Sandeep took a moment to accept Vishal's statement and then finally nodded. "Any chance you would have noticed him in passing? If he has been stalking her for years, either of you should have noticed him at some point. It might be a little difficult to recollect, and I'm sure you would have recognized him in case you did remember. But still, anything?" he asked.
Vishal shook his head. "None." He paused, gulping, wondering if it was okay to tell them the real problem, and finally gave in. "Honestly, Mitra wouldn't be able to recognize him even if she had seen him in passing before. She has... a difficulty in remembering people's faces unless there are multiple layers of interactions or strong impressions of their faces in her mind. She cannot remember or recognize a person's face if she has seen him or her in passing. Even with people she knows properly, she tends to forget how they look like as time passes."
The team looked at him, unable to pinpoint the information he was sharing.
"Is that some kind of face blindness?" Sandeep asked, genuinely curious.
"At the lower extreme of the scale of Prosopagnosia. She can recognize faces and fully distinguish one from other. It's just that she tends to be unable to recall the faces of the ones she doesn't interact with on a regular basis or has a strong impression of. That can be one reason why she doesn't recognize Sashi even though he has been stalking her for a long time. She might have seen him in passing or maybe spoken once or twice to him, without registering who he actually is. The only strong recollection she has of him is from the night she witnessed him kidnapping the other woman. That can be one reason why the memories she has of him are different from the ones he has of her," Vishal explained.
"That explains a lot," Sandeep remarked. "And complicates things for us. We won't get any leads from her point of view."
"Unless Sashi was there during Lekha's murder and someone else might have noticed him, in which case the leads can come from elsewhere," Vishal opined.
"Tell me, why didn't you inform us about this case of Lekha at the beginning itself?" Raghavan questioned.
"Because all along we have been investigating it on the basis that Mitra might have been abducted for having witnessed Sashi's recent kidnapping of another woman. A woman he claimed to have murdered already. Not for Mitra's past of witnessing him preying on Lekha." Vishal had a point.
"So, this man could be a suspect in Lekha's case?" Sandeep wondered.
"Involved somehow," Vishal muttered.
"If he was watching Mitra when she was in school, he should be from the same neighbourhood as her, in your hometown. We can start an enquiry over there, see if anyone recognizes him or has any idea who he might be. I would suggest you get in touch with your schoolmates and ask them for leads if they have any. I will get in touch with the police there and ask them to look into this," Sandeep set the course.
"What if it is one of Lekha's family members?" Raghavan suggested. "If it is someone with ties to Lekha who is trying to take some sort of vengeance on Mitra for whatever happened to her?"
"After all these years?" Vishal was bewildered. "I don't think so. Mitra faced a lot of criticism and ostracizing during the heat of the investigation when it happened. If anyone wanted revenge, they would have tried it back then. Besides, this sick son of a bitch keeps saying Mitra gave him a cold shoulder when he tried to be friends with her. He is definitely not one of Lekha's people."
"Then we should rely on the recollections of others," Raghavan accepted.
"My friend is onto tracking the place where the video was uploaded. She would be faster than the Cyber Investigation team. We should have some lead of the culprit this time," Vishal informed the team.
"It shouldn't be from Pritam's store. Do we have anyone watching that place?" Sandeep enquired, panicking.
"Yes, I have a person watching the store," Basava answered. "He said no one visited there. The culprit must have changed places."
"Good. If he has done that in haste, he would have left some evidence. We can nab him." Sandeep turned to Raghavan and instructed, "Put pressure on the ones investigating the store owners in Mumbai and the related hawala transactions. That will chase the rat out of the hiding. Ask for Lekha's case records and tell the police there to collect statements from everyone related and anyone who has the slightest idea or suspicion. We need as much information as we can."
"Yes Sir."
"How's media handling this?"
Raghavan shook his head. "Not good sir. Articles are popping up with people questioning a lot – whether she's alive or not, about Lekha's case, about our inability to locate this scoundrel. They don't know about Lekha's details or the case yet in detail, just that some girl died because of Mitra. They are writing clickbait articles about the mystery of this girl who got murdered. This could be a huge problem to Lekha's family now. By tomorrow media will be staking out at Mitra's and Lekha's houses and the police station that handled this case."
"And social media?" Sandeep asked.
"It's a storm there. Though some are questioning Sashi's statements, people are still speculating and theorizing everything in a wrong way. It can lead to an abetment of Mitra's mistreatment. If public takes a negative stance against Mitra because of these misunderstandings, Sashi might feel like people are supportive of his actions. That would be very dangerous."
Sandeep gave a moment's thought and directed, "Ring up Lekha's family and the police station there and ask them not to speak out. That would add fuel to the fire. If media needs an official statement, they should come to us. For now, give out a statement that we are looking into the details and tracing the culprit. Add a note to the public to not believe the words of a person who has admitted himself to be a murderer. We need to get Mitra out safely before going all judgmental on her."
He turned to Vishal and advised, "You must be having a WhatsApp or Facebook group for your classmates. Post in there and ask them to not spread any stories or rumours. If they have any leads, they are welcome to share that with us. Otherwise, they shouldn't be posting anything useless online. Give them a strict warning. Plead with them if you have to."
"I don't know how useful that would be," Vishal reflected. "Like I said, Mitra didn't have any friends in school other than me. Friends would be willing to help. But the ones like our classmates who made her an outcast? They might choose to act differently."
He caught Sandeep's eye and sighed. "I will still request them to refrain from doing anything rash."