Crime Control Squad (Case #1 Hit and Run) Last Chapter 28 Pg 19 - Page 12

Chapter 21

Vedant stepped out of the lift and turned right to his office. It was 1.00 am. He grabbed his keys from his pockets and turned the lock open to get flatly stricken by the pitch darkness of the squad room. He stood by the door for a few minutes unable to take any step further. Darkness was pounding him hard. He struggled to fight back. He had always struggled to fight that fear of darkness. His mind wrestled to not let his past breach his thoughts. He patted his shirt pocket for his mobile to use the built in torch but cursed himself for having left it in his car. He closed his eyes for composure but was immediately faced with even more darkness, perhaps the particular and the only kind of darkness he wasn't afraid of. He carefully moved inside the squad room towards the switch board. He banged on all the switches at once lighting the room powerfully. He could feel the light filling room with the blinding brightness which lightened his eyelids. He safely opened his eyes and squinted to adjust his sighting to the sudden flash of light. The room was deserted as he had expected. He had sent a message to Sagar around 11pm to shut shop as he realised he would be too late for a discussion. He had decided to go home and put his worn out mind and body to rest when he remembered the significant task he had lined up for himself- to go through the case files of Kiran rape case, letter by letter. He looked around the tremendously messy room. His team had never learnt the art of keeping the files and other things in order and definitely never heard of something called dust bins. They had always liked to play treasure hunt especially without any clues to guide them to the destination. He had no clue who had the case files. He tried hard to remember who had looked into the files, to whom he had vested the responsibility. Was it Heera or Ruby? It must be one of the girls, he thought. He knew about the boys in his team. They lacked giving attention to detail while reading case files, something he had comprehended within a few cases from the team's inception. He walked to Heera's table and scurried the pile of files bundled in one corner. Having found the file he needed, he moved towards the discussion board unintentionally and stared at all the details he had docketed. There was still some space left in the white board. He wished he wouldn't need to fill that gap up. He had two prime suspects- Samar and Tejesh. Vincent had already confessed of being the accomplice. He was sure Pragat Chandra and New Life Group had something to do with the murder too. There was one another person, who had been out of radar for sometime, who could shed light over everything. Mina Singh. She was definitely hiding something and probably it was time to force her to come out with the truth. It was a very important day for him and his team tomorrow. He realised how tired he was. He had to get some sleep to steer ahead with his investigation tomorrow. Files in one hand, he reversed the process. He switched off the light and locked his door behind him leaving the room again in pitch darkness.

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Vikram felt suffocated. He was drowning in guilt. He wanted to push himself up but something pushed him down strong. Shots of gunshots rang in his hear continuously. He desired to scream out to let off the pressure building in his brain. He was screaming inside his mind which didn't help. Thoughts of the dead and the injured and him being the cause ached him badly. Images of blood and flesh caused the bile rising in his throat. He knew he couldn't change what happened, but he wished it hadn't happened at all. He had the chance. In spite of knowing what he was doing was wrong, he went ahead. He realised how his pride and ego influenced him to take those wrong decisions. He remembered another time in the last few months where he was in a similar position, though not so grave, and his boss advised him to let off his pride and call for help no matter he needed them or not. Protocols were set for a reason, even though not every rule was justified.

Shipa entered the room and saw Vikram lost in thoughts with his hand involuntarily combing his princess daughter. A smile caught her face.

Positioning herself on the other side of her daughter, she tried reading her husband's mind. It wasn't a difficult task for her as she had been doing that for years now. Though Vikram would deny the fact, Shilpa understood and read him like a pre-school alphabet book. Not that he was so easy to comprehend, but that she was an expert in it. She placed her hand over his to get his attention.

"I know what you are thinking. Whatever happened, it was extremely bad," Shilpa's voice was soft and compassionate.

"And I am responsible for it. I could have stopped it..."

"Yes, you could have. Yes. You are responsible," Shilpa's tone didn't change. Vikram was surprised at the agreement. He expected his wife to console him and convince him that he wasn't completely at fault. The guilt and grief was killing him and his wife was sealing it with her stamp. "What do you want me to say, Vikram? That you weren't wrong. You know it yourself- you made a mistake. A huge one. Your actions had caused this havoc. Face it. Let's face it together. Own your mistakes, Vikram. Learn from it. Don't run away from it. Mistakes do happen. In your case and profession, every mistake proves costly. That's it."

"But people have died because of my notorious decision making. How can I live with that in my conscience?"

"You have to learn to live with them. No other way," Shilpa declared the radical truth. "You have told yourself before how the faces of the dead victim's never leaves your mind. Add the current ones to them. Don't sit and feel sorry for yourself, Vikram. Go out and take responsibility. If you are punished..."

