Deadly Incidents - 5

Read part 4 - here

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Khar greeted Pavil with an invisible smile which Pavil knew lingered behind the large man’s nonchalant aspect of someone who couldn’t care less about people dropping in unannounced.

Time seemed to have stood still on his once associate and if anything he looked sturdier than before and it only seemed that way if one actually bothered to focus on him, because Khar had the uncanny ability to pass unnoticed when he wanted. 

It was something of a psychological play Pavil deduced and that Khar was somehow always situationally aware and kept himself alerted to every locus in his surrounding, however right now was not the case. 

He looked relaxed in a way he didn’t much care and looked almost happy to see Pavil.

‘I see you have put on weight’ Khar said good humouredly.

‘It’s just the puffiness from the hangover.’

Khar studied him for a moment and let his eyes rest on the thick envelope Pavil carried.  ‘You haven’t come all the way to my house for tea, have you?’

‘I have’ Pavil smiled and Khar with him.

‘How’s your vacation coming along?’ 

‘It’s fine if boring.’

It had been a few months since Khar’s transfer from probing too much in an important dignitaries case who was guilty of murder but placed so high in system’s hierarchy that reaching him without setting fire to the entire pecking order seemed near impossible, as a result of which the most efficient detective from Central Bureau of Investigation was relegated to a desk job which though important couldn’t hold his attention and a fuming Khar got himself an official leave for a month citing ill health.

‘What have you been up to during this self-imposed holiday?’ Pavil jokingly asked.

‘Pursuing hobbies.’ Khar gravely replied.

Pavil looked around the house for any hint of Khar’s ongoing hobbies but there weren’t too many clues in regards to it. It was a spacious house with a similar aura that surrounded its inhabitant, that of being easily overlooked or tremendously appreciated.

‘I’ve needed this’ Pavil spoke after a few devoted sips of hot tea which he remembered as the only thing he once looked forward to each morning for several weeks.

‘Bonsai’ Khar slowly spoke as a way of adding to his answer.

‘Ah, oh.’ Pavil kept himself from surprisedly exclaiming. ‘Uh..how is it going?’ 

‘Not good. They all died.’

Pavil nodded with understanding. ‘Tends to happen with plants. Mine die all the time.’ 

‘Are you going to stay here for dinner?’ Khar frowned.

Pavil slyly smiled ‘Only if you want’ and pushed the thick envelope of photographs towards Khar and succinctly narrated the entire cycle of events. 

Khar’s inexpressive eyes consumed the bundle of photographs. ‘What do you want me to do about it?’ 

‘Just another fun hobby’ Pavil replied pouring himself another cup pf tea

‘It’s as straightforward or entirely convoluted. Looks exactly what it’s supposed to look like, or meant to be, and that’s what makes it look..uh..’

‘Simulated?’ Khar asked.

‘Yes. That’s it. It’s simulated. So perfectly clean and apparent.’ 

‘Hmm’ 

‘I mean I could be wrong too. Maybe I’m looking too much into it.’

‘What do we know about the dead woman?’ 

‘Well, she was a relatively well-known makeup artist’ Pavil replied flipping the pages of his small notebook ‘and did contractual work for various television serials, shoots etc. I guess she liked working out seeing how she never missed going to the gym and had a good life.’ 

‘Perhaps that explains it’ Khar spoke matter of factly.

‘explains what?’ 

‘This’ he pointed at her face in the photograph.

‘I still don’t see it Khar.’

Khar made a perceptible disappointed face ‘she is wearing makeup.’ 

Pavil’s eyes widened to near popping. ‘I didn’t see it. I mean I did but I didn’t notice it, to be more accurate.’ 

Khar snorted as a way of relaying it wasn’t news. 

‘But this is odd’ Pavil stared at the photograph. ‘Ever heard of anyone going to the gym wearing makeup?’

‘Maybe she didn’t.  Could be she wore it after coming from the gym.’ Khar shrugged 

‘But this is a bit odd, isn’t it?’

‘what is?’

‘That she’d wear makeup right back from the gym before a shower.’

Khar pursed his lips. ‘I could say little about this.’

Pavil peered through his magnifying glass into the photograph. ‘Oh dear god of small details. Khar what colour would you say her lips are in this picture?’

Khar stared at Pavil indifferently. ‘I don’t know. Pink I guess.’

‘Would you say this colour is similar to the one on her lips?’ Pavil produced the golden lipstick bullet and flung it at the big man.

‘Perhaps, why?’

‘Because I found it on the floor, uncapped. I’d say she was in the process of wearing this lipstick when..’

‘when she slipped and fell?’ Khar smilingly asked.

Pavil’s knit his brows. ‘Maybe she did lose her balance and fall, in which case she’d have to be somewhere here ’ he pointed at the area between the shower and the granite platform. ‘and there’s no mirror here. Am I looking too much into it?’

‘What do we know about the husband?’ 

‘That he was out of station for nearly a week and had come back that very day. That he was a technical analyst and often went on tours.’

‘Apart from that?’ Khar inquired. ‘You’ve met him. What did you think?’

‘I’d say he was a well-balanced man with an intelligent head on his shoulders. He seemed nice..’

‘Okay, enough.’ Khar interrupted. ‘You’re immediately drawn to suspects, aren’t you?’

Pavil flustered. ‘He’s not a suspect yet. There isn’t any proof and his alibi is strong. I think the DNA analysis of those hair strands might point us in some direction.’ 

‘It’s going to be useless. They’re probably her husband’s. You live with a person, chances are you’re wearing their shedding without even knowing it.’ Khar said.

‘Maybe they belong to the Hercules.’ Pavil smiled. 

‘That still won’t prove anything, moreover, we don’t know at this point who the Hercules is or even if he is. Best chances are’ Khar spoke tonelessly ‘we wait for the autopsy reports, see what it has to say and talk to the old man and know some more. Maybe you can have another chat with the neighbours and probe regarding the mysterious man if there is any. Also, did you find her phone?’

‘No phones found on the body or in that area, now that I think of it. Probably still in her house if it hasn’t already been taken, or disappeared.’ Pavil frowned.