~Chapter 12~

Wonderland - Abhijeet's safehouse:

Daya parked his car at the end of a road and the team got down. The quietly took their belongings and covered the car with vines and leaves to make it appear indifferent from it's surroundings. Slowly they slid off the road and reached a large Banyan tree. Salunkhe looked at Pradyuman

"Shall we?"

Daya and Purvi kept a watch as Pradyuman and Salunkhe hooted like an owl thrice as they had agreed. The banyan tree shook and from the trunk of the tree emerged Senior Inspector Abhijeet. He beckoned to his team and showed them the small door he had carved through the tree. They entered in and inside was a lift. They got in and the lift took them beneath the ground. As it opened, they saw Manisha and Tarika waiting for them in the well lit living room. Dr. Salunkhe walked towards Tarika and hugged her tight as the rest of the team moved towards the couch. She held him tight and whispered

"I am not okay but I have to be"

He pulled back and looked at her, her face reflecting the weight of the burden she was carrying. He was about to say something when she silently nodded in negative and gestured to the team. He sighed and said

"Don't push yourself too hard. Talk to him. He'll understand"

"He is already under a lot of pressure. He needs me now."

He looked at her sternly

"You need him too. Don't repeat the same mistake that you did three years back. Talk. He'll feel better if you tell him how you feel."

Her brows furrowed as worrying thoughts filled her mind.

"Tarika"

His voice made her look up and she saw him walking towards her with his eyebrows raised. She simply shrugged and followed Dr. Salunkhe to the couch. ACP Pradyuman looked at his team gathered around and took in a deep breath. It was difficult to

"All right. Pankaj and Sachin will be our eyes and ears at the bureau. Abhijeet... do we have stored food to last us all a week?"

"2 weeks, sir."

"Good. Now let's get to work"

Abhijeet interrupted

"One minute sir..."

ACP looked at him

"I need the complete truth sir... everyone here does. We can't do much without the truth... We are all under attack... if you are going to stay secretive then we might as well go out in the open now and surrender ourselves to Chitrole sir"

Pradyuman was about to open his mouth when Salunkhe intervened

"Abhijeet is right, Pradyuman. No more secrets. Do you trust all of us?"

Pradyuman nodded

"Then tell us... we need to hear it"

Pradyuman looked around his team... at Purvi, the woman who had just survived a bomb and discovered that the past wasn't all it seemed... at Daya, the man who had questioned him and yet chosen to stay... at Shreya, the woman who probably knew a lot but left her job just to be with them... at Manisha, the woman who had lost twice and yet had never ceased to love... at Salunkhe, the man who always pushed him to do what was right... at Tarika, the woman who could have been anywhere but refused to leave his officer just because she loved him... and at Abhijeet, the man whom he considered his son, the reason they were all here. He shut his eyes and remembered his own son with his bright eyes filled with love before he had chosen the wrong path... he thought of Freddy with his contagious smile always faithful... he felt his lips curve up too but then the image of a fallen Zoya being carried out flashed before his eyes. Enough was enough, he decided. Taking in a deep breath, he said

"Alright. What do you want to know?"

"Bhabhi told me that I went on missions with Aryan and you headed some of those. I want to know about him."

"He is dead..."

"I know, but I believe that everything that's happening now is related to him... We need to know more about him to catch the criminal who is playing with our lives. I need to know... know all about him."

"Alright... Aryan Shekhawat and you trained together at officer's academy. You were both smart and extremely talented, so, you were immediately cleared to do missions."

He paused and looked at Daya

"You are his partner now and over the years I have watched you have each others back while locking criminals in. Back in the day, it was them... Aryan and Abhijeet... we expected them to be the dynamic duo you are now. They lacked fear and worked extremely hard to bring justice to people. If there was a runaway criminal, the headquarters knew whom to call. A complex gang, them again... everyone knew that they got justice served... and they served it hot."

He turned to Abhijeet

"You guys had this motto... You swore by it... Fiat Justitia... Within a year of you getting to work, criminals had become scarce on the streets of Mumbai... Then came the mission... the final one... "

Salunkhe looked at him

"Case 227?"

