A soft board which used to stay empty and dusty was uncovered once again and pinned with details, maps, clues and what not. Vinay Desai

stood there, sleeves folded and hands in his trouser pocket as he thought of the possibilities of his case. He was this close to figuring out and tracing the serial killer. He had travelled from Chembur to Andheri jotting down every detail, every clue and every encrypted message. Not one but three murders; Vinay had that hunger to unravel the truth.

He paced up and down his hallway scratching his hair and muttering to himself, "Temples and graves. He chose some sacred places."

He hurried back to his room and studied the soft board for a little while longer; took out Vedic book of Devi Mahatmya. Vinay was an agnostic-he didn't believe in divine & supernatural powers and those theories yet he respected others views. He flipped through the pages and stopped, staring in disbelief. "There will be a fourth murder." he shouted.

A FOURTH MURDER; this would have freaked out anyone but Vinay Desai was so bent on solving this case that he just continued with his research. He narrowed down the list and connected 3 places on the map of Mumbai where he thought the murder would happen. He picked up some files, pen in his shirt pocket and car keys as he stormed to parking, "Let's get our team on these spots, Shakti. See, Jagjeet leads team A

to Mumba Devi, Sanjeev leads team B to Kabristaan on Marine lines and you come with me with team C near Mahalaxmi." Vinay panted.

Shakti Sanmukh, the most experienced and clever lady officer in the team and Vinay's subordinate. Shakti was a very dedicated and was intolerable towards any unjust activities.

She sat quietly listening to Vinay and jotting down details. "The three murders were of rich brats and politicians connected to sinful and

illegal activities like money laundering, drug dealing, child trafficking and so on. However reputed they were but we know the background details; nothing to hide here. The evidences found near the victims' bodies were symbolic- a scimitar, a sword and Mr. Sharma's body was

retrieved far from his head. According to our Hindu mythology, Maa Kali is a symbol of protection against any unjust done; so these all symbols are the weapons in her hand. The serial killer is using a mythological excuse-"

"Your point being?"

"The Trishul, Shakti, the Trishul is the last weapon; another man will die if not helped in time. And if I am right, the only person I can see as

the next victim is infamous Bhairav Daruk. I have already set two of my colleagues to follow him"

There was silence as all the pieces started to join now, everything was arranged and the team was about to trap the killer & crack the mystery of the murders.

They reached Mahalaxmi temple but it was the ninth and last day of Navaratri and there was a complete rush and huge crowds at the temple as smoke of havan rose in the air and people enjoyed the prosperous festival dancing and jumping around; which delayed Vinay and his team as they decided to separate the team in two and reach the extreme corners; Shakti and half the team on one corner and Vinay's team on the other.

But something unexpected occurred, the woman was already at Mahalaxmi temple with the Trishul on Bhairav's neck, Vinay and his team had guns at ready as Vinay warned the lady, "Drop your weapon, you are surrounded."

She was totally covered in black paint on her face and wore a somewhat dhoti like costume but it appeared she had worn it hastily just to give a look of a devi.

Without even giving heed to his words she thrashed Bhairav's body on the ground pointing the Trishul at Bhairav.

"This is your last warning before we fire."

She stabbed Bhairav mercilessly portraying the perfect picture of Devi killing a monster. Desai fired at that very moment. It was unclear due to the smoke on Navratri but he could see her limping as he tried following her but she disappeared amongst the huge crowd. He returned back disappointed just to see that Bhairav was dead. He returned back home frustrated and dissatisfied. The very next day Vinay received an anonymous note with four files which displayed the records of all the illegal activities of the four victims with proper evidence. The note said,

On this auspicious day of Vijaya Dashami-Justice prevails.

Shakti.

How could he miss such a major detail? He joined all the missing pieces of the story. It was like Shakti's conversations with him were running through his mind all at once and it was vividly clear how and when everything was planned and executed. In fact even after knowing the truth, Vinay was now helpless.