X: The Hunt Begins Page 12

  There was a long pause. Sikander looked up from the ledger to stare at his visitor. “What?”

  “He's not real. There's a man that only I can see, and I'm afraid he's going to kill me.”

  Sikander stared at him helplessly. He was finding himself unequal to the situation at hand.

  “Is this man a stranger in town? Are you saying no one else knows him but you?”

  “He's not real. He's a man I created in my head. But now he's come out into the real world and he wants to do me harm.”

  There were three options available to the constable. He could kick the man out for wasting the police's time. He could direct him to the madhouse.

  Or he could call the one man who had a hope of making sense of the visitor's ramblings.

  * * *

  “I don't really know where to begin.”

  “Start with why you think you're in danger.” Aditya said patiently.

  “It's because of a man only I can see...”

  “Let's have some details.” Virat said. “When did you first see this man?”

  “When I was a child.” Aamir said. “Eleven years old, I think. It started with some glimpses here and there. But then I started seeing him everywhere. A tall man dressed in a grey shawl. Just standing in the distance, watching me. He began appearing in my dreams. I was afraid to go out of the house, and I stopped going to school. Then he started appearing in my room. I finally couldn't take it and started screaming and shouting at him. I was later told I'd had a nervous breakdown.”

  “My parents took me to a psychiatrist. He made me take various tests. Asked me to describe the man I was seeing, draw pictures of him, things like that. Asked me whether I'd ever talked to him, or whether I was stressed or tired when I saw him. He diagnosed me with visual hallucinations brought about from a brain lesion I'd sustained from an accident and prescribed me a course of drugs.”

  “Do you still take your medication?” Aditya asked.

  “Yes, I've been taking it regularly ever since I started seeing the man again.” Aamir fumbled in his pocket for a second, and drew out a prescription.

  Aditya scanned the list of medicines. They were powerful drugs. Very strong medicine to prescribe to a child.

  “I started seeing him again in september.” Aamir continued. “I remember because I'd just come back from a friend's birthday. My fiance was asleep, and I was getting ready to turn in, too.”

  “That was when I saw him. Standing outside my house, under a tree. A bearded man with a large grey shawl wrapped about him. He looked exactly the same as he had done since I saw him as a child. I woke my fiance to show her the apparition, but by the time we got to the window, he'd vanished.” For a long moment Aamir sat staring down at his hands. Aditya allowed him the time needed to pull himself together.

  “I tried to tell myself I'd made a mistake.” Aamir resumed. “That I was tired and not thinking straight. But ever since then, I've seen the appartion again at intervals. The last time I saw him was last night in my bedroom when he...” Aamir shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “He tried to kill me. And very nearly succeeded.”

  Aamir appeared to have finished his story and a silence fell in the room. Virat was keeping his expression nuetral as Aditya placed the prescription paper on the table.

  “That's a very interesting story.” He said at last. “But I'm afraid you're telling It to the wrong people.”

  “You don't believe me?” Aamir asked. He stared up at Aditya with a mixture of anger and disappointment. “They told me you are a psychologist.”

  “I'm a criminal psychologist.” Aditya nodded. “And I can well believe you have been suffering from visual hallucinations. But curative therapy isn't what I do. It isn't what I'm trained for. What you need is a psychiatrist. I'd be happy to recommend you some institutions that could help you.”

  “I came here because I need protection.” Aamir's voice rose. “The grey man wants to do me actual physical harm this time around, and my problem isn't something that will go away if I take enough pills!”

  “This is a police station, Aamir.” Aditya said, keeping his voice even. “We investigate crimes. Your hallucination can't hurt you on it's own. The real problem is the medical condition that is causing it. And to fix that, you need medicines and a therapist.”

  Slowly, the look of anger faded from Aamir's eyes, to be replaced by a certain helpless resignation. “I understand your skepticism, Officer.” He said slowly. “I am aware of how fantastic my story must seem to an outsider. I'd just like to ask you one thing. If it's all in my head,” He reached up and undid the scarf. On his neck, red and inflamed and clearly visible in the light, were fingerprints. “Where did these come from?”

  * * *

  Aamir led Aditya and Virat up the drive of his house. It was a large bungalow with a well kept garden in the front and two cars parked inside. Walking up the path next to the garden, Aamir reached the huge mahagony front door and knocked.

  A petite woman with large black eyes and dark curly tresses flying about her face opened the door. Her bloodred lips parted in surprise when she saw Aamir's companions.

  “What's going on?” She asked Aamir uncertainly, her eyes swivelling to Aditya and then Virat.