ACP nodded

"Yes... this was a lot more complex than your usual ones... It wasn't just a drug bust; it was a full-scale counter-intelligence operation targeting a massive network—a network fueled by drug and weapon trafficking, and secretly financed by a powerful industrial cartel. We had found some bodies with drugs and weapons stitched inside their stomach... We had some leads but we weren't able to get more details, we needed someone to infiltrate them and get to know their workings so that we could catch them... You both volunteered to do it... I was incharge of the mission... Daya... can you get those files"

Daya took the files he had taken as per ACPs instruction from the bureau and gave it to Pradyuman.

"Come here..."

The team grouped together as Pradyuman opened the file and read out specific details pertaining to the case. As he came to the end of it he looked at Abhijeet

"You had collected enough information and we were supposed to surprise them the next day with reinforcements... that was when... I got the news of the bomb blast. Everyone in there perished except..."

"Me..."

He looked at his fatherly boss who nodded at him silently. Salunkhe looked at him

"Pradyuman... is that all?"

Pradyuman sighed and looked at Abhijeet

"2 days before the blast, you called me and told me you don't trust Aryan."

Abhijeet looked at him in surprise

"What? You just said that we were such good friends"

Pradyuman nodded

"Yes but that day when you called you were sore afraid. Your voice was trembling. You said that Aryan wasn't listening to you. He wanted to blow up the warehouse. You requested me to send in reinforcements soon...."

He covered his face with his hands

"I put in the request at once but you know how it works usually... Sorry... sorry son... I... uh... I couldn't do anything"

Abhijeet sat still processing the information. Manisha's lips trembled as she whispered

"Are you... are you... saying that... Ar... Aryan planted the bomb that killed him?"

Pradyuman took her hand in his and held it tight

"Those bombs... the investigators traced the funding back to Aryan's father's company"

She pulled her hand away.

"But... but he disowned him... sir, listen to me, he didn't have any contact to his father... He stayed at Abhijeet's place. He couldn't have..."

"He did, Bhabhi..."

Manisha turned around and looked at Abhijeet who looked at her with bloodshot eyes.

"I don't remember fully but... I know his father was in touch with him and we fought..."

"You fought?"

"Uh... seems so... yes... I remember him telling me that justice won't be served at the courts and we had to do something. He said his father agreed to help us... I refused... That's all I remember"

Pradyuman looked at his pained face and sighed. This was the reason he had held back so long. He couldn't see him in pain. Daya spoke up

"Sir... so was the drug cartel linked to Aryan's father? Maybe he was covering up?"

"No Daya... His father was investigated thoroughly off the record. It seems he only gave the money in hopes that his son would come back to him"

Manisha said softly

"I agree... he hated his father, he wouldn't do anything for him. From what Abhijeet has said... I believe he was believing he was doing the right thing... I don't think he would actually talk to his father if he didn't believe he was in the right"

Purvi looked at Manisha

"So you are saying Abhijeet sir is wrong?"

"When did I say that? I am just saying he would have misunderstood him."

The entire team looked at her

"Look... I know you think the worst of him. But you didn't know him like I did. I loved him. I dreamt of building a life with him. Do you really think I would have done that if I didn't know him? He isn't here to defend himself and I am not going to let you think the worst of him when you don't even know him"

"Manisha...."

"Sir, with due respect. Tell me did he ever give you a chance to suspect him when he worked with you?"

Abhijeet shut his eyes as the memory of the fight replayed in front of him. Slowly he said

"Bhabhi... I don't think... I misunderstood..."

"But you don't remember fully do you?"

He sighed as he nodded, she clicked her tongue

"Abhijeet the context of a conversation would change the entire meaning. You do know that right? I am sure Aryan didn't betray you... He would never have. And anyways he isn't here. Why are we really dissecting him?"

Pradyuman took in a deep breath

"Abhijeet... I think she is right. Aryan was killed in the blast. Why do you think we need to talk about him?"

"Every clue we found till now, the letter, the photograph, the motto, the shadow following my daughter, the shadow I saw in the lift... everything seems to connect to him..."

Shreya pitched in

"And... I got to know from my sources... Simran used to work at the company 'AR defenses', belonging to Aryan's father..."

"What?"

"Yes sir... she is listed as the PA of CEO here in the list of employees 7 years ago... She seems to have joined by then and then left the job after Raghav's death."

She shared the list to Pradyuman.

