytime twenty-four/seven.'
Nods.
So much for the pep talk, it was time to assign responsibilities.
'Here's my plan: we look into Jogani. We begin with his residence and the office — what happened to the entire domestic and business set-ups when he didn't return? I want to know everything about Ron Jogani: age, place of birth, school, colleges, friends, medical history, financial status, bank accounts, properties, anything and everything. We need to comb through everything. At this stage, we simply don't know what won't add up and we'll keep digging till we find something.'
'What about his ex-wife?'
'We need to check her background thoroughly too. Although everything indicates that she has nothing to do with Jogani, we need to clear her. Her mobile number is on the file as the Belgian Police had contacted her, she shouldn't be difficult to track down.' Rita pointed towards the photograph of the alleged murderer on the wall. 'We need to find this guy — Sishir Singh, obviously not his real name, but we need to work with the informers. Someone has to know him.' She turned to Nene. 'I can leave you to talk to the informers...'
'Yes ma'am. No dearth of them, leave that to me. I know a lot of them, I'll ask around.' Nene was ready for action.
'Good. Let's divide the tasks then. We should split into two teams. Jatin, you come with me. Vikram, you partner with Nene, both of you take charge of the snitch network. We have to find Sishir Singh.' Rita knew from experience that neither of the two Senior Inspectors required any supervision.
The pairing seemed agreeable to all.
'If he is in Mumbai, consider him found, ma'am.'
It was fortunate to have a loyal team, but it was even luckier to have a confident one. Rita thanked her stars.
'We move to Jogani's house, you guys carry on and brief all those you think can help identifying Sishir Singh. We keep in touch, and if there isn't any emergency we meet back in the office tomorrow morning. Any questions?'
None.
'Watch your backs, guys.'
***
Rita and Jatin came out of the office building. Rita asked her driver to go home. She told him not to switch off his mobile in case she needed him later though.
'Keys, ma'am?' Jatin requested, his hand stretched out to receive the car keys.
'I'll drive.'
Rita drove calmly. They turned left on Lokmanya Tilak Marg and waited for the traffic lights to turn right on to Ramabai Ambedkar Marg. Mumbai had the quintessential distinction of twenty-four-hour rush hour traffic. A river of vehicles of every size and shape and colour and brand, on two, three and four wheels stopped and moved at various speeds. Driving was by pure instinct. Everyone had a gut feeling for who to let pass, who to rush ahead of. Horns blaring, music streaming out of open windows, smoke and pollution further begriming Mother Nature. As they idled at the junction they heard a thundering motorcycle
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