Arakshi: A New Beginning (The Journey) Chapter 2 *updated*

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Kiya

@Kiyaa-Rhapsody

Explorer

Posted: 11 years ago

Alrighty hey guys! So I absolutely love Arjun and Sakshi's chemistry on the show, and have read a lot of the fanfics on the site (wow y'all are really uber talented btw!), so I thought I'd give it a shot. I know I'm new to india forums as a whole, so I haven't made any friends on this forum yet, so I thought this'd be a great way to get to know y'all as well! Obviously my writing skills aren't as fabulous as you all, but I'll try my best. :) (please minimize the amount of joote and chapals thrown at me ;))

This story isn't really a fanfic, it's just my interpretation/version of the arakshi journey on-screen. So it'll start with the first meet, and go all the way up to the ETF bomb blast. Of course, the gang won't be blown off to pieces like in the show, so I guess that's where there's gonna be some major changes from the plot. Otherwise, everything else is going to be pretty much the same! Feel free to correct me or provide constructive criticism if you feel I've gone wrong somewhere in the chapters. :)

Also, if someone could make me a banner for this, it'd be greatly appreciated, since I absolutely suck at photo editing. :)

One more thing - this story is gonna be in english, I hope that's okay with you, I'm just more comfortable with writing in english since it's what I speak on a daily basis. :)

A New Beginning
Chapter 1: Chalk & Cheese

Chotu, Shree, and Ayesha were all in the conference room at ETF, chillin' with chillaxed conversations. Those didn't come by very often, when you constantly were in pursuit in finding the new criminal of the day. Of course, it didn't take long for Ayesha to berate them for not working. Annoyed, they turned their ears off to her, and resumed their horror flick they were watching on their macbook before she came to interrupt.

But alas, maybe watching the movie wasn't meant to be on that day for the both of them. For the power had just gone out, and all the lights throughout the building were out.

Ayesha decided to pass the time, and irk a new conversation. This time, what she had to say definitely brought the boys' attention. "Hey guys, Mr. Rathore was in a meeting with the DIG sir today, and he told me that a crime journalist is joining our team. She could really help us out." Ayesha was enthusiastic. Not only was she India's most prolific crime investigation journalist, but was also a girl. Apart from Liza, Ayesha had been sick of being the only female in this whole mancave. About time she got some girlfriends. And Liza was always in the forensics lab deciphering new evidence for cases. She hardly saw her. She was eager to get some girl time.

"Plus, we can finally get the credit we deserve. No matter how much we do, people always say it's not enough."

"Pfft, yeah right Ayesha. Who's actually gonna wanna cover us?"

Ayesha was appalled. Didn't her team members believe in the power of the team? How capable they were? She opened her mouth to object, but Chotu perched up in between.

"The thing is Ayesha, that actions always speak louder than words."

Ayesha gave him a dumbfounded look. Chotu... and smart philosophical phrases. Is he for real? Plus, what did that phrase have to do with anything that she was saying. Of course the new girl would help. She was positive she'd be quite the asset for the team.

"Okay, fine. Let's say you're right. This 'crime journalist' is ready to cover our cases to the media. But even if, he's probably gonna be some old geezer!"

Little did they know, that that 'old geezer' had already entered the premise of the infrastructure, and boy, she was no 'old geezer.' Not even close. On the contrary, she was quite the youngster. But nobody, not even the security noticed her come in, provided all the lights were out.

"And he's probably a nosy man, always crippling for juicy info to berate us in front of the public. Oh, and he definitely and probably wears those thick heavy glasses," he continued.

Boy was Chotu wrong on SO many levels. Because the reporter that HE was talking about... definitely did NOT wear glasses, and was not crippled in any sense whatsoever. She was an breeze of fresh air, an angel - her smile lighting up the darkness of the building.

"And let's not forget, that stupid earpiece microphone thing on his ear." This journalist was different. Instead of earpiece, she wore hoop earrings on her ear. She had the most luscious, perfectly-shaped lips, and the most expressive doe-like eyes ever imaginable.

"I'm sure that's how our reporter's gonna be like," he lamented to Ayesha, woefully regretting the reporter to come. But that reporter was closer than he could think.

In the blink of an eye, all the lights in the room, and the rest of the building, flickered on, illuminating the premise. Chotu and Shree were shocked at the sight before them, the biggest o-faces on their faces ever imaginable. They couldn't believe their eyes. While the boys had their jaws dropped, Ayesha was ecstatic.