"I will be and I deserve it," completed Vikram. "You are right. As much as I feel guilty for my actions, I am solely responsible for it. Sitting down like in a funeral isn't going to help anyone. But...I can't..." All the sudden energy and realisation vanished.

"It will take some time."

"What will my team think about me? I was deemed as the second-in-command, next to Boss. My courageous decisions were well appreciated. I was highly respected for my brutal but truthful actions. Now..."

"You can't assume what your team would think of you, Vikram. Meet them. Know it directly from them."

"How can I face them?"

"Imagine you are in their position and someone from your team had acted irresponsibly. What will you do?"

Vikram gave a short laugh. "I would feel disgusted to meet them."

Shilpa shook her head. "You aren't imagining properly then. Get some sleep. Meet your team tomorrow."

"I am suspended Shilpa. I don't even know if there is a team actually. The Commissioner could have very well dissolved the team because of my actions."

"That's how much you trust your boss, is it? I have met your boss just once but from what I can tell, he is a ruthless guy. He may not look like one but he is. He can get things happen the way he wants. I am sure your team is still alive."

"I won't be welcome. Boss wouldn't like it."

"I bet he wouldn't," laughed Shilpa. "What about the others? Vikram, I have never seen you attached to any other team like the one you have now. I am sure you will feel better after seeing and talking to them."

Vikram sat silently.

"The current situation isn't anything that you haven't faced before. Yes. It's more grave now. But still- Vikram Bhagat doesn't sit defeated. He is known for his immense courage and bravery. Don't let that image fall down."

Vikram felt a slight better than he was before. He knew it 100 percent that his wife was right. His wife was never wrong. He had to fight against his thoughts and put his actions back in the past. He had to ready himself to face the consequences, the worst consequences. He was happy that his wife understood him. He wished his team would do that too, especially when he considered them to be his second family.

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The relentless rain whipped the city the following day too but the initial importance it received faded away. It had become a part of everyone's life. People had gotten used to living with the lashing rains. Umbrellas, rain coats and jackets were out and the dirty and muddy roads didn't seem to trouble anyone anymore.

Vedant was surprisingly the last to enter the squad room on the early gloomy day. He had been reading the case files till the early hours of the morning and fell asleep, the much needed sleep he wanted to take. It was 8.00 am by the time he parked his car in front of the building. Meeting people, exchanging the fake niceties took him 20 minutes to reach his office. His team was already at work, everyone silent, engrossed on their computers and files which seemed too odd, especially when Sagar was in the room.

"What's wrong?" Vedant asked as he slumped the case files on Heera's table and sank on the chair in front of the discussion board, his usual place. Silence replied as answer. He stood up and looked at his team who still had their eyes on their files. "Heera?" called Vedant. She was the sincere officer of his- the sincere class leader of the team.

Heera couldn't meet her boss' eyes. "Sir...Vikram..."

"Yes...About Vikram." Vedant had completely forgotten to give updates on Vikram's status in the team. "You all know what happened. I am not going to explain on that. But right now- Vikram is suspended from all duties and would have to face an inquest. If cleared, he would be back in our team. But yes- it would definitely take a few months."

Sagar shrugged strangely. "Uhmm. What do you think Sir? Vikram is guilty?"

"Doesn't matter what I think. Evidence and proof would only matter. But till then, Vikram is off this case. Got it?"

"What if he calls and asks for updates?" asked Charith blinking like a crook.

Vedant wasn't someone to miss the strange behaviour of his team. He stared at them, a look which they were very well aware of, the look he gave when they made a complete mess of something.

Vikram stood up from behind Sagar's chair and gave a sheepish smile. The entire team had their breath halted as they watched closely at their boss for a reaction.

"I am pretending as if I hadn't seen anyone. But I can't pretend every day, if you know what I mean." Vedant concealed a smile. He was somewhere glad to see Vikram.

Vikram's sheepish smile was transferred to everyone in the team.

"Let us come back to the case, shall we? I will deal with the invisible intruder later," Vedant said looking at Vikram. "Seeing that we are all still together and are a team, it wouldn't take much of your brains to understand that our team still lives, at least till the end of the case."

"Which means- we still have the case," said Sagar heroically.

"Oh yes. The deadline stays. We have to report if we have the killer or not tomorrow morning, around this time."

"24 hours then," said Charith.

"Yes. In addition to finding the killer, we need to have strong evidence to support our arrest."

A knock on the open door of the squad room resulted in 7 necks turning towards the door. A women in a neatly pressed orange and white cotton salwar kameez stood unsurely, right shoulder lifting her designer hand bag and her left hand carrying few files. Charith immediately walked towards her with a school-boyish smile and helped her with the files.

Vedant realised his team had never met Dr. Shakti Raghavan. He had been the only one in contact with her during the cases in the past three months. Few of them had spoken to her over the phone, but none had met her.