"Hmmm... who is the CEO now? Is it still Aryan's father? The last I saw him... he was very sick"

"Yes that's what the company documents say. But he hasn't come publicly to address the board for the past 15 years. Seems he handles all meetings online."

"Sounds fishy. Now about Simran... What else do we know about her?"

The team looked at each other unable to answer. Purvi said softly

"Apart from the fact that she saved my life and is Raghav's brother, we don't know anything about her... I know its unusual for our team to not know about one of us... but there that's the truth."

Pradyuman patted her shoulder

"She wasn't one of us until the end... she knew how to detonate the bomb. The bomb squad didn't."

There was silence as the truth sank in. For the past few hours, it hadn't crossed any of them to think of Simran as anything other than a tragic victim. Softly Pradyuman said

"She became one of us when she put herself in front of Purvi... Might have been a different story if she had survived."

He took in a deep breath and looked at Daya. With a commanding tone, he said

"Alright back to work. Daya, what are the evidences we have"

"Yes, sir. Based on the inventory recovered from the field, the bureau and whatever we discussed just now, I have consolidated the evidence. Here I have jotted it down in my notebook. This list outlines what we have in hand."

He opened his notebook and read out

"1. Two Keys

2. Raghav's personal diary

3. The partial letter Abhijeet got

4. The note at Tarika's doorstep

5. The photograph of Abhijeet/Manisha and Aryan/Manisha.

6. The case file of Freddy's case you received, sir which pointed to case 227

7. The video evidence of Simran calling Ravi from Sachin's phone"

He looked around and said

"Yup, that's it. Did I miss anything?"

Salunkhe looked at Pradyuman and said

"7... Pradyuman... 7... uh yes... it had to be 7"

"Salunkhe talk clearly"

"Pradyuman, remember you told me that Abhijeet talked to you about Aryan for 7 minutes, Abhijeet and Freddy were 7 minutes late and Tarika found that there were 7 minutes missing in the timeline of Ravi's death."

"Yes..."

"Pradyuman... in the lift the timer stopped exactly at 7 seconds. Also... Pradyuman, you know every bullet has it's signature right? I checked the bullet extracted from Zo... I mean Simran, it was the same make and calibre that I extracted from Freddy's body 3 years back..."

The team looked at the eccentric doctor with eyes widened. Daya interrupted

"Sir didn't you say that bullet was custom made? This was too?"

"Haan Daya..."

Abhijeet spoke out

"So we are looking for one criminal probably connected to the 25 year old case. And... as expected that case is connected to Freddy, Ravi and Simran... Sir, could it be a relative of Aryan?"

"Good thought, that's what I am thinking too. Alright, team we need to focus. Purvi, examine the diary. Shreya, I want you to focus on the keys recovered, get your sources lead us to the key. Salunkhe, you and Tarika, recheck the preliminary forensic report and also check the diary for any forensic evidence. Abhijeet, Daya, I want us to sit together and comb the case file 227... uh... Abhijeet, if you could remember something..."

"I'll try, sir"

"I am sorry, son..."

He pulled him into a short hug and the team dispersed doing their allocated duties.

****

Lab:

Vaibhav peered into the microscope examining the bullet Salunkhe had extracted from Simran as Chitrole paced around grumbling about the time Vaibhav was taking

"Sir..."

"Finally, you found something?"

"Sir... I want to ask you something"

"What?"

"You promised me head of the lab and you'll be head of this bureau if we get some dirt on them. Are we doing something dirty?"

"Of course not. Nonsense. We are just getting what we deserve. Those idiots think they are so righteous..."

Vaibhav cut in his rant

"Sir... you might want to see this. The bullet seems to match the bullet that killed Inspector Freddy"

"What, that's impossible... As much as I detest Abhijeet, I don't think he could have killed Freddy. Freddy was family to him."

"Agree... that's why I am wondering if by digging up dirt are we getting dirty"

"No... not possible... You were denied promotion, I was chucked out too early... this is only right. Check for something else."

Vaibhav nodded.

****

Somewhere in Mumbai

He removed his gear and sat down annoyed. Why did she have to come in front of Purvi? The view he had, had been perfect. Now she is gone... he had expected her to stay atleast till the end of his mission. Clicking his tongue, he checked his notes. There was only one way to get to him... And he knew it.

"Senior Inspector Abhijeet... It's time we met... Fiat Justitia..."

****