She was finally here. And she was DEFINITELY not what they had expected a reporter to look like. Sure, the journalists could be average-looking, but her? No, she was more than that. She was a beauty sent from heaven. Both boys couldn't stop oogling at her, they definitely didn't see this coming. If they knew hot girls like to be journalists, they would have switched careers way back.

In shock, the boys abruptly stood up from their seats to see the girl walking towards them. They were at a loss for words, what would they say?

The girl walked up to the trio with confidence and a smile.
(see below for more)

Edited by teamasadandzoya - 11 years ago

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Kiya

@Kiyaa-Rhapsody

Explorer

Posted: 11 years ago

"Hi. I'm Sakshi. Sakshi Anand." Ex-crime reporter, now a member of the ETF team.

Chotu broke out of his trance. After all, she might be hot and all, but he only had eyes for his 11:30 AM girl. But Shree on the other hand, was a different story.

"I'm that geezer, nosy, and crippling person that will cover ETF, and make y'all look good." She told them. Chotu smiled. He was quite impressed with her behavior, attitude, confidence, and just the plain way she carried herself.

"I was really excited to meet all of you, so I booked a cab from the airport and sped over here." Everyone was quite surprised by her bubbly nature. Why? Because Arjun's hard-shell, always-a-long-face attitude grew on the other members, making them all serious all the time too. But this girl? She was the first to break that barrier. Her liveliness and bubbliness was really very appealing to Ayesha and Chotu.

Ayesha was ecstatic to meet her. She had a feeling they would become great friends. She was the first to welcome her. "Welcome to the team. I'm Ayesha Kapoor." She said to her, extending her hand out to her for a handshake. Sakshi gladly accepted, and shook her hand.

Both girls let go, and Ayesha continued to introduce her fellow teammates. She looked over to Chotu and Shree, but had a dumbfounded look on her face upon seeing Shree's oogling face. It was like his eyes had jumped out of its sockets, peering at the beautiful girl before him. Ayesha felt slightly embarrassed at the childish antics of the boy in front of the new entry into the team. Sakshi didn't mind that much, but still felt weird on the fact that he was just staring at her. He hadn't said a word.

"Psst, Shree." Ayesha nudged him to get him back from cloud 9 and gain his attention, but to no avail. Sakshi became slightly anxious and conscience about herself. Was there something on her face, in her hair?

"Shree!" Ayesha barked this time, in a low voice.

Still no response. This was definitely a case of the lost puppy.

Finally, Chotu managed to jolt him back to reality, and Shree immediately shifted back to Earth, like a dead zombie come alive.

"HUH! Who am I again?" He said, lost and confused as to what had just happened. Sakshi silently giggled at his antics. He was cute. In a totally non-romantic little-kid kind of way.

(see below for more)

Edited by teamasadandzoya - 11 years ago

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Kiya

@Kiyaa-Rhapsody

Explorer

Posted: 11 years ago

"Oh, that's right! Hehe, Shreekant Sen," he finally mustered his courage to extend his hand for a handshake.

Sakshi willfully accepted. "Hi Shree." She told him with a smile.

Wow.. her smile's amazing, Shree thought. He tried to keep the conversation going to hear her voice again, and stammered, "oh, a-aan-annd and th-is-s this is Cho-Chotu." Why was he so nervous? Maybe it was because it was the first time he had seen a pretty girl up this close.

"Hey, Chotu." She smiled, waiving her hand at him in a cordial manner. "Hey so uh Shree, what do you do exactly?"

Before Shree could reply, someone else did for him. And boy, was he aggravated by the response. "Oh him? You know, just our good ol' computer mechanic."

Way to downgrade my title, Liza. Liza went on to sarcastically comment about Shree's job. Sakshi was amused at the developing equation between the two. It was clear that Liza had an eye for him, insulting him just to get his attention. That much was obvious. I mean, c'mon. I wasn't born yesterday.

In fact, she got so caught up in Shree, that she forgot to do the one thing she came to do. "Oh! By the way, I'm Liza." She said to Sakshi, extending her hand out for a handshake just like all the others.

Sakshi was presently surprised, but she wondered why everyone here was so formal with each other. "Hi Liza. Great to meet you."

