Book Title: 206 Bones: An Inspector Saralkar Mystery
Author: Salil Desai
Publisher: Westland
Number of Pages: 366
ISBN: 978-9371977869
Date Published: Oct. 20, 2025
Price: INR 348
Book Excerpt
Chapter 4
‘Do you think half the murders in this world would have occurred if the killer had paused to think what they were going to do with the body?’ Saralkar asked, cracking his fingers. Motkar had just finished briefing him on his call with Sunit Welde the previous evening and given other updates. ‘Perhaps not, sir, but aren’t most murders spontaneous, heat-of-themoment actions?’ ‘True. Still a considerable number are premeditated,’ Saralkar remarked. ‘Yet, most such murderers only plan to dispose of the person, not their bodies, which is strange. The body and the mess around it are the evidence that often points to the murderer.
Whereas, the cardinal principle of law is corpus delicti—no body means no murder, because there is no evidence to support the claim of murder.’
Motkar looked at him confused. ‘I am not sure I understand the point you are driving at, sir …’
Saralkar cast an annoyed look at him. ‘I am saying that the idea of killing is so powerful and deceptively gratifying to murderers as a solution to their problems that many may summon the motivation to kill. But after they have committed the act, what do most murderers do? They just leave the body where it is and run—or make a clumsy effort to hide or get rid of it! Correct?’
‘That’s right, sir,’ Motkar said, still wondering what Saralkar was leading to.
‘Why is that?’
‘Because they panic or just want to get as far away from it as possible?’
‘Yes! And what is the reason for that? Because they don’t know what to do with the body,’ Saralkar emphasised, like some professor teaching his class. ‘Again, why? Because they have no experience. And second, their mind stops working. Now contrast this with murderers who manage to successfully get rid of the bodies of their victims. Who might such individuals be?’
‘I would say somebody who has killed before or even a serial killer.’
‘Or? Who else?’
Motkar thought carefully. ‘Or individuals who have some experience with human bodies? You know, flesh and blood …’
‘Exactly! Doctors, hospital workers, policemen, defence personnel, firemen, professionals who handle accidents or rescue operations, morgue workers. All kinds of individuals who have to handle dead bodies, flesh and blood, as you put it, as part of their jobs,’ Saralkar remarked.
It finally began to dawn on Motkar what Saralkar was perhaps hinting at. ‘Are you saying, sir, that in the Shanti Villa case, we ought to look for someone with such a background?’ he asked doubtfully.
Saralkar gave a grim chuckle. ‘Whoever managed to keep a dead body hidden in the middle of the city for twenty, maybe thirty or even forty years, in all likelihood, had a good idea of how it could be accomplished, apart from possessing nerve and cold-bloodedness. So, we need to be doubly suspicious of someone with such a background, since we might be dealing with a lot of people once we start digging into the Shanti Villa case.’
Motkar had to concede that it was a good filter.
‘Yes, sir. Niharika Das has given me a list of a few servants and others who worked for her parents in some capacity or the other. She said she’ll add to the list as she recalls some of the older servants, who were employed in the 1980s and ’90s,’ Motkar said. ‘Should we start tracking down the names we already have and summon them for questioning? Or, are we waiting for confirmation on the skeleton being a murder victim, before we officially proceed?’
‘I talked to Forensics this morning, and it’s going to take much longer to get a definitive confirmation on that,’ Saralkar said matter-of-factly.
‘It might have to go to a more advanced lab facility, which has experienced specialists in forensic anthropology to determine sex and age of the person whose skeleton it is, the cause of death, and—most importantly—how long the body has lain buried.’
‘How long before we get the results, sir?’ Motkar asked.
‘A fortnight, maybe even a month,’ Saralkar replied. ‘No point waiting for their conclusions. Let’s go by common sense and assume it’s a suspicious death of person unknown, probably murder, and commence the investigation. I’ll brief the CP.’
‘So, I’ll start with the list of servants that Niharika Das has shared,’ Motkar said. ‘But what should the line of questioning be, sir?’
He had loads of experience in conducting inquiries but in most investigations, Motkar had had some idea and context of what or who exactly they were looking for, or the specifics of what information needed to be teased out of the people he questioned. In this case, however, everything was rather vague, with no reference point to use for setting the compass.
Check out our Latest Book Reviews
Excerpted with permission from 206 Bones: An Inspector Saralkar Mystery, published by Westland.
Get a copy now!
