The Fiery Killer

By Shruti Priyaa

When the corpse of a young girl is found in a gutter, the CB-CID instantly knows that it is the work of the unpopular deadly serial killer called ‘The Arson Stabber.’ He mercilessly murders teenage women, goes underground for a few years and then reappears to continue his killing spree. He has a peculiar way of ending people’s lives. The police and the CB-CID had been on the lookout for him ever since, but he never gets caught.
Now that he has struck again after two years, will Detective Raunak be able to nab him? Or at least unveil his true identity before bodies start piling up?
Read ‘The Fiery Killer,’ to grapple with the twisted psychology of serial killers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Srishti Publishers
• Release date: Jul 10, 2021

Book preview

THE FIERY KILLER

By

Shruti Priyaa

Srishti Publishers & Distributors

A unit of AJR Publishing LLP

212A, Peacock Lane

Shahpur Jat, New Delhi – 110 049

[e-mail]

First digitally published by

Srishti Publishers & Distributors in 2021

Copyright © Shruti Priyaa, 2021

This is a work of fiction. The characters, places, organisations and events described in this book are either a work of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to people, living or dead, places, events, communities or organizations is purely coincidental.

The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers.

Previously on Sinners and Secrets

(Excerpts from #2: The Murder in the Woods)

When a fully putrefied skeleton is found under a dark, eerie barren tree deep inside the Aarey forest in Mumbai, the autopsy reveals that the skeleton belongs to a kid with congenital diabetes. Samaira feels that the place where the body was found seems strangely mysterious. She says that there is something ‘eerie’ about the whole place and Raunak agrees.

Without Raunak’s knowledge, she arranges a meeting with Dr Vikram, a famous pathologist who works in a reputed hospital called Mankind Medicare. She urges the doctor to look into the eerie place and when he does, he reveals to Samaira that the place has burnt human tissues of more than a hundred bodies.

Samaira’s eyes turned red. Raunak, she started. There is something else you should know.

What?

Remember how I said there was something weird about the place that surrounded the barren tree?

Yeah, replied Raunak, clearly not getting what she said.

I took Dr Vikram there one night. After some tests, he said… she stopped short, her face pale.

What is it? Raunak’s heart beat fast.

Well, the place has decomposed tissues and traces of dried blood. The DNAs were totally different from each other. I mean, he said he was able to trace the DNA’s of at least a hundred bodies under the tree. Raunak! she said, her face aghast. Something bad happened there.

The cab driver, or at least what they had was assumed him to be, was patiently listening to Samaira. He gave a devilish chuckle to himself and gazed at Raunak through his rear view mirror. It’s not over, Raunak. I’m coming for you, he said to himself. But tonight, I’ll let you live.

The driver dropped them safe in their respective houses.

It was around midnight. She stood on a dark, desolate road wearing a cotton top buttoned till her neck. Her denim had traces of dirt, but it wasn’t that obvious. She had braided her hair long back, at least three hours ago. But the braid had started to loosen and the unbound strands of hair fell on her face. Strangely, the dull, uncombed look of her hair enhanced her appearance and made her look pretty.

She looked from side to side; as if waiting for someone around midnight.

Who was that? Her boyfriend? Her parents who were there to pick her up? A friend? A sibling? Or a cab that she may have booked?