Red Ribbons (Chapter Six)

Posted on | Wednesday, August 3, 2011 | No Comments

Chapter Six


Venkath stared at the body on the examining table. Her skin was a shade paler than its usual olive colour. The red ligature marks around her neck stood out against the fair skin, not as fair as Alicia’s, but a colour he remembered and still loved. Shoba's eyes were closed, but her lips were slightly apart in a silent ‘o’, just like Alicia’s had been. Just like her own mother, when they’d found her in the park four years ago.

“Venkath, it’s time to go. Let Dr. Chin do his job,” Lawrence placed his hand gently on his cousin’s shoulder.

Venkath nodded wordlessly and allowed Lawrence to lead him out of the mortuary. A volcano of emotions coursed through him. Anger at the killer for doing this to the only woman he had loved. Anger at himself for not being able to stop it. But most of all, a deep shame he couldn’t shake. Shame that he felt triumphant that Lawrence now could no longer deny they were dealing with a serial killer; one that was taunting Venkath with his killing spree.

“This can't be happening,” Venkath finally said when they were back at the station. His estranged wife had been in town and hadn't even told him she was here. And now she was dead, lying in a morgue like some lab rat for this Dr. Chin to cut her open. He had an image of a surgical knife slicing her chest open, sending a wave of nausea over him.

Lawrence said nothing, sensing his cousin's need to absorb what had happened. It wouldn't be easy;

Venkath had loved Shoba very much, even after she had left him four years ago. It had started with the case in KL. Venkath had had an indiscretion with one of his interns, who turned up dead outside a club in KL. Somehow Shoba had found out, but they managed to save their marriage. A year later, Venkath's mother-in-law was murdered while jogging in the park. Venkath was assisting the Penang police for the case, but none of the police's leads turned up anything. One evening after work, Venkath had found all his wife's things gone and a note on the fridge that said: “I can't pretend anymore. Goodbye.” Heartbroken, he decided to leave Penang and start life afresh in Kuala Pilah without her.

That hadn't worked out as planned. For whatever reason, the killer had resurfaced after four years to torment Venkath again. He was sorry he hadn't believed they had been looking for a serial killer, Shoba's death now proved that the killer had a personal vendetta against Venkath.

“Did you know she was back in town?” Lawrence asked, breaking the silence.

Venkath shook his head. “No, we haven't spoken in four years. I heard from mutual friends that she sometimes visits her old friends here, but they never tell me more than that. She certainly does...didn't,” he corrected himself.

“Okay. What I'll need is a list of friends she has here, I'll need to visit them to find out more about what happened,” Lawrence said.

“There are only two—Saras and Mala, her former schoolmates,” Venkath said, scribbling on a piece of paper.

“Give me the addresses, I'll see to this. You'd better go home and get some rest, I know you haven't slept much since Alicia's murder,” Lawrence said.

“No, I'm coming with you. Besides, they're more likely to open up to me than to you,” Venkath said, his mouth set in a thin, determined line. Lawrence knew there was no point in arguing.

They dropped by the home of Mala, Shoba's oldest friend at around 6pm. They were greeted at the door by a thin, bespectacled woman dressed in a white blouse and black slacks. There were fine lines around her mouth and eyes, although she couldn't be older than thirty-five. Her eyes were hidden by huge bug-eyed spectacles, darting nervously around the room every few seconds. Her nose meanwhile was pointy and a little crooked, giving her an overall appearance of a giant mosquito.

“Will this take long? I have a cake in the oven for a friend's housewarming party,” Mala Rani asked, looking nervously at a clock decorated with ceramic birds that hung on one wall.

“We'll try and make this as brief as possible Ms. Rani,” Lawrence reassured her. “Perhaps you could start by telling us the last time you saw Mrs. Venkath,” he added.

“Why? Has anything happened to Shoba?” The woman's eyes grew wide with concern.

“I'm sorry to tell you that your friend was killed last night. The body was found in the park. Do you have any idea why she was in the park at that time of the night?” Lawrence asked.

Mala's eyes teared up and she put a hand up to her forehead. “I think I need to sit down,” she said, almost in a whisper. She wiped away a tear that ran down her cheek.

“We were at a charity dinner in the Royal Hotel in Seremban last night, Shoba had only checked into the hotel yesterday afternoon. She left early, after a long talk with Mrs. Ling. Mrs. Ling must have said something to upset her. Shoba seemed distressed after that conversation and left early, at around 8.30pm,” Mala explained.

“Did she say where she was going?” Venkath asked.

“No, she said she was tired, so we assumed she went up to her room,” Mala said.

“Who’s ‘we’?” Lawrence asked.

“Why, Saras and myself. We hosted the dinner to raise funds for a local orphanage,” she said.

“Did you hear from Shoba after she left?” Lawrence asked. Venkath listened quietly. His mind was full of cotton, making the voices around him seem far away and irrelevant. He forced his attention back to the present.

“She called me around 10pm, saying that she felt peaceful. She said she’d tell me everything in the morning. We spoke for about ten minutes, mostly about the dinner, then I went to bed,” Mala said.

“We found an ATM slip and a receipt from one Simply Floral in her purse. Did she purchase any flowers yesterday?” Lawrence asked.