  “I brought friends over for lunch.” Aamir said with a studied airiness that rang hollow. “These are inspectors Aditya Matthews and Virat Joshi.”

  “Pleased to meet you.” The woman extended a hand politely even as the wariness in her expression increased.

  “We don't intend to intrude on your time for too long.” Aditya put in. “I just have a few questions I want to ask and then we'll be on our way.”

  “Questions about what?” Saira asked slowly.

  “I told him, Sai.” Aamir said in a low voice. “I told them about the grey man.”

  “Oh, Aamir!” Saira looked distressed. She laid a hand on his shoulder and steered him into the house. Aditya and Virat followed them in. “You said you'd discuss the problem with Saleem bhai first.”

  “I'll do that, too.” Aamir said doggedly, avoiding her gaze. “But after last night I felt we needed professsional assistance. I had to show them the handprints before they disappeared, otherwise they wouldn't have believed me.”

  “Did you go to the police station wearing my scarf?” Saira asked with a raised brow.

  Aamir gave a slightly embarrased laugh, quickly unwrapping the cloth around his neck. “Sorry, I was in a hurry and this was the only thing I could find.”

  “Please have a seat.” Saira directed Aditya and Virat to the large and tastefully decorated living room, filled with knick knacks and curios from around the world. “And thank you for coming. I just wish Aamir discussed these things with me before charging into action.” She gave her fiance an exasperated look. But the severity of her expression had lessened and Aamir grinned back at her.

  “Aamir told us his account of last night.” Virat said. “Is there anything you would like to add to it?”

  “What did Aamir say?” Saira asked with a frown.

  “I told them about the Grey Man attacking me.” Aamir spoke up.

  “Did you see this... Grey Man?” Aditya asked Saira.

  She shook her head. “No.” A slight strain seemed to appear on her face. “I'm a deep sleeper. I didn't know Aamir was being... attacked... until his foot hit me.

  “And then he finally let go of my neck.” Aamir said eagerly. “I was able to shout out loud. Saira woke up, but she didn't see the man. He just stood there, watching me.

  “Aamir was gasping and struggling to breathe.” Saira said in a low voice. “He kept pointing to his side of the bed. But there was no one there. Aamir was acting like he was in a delirium, so I dragged him out of the room into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. When I turned on the lights in the bathroom I saw the marks on his neck.” A shudder ran through Saira and she reached out to hold Aamir's hand again.

  “You see?” Aamir said, turning to look pleadingly at Aditya.
“I wouldn't have come to you If there hadn't been actual danger to my life.”

  “But Aamir, what can they do?” Saira broke in. “He's a policeman, not a doctor. How can he stop you seeing the grey man?”

  “He's not just a policeman.” Aamir said stubbornly. “Officer Matthews is a psychologist as well. He's exactly the right person to help me with this.” He gazed at Aditya hopefully, and Saira's eyes were now turned to him as well.

  “As of now, there really isn't much I can do.” Aditya admitted slowly. “I don't know enough about the case to suggest a solution.”

  “You should talk to my brother Saleem.” Aamir said, leaning forward eagerly. “He's coming by tomorrow to check up on me and make a plan moving forward after last night. I'd be so grateful to have you here as well.”

  “That sounds good.” Aditya said, rising to his feet. Virat rose as well. “I'll come by tomorrow to talk about the case more deeply, and we can decide what to do about the grey man.”

  Aamir jumped up and grabbed Aditya's hand warmly. “I'm so grateful to you for taking the situation seriously. I'll sleep better tonight after having talked to you.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Aditya smiled. “Just try to keep your mind relaxed when you sleep tonight. We'll sort this business out tomorrow.”

  “I'll show the Officers out.” Saira said. “You get started on that soup. And don't you dare pour any of it into the flower pot this time.”

  Aditya and Virat followed Saira out of the room. On the steps outside, Saira stopped and turned.

  “I'm sorry you had to come here.” Saira said to them quietly. “I'm sure this is not at all the kind of work you're used to.”

  “You have to be prepared for everything in this line of work.” Virat said.

  “Aamir is a complicated man.” Saira sighed. “He is very intelligent. But that intelligence has made him extremely naive. He doesn't really understand the world us ordinary mortals live in. He's always off in his own head. Now, I'm afraid his imaginary world and the real world have started to mix in his mind. I'm hoping a good psychiatrist will be able to help.”

  “The marks on his neck didn't seem like they were imaginary.” Virat observed. A deeply troubled look appeared on Saira's face.

