"CBI!!" he yells as he bangs open the door with his foot and enters. They had just received a call from the neighbor that gunshots were heard, and luckily he was just around the corner of the street.
"The drawing room is clear" called out Shekawat, his partner.
He walks silently towards the bedroom with gun in his hand and sees that the door is ajar, indicating to Shekawat to be ready he bursts open the door.
"Call ambulance!" he calls out as he bends down to check the pulse of the man lying on the ground.
Shekawat takes out his phone to call, when he says, "No use, he is dead"
Just at that moment they hear sobs of a girl, and he points the gun at the direction from where it came,
"Help please, I was..." she sobbed as she came out from her hiding place.
"Let me see your hands!!" he shouted. She keeps her hand up in the air and continues,
"The person who shot went that way.." she pointed to the door at left and Siddharth nods at Shekawat to check it out.
She starts bawling her eyes out, and Siddharth keeps his gun down and takes a step towards her. He was always awkward when it came down to consoling people. This was the part he hated about his job.
"Ma'am please calm down, I -" he gets cut off as she hugs him surprising him. She keeps her head on his chest and weeps,
"He was my uncle! And...and he died in front of me... he was the only family I had!" she said in between her sobs.
He looks around to get some help, but he remembers that they were alone there. Shekawat comes in and smirks seeing them like that, he coughs and the girl loosens the hug,
"The shooter escaped through the fire escape, but good for us it left us a shoe print."
"Ahh, good! Call the CSI and-"
"Already did!" he grinned happily and indicates to him to look at the girl.
Siddharth reluctantly holds the girl's shoulder and says softly,
"I'm sorry that this happened with you, but I need to ask some questions!"
She nods her head in agreement and he continues,
"So what is your name?"
"Roshni...Roshni Patel"
"Miss. Patel, my name is Siddharth Khurana. I need to ask you few questions related to this incident. Can you answer them?"
"Yes."
"How are you related to the victim?"
"He is not a victim! He was my uncle, my Bablu Chachu!" she sobbed.
"Yeah, I am sorry" he replied back genuinely, feeling guilty of hurting her sentiments.
"What happened?"
"I just returned from my art class and we were talking about our day when suddenly out of nowhere a person in a black hoodie with a white mask on his face came inside with a gun. Uncle tried to reason him out, but he...he just shot him...he missed me and I hid behind the sofa. He heard the sirens and he ran out through that window down the fire escape..."
"So it was a he?" he pestered.
"No.. I don't know.. I couldn't figure it out!" she sniffled.
"Ok, don't worry we will find out who was behind this." he said patting her shoulders sympathetically.
"You need to come down to the office to give your statement!" he continued.
"Yes, thank you." she nodded and puts her hand on top of his.
He removes her hand, and goes outside.
"Let CSI check for prints and other things, have Mohit look at his financial records and once Miss. Patel is freshened up I want to interrogate her once again in the office." he orders Shekawat and leaves.
Interrogation Room
"So, Miss Patel why would anyone want to kill your uncle?" he asked.
"You can call me Roshni.." she replied.
"Yes, Roshni" he nodded and indicates her to answer the question.
"I don't know" she replied blandly.
"Was your uncle having any trouble with anyone? Maybe in the office?" Shekawat intervened.
"Umm... he did mention to me about some arguments between him and Yash."
"Yash?" asked Siddharth.
"Yes, he was his business partner." she replied.
"Arguments over what? Did he share it with you?" Shekawat inquired.
"I don't know, he never said. Maybe it was something related to the new merger?"
"Merger?" Siddharth raises his eyebrows.
"Yes, their company was in talks for a merger with Rocksalt Ltd in the next few months. But Chachu was not excited about it, infact he did not want it! Yash had been insisting since the very beginning.." she whispered.
"Uhh..ok..thanks!" replied back Siddharth as he noted down.
"Do you think he could have killed Chachu over this? But he was like my friend, why would he that to us?" she asked with her eyes wide open.
Siddharth and Shekawat steal a glance at each other and then he nods at him, Shekawat leaves the room. He keeps his hand on top of hers and says,
"You will be surprised to know what people can do when they really want something. Right now, we need to find out clues linking him up to the crime scene! Till then it is just mere speculation."
Siddharth's Cabin
"What did we get on the partner?" he asked Shekawat.
"The girl is telling the truth, they were in for a merger and discrepancies were going on. Just interviewed him! He claims to be at a meeting at the time of murder. And the girl's story checks out, she had just returned from her class. CCTV footage captured her entering the building minutes before the gun fire." he replied while sitting on the chair opposite him.
"What about the shoe print?"