Sakshi looked at all the wonderful people before her. It was gonna be fun working here with them. "So great to meet y'all. Can't wait to meet everyone else," she said enthusiastically.

Ayesha was the only one out of the four team members, excluding Sakshi of course, who had enough spunk to not be undermined by Sameer and Arjun. She meshed well with them, and the trio had quite a good mutual understanding between them. Together, they were the perfect three musketeers. Hence, she was no less than proud to inform Sakshi of the two most commendable assistant chief of officers (ACP) of the team, and subsequently the police force.

"The only ones left are Rathore Sir, and Arjun Sir." Ayesha was just about to add on, but Sakshi interrupted in an ecstatic manner.

Sakshi's face started to glow and she was more than enthusiastic to hear about Arjun. She knew about his whole backstory, and how the love of his life was snatched away from him in the cruelest way possible. But all she knew were the rumours, the tabloids, the research. She was a crime investigative journalist for heavens sake. And anyways, that was his personal life. The stuff she cared more about was about how he was always able to crack every case. No matter how difficult the case seemed, how dangerous, Arjun would always find the culprit. And she admired that about him. He was fearless.

"OH MY GOD! Arjun? You mean, THE ACP ARJUN RAWTE?" Sakshi slightly smiled and chuckled pleasantly, "I've heard so much about him!"

Ayesha, Shree, Chotu, and Liza were all weirded out by Sakshi's sudden interest in Arjun. And she didn't stop there.

"Where's his cabin?" To say she was eager to meet him, was an understatement.

(see below for more)

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Kiya

@Kiyaa-Rhapsody

Explorer

Posted: 11 years ago

* * *

If you're looking for a happy ending and can't seem to find one,

maybe it's time you start looking for a new beginning instead.

* * *

Arjun was seated in his soft, plush chair (one of the perks of being an ACP officer and having your own cabin), twirling his sharpie pen around his fingers in a clockwise circular manner. Engrossed in deep thought, he was faced behind his desk, away from the front door of the room. Unaware of someone even entering his room without permission, he was surprised to hear a perky, chirpy, and bubbly "Hi" from right behind him. He turned his chair around, his head moving towards the sweet sound he heard, but the rest of his body still in place, not facing the individual. He turned his head, and his eyes looked over to see a fair skin complexion hand, with bracelets and what not on the wrist. Obviously, it was a girl. But he was confused. Neither Ayesha nor Liza wore jewellery on their wrists as far as he knew, but that was beside the point. Who was this lady? And who in their right mind would dare enter HIS cabin without knocking? He hated people that liked to intrude in his life.

He followed the bracelet to her wrist, and then to her arm. Slowly, he looked up to see Sakshi looking at him, carrying a confident smile and a luminescent face. He started to note more details about her. She had black wavy, but not too wavy, hair. And these brown chocolate-coloured doe eyes. She had a beautiful face no doubt. And then he looked back at her hand in front of him. Why was it there? Who was she? He looked back at her, and she still had that 500-watt smile on her lips, her teeth showing off its radiance.

When Sakshi saw that Arjun was just observing her as if she was an artifact, and not shaking her hand as an introduction to first meetings, she urged him on to take her hand, "Hiii."

Her behavior irked Arjun to the core. Legit for the past 15 seconds, not once had her smile faltered. Why? And why was she so eager to shake his hand, who was she! He started to realize he had no choice but to accept her proposal. But he was also curious and hesitant as to who she was and why she was so eager to meet him. In a cautious manner, he extended his hand towards her, wrapping his hand in Sakshi's hand, molding into a handshake. His body's full attention was now towards the girl in front of him, and so his legs, his arm, and the whole rest of his body was in parallel with his desk, facing the front. More specifically, facing the curious girl in front of him. There was something different about this girl.

FINALLY! Took long enough. Sakshi lamented after Arjun finally gave his hand in hers, but immediately perked up to get the chance to talk to THE Arjun. "Hi. I'm Sakshi Anand," she said with a beaming smile.

Ok, and you're here because... Glad the handshake was over with, he started to soften and loosen his grip on Sakshi's hand, but he felt the force of her hand just gripping his hand even tighter in excitement. "And you're ACP Arjun Rawte, right!" She said, ecstatic she was finally meeting the famous Arjun Rawte, the new Sherlock Holmes of this era, in person. And even after she was done speaking, her smile didn't falter. It was still in place, happily in correspondence with her lips.