"Lion and his lioness?" murmured Sagar naughtily watching Vedant offering her to come to the front. Heera nudged him to stop his comments.

"Team! This is Dr. Shakti Raghavan. Forensic expert. She had been in charge of most of our cases in the past few months. Since we are working on a deadline and forensics play a huge role in the evidence, I requested her to be present for our meeting."

"Hello," Shakti greeted everyone politely. "I was to come at 11 am only but since I had all the files ready, I thought of coming in early. Hope I am not much of an interference."

"Not at all," replied Vedant immediately causing Sagar to smirk. "We are just about to start the meeting. I'll just introduce everyone. Agastya and Charith are our analysts. Ruby is our psychologist. Sagar and Heera are our investigating officers."

"Senior Investigating Officer," corrected Sagar.

Vedant ignored. "And...that's Vikram at the back behind the table, Senior Investigating Officer. But just forget you had seen him here when you go out," said Vedant. Shakti understood as she nodded with a smile. Shakti took a seat at the table and read the discussion board.

"Alright! Before I go to the case, I'll just inform a bit about my meeting with the Commissioner, Mayor and the Head of Drugs Control. The fate of our team resides with the output of this case. If we fail, not only the case goes out of our team, there would be heavy strictures employed. Budget cuts, very few cases and probably even cuts within the team."

"You mean..." Charith began.

"There won't be any sack but some might be transferred to a different team, that's all. But I would do my best to stay put with this team. So keep those worries away. The Head of Drugs Control swears that his team isn't responsible for the operation and it's Vikram who must have forced his friend..."

"But it was him..." shouted Vikram from the back.

"I know...We can discuss that later, Vikram. I am just telling what happened to keep you all updated. Both the Commissioner and the Mayor aren't happy with the ways of our working and questioning. From now on, all enquiries on MNCs and politicians have to be routed through the Commissioner..."

"Even a friendly chat?" asked Sagar.

Vedant smiled. "Now it's up to us to conduct all our enquiries as friendly chats. Anyway, you don't need to worry about that. I'll take care. I would also like to add that- even if Vikram had shot at those civilians and if they had died because of Vikram, we would still stand by his side. We do understand the pressure situations and how we end up making irrational decisions. So Vikram...We are all there with you."

Vikram felt overwhelmed. He didn't expect the turn of subject towards him. "Thank you," he managed.

"Though I do wish you had informed me about the operation," said Vedant under his breath, loud enough to tease his subordinate.

"Sir..." retorted Vikram desperately, leading to a laughter in the room.

"Coming back to the case...We have 24 hours and a huge line up of suspects, witnesses and evidences which need to be sorted out."

"Can we go out of the case for a moment," asked Shakti.

Everyone looked at her intrigued.

"Ballistics report!" she remarked. "Your boss had asked me to fast-track the results. Though the entire report isn't ready, initial report suggests something really interesting. All the bullets were recovered from the scene and the area. Bullets were recovered from the victims too. A total of 43 bullets were fired by the two suspects and the 7 operatives. But- the revolvers acquired from these 9 people accounts to only 42 bullets fired. One bullet wasn't fired by any of these people or say it wasn't fired from the guns which were presented. It was easy to find that bullet because it wasn't from a revolver but a rifle."

"Which means...there was someone else too? Someone who could have fired?" suggested Sagar.

Vikram said, "One thing has been troubling me, though I waved away as nothing before. I was talking to the two suspects to surrender when the shot was fired. We assumed it was the suspects and began firing back. What if the suspects actually didn't fire at us but it was someone else...may be someone from the outside."

"Possible. But that's not our investigation. It's for a different team. Dr. Shakti, could you please plant this idea on the officer in-charge of the other team?" asked Vedant casually.

"Sure! But again, that doesn't keep away the fact that your officer did fire his gun," reiterated Shakti.

"Yes yes, I know. Back to the case," replied Vedant a little peered at the fact. "What do we have new?"

"Samar's family...or say...Rajesh's family. We interviewed them. No leads to move with but theories can be yarned," said Sagar. "The little boy Amar is Rajesh's son not Samar's. Shulya, Amar's mother, was forced into marriage with Rajesh, who left her and the kid after one year. Samar had been looking after them and is apparently very fond of Amar."

"Shulya said Samar used to like her a lot and he was looking after them not out of pity or guilt but because Samar felt he had the chance to get her back," said Ruby. "From her talk, I feel, Samar isn't as notorious as Rajesh, but he isn't the innocent soft man we had pictured him to be."

"What about brothers' love? Would Samar do anything to save Rajesh?" asked Vedant.

