Death is never a punishment. It is actually a reliever from all our pain, sorrow, tragedy and misery. The crime that was done was much more horrible than death. It was one of the most dangerous crimes ever committed.

I was sitting in my house reading the newspaper when my mobile rang. It was from the police station, and the officer had asked me to come down there as soon as possible.

I am no stranger to crime or death but every time I solve a crime, I learn something new. Actually, I am not interested in the crime or the criminal, but I am interested in the motive of the crime. It actually helps me to understand the criminal psychology.

When I went to the police station and asked him about the case, the officer didn’t answer me straight. He said, “This is one of the most dangerous crimes that I have ever seen in my fifteen years of service” and handed me the case report.

When I read the case report, I was in awe for a few moments. The victim was a boy of 23 years named Aryan Kumar Sharma. The victim was at first made unconscious and was then tied to a chair in his own house. After that the attacker cut his hands and legs, poured boiling water into Aryan’s ears to make him deaf, cut out his tongue and took both his eyes out. The attacker was careful enough not to kill Aryan but to give him utmost pain and torture.

Though Aryan had seen his attacker, he could in no manner communicate the matter to anyone. From the brutality of the crime, it was clear that the main purpose of the attacker was to give Aryan a lifetime of pain and torture.

The report also stated that the matter came into limelight when one of his friends naming Deb came to his home to pick him up for a movie.

I, however putting down the report, asked the police officer, “Did you interrogate this Deb properly? Did you confirm that he was speaking the truth?”

“I think so” said the police officer scratching his nose, “He showed me the tickets that he purchased to watch the movie with Aryan.”

“How many tickets?” I asked him.

“Four. Two for them and two for their girlfriends” answered the police officer.

“Did you talk with the girls? I asked him.

“Yes. I did. In fact, from Aryan’s girlfriend Ananya, I came across a very important thing” said the police officer. I wrinkled my forehead and therefore he continued, “Aryan was writing some book and next month it was scheduled to be published.”

“Are you saying that this brutal attack has got something to do with his book?” I asked.

“I bet there is” he said by slapping on the table and said, “May be there is somebody who doesn’t want this book to get published.”

I gave a small thought and said, “Even if I accept your proposition, then also one question remains unanswered. Why the brutality? That ‘somebody’ could have just killed him. Why would someone torture him so badly and give him a punishment of lifetime?”

The police officer hadn’t thought of that. He remained silent for a moment and then said, “So, what do you think? This...