“Describe everything you have observed since the morning. Including the details.”
Rajiv paused for a while at the absurd request, but Inspector Sharma was used to this standard procedure of the Investigators. It helped them evaluate the mental state of the witness.
Rajiv described his day and Dharmesh heard him with rapt attention. The Inspector was inclined to think that it was a waste of time.
“You said that you waited for a long time for the lift, was it stationed on the roof?”
“No, the roof cannot be accessed by the lift. You have to take the stairs from the sixth floor.”
“So, the lift was at the top floor then?”
“Most probably.”
“Is that odd, for the lift to be on the top floor?”
“Yes, because nobody ever goes to the roof, and the top few floors are vacant.”
“Did you see anyone else exit or enter the lift?”
“I have been covering the stairs and the lift since the incident, and I did not see anybody enter or exit the building.”
“So the lift should still be on the ground floor?”
“Yes.”
Dharmesh approached the lift and pressed the up button. Instead of hearing the gates ring open, he heard the sound of the lift mechanism, which suggested that the lift was not on the ground floor. The gates ringed open after a long wait.
Rajiv looked puzzled. “That means that somebody summoned the lift to the top floor after the man died.”
Dharmesh took in the new information and then said, “It implies that the dying man was not alone in the last moments of his life.”
Inspector Sharma scratched his head. “It means that it isn’t a simple suicide case?”
Dharmesh stepped inside the lift and pressed the number 6.
“Hop in. We are going to investigate the terrace.”
Sheer curiosity made Rajiv jump inside the lift. Minutes ago, he was confident that he had witnessed a suicide, but he now agreed with Dharmesh that something more had occurred there than a simple suicide. He was also sure that the dying man had company. Why would anyone climb down a fleet of stairs, summon the lift and then race back to the top floor, and then fling himself off the roof?
Dharmesh turned to Rajiv. “What movie had you planned to watch in the night?”
Rajiv was stunned for a few seconds. Finally he replied, “Terminal Velocity.”
“What a coincidence!”
“Why?”
Dharmesh just smiled. He was about to say something when the doors ringed open.
Dharmesh was the first to step outside the elevator.
“Don’t touch this lift summoning button, it has fingerprints.”
The three of them climbed the flight of stairs and landed on the terrace.
“Dusty.” The Inspector observed.
Dharmesh made his way towards the edge of the roof.
“Bingo.” He saw clear hand prints on the edge of the roof. It was clear that the man was pushed, and he had made a desperate grab for the ledge, but failed.
Inspector Sharma saw the marks, and the story became clear to him. After a full minute, he commented, “It is good but I still find it hard to believe that it is not a suicide. After all, he text messaged his family.”
Dharmesh pointed at a small rectangular patch in the dust.
“This is where the mobile was lying. It clearly indicates that the victim and the killer were standing here. The killer picked up the phone and then messaged the ‘suicide note’ and then pushed the man. After some time the mobile was dropped.”
Rajiv intervened. “Ha! I knew your Mort shit was irrational.”
Dharmesh shrugged. “You helped me a lot too. When you mentioned Terminal Velocity, it reminded me the elementary laws of fluids. A mobile should fall first to the ground, not a human being.”
Rajiv nodded his head in agreement. He was familiar with the Stoke’s Law. Terminal velocity is inversely proportional to the surface area.
Inspector Sharma finally announced. “This is now a murder case.”
Dharmesh added, “And the killer is down there.” He gestured to the small crowd that was being controlled by an eager-to-be-back-home constable.
Rajiv and Inspector agreed. The victim could be comfortable standing near the edge of the terrace at 9:15 in the morning with a few people only. Most, if not all of them, were down there.
“I think we can catch the victim without a direct assault. This family can’t survive two attacks in a day.”
The Inspector agreed with Dharmesh. A direct assault like questioning family members and taking finger-prints could shatter some innocent minds.
“What do you suppose we do then?”
