Case 1: Case Of The Mysterious Brown Eyes

…Case 1…

… Case Of The Mysterious Brown Eyes…

Khushi entered the office sharply at 8:25. She had been instructed to report at 8.45 and she hadn’t wanted to risk being late. Looking at her watch, she made her way to the washroom. She wanted to make a good impression. She looked at the mirror, she was wearing formals, a cream coat and pant with a bright red shirt. She had chosen red for him of course; he had admired her so much in red back when they were together. She had adorned her lips with a deep red shaded lipstick and her hair was tied back in a bun as was required by her job. She had added kajal on her eyes and other than that her face was devoid of make-up. She smiled a bit slightly adjusting her hair. She decided she looked just the way she wanted to: a no-nonsense police officer in pursuit of justice. Holding her head high she walked out to report to her boss.

****

Shyam was busily typing something away in his laptop when Khushi entered his room. He looked up and smiled at her. He stood up and stretched out his arm.

“Agent Gupta?”

Khushi took his arm, gave a shake and smiled,

“Yes Sir, Agent Jha. Agent Gupta reporting on Duty.”

“Welcome to the team Gupta.”

He looked up through his glass window and saw his team. He searched for his perfect officer and found him missing. He gave an impatient sigh and dialed a number in the intercom. A melodious voice answered.

“Yes, Boss”

“Anji, where is Raizada? I distinctly remember asking him to come at 8.30 today?”

Khushi’s lips slightly trembled at his name.

“I am sorry boss. I guess he got late. Do you want me to ring him up?”

“No Anji… Can you come to my cabin now?”

“On my way, Boss.”

A petite girl with bright eyes entered the cabin. Shyam gave her a short smile and turned to Khushi.

“Gupta, this is Agent Anjali Malhotra. Anji this is Agent Khushi Kumari Gupta. New recruit to our team. Would you be kind enough to show her around.”

“No problem, Boss. Welcome to the team Agent Gupta, you can call me Anji as everyone else does in this team. Come with me.”

Khushi gave her a smile and followed her. As they moved out of the cabin a group of people came crowded around Anjali and Khushi.

“Folks, we have a new member in our team. This is Agent Khushi Kumari Gupta. She’s new to field work.”

A serious guy with spectacles and a gentle look came forward.

“Hello Agent Gupta, I am Dr. Aakash Agnihotri, the forensic head for this team.”

Khushi smiled at him and shook his hand.

“Hello Dr. Agnihotri, I have heard a lot about you.”

Anjali pitched in

“Oho… so you have done your research. Can you name us all?”

Khushi gave a little laugh.

“Of course. That laughing man in the corner is Agent Basu., the shy one is Agent Sharma and there is one more member in your team who is not here now, Agent Arnav Singh Raizada.’

“Wow Gupta, you seem to know everybody. So, let us forego our introductions. Is there anything you want to ask?”

“Uh… Yes…”

Khushi lowered her voice.

“I heard the Boss is very strict is it true?”

“Of Course, it is and only Anji here has been known to control his tempers. If you get into trouble, you need to contact Anji. She is the best in solving it. And don’t call me Agent Basu. I am not that old you know you can call me NK.”

NK moved a little away to avoid a playful slap from Anji.

“Oh, shut up, NK. Now Gupta, why don’t we go for coffee. We can bond a bit over there.”

****

Arnav looked at his watch. It was five past nine. He had been deliberately late. He hated introductions. He looked at his phone. There were five missed calls from NK. He called him back

“Yes, NK?”

“Where are you, Bro? Boss wants to see you and he is ANGRY. Come soon or even Anji won’t be able to save you.”

Arnav sighed a little at NK’s dramatics and marched straight to Shyam’s cabin.

“Boss? You wanted to see me?”

“Raizada. So, you finally decided to show up. Did you see the time?”

“Uh… Yes Boss.”

“You are late after I specifically told you to come early.”

“Boss. yesterday’s case was exhausting. I was a bit tired.”

“Oh, is it? Now that you mentioned yesterday’s case, there is something I wanted to ask you. La called me today morning.”

Arnav groaned. He respected La but she often put him in situations he didn’t like.

“Yes, groan away I don’t care. Now spill out what did you do?”