  “That's what I wanted to discuss with Saleem Bhai tomorrow.” She said quietly. “I was sleeping next to him when that happened. It was after that night that I knew we needed professional help.” The worry on Saira's face deepened. “Inspector, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I lied to you earlier about what I saw last night.”

  Aditya had suspected as much. “What did you really see?” He asked, watching her expression closely. Saira gazed down at the ground for a long moment before looking up to meet his gaze.

  “Aamir had his hands around his own neck. He was trying to throttle himself.”

  * * *

  The next day, Aditya and Virat went together to Aamir's house. They found an older, more heavily built man with features similar to Aamir sitting in the drawing room and was introduced to him by Saira as Saleem, Aamir's older brother. Saira also informed them that Aamir had had another hallucination of the grey man and had retired early to bed to deal with the shock.

  “Thank you for coming, inspectors.” Saleem said in a deep voice, shaking their hands. “Aamir told me Officer Matthews is a psychologist. I'm sure he'll be able to appreciate our problem. Although I need hardly tell you there is a world of difference between psychopathy and psychiatry. A difference that the common man on the road would be unable to appreciate. It is the prychiatrist that we need in this case.”

  “I quite understand that.” Aditya nodded. “But Aamir came to us with a complaint, and we're duty bound to intvestigate the case.”

  “Of course, I understand.” Saleem nodded. “But our problem requires therapy, not an investigation. My brother has also already undertaken one instance of self harm, and he will probably do so again unless preventive measures are taken.”

  “Aamir doesn't look like he has the strength to hurt himself so badly.” Virat pointed out. But Aditya was silent. From the moment that Aamir had revealed his injury at the police station he had considered the possibilty that the injury was self inflicted. People in the grip of hallucinations were capable of great feats of strength, often causing severe harm to their surroundings and to themselves.

  “How exactly do you intend to help Aamir?” Aditya asked Saleem.

  “We've spoken to Dr. Sahitya Ghosh.” Saleem said. “He's one of the foremost authorities on the human brain in the world at the moment.”

  “I've heard of him.” Aditya nodded. “He lives in Canada, I think.”

  “He does, but he's an old family friend. He was the one who treated Aamir the first time he saw the grey man. We've arranged to fly him over and stay with us for a few days while he observes Aamir. He had to postphone his visit to attend a conference, but he'll be here in a fortnight. Until then all we can do is make sure Aamir doesn't hurt himself again. That's why we've tried to keep him in his bedroom where there are no weapons he can get his hands on. Once Dr. Ghosh arrives we can let him decide the best course of action to treat the condition.” He gazed enquiringly at Aditya. “Can you think of any palliative measures for Aamir's health until the doctor arrives?”

  “Maybe I can suggest a few things, but first I'll need more information.” Aditya said.“Exactly how old was he when he saw the apparition first?”

  “He didn't tell you why he started having hallucinations in the first place, then?”

  “He mentioned an accident.” Aditya gave a slight shrug. “But he didn't go into any details.”

  “He still doen't like to talk about the incident” Saleem said heavily. “It began right after our father died. Aamir had always been well behaved, but a withdrawn and quiet child. He was elven years old when he was in the car accident with our father. Abu died trying to keep him safe, and Aamir suffered a head injury that caused brain lesions. The death of our father caused depression, and that was when the problem first started. After several operations and a combination of therapy and medicine, Aamir's health improved. His brain healed and he stopped seeing the apparition. The question is, why then has the problem resurfaced after all these years?”

  “Could his brain lesions have somehow returned?” Aditya asked.

  “We had a scan done.” Saira spoke up. “The reports all came back negative. His brain is fine.”

  “Then the problem is entirely psychological.” Aditya mused.

  “Dr. Ghosh thinks so.” Saleem said. “He was the one who recommended Aamir restart his prescripted dosage.”

  “There's usually a real world trigger that exacerbates these mental conditions.” Aditya continued. ”What kind of stress can he be under?”

  There was a pause as a strain appeared on Saleem's face. He seemed reluctant to talk.

  “We're getting married in a month.” Saira finally said in a quiet tone.

  Aditya saw no choice but to be blunt. “And does he seem to be worried about the event?” A frown appeared on Saleem's face, and Aditya could not blame him.

  “I thinks it's obvious he is.” Saira's voice was barely more than a whisper.

  There was a long, awkward pause as Aditya tried to think of a question to change the mood. Nothing was to be gained by making the witness hostile.

  “Why don't we tell him he caused the injury to himself?” Virat suggested. “Wouldn't it make sense to put him on his guard a bit?”

  “No. No.” Saleem exclaimed suddenly, shaking his head violently. “Absolutely not!”