“Oh yes, she ordered the centre piece for the VIP table. It was lovely, a nice bouquet of red roses. Shoba was always so thoughtful and generous like that,” Mala said, wiping away another tear. She began crying softly.

A visit to the victim's other friend Saras didn't turn up anything. Her story wasn't any different; Shoba had checked into the hotel the afternoon before and attended the dinner at night, then left early.

At the Ling residence, they were greeted at the door by Mrs. Ling, who didn't appear surprised to see them. “Come in, I've been expecting you,” she said simply.

She ushered them into the living room. “I know you're here to ask me about my conversation with your late wife, Mr. Das. Ask me anything,” she said.

“How did you know my wife has passed away?” Venkath said, frowning in puzzlement.

Her lips formed a small smile. “This is a small town. News travels fast, Dr. Das. Please accept my condolences,” she said, looking calmly at him. Again, Venkath felt that twinge of something unsettling about the woman.

“I didn't know that you knew Shoba,” Venkath said.

“I didn't,” Mrs. Ling replied calmly. The two men raised their eyebrows quizzically at each other. She continued: “I only met her at the charity dinner last night. She expressed her condolences over my daughter's death and then asked me a very strange question.”

“What was it?” Lawrence asked.

“She wanted to know if my daughter had received red roses from anyone the week before she died. I told her that Alicia had received many bouquets, for her birthday was the previous week. Shoba appeared very distressed suddenly and said she was feeling tired. She said she was going to get some air and then retire for the night,” Mrs. Ling said.

“Did Alicia receive red roses from anyone?” Venkath asked.

“Yes, her friend Boon Yee, for her birthday. But what does it have to do with anything?” she asked, looking puzzled.

“Four years ago, my mother in law was murdered in the park, just like my wife. She received a bouquet of red roses from her best friend for her birthday, which was a week before she was murdered. It can’t be a coincidence. Where is Boon Yee right now?” Venkath asked.

Mrs. Ling looked shocked. “You mean this has happened before? Why didn’t the police catch the killer before he did this to my daughter?”


“The Penang police didn’t find any evidence at the crime scene, Mrs. Ling. The trail ran cold four years ago so they gave up looking for the killer. But it appears as if he or she has resurfaced,” Lawrence said. “We must speak to your daughter’s friend Boon Yee. She may know something,” he added urgently.


“I’ll go get her, she’s upstairs watching TV,” Mrs. Ling said.

A few minutes later, she reappeared with a bespectacled young lady by her side. The girl was petite, nearly a foot shorter than Mrs. Ling and had serious eyes. She wore a white t-shirt that said “I’m With Stupid” across the front and black track pants. She looked at them curiously.

“Boon Yee, this is Inspector Lawrence and Dr. Venkath Das. They have a few questions about Alicia,” Mrs. Ling said.

The girl looked surprised. “But I already told everything I know to Officer Ong,” she said.
“Officer Paul Ong came to see you? When?” Lawrence asked.


“He called me, we know each other through Alicia. He was dating her, you know,” Boon Yee said.


Out of the corner his eye, Lawrence saw Mrs. Ling raise an eyebrow. He ignored it and continued: “Mrs. Ling mentioned that you had a bouquet of red roses sent to Alicia for her birthday about a week ago,” he said.

“Yes, so?” the girl shrugged her shoulders.


“Where did you order the flowers from?”


“Oh, I ordered them online through my cousin’s website. How is this relevant, Inspector?”

“Everything is relevant, Miss Boon Yee. When was the last time you saw Alicia alive?” Lawrence asked.


“On her birthday last Thursday. We, as in Alice, Alicia and I, went out for dinner at Alicia’s favourite Japanese restaurant in KL. But I did speak to her on the phone from Ipoh on Saturday morning, she seemed happy and said she was going with Officer Ong to the Purple Room that night,” the girl said.


“When did you return from Ipoh?” Lawrence asked.

“I hurried back on Monday evening as soon as Mrs. Ling told me about what had happened to Alicia. Alice was on the bus with me too, she’s also from Ipoh,” she explained.

“Do you know where Alicia was on Sunday?” Lawrence asked, jotting down what she had said.


Boon Yee hesitated. She looked at Mrs. Ling out of the corner of her eye before speaking. “She said that she was meeting Nicholas for brunch in Bangsar. He wanted to borrow money from her and she said okay. She was supposed to have returned here to Kuala Pilah by evening to have tea with me and Alice, but she never showed up. That’s when I called Mrs. Ling,” she explained.

“That good for nothing boy borrowed money from my daughter? How could you keep this a secret from me, Boon Yee?” Mrs. Ling said, looking disappointed.

“I’m sorry, aunty. But she made Alice and me promise not to tell you she was still friends with him. She took the money from her savings and lent it to him so he could complete his studies,” she explained.


Mrs. Ling looked furious and opened her mouth to speak however Lawrence interrupted her. “Yes, we know about that. But Nicholas said the last time he saw her was at the brunch, which ended at around 2pm. We still don’t know where Alicia was for the rest of Sunday," he said. Or how Shoba ended up dead in the park, he thought to himself. The murders were somehow linked, he was sure of it now. But how? he wondered silently.

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