Sakshi finally let go of Arjun's hand, and boy was Arjun relieved. Who holds a handshake for that long anyway? Irritated, he placed the sharpie pen he had in his left hand on the table, now fully concentrated at the girl in front of him.

He relaxed his back into his leather chair, and asked bluntly in a rude and aggravated manner, "What do you want."

"Me? Oh nothing," She replied nonchalantly. Arjun blankly stared at her, void of expression. How unusual. Usually, his team members would get all anxious and scared, spitting out the truth and getting to the main point. But this girl? She was different. She showed no signs of apprehension or fear. She was bubbly, full of life. TOO full of life. He didn't like it. Plus, if she didn't need anything from him, then why was she here? She was WASTING HIS TIME.

Realizing that Arjun was one of those people who didn't like to fool around, she got to the point. "But the Home Minister wants me to be a part of your team."

That grabbed Arjun's attention in full swing. Home Minister meant business. So if HE sent her here, then she's probably good at whatever she does, which at the time, Arjun thought was a research specialist, a tech expert like Shree, or in forensics like Liza. But he was way far off from what Sakshi actually came here to do.

"Follow you like a shadow, be with you everywhere in every case. You know, let people know what you're doing for them."

Oh, how rich. Cute, he thought, sarcasm seeping through his mind. "A publicist?" He remarked with a slight chuckle, his voice filled with arrogance and utmost sarcasm. He absolutely hated the press. They really knew how to get nosy and into other people's business.

Sakshi felt insulted. She was a crime journalist, not some page 3 celebrity paparazzi. But she wouldn't let him irk her skin so easily. She could already tell he didn't like her bubbly nature. What, kill a girl for tryin' to live will ya. She put a smile on her face, and wittingly replied with an inward smirk, "not exactly. But if you do break the law, do read the newspaper the next day. It wouldn't be surprising if you read an article about yourself."

Arjun had had enough of her countless and meaningless blabbering. Nobody had talked back to him in that manner before.

He lurched forward, entwining the fingers on his hands together, placing his hands on the table and sitting upright on his leather chair. He looked up at Sakshi, "We're not movie stars, ma'am. We're police officers."

"We don't need your media coverage." He sighed and took a breath, "So I think, you're in the wrong place."

Sakshi eyed the man before him intensely. Attitude, Huh. I like it. No one had ever insulted her career before. Some spunk, gotta say. "Okayyy." She peered down to her COACH mini purse situated on her left waist, and opened the zipper. Inserting her hand inside, she pulled out her cellphone, which Arjun eyed with curiosity.

Without any shame, she pointed the cellphone to him and brought it closer in front of him. "Why don't you tell that to the Minister?"

Oh really now. Lady, you have no idea who you're messing with. Arjun immediately became surprised at her gesture, bringing his folded hands up from the table hanging in the air, acting as a barrier between himself and the girl in front of him. Was she ACTUALLY blackmailing or threatening him? No one had had the audacity to actually threaten or complain to the Secretary about him. Why? Because he was perfect in every way. He leaves no stone unturned when solving any case, and honestly, he was quite intimidating. He built up a reputation of himself - a lone wolf, a hard wall around him.

But this girl? She was trying to break down those walls in an instant. Arjun thought she was walking on thin ice, and playing with fire.

Sakshi was having fun with this, he was quite the character. There was a hidden story behind him.

She irked him further, "speed dial number 7." Fear was absent from her voice and face. And she had no reason to be. They were both roughly around the same age, (give or take Sakshi being a couple years or two younger). The only difference was that she was a crime reporter, and he was a top-notch cop. But that didn't scare her. Just because he's a respectable man, doesn't mean that she has to lose her ground in front of him.

But Arjun didn't feel that way. He didn't like the way she was being so informal and upfront with her. She was really pushing his buttons, and he gave her a menacing glare through his eyes, which told her not to mess with him.

But Sakshi was unphased. Guess Arjun Rawte had finally met his match. Who knows what would be in store for these two contrasting individuals.

"Go on," she encouraged him, bringing her phone closer to his proximity.

Arjun kept glaring at her, wondering if she was for real. Did she think this was child's play, all a big prank? Well. It definitely wasn't funny.

Sakshi failed to back down. Both individuals were adamant in getting their way. However, their staring contest and glaring session was interrupted by Sameer's voice, who had just entered Arjun's cabin and was standing by the door.

