The man was leaning against a wall near the apartment reading a newspaper. He could see the entry gate and the watchman clearly from this position. He melted into the scene perfectly. When he had to look like a loafer, he could look like one. It is not easy to stand on the pavement and not look conspicuous, but he could do it by the hour. He made a call from his cell. ‘Did you deliver the discounted items?’
The answer was in the affirmative. He cut the call. The old security guard, who had been snoozing in the shade, got up and went inside. From his observations for the past two days, the man knew that he will not come back to the gate for next 5 minutes.
He entered the gate and rapidly went up the stairs to the first floor. A pretty young lady in her twenties opened the door. She said, ‘Yes – how can I help you?’
‘Hi Padma – remember me?’ the man said ironically . He knew she was alone in the house.
‘Oh.. its you… how did you find my address.’ She did not seem very happy to see him.
‘Never mind about that – won’t you invite me in?’
‘Yes – of course – come in,’ she said, a little nervously.
‘It’s hot – can I have a glass of water?’
Asking the man to seat on the sofa of the tiny drawing room, Padma turned to go to get the water. The man took out a small iron rod from the backpack he had been carrying and hit her on the head. Padma fell down. The man bent down to check. He found that she was still breathing. He took a chord from his bag pack and strangled her giggling softly to himself. This was the part he enjoyed the most.
After ensuring that she was dead, he carefully wiped all fingerprints, removed the chord and the iron rod and put them back into his bag. Next he took out a pair of gloves and wearing them went to the bedroom and took out a few pieces of gold jewellery and Rs1000 cash that was there in the cupboard. He glanced around and then finding nothing more of value, went back to the drawing room.
He took out a camera and took some pictures, ensuring the drawing room was clearly recognizable. Then he went out of the apartment softly closing the door behind him. As the door had a Yale lock it would automatically get locked.
He peeped through the stair case. The security guard had gone again. He unhurriedly went down the stairs and exited through the gate. He was pleased to note that there had been no witnesses. The entire operation had taken less than twenty minutes to complete. He smiled to himself – a self-satisfied gloating smile. He mentally ticked off one name off his list.