"It was a man's shoe print, but CSI suggests that either the man was too light weighted which our guy Yash is not, or it was a woman wearing a guys shoe!"
"Interesting. Was Mr. Patel having any affairs?" Siddharth asked while sipping his coffee.
"Uhh.. he was" chuckled Shekawat.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's interrogate the girl. She maybe our murderer." grinned Siddharth.
"Not a girl."
"Oh, you mean he was-"
"Gay."
"Does Miss. Patel know?" he asked immediately.
"You seem interested in her a lot." smirked Shekawat.
"It's not what you think!" retorted Siddharth.
"Yea, will see."
"So, who is the guy with whom he was having an affair?"
"Mystery man. Identity unknown." replied Shekawat and continued "But won't be for long. I have my men looking up for it." he gleed.
"BTW, are we not celebrating tonight?" he asked changing the topic.
"Celebrating for what?" pretended Siddharth.
"Oh, Shut up! It's your last case here! You are abandoning us, man! Going away party, remember?" he teased.
"Yes we are. I just hope this case gets solved soon. I can't wait to go back to India, back home." smiled Siddharth.
At Night
"What are you still doing here?" he asked slightly surprised to see her still at the office.
"I was just sitting with the sketch artist to give the description od the hooded man" she said.
"Oh, okay. So, do you want to join us?" he raised his eyebrows anxiously waiting for an answer.
"Where are you going?" she questioned.
"Umm.. just out for a few drinks nearby, it's my going away party."
She just keeps mum and stares at him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I know you are upset over your uncle's death... I.." he said awkwardly.
"No, I know.. Yes I would love to come." she responded.
Bar
"What would you like to drink?" he turned to face her.
"Just Coke." she said.
"Ok, just coke for the lady." he said to the bartender.
They spend the night talking to each other. He gets to know about her, how her parents had died and her Chachu took care of her. She was an Arts student and precisely didn't have a boyfriend. Siddharth was slightly happy when he got to know that. At the end of the night, he dropped her home.
"Thank you, Mr.Khurana-"
"Call me Siddharth"
"Siddharth. Thank you for this."
"Anytime. Good Night." he said as she unlocked her door. She turns around and slowly comes near him and kisses his cheeks.
Then she whispers in his ears, "Good Night, Sid."
She gets off the car and goes inside her house leaving a stunned Siddharth. He raises his hands and touches his cheeks.
Siddharth's Cabin
"So, last night's party was a jam!" grinned Shekawat.
"Yea it turned out to better than what I expected" smiled Siddharth.
"Obviously, since you scored a girl from a case!" teased Shekawat. Siddharth glares at him and then continues,
"Anything new came up on our Mystery Man?"
"Ohh yeaa.. and you will be surprised! You did not see it coming."
"Really? Who is it?" he inquired excitedly.
"Mr. Yash Malhotra."
"What! The partner? They were in a relationship?
"Not only a professional one but a personal one too!" smirked Shekawat.
"Oh boy, this will be fun. Call him down to the" he looks at his smile and says, "You already did, didn't you?"
Shekawat nods and says, "He is waiting to be interrogated by you."
Interrogation Room
"What is this? Why am I being interrogated again? I was at a meeting-" started Yash.
"Yes we heard that." snapped Siddharth as he sat down.
"So how was your relationship with Mr.Patel?"
"We were partners and friends outside of work." he stated mildly.
"Are you sure on the friends part?"
"What do you mean?" asked a slightly confused Yash.
"Well, we have information that you were more than just friends" intervened Shekawat.
"No...that is...a.." fumbled Yash.
"Not a lie. We have pictures of you and him in a-" said Siddharth slowly.
"Yes! Fine! We were more than friends!" spurted Yash.
"Then why did you kill him?" asked Siddharth looking at him in his eyes.
"What? I did not! I told you I was on the other side of the town, how could I ?"
"Alibi's can be bought." yelled Siddharth.
Just at that moment there was a knock on the door, Shekawat opens it and Mohit says, "Sir, I need to speak with you urgently"
He returns back inside and says,
"Mr. Malhotra thank you for your time. You may leave for now." Yash hurriedly leaves the room escaping the glowers of Siddharth.
"What did you do? He would have confessed!" shrieked Siddharth at him.
"No he wouldn't have"
"Why?"
"Coz he didn't kill him. His alibi checks out, there are five people who can place him at the meeting uptown. Along with that we have the company's CCTV footage too."
Siddharth bangs his fist on the table angrily.
"He would have been perfect. He had multiple motives to kill him."
"Yes he had, but someone had an even better one."
The statement catches him by surprise and he asks with a smile, "Who?"
"Mrs. Misha Malhotra." he replied with a grin.