Arnav tried to look as innocent as possible.

“What Boss?”

“Oh, don’t pretend like you don’t know anything. Did you not taunt the suspect about his relationship with his girlfriend?”

Arnav gave a lopsided grin.

“Oh well… he already has a wife and he is dating a girl his daughter’s age.”

“THAT is NONE of OUR business. Now the wife wants an apology for CBI team for insulting her husband.”

“Come on, Boss. That idiot deserved it and… It was fun.”

Shyam sighed.

“When will you ever learn to behave responsibly? Speaking of responsibilities. Do you remember that starting today you will be mentoring the new recruit, Agent Gupta?”

“Oh yes…. I don’t see her anywhere. Seems like your star recruit is not punctual.”

“She reported 15 minutes before her reporting time Raizada. I sent her with Anjali… Oh look there she is.”

Arnav turned around and caught a glimpse of her through the glass cabin wall. She was ravishing. Her dress even though was just formal clothing fit her perfectly and suited her slender frame. She was excitedly describing something to Anji and her hands were animatedly moving. Her fingers were long and her lips painted a deep shade of red, his favorite, as his eyes moved up her face, they met hers. They were sparkling brown. Something about those soulful eyes seemed to draw him in. He quickly turned around confused at his emotions. He was generally a self-controlled man but today his self-control seemed to fly out the window.

“Boss… Can’t Anji train her?”

“No. You are to train her. I want you to learn some responsibility. Now out of my room. Oh, and if I hear that you tried to ask someone else to train her, you will be doing reports for the next two months. No field work, understood?”

“Yes Boss.”

****

Khushi had seen him and the look in his eyes when they met hers reminded her of happy times of old. He quickly turned around. She stood rooted to the ground not listening much to Anji. Her eyes were fixed on him. She was hungrily taking him in. She hadn’t known how much she had missed him since she met him. She wished he would turn around once more so that she would be able to look at the beautiful chiseled jaw. How she longed to caress his face. She still remembered the scent of his after shave, the feeling of his rough stubble on her fingers and the way her body perfectly fit in his. The thought of it brought goosebumps on her hands and she stood there staring at him, her lips slightly parted. Anji looked at her staring at Arnav and giggled. She shook her gently.

“Gupta, back to earth.”

Khushi shook off her reverie.

“Uh I am sorry… I... uh…”

“It happens, don’t worry every new girl is smitten by our Raizada. Here he comes, come let me introduce you. Raizada… come here. This is our new recruit Agent Gupta.”

Arnav came closer to Khushi. He held out her hand and said

“Welcome to the team Agent Gupta… You may have all details about me considering you spent the last half hour with Anji here. Anyways nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Arnav… I meant Agent Arnav Singh Raizada…”

Anjali giggled at Khushi’s stammers.

“Oooh… No one ever calls him by his full name.”

“Oh, shut up Anji. Agent Gupta I am supposed to train you. So, you can call me what the others do.”

“Train under YOU….”

“Yes, and don’t look at me like that I am not a monster.”

Khushi shook her head slightly she didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. On one side she would be with him all the day and on the other hand staying close to him brought back memories she knew was too painful to bear. She opened her mouth to say something when Shyam called out.

“Team, we have a Jane Doe on highway 52. Let’s go. Raizada, you, NK, Sharma and Gupta come in your car and Anji, Dr. Agnihotri and I will come in my car. Let’s move team I will tell you the details once we get there”

****

“All right, local police have done the first round of checks. There are no identity cards on the victim. We have one eye witness who watched the woman dying. Anji, question the witness and Doctor what do you think of the victim?”

“Uh… she is unhappily married, has children. She was chased and killed. She might have known the attacker. Her attacker has very good knowledge about medicine and poison. The details about the poison and other specifics I will let you know once I check it.”

Khushi looked at him in awe.

“But how did you…”

Arnav sniggered and Payal gave a small smile.

“Oh, its pretty simple Gupta. You need to observe. See the sindoor mark on her forehead denotes she is married and these black marks on her body shows the husband’s temper. The stretch marks show she has children. Her feet that has only one sandal on shows she was running. Her shocked face shows she knew her attacker maybe recognized him before she died. She has been stabbed thrice and all stab points are vital hence the knowledge of medicine. The bluish marks around the stab shows the weapon was poisoned.”