"That won't be necessary."

Arjun's eyes wandered from the girl in front of him, to the figure standing at the door - Sameer. Sakshi followed Arjun's eyes and noticed Sameer's presence as well, as he walked inside over to them. She retracted her hand back from Arjun's proximity, and comfortably held onto her phone in her hand, now near her own body.

"DIG sir called." He directed his sentence to Arjun, and sent him a glare his way that told him that this was serious matter.

Miffed, Arjun was irritated about why they suddenly needed to be covered by the media. It was strange, they never needed anyone before, so why now? He stopped glaring at the girl in front of him, and looked down at the pen on his desk. It was far more interesting than the hyperactive lady in front of him.

While Arjun was debating thoughts in his head about the director's unnecessary and sudden decision, Sameer extended his hand towards Sakshi in a cordial and friendly manner, unlike Arjun.

"Sameer Rathore." He was glad to have her on board, she'd be a great asset to the team.

Sakshi willingly accepted with a smile and shook his hand, "Hi Sameer."

"Welcome to the team Sakshi. The FAMOUS crime reporter, and now, a part of ETF."

Arjun immediately snapped his head from his desk upon hearing that this Sakshi girl is a crime reporter. Oh, so she's legit. She had credentials. Who would've thought. And if she's got credentials, then that means she's here to STAY. Just great. At least he hoped that she would be serious about her job when it came down to it.

On the other hand, Sakshi was pleased and humbled with Sameer's chivalrous compliments. His aura was quite positive and friendly. "Thanks," she said with a smile and utmost confidence. "It'll be fun working together." She was looking quite forward to working with everyone; each person here had their own unique personality, which made them the best at what they do. And she loved that.

But perhaps there was one person who didn't agree. "Fun with who now?" Arjun barked, interrupting their friendly, optimistic conversation. Who could have any fun with HER? She's all rainbows and roses. GROSS. Yea right, working together... And with her?! So not happening. And working at ETF is NOT all fun and games. You have to be serious, and your life is always in danger 24/7 in pursuit of finding your prized criminal and culprits. Working at ETF was not cut out for her.

Sakshi immediately understood the pessimism in his voice, and retaliated, turning back to him, "good one," she said with a laugh, passing it off as a joke. This guy REALLY needed to lighten up, so Sameer thought. This whole scenario made it seem like Sameer and Sakshi were the normal ones, while Arjun was the outcast and acted as if the word fun was a new word to him.

Seeing as all the introductions were made, and she had to go see the rest of the academy and the infrastructure, she decided to say bye for now.

"Okay then, bye!" She said enthusiastically to Arjun, making a step towards the door.

But Arjun gave no reply. Instead, grateful that she was finally leaving, he looked down at his desk again. And he never felt the need to be cordial with anyone like Sameer. He liked to be a loner, just him and himself, all day, every day.

Hearing no reaction to her quite jubilant and friendly farewell, whether through a witty comment, sarcastic bye, or just a plain bye, she turned back around before she even made one step towards the door, and looked back at Arjun. She said bye once again to him, this time emphasizing it further.

Arjun snapped his head and looked up at her. He sent a menacing glare her way that was definitely more intimidating than the last.

Sakshi's smile faltered, and could tell that Arjun this time wasn't budging. Geez what a freakinggg stuck up Scrooge.

She said a goodbye to Sameer, and Sameer replied with a smile.

Arjun watched as Sakshi walked out the door. He was definitely regretting the day she was born. He could only imagine what her parents had to grow through growing up - he wondered how they even tolerated her excessively bubbly and cheerful attitude. After he left, Arjun went back to his sullen self - looking away from the door, and into space, immensely into deep thought. Now that she was gone, he could finally think straight again.

Sameer watched as Arjun went back to his old self after he left. For one moment, he actually felt that this girl was just what he needed. For the first time in years, he had witnessed someone who had the ability to shake up Arjun. He was sure that this new girl Sakshi would definitely make him move on and learn to live again. Make him realize that there are people in his life that care about him.

Teach him... that the power of love is far greater than the fire for revenge.

Okay! Finally done! :D Leave your comments below! And I'm still new to the forum, so I'm not sure how this buddy/pm system works, so let me know!

