The Jigsaw Puzzle

It was almost 10 at night. I was returning from office; more late than usual as I had to meet a few friends. The road which leads to my lane is usually dark once the sun sets. That night, it was particularly dark. It was only me and the radio on my earphones. As I approached my lane I saw something in the dark, by the roadside, over the drain. I understood that it was something pulled up from the drain; soggy and wet, all covered up in black sludge. A bag or something as I saw it from a distance. As I went closer, I started getting a horrid stench. I had never come across such an ominous odour ever before. I got goose bumps, a chill down my spine. As I hurried towards my lane, I saw 4-5 people, as if discussing something serious. They glanced at me, saw that I am someone returning home from work and continued with their discussion. Among them were two policemen. Other than the bunch of people, there was no one around that night in the locality. All doors and windows were shut. Children and adults alike would be usually seen around their balconies at this time of the night. That night none! Our lane could be mistaken for a curfew imposed town. I didn’t observe much but got into my house as if in a trance. Rakesh was already inside the house. ‘You are late’, he said approaching me. I switched off the radio. I was still shaken from whatever I saw outside. ‘Outside… police…’ I mumbled. ‘I got news’ he said!
That night I was unable to get sleep at a stretch. I was exhausted but every time I heard some noise outside I would wake up. Lying in bed, I told myself. ‘You come from a place where bomb blasts and firings and people dying are a way of life’. This thought didn’t help though. ‘This is cold blooded murder’ said I to myself.
The whole thing got into my head all the more because of an incident which took place approximately two weeks earlier.
It was 7:30 on a bright, sunny Sunday morning. I was just back from jogging. It was too early to sit down in front of the TV. ‘Why not use the early morning to get some stuffs for the kitchen’ thought I. The freshest vegetable store is a 10 minutes’ walk from my house. I would have to take the ‘shortcut’ underneath the overbridge and crossing the railway track to reach there. I had the radio blasting Ryan Seacrest’s Top 40. I looked out for any trains approaching and then started to cross the railway track. Suddenly, I realized my left foot had stepped on something slippery. I was not ready for what I saw. Lying beneath my foot was a pool of blood; thick and as red as freshly oozed from a dead orifice. I was in for another quick shock when I heard a voice behind me. I flung the earphones in alarm; off went the radio. I didn’t see the Hindi speaking man so much as I heard him say ‘they just cut it!’ ‘What? Who?’ was all I could come up with. ‘Found here was the head of a man’. I stood there frozen for an instant and quickly passed by. I remember avoiding the ‘shortcut’ while returning with the fresh vegetables that eventful Sunday.
I was still unable to sleep, deeply disturbed. Rakesh had mentioned ‘Police suspects the fermented body found in the suitcase was just the lower limbs’!