“Wow Doctor you are really great…”

“Its nothing great. Boss have they found the murder weapon?”

“No not yet… yes Anji what’s the news?”

“The witness says that this woman murmured ‘brown eyes’ to him before she passed away.”

Khushi immediately looked at Arnav her thoughts carrying her back to one New Year’s Eve.

“Wow, Arnav. I never thought you’d take me on a date on New Year’s Eve. You are not that romantic type.”

“Love makes us do crazy things…”

Khushi laughed.

“Now tell me where we are going…”

“It’s a surprise baby”

“Oh, please tell me pleeeese….”

Arnav just leaned over and pecked her cheek and continued driving. Khushi smiled and turned to look out the window hoping she would find some clue. As the car pulled along, she felt herself getting drowsy and fell asleep. Arnav looked at the sleeping Khushi and smiled. This plan of a date on New Year’s Eve was as sudden as the news he himself heard two days back. He had wondered how to break it to her and this plan of a date had suddenly popped in his mind. He was happy as she agreed unsuspectingly. He just hoped his news didn’t disappoint her. As they reached the place, he gently shook her awake.

“Khushi, we are here.”

Khushi woke up and looked around. They were on a cliff overlooking the city. The night sky added beauty to the city lights. She took a deep breath inhaling the night air. She looked at Arnav looking at her and wrapped her arms around him.

“It’s so beautiful…. I am impressed… Now spill it out…”

Arnav looked shocked.

“Come on… you expect me to believe you brought me up here all alone for nothing? You would have taken me to that dumb coffee shop if you wanted to just surprise me…”

Arnav grinned. The coffee shop was were they spent most of their time. He usually picked that for their dates as he was not much of a planner.

“All right, Miss Smarty Pants… I have something to tell you…”

“What is it?”

Arnav took out the neatly folded letter from his pocket and handed it to her. She grabbed it from him and her eyes grew wide.

“Wow this…”

“Yes…”

“You got into the Scotland Yard’s training program. This is awesome, Arnav… This is what you have been wanting so long.”

“Yes, Khushi… I…”

Khushi looked up at him.

“What’s wrong Arnav? Why the sad face?”

“I have to leave next month and I will be gone for over a year.”

“Yes…”

“Will you be okay?”

Khushi looked away as she suddenly felt her eyes burning. She knew in her heart that she would miss him and there was a nagging fear bugging her that just wouldn’t go away. Still it was only a year and he would be back before she knew it. She steadied herself and smiled at him.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay? Are you planning to run off with some foreigner?”

Arnav pulled her closer to him.

“Of course, not… how can I when such lovely brown eyes are waiting for me?”

Saying so, he leaned over and kissed her. The new year dawned as the lovers stood indulging in their passion.

“Brown Eyes? Raizada, Gupta why don’t you guys look around a bit and find what you can from the neighborhood. Going by what the doctor says, someone should have seen her while she was being chased. Maybe someone saw the culprit too.”

Khushi shook out of her reverie and followed Arnav out of the crime scene.

****

“So… whatever the doctor said? Do you think it’s true?”

“Yes.”

“How can you be sure? It can be some other case too can’t it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so.”

Khushi walked behind him thoughtfully.

“Why did the doctor assume the culprit chased her? Maybe the culprit took sandal one with him.”

“Maybe.”

“’Brown eyes’. What do you think? Does the culprit have brown eyes?”

Arnav stopped walking. He had been trying hard to control his temper. This whole ‘brown eye’ thing had already shaken him and brought him the image of the brown eyes that haunted him every night. It was bad enough to be stuck with a newbie but an annoying questioning attractive newbie whose eyes matched with his dreams was getting on his nerves. 

“Oh, shut up, Gupta… Can’t you follow me quietly? Now please stop doubting the doctor’s theory and start asking around.”

Khushi sighed a little and started questioning around. Arnav breathed a sigh of relief.

****

“Okay everyone, its already 6 hours since we got into the case. What is the status? Sharma what have we got?”