"The wife? No!" said Siddharth.
"Oh, yea!"
Malhotra's Apartment
"How dare you come to my home? I will just call up my lawyer! This is harassment." yelled Yash as he saw Siddharth and Shekawat at the door.
"Oh you may need to call him anyhow, but right now I am not interested in talking to you. Oh there is the right person." he said playfully and catches Misha.
"Nice plan. But not a perfect one." he winked at her.
"What?" she asked confusedly.
"Misha Malhotra, you are under arrest for killing Mr.Patel. You have the right to remain silent." he said in a montone and cuffs her hand.
"What are you doing?" hurried Yash towards them.
"Well apparently, I am just catching the killer."
"What? My wife? Have you gone out of your mind?" he screamed.
"Your wife was spotted entering the building and we have several witnesses to confirm that. Along with that she never left the building from the main door again. And the shoe print we have, it was one of yours. Who better to get hold of your shoes apart from your wife? Leaving a man's shoe print so that she could not be suspected? Brilliant!"
"That is not true! Yes I went to meet him! But when I left he was alive." said Misha frantically.
"But you did not leave, you killed him and then escaped through the fire escape!" said Shekawat.
"No I left from the back gate." she retorted. "Roshni told me that the main gate was stuck so I left from the-"
"You are lying!" responded Siddharth.
"Stop your drama. We found the gun, the mask and the clothes stashed in your office. Your clothes confirmed positive for the gun powder residue and not to forget the shoes which were also in the office, matched that of the one we found in the Apartment. The gun has your prints all over it. Game over, Misha." said Siddharth.
"This is ridiculous, I did not kill him! He was our friend! My husband's business partner! Why would I do that? I went to meet him to talk about the merger, to convince him!" she screamed as the police took her away.
"Maybe because you found out that your husband was sleeping with him. You couldn't take it, that your husband cheated on you so you went all crazy on the poor guy." teased Siddharth.
"What??!! Yash is that.. was that...true?" asked Misha. Yash doesn't look at her anymore and bites his lips looking here and there.
Siddharth's Cabin
"Thank you so much, I can't believe that Misha would have-" she stopped between her sentence and gasps.
"Yes, I'm sorry. But the killer is caught now. Although she is still denying of killing him."
Roshni looks at him nervously,
"Don't worry all the evidences prove that she is the killer. If she would have confessed it would have been better for her, but she will be gone for a long time now." he said keeping his hands on top of hers.
"Siddharth, are we going?" said Shekawat peeping from the door.
"Yes.." he replied back.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Back home from where i came."
"Huh?"
"This was my last case. I'm going back to India tonight." he said sadly looking at her.
"Have a safe trip." she said and leaves.
Airport
"I feel for the girl, she lost her uncle" said Siddharth.
"Yea she did, but did you know now all the properties will get transferred in her name!" replied Shekawat as they walked inside.
"Really? How much?"
"She can spend her entire life, without worrying. That much." he replied with a grin.
"Wow!" said Siddharth.
"I will miss you Siddharth. We were partners for only a short span of time, but you had my back every time." said Shekawat patting his back.
"I will miss you too, buddy. Need to go." he replied hugging him tightly as the announcement of his flight occurs.
He bids goodbye and leaves with a grin.
Plane
The flight was mid air and he was relaxing with his eyes closed, when a girls walks up to his seat and says,
"What would you like to drink?"
He opens his eyes and look at her, he smirks and says, "You."
Roshni giggles and sits on the empty seat beside him. He takes her in his arms and cuddles her. An air hostess comes and asks if they would like to have something, Roshni denies but he tells her in her ears,
"We are rich now, Miss Patel."
"Yes, we are." she responded.
"Yes can we have the best bottle of champagne that you have in your plane?" he asked charmingly. The air hostess blushes and nods. Roshni elbows him and says,
"Stop flirting, Siddharth!"
"Ahh.. baby don't be jealous!" he says and kisses her ears making her giggle further.
The air hostess brings the bottle and glasses for them; Siddharth opens the bottle and pours the drink. The click their glasses together and he says,
"To Mr.Patel for being dead." he chuckles. Roshni nudges him,
"What? Because of him we got our money! And baby, you shot him with perfection! You are my girl!" he winked at her making her blush.
"To Misha for being a bimbo in taking our fall for the murder" she laughed.
"True that" said Siddharth and they take a sip of their drink while eyeing each other.
"I love you." he said.
"I love you too, Sid." she replied and leaned for a kiss.
Hope you understood the story. If you are confused then please feel free to ask me in your comments below. If you find any mistakes, then inform me too 😆 Still hoping you liked this different SidNi. 😉
