The duo walked in silence as they walked past the crime registration office, taking stairs to the underground. The path was lit up with artificial light, but it still couldn't keep away the gloominess of the area. Many police officers passed them, but there were almost no civilians there.
"The morgue is built inside the surface. It was built long ago, much before the old police station was replaced to make a new one. There is another passage through which the bodies are transported. " Officer Malkolm gave him the introduction of the place where they were going right now, to elevate some tension inside Vikshar whose muscles had tensed due to the stress.
They reached the underground floor. There were many rooms, but Vikshar wasn't looking at them. He was trying to find the one where they kept the bodies for identification. Each step they took in the underground chamber, it created an echo of the sound of their footsteps. It didn't help much that Officer Malkolm wasn't stopping even after passing 5 or 6 of the rooms.
Vikshar looked at the bold letters that were present on top of the room, that they had stopped near. MORGUE. The inside view of the room was separated by a blue curtain that acted as a deterrent. Both of them could feel the cool air coming out from the room.
Officer Malkolm parted the curtains. He looked again at Vikshar sighing as he said, "It is best to prepare yourself for what is to come. The body isn't in its best condition."
Vikshar nodded as Officer Malkolm trodden inside the room. But he was quickly blocked by a young lady police officer in front of him. She was very young and was a new joinee after passing from the police academy. Her hair was made into a tight bun and even her clothes looked like they were recently ironed.
"Officer Jenny, what are you doing here?" Malkolm asked the young officer named Jenny with a frown on his face. There were thick documents in her hand, and it looked like she was troubled inside for a second as Malkolm stood in front of her.
"I-I was here to check if I could find some clues from the body." Officer Jenny stammered as she spoke. She looked nervous around Malkolm.
"But as I recall, I had told you to go through the case files. Not roam around in the morgue looking at dead bodies." Officer Malkolm frown increased as he looked at her. It hadn't been long since she had joined this police station. Jenny was made his assistant. But as it looked, the young lady was very fond of getting away from the task he would give him again and again.
"Yes Sir, It was related to that. I wanted to find clues to see if there are any relations…"
"Enough." Officer Malkolm cut her sharply.
"Have you completed the task I gave you?" He asked again.
"No sir. But I was only following the task sir. Like…" This time Officer Jenny lost her voice. She knew she couldn't convince her senior officer. Especially when it had happened many times before.
"I want it to be completed. You will complete it by today only. You cannot take leave before that. Understand." Officer Malkolm said.
"I understand sir." Officer Jenny said, her expression didn't look good. But Malkolm wasn't deterred by it. He watched as she quickly left the hall after that. He looked at Vikshar again and asked him to follow again. But Vikshar stopped after just taking a few steps inside.
The inside of the mortuary was lit up with a blue fluorescent light. There were many shelves where they kept the body inside. But Vikshar's eyes were not on any of that. He was looking at a body. It was covered in a white sheet. His eyes quivered as he couldn't keep his eyes away from the body. Officer Malkolm was standing near the body. He wasn't in a hurry. He knew how crucial it was for a person to make truth with the fact. Vikshar slowly but surely walked near the body kept on a bed. Each step was a struggle to him as he came closer and closer to the body.
Finally he was facing it. The general outline of the body was similar in height to his son. He looked at Officer Malkolm nodding at him with great difficulty. Officer Malkolm took the sheet off from the face.
For a moment Vikshar just stood there. Horrified by the face of the body. The face looked mangled far beyond recognition. And it didn't look like it was the work of a human at all. No it looked worse like a beast had torn his face deep enough that even some of the skull was visible from inside the face. He looked away sharply after that. Taking sharp breaths, as he lost his balance.
"Mr. Vikshar, hold yourself." Officer Malkolm grabbed his body from falling. In fact he had already anticipated it before. He had already shown the body to various missing cases relatives or guardians but none of them had been able to calm themselves after taking a look at it. In fact even Malkolm had questioned himself when he had seen it for the first time if what he saw was real or some illusion of his mind playing tricks on him.
"I am okay," Vikshar took hold of himself immediately. At Least he was far better in recovery than others in this respect. Malkolm had seen many of them just running straight after watching the body. The denial that accompanied it. But Vikshar was definitely stronger in this respect. He straightened again. This time he didn't hesitate at all. He was looking straight at the face of the stranger. That might have been his son. His eyes were wet, but after a few moments of watching it, he took a deep breath and looked again at Officer Malkolm.
"It isn't him," Vikshar said with resolution.
"Are you sure?" Officer Malkolm frowned as he asked him. He wasn't the only one to say that. In fact none of the earlier parents or relatives were able to identify with the body. He continued, "I am not doubting you, but sometimes our brain doesn't want to accept the fact. The body itself is mangled beyond recognition. I want you to look at the other half of the body. If it helps identifying it. I should warn you. It isn't any better than the face."
Vikshar made a squeaking sound and Officer Malkolm proceeded to remove the sheet from the neck of the body. The horrifying sight didn't dull slightly at it. There were many gashes on the body that made the one on the face look like a mere scratch. There were many stitches along it, but even that wasn't able to hide the sheer terror of it. The stitches looked like they were holding a body that had been torn apart at one time. Deep gashes, bone chilling, Vikshar could see that he bones weren't spared of the terror of what had caused it. Some of the bones had huge cracks, while others looked like they had been torn straight apart. The skin was tattered around almost like a cloth that was torn into bits and pieces. Even the insides of the body, Vishkar quickly retrieved his gaze to look away from the body. Officer Malkolm stopped after reaching the stomach.
"It is the worst I have seen in my entire career. The doctor had difficulty even completing his body. We have tried identifying if it might have been an animal attack, after proper examination from the doctors, it doesn't look like it had been something that was done by an animal. It was something more, someone might have hated it to the core. But even among the homicide cases I have studied and seen no one is capable enough to do it." Officer Malkolm said with difficulty.
Vikshar looked again, this time taking more time and more glances along the body. His brain was a mess at the moment. He could feel insects crawling inside his brain. The chilling temperature of the morgue didn't help him much. He could feel his head swimming inside. Almost on the verge of collapse. But he still looked at it. This time he had a complicated expression on his face. He wanted to know what on earth could do something like that. Even the wild animals were much better than the beast who had done it to him.
"It isn't him officer. I am sure of that." Vikshar looked away from the body. Officer Malkolm was starting to cover the body when someone screamed from near the curtains.
"My boy!" Officer Malkolm looked at the duo who were screaming as they started to rush toward the body. He looked to see Officer Jenny trailing behind them. She must have brought the parents of the victim.
"Mr. Vikshar, I will see you after sorting it out with the parents of this body." Officer Malkolm said softly, giving him an apologetic smile.
"No worries sir. They need you." Vikshar said with a grave expression as he strode out from the morgue disoriented by what he had seen.