“Boss, this woman, Gauri seems to have had a stalker. There are some text threats in her mobile. They have been deleted obviously but I managed to recover them. The strange thing is all these messages seems to have come from someone called brown-eyes. See all the messages end with the same line ‘yours truly, brown-eyes’.”

“Those were her last words too. Maybe the killer was her stalker. Anji?”

“Well, I talked to the husband and children. They don’t seem to have any clue about brown-eyes. I asked them if they had encountered any strangers and the little one said that an old man had been visiting them in their school to give them sweets. He had introduced himself as their mother’s friend from long ago. This had been going on for the past one month and when she mentioned this to their mother, she just brushed it off.”

Shyam grunted impatiently.

“Brushed it off? How stupid? Which idiot would sit still knowing a stranger is talking to their child? I don’t understand these people. No matter the amount of awareness we give they are stupid.”

“Well… I found out from little one’s teacher that the old man had brown eyes.”

“Good job, NK. So, the murder is cold blooded. He had planned for it in advance. Doctor, did you find out what is the poisonous substance?”

“Oh yes… it is found mostly in plants. But to extract it we need specific conditions that can only be done in laboratories. Oh, by the way, this poison is not available in market. I checked with an informer of mine and he said its not available in black either. So, it must have been made by the killer.”

“Hmmm… by the way where is Raizada? Has he not reported yet?”

Payal butted in.

“He needed some details about a car. I gave it to him. I guess he is following some lead.”

“Lead? What…”

Just then the phone rang.

“Boss...”

“Raizada?”

“I think we have a suspect. We need backup.”

****

It was around midnight when the culprit was finally caught and the case closed. The culprit was a doctor. He had met Gauri on a dating site and fallen for her. Then he had wanted to meet her that’s when things started getting weird. She had started avoiding him and finally had cut off all ties with him. Dejected he had researched about her and found she was married. Anger had filled him and he had made an elaborate plan to murder her.

“Finally, I thought we were never going to solve this… How did you manage to nab the culprit, Raizada?”

“Oh… it was Gupta’s work, Anji. She talked to the tea-seller and learnt a man came an hour back and dropped his mask at his dustbin.  When we examined the mask, we found that it was a full-face mask. Only the eyes were uncovered. Gupta deduced that since the victim had only mention the eyes, this mask might have belonged to the culprit. So, we got the car number from the nearby jewelry shop’s CCTV footage and you know the rest.”

“Oh, so it was the newbie’s work. I am glad you joined our team, Gupta.”

“Thanks, Boss… But Arnav… I mean Agent Raizada was the one who got the CCTV footage and all. I guess the credit goes to him too.”

“I know Raizada’s abilities very well… Now Raizada, should I be worried about a call from La tomorrow? Come clean…”

Arnav grinned.

“You know she might have a bit of crush on you if she keeps calling you for trivial things like that.”

“Aargh…. I am going to kill you… oh here comes NK with the ice creams… Come on guys let’s celebrate closing the case early.”

****

Khushi stood at a corner munching her ice cream. She looked at the team having fun and smiled. She had not done so bad as she had feared. Her first case was closed successfully. She had investigated with Arnav and had managed to do it without creating havoc. It was true her heart had fluttered every time she had walked close to him but she had somehow managed to reign in her feelings.

“You know… you did pretty well today…”

Khushii jumped at his voice.

“Arnav… I mean Agent Raizada… I uh… I”

“Relax, Gupta... I am not going to eat you.”

“It’s not that… uh… you startled me…”

“I guess I have that effect on you a lot…”

Khushi smiled shyly.

“Yes Ar… I mean Agent Raizada…”

“You know… you can call me Arnav.”

Khushi looked up surprised as Anji had told her he never liked anyone to use his first name.

“Yea yea… I don’t allow people to call me that but you seen to be comfortable with that name. I guess you calling me by my name is much better than you stammering.”

“Okay Arnav… I will try not to stammer again.”

He smiled at her as she looked up at him. Then as if drawn by some power unknown to him, he moved closer to her. It was as if her eyes were calling him. He slowly lifted his hands to stroke the wayward hair that blocked his view of her eyes when NK called out.

“Raizada… where are you? I want to go home.”

Abruptly he dropped his hand and left her without saying goodbye.

****

Author’s Note: Please ignore the loopholes in the case. Thanks.