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Ritu Dang

@coolRD

Navigator

Posted: 11 years ago

dis ws really nyc..

awsmely writn 😊

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sisodia_shefali

@sisodia_shefali

Voyager

Posted: 11 years ago

welcome and that was nice start 😊
pls do pm me for ur arakshi stories and this one also

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Gurpreetasi7

@Gurpreetasi7

Explorer

Posted: 11 years ago

Wow awesome
Looking forward to read more

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Kiya

@Kiyaa-Rhapsody

Explorer

Posted: 11 years ago

thank you guys so much for reading, liking, and and commenting on the story! I didn't think I'd get any since I'm new, but obviously that's not the case! So thank you tons, means a lot. I hope you like this next bit, I'll keep trying to update as often as I can. :)

Chapter 2

The ETF team had another new case on their hands, and immediately rushed to the crime scene - a rusty, old car dump. Ambulances, police officers, and each member of the team barricaded and sealed the area off so that no person other than ETF and the police force could trespass the area. They couldn't afford anyone tampering with any of the evidence.

Arjun eyed the victim with determination and focus. A girl in her 20s, brown hair, brown eyes, fair complexion. She was found dead at the crime scene in a suitcase. The ambulance workers set her on a gurney, upon which the forensics expert Liza could make more observations and do her work.

"Sir!" Liza called out to Arjun and Sameer after conducting some initial tests on the victim.

Arjun, along with the rest of the team, acknowledged her voice and looked at her, expecting her to convey valuable information about the victim.

"Her body's room temperature and lividity indicate that she probably died around 7-8 hours ago."

"So that means she died around 3-4 pm today." Sameer inferred.

No shit Sherlock - is what anyone would think. But for a super cop like Arjun, this was a valuable piece of information. Every little bit of info could help the team to catch the culprit.

But the question remained... How exactly did she end up in a suitcase?

Shree's voice brought him out of his thoughts, and Arjun looked up from the lifeless victim's body to Shree's face, who was now standing beside him.

"Sir, we still haven't found out who this girl is." He told him, as he looked at the dead body of the victim on the gurney.

Arjun mused over what Shree said for a brief second. "And who called the police?" He asked.

A man in his late forty's spoke up. "I'm the caretaker of this closed down car factory." - Eye Witness

"I work late till midnight. I was just closing this place down, when I noticed a taxi guy pulling out a big, red suitcase out of his cab."

Shree keenly listened to what the eye witness was saying, and started to note down observations on his hi-tech computerized tablet.

"And then I saw a hand lingering outside the zipper of the suitcase. I knew something was fishy, so I called the police."

"You remember the license plate numbers of the taxi?" Ayesha interrogated him.

He nodded, "yes."

"Chotu!" Sameer called out.

"Yes sir," Chotu acknowledged.

"Get the license number of the taxi from him, and find out whose name the taxi is registered under."

"Right sir." Chotu complied.

"Let's go," Ayesha declared, taking off from the crime scene along with Chotu and the eye witness.

* * *

Arjun's eyes wandered around the premise of the crime scene, up, down, to the left, and to the right. Searching for anything that would help unravel this mystery. And that's when his eyes drifted to the large, red suitcase that the eye witness had talked about. He walked over and leaned down on ground level, his feet firmly planted on the ground to investigate the bag further. His eyes gazed all around the perimeter of the suitcase, trying to find clues. And then he noticed a word on the front of the suitcase - BAGGARDIO. He flipped open the suitcase to find more clues.

Sakshi had a camera with a lanyard attached to it, looped around her neck. She noticed Arjun's keen interest in the suitcase out of the corner of her eye, and saw it as a great opportunity to witness the super cop Arjun in action. She walked over and kneeled down, just like Arjun had, on the other side of the suitcase. Arjun and Sakshi's bodies were now facing each other. The big, red suitcase being the only thing coming in between them, and Sakshi and Arjun both respectively eyed the suitcase with keen interest. Unbeknownst to what the other was thinking, both of their thoughts were centered around the brand name - BAGGARDIO.

"Looks quite expensive. A taxi guy can't afford this." He absent mindedly mused to himself.

"Mhhm." Sakshi spoke up, agreeing with Arjun. "The brand's Baggardio. It's got to be worth at least 500-600 bucks."

Arjun immediately looked up from the suitcase at Sakshi upon hearing her voice. He didn't want her help, and although the information she gave him was indeed valuable, he would never admit it. He decided to ignore her presence and looked away, starting to dig into the pockets of the suitcase and opening zippers, pretending like she wasn't even there.

Sakshi watched Arjun as he ignored her and kept searching through the pockets of the suitcase with his hands that had sterile gloves on them, so as not contaminate the evidence. That is, IF he found any.

But Arjun always found evidence, as Sakshi was witnessing. He zipped open the large pocket on the front of the suitcase, and stuck his hand in in an effort to maybe find something useful. And to Arjun's luck, he did. Sakshi watched as Arjun's eyes dilated in surprise as he pulled out a white packet like substance from the bag, and held it between his fingers in front of him, eyeing the possible piece of evidence. But after initial observations of the white packet, his eyes shifted to something that was not related to the case at all, but was still something very important. He just didn't know it yet. And that thing was Sakshi's expressive eyes.

And it was then that Sakshi had looked into Arjun's eyes for the first time, and he had looked into hers. For once, Sakshi turned serious, no longer her bubbly, carefree self. It was the first time that she had seen such intensity in his eyes, which ultimately made her look into his eyes with a similar intensity. She became lost in his eyes, and not because of the cheesy "oh he had the most wonderful brown eyes I had ever seen" look, but because there was a hidden story, a past behind his eyes. She saw an array of emotions behind them - angst, pain, suffering. She was perhaps the only one that could see the hidden pain in his eyes behind his stern, expressive eyes before her.

Arjun intensely looked into Sakshi's eyes. What he saw was pure innocence, bliss, and happiness when he first met her. But this time, her eyes did have that same innocence, but she was no longer jubilant or carefree. The look in her eyes was more intense, more serious; it was like she was trying to decipher something, trying to see something through his eyes. It was starting to make him uncomfortable, but he didn't let it show on his face. Instead, he looked into her eyes with a higher level of intensity, hoping that she would get uncomfortable herself and shy away. So naturally, Arjun was in for a surprise when Sakshi sent a beaming, wide smile his way. Rolling his eyes, annoyed at her bubbly nature, he looked away around the crime scene, anywhere but at her.

* * *

Ayesha and Chotu manage to catch the taxi cab driver red handed before trying to flee from the city, and both the taxi driver and his wife were now in the interrogation room, being interrogated by Arjun and Sameer. Sakshi was watching and hearing everything from the transparent window of the interrogation room along with Ayesha.

"Ayesha, are there any reports of female murders in any police stations nearby?"

Ayesha shook her head. "Nope. At least not in the last 12 hours or so."

Huh. Sakshi looked from Ayesha back to the man in the interrogation room, in deep concentration.

"That means... That girl's parents probably don't live here. If they did, then they would have definitely reported about her death to the police."

Ayesha smiled and looked at Sakshi, impressed with her great analytical skills. "Not bad. You have quite the observation skills."

Sakshi smiled back. "Hehe, I used to be a reporter, Ayesha. After chasing after countless criminals and detectives, you end up thinking like them too." She said, turning back to the window and facing the interrogation room again.

* * *

The whole gang was now back at the ETF office, inside Liza's forensic lab. She said she wanted to tell everyone some valuable and quite interesting information about the victim. They had all gathered around the gurney upon which the victim's body lie, shrouded by a white sheet over her body.

Liza was standing in front of the group, right by the gurney. "There's some interesting stuff, Sameer."

"Like this feather cotton I found in the victim's mouth," Liza told Sameer as she went over to a lab bench nearby and picked up the ETF-labelled zipped evidence bag, in which there was indeed a sample of the feather cotton. This earned a surprised reaction from him.

In fact, not only Sameer, the whole gang was shocked. How on earth did a feather cotton get stuck in her mouth? And where did the cotton even come from?

"Have a look sir." She said, holding the bag in the air with her fingers so that everyone could clearly see the feather cotton. Arjun and Sameer eyed the feather cotton contained within the bag very closely, narrowing their eyes at the white substance. "It's just like the kind that's stuffed in pillows." She told them. "So the possibility of the victim being choked to death by a pillow is quite plausible," she added.

Sameer grew tense, oh god damn, son of a -

Liza's next words brought Sameer out of his thoughts. "Oh and one more thing. Look at this - " she went back to the gurney, and used her fingers (sterile gloves on her hands of course) to slightly turn the victim's neck to the right, making the red, bruised mark on her neck clearly visible to Sameer and the rest of the gang.

Sameer's eyes widened at the sight, and Arjun tilted his head slightly, to peer at the mark so he could get a better idea.

"How did this mark get on her throat?" He questioned Liza.

Sakshi intervened. "No offence, but it... kinda looks like a love bite." Arjun and Sameer glared at her, but the rest of the gang - Ayesha, Shree, and Chotu - had a laugh and started to silently snicker. Love bite, nice one Sakshi.

Liza openly shared a few laughs out loud upon hearing Sakshi's remark. "It's not what you're thinking."

Sakshi's lips curved upward in surprise in a half smirk. Looks like a hickey to me.

"It's actually because of a consistent rubbing of something hard against her neck."

Sameer immediately became surprised, and gained interest in Liza's words. What Sakshi said was irrelevant.

Arjun also found what Liza just said quite interesting, and looked at the mark on her neck again.

"One sec, I have something else." She said to everyone as she briefly stepped aside to her lab bench again and came back with a ETF plastic, zipped evidence bag in hand. She pulled out an extremely thin, thread-like substance, and held it in the air with her sterile glove-coloured fingers for everyone to see. To everyone but Liza, it looked like a string of yarn or something, except that it was extremely thin and white in colour.

"What's that?" Shree enquired.

"This is a piece of hair from a horse." She said, as a matter of fact.

Shree and Sameer were surprised and confused at Liza's finding. What did this have to do with the case?

"So what you're trying to say is that the victim loved to horseback ride in her free time." Sakshi suggested.

"Not exactly." Liza replied. "What I mean is that this girl was a violin player."

Arjun's jaw immediately dropped, his eyes wide with shock.

Liza briefly came back with a violin and bow in hand. "You see this violin here?" She brought the violin up to her neck, situating it at her neck and shoulder as if she was in a stance to play, "the place where this violin is touching my neck and shoulder, is the exact same place where this girl has that mark."

Arjun looked at Liza's stance with the violin at her neck and shoulder, and then narrowed his eyes at the mark. Indeed, it WAS at the same place as the violin's spot on Liza's neck and shoulder.

Sameer looked at the mark too. She's right! Interesting.

When the gang looked back at Liza, she no longer had the violin at her neck and shoulder, but instead the violin and bow were in her hands. Liza explained further, "and this only happens as a result of practicing violin for a prolonged amount of time."

Chotu was soaking all this in, but one thing just didn't make sense. "And what about that horse hair?"

Liza had an answer and explanation for everything, as Chotu was just about to witness. She lifted the bow in her hands high in the air so that everyone could see it more clearly. "You see the string on this bow?"

Everyone zoned their eyes in on the white string on the bow, and noticed that it looked exactly like the string sample that Liza had shown them earlier. "It's made of horse hair," she told them, reading their thoughts. Everyone had shock written on their faces in response.

Sameer rubbed his hand under his chin in concentration, looks like we finally might have a lead.

"Shree." He called out to him. "Distribute this girl's photo and description in local police stations."

Shree looked at Sameer, absorbing his instructions. Sameer added, "oh, and go enquire into places like schools, bands, and recording studios. Someone's bound to know this girl."

"On it." Shree replied.

While Sameer was giving instructions to Shree, Arjun was deep in concentration, grim lines across his face. There were still so many unanswered questions to solve. This case was getting more and more complicated by the hour.

* * *

Shree had done a successful job of tracking down the music academy of which the victim, was a student of. The whole gang was now in the principal's office of the academy. They were standing around his desk, while the principal was standing behind it right by his leather chair.

Sameer decided to approach the matter first. "There's a student here that goes by the name of Reema Mehta. Recognize the name?"

"Yes, of course!" He gladly complied. - Varun Kumar: Principal & Teacher of the Music Academy

"She's a very bright girl. In fact, she's the brightest of her batch!" He said enthusiastically, seeming like he was quite proud of his student. "But she didn't attend classes today. Wonder why." He mused.

Ayesha cut right to the chase. "Last night, she was... murdered."

Varun's face became pale with shock, as if he had lost someone quite dear to him. Arjun looked at Varun, and the paleness of his face didn't go unnoticed by him. Teacher's pet scenario maybe? Or is there more to this than what meets the eye?

Something's fishy here, and Arjun wouldn't rest until he found out the main culprit, no matter what.