Ruby answered after a thought. "In my point of view, No. Samar might be concerned about Rajesh but not to the extent of ruining his own life. But at the same time, he might do anything for Shulya and Amar."

"To impress her probably," commented Sagar.

"So Samar could have taken blame for the rape case, not to save Rajesh but to save Shulya and Amar? Why?" asked Heera.

"Our usual old theory- Blackmail. Shulya's and Amar's life could have been threatened..." said Sagar.

"By whom?" asked Heera.

"By our unknown mastermind," replied Vedant. "Let's assume that Samar was blackmailed into accepting the blame for the rape. Dr. Shakti...Is there any evidence of Samar's presence at the rape-murder scene?"

"No," replied Shakti. "The initial evidences collected have nothing to suggest Samar was in the scene but later evidences were included which strongly pointed at Samar's presence."

"How on earth does all this help us with the current case?" asked Sagar. "The rape case is a gone case. Shall we focus on the current one?"

"We may never know, Sagar," replied Vedant. "Also...Don't we think the man behind the cover up of the rape case is involved in Veerkaran's case too?"

"Ok..." Sagar was exasperated. "So we are going to find the man behind the cover up and tie him with the current murder? Isn't that going around too much to solve the case? We don't have the time."

"I think Sagar has a point," supported Vikram. "We know there was a cover up years back. But solving that case would be more difficult than the current one. Don't we have anything at all from the current case to help us with our investigation?"

"We don't have evidence or suspects for our mastermind. All we have is people to interview," said Heera.

"Human resource is the best resource," said Sagar.

"Time is the most valuable resource which we don't have," shot back Heera.

"Every moment is precious. Anything can happen any moment," replied Sagar with a victorious wink.

"Enough you two!" intervened Vedant. "We are just discussing all the possibilities. We are not deciding on anything now. As of now, we know Samar probably took blame for something, had meetings with Veerkaran and is again taking blame for the murder. We are attempting to establish a theory as to why he is taking blame. I am sure it's not his hobby. According to Ruby, he might not be doing this for his brother, but for something else."

"There is also a high possibility that he doesn't know who blackmailed him or is blackmailing him. He could have never met him and there could be some messenger service in place," Vikram shared his idea.

"Could be. We have to get Samar to talk. Why did he kept meeting Veerkaran? What did they talk about?" Vedant asked out loud. It wasn't a direct question.

"Only Samar can answer that," said Sagar.

"No filmy theory?" asked Vedant.

"I can try one," volunteered Charith immediately. He wanted to make his presence felt. "I feel Veerkaran knew about the cover up and wanted Samar to come out with the truth and reopen the case. Samar probably refused to do so and without his support, Veerkaran couldn't reopen the case. Then knowing about his wife being blackmailed, Veerkaran stopped his visits."

"So the meetings were simply to persuade Samar?" asked Sagar.

"May be Veerkaran was bringing some message to Samar from the outside?" asked Vikram changing the entire scenario.

"You mean hero is the villain? Victim is the suspect?" asked Sagar.

"I don't know. I am just opening up all the possibilities, just like our Boss said," replied Vikram.

"Is that possible, Ruby? As a person, would Veerkaran have done that? Helping Samar in some way." asked Vedant.

"No. From what we have heard and read about him, he is definitely not someone who would acquaint with someone like Samar," answered Ruby.

"What if, Veerkaran thought Samar was innocent and was trying to help him and then realised Samar wasn't as white as he thought him to be and stopped his meetings?" asked Vedant.

"Just like us? Veerkaran painted a wrong picture of Samar," said Sagar.

"I think Sharad and Mina can shed more light on that. Agastya, when is the meeting?" asked Vedant.

"In another two hours time. Both will come down here as you had requested," replied Agastya who spoke for the first time.

"Good. Would save us time. Charith! What do you have?" Vedant turned to his next story.

"Still with the diaries. But I can safely and confidently say that Veerkaran met someone whom he never expected to see,"

"When?"

"No idea."

"Is that good or bad?" asked Sagar.

"I don't know. It's just a point. It could be within this month or this year. This guy makes random points everywhere. Veerkaran never mentions meetings with people elsewhere, hence I thought it must have been something really important. It might not be anything. Anyway, I'll cut it short. After going through nearly 10 years of diaries and notes, nothing actually stood out which I felt would be useful for our case. But few things about our victim - he wanted to meet his son in the USA which he never did, he won some special award in the Army which he refused to take and he wanted to go back to his village and live the rest of his life outside the city."

"Guess no one can help him realise his wishes now," said Sagar with a pinch of sadness.

"You are right. Nothing seems to help us with our investigation," said Heera. "Still great work."

"Good job Charith! It must have been hell to go through all those personal notes," appreciated Vikram.

"We have got Tejesh who is definitely one of the murderers. We might get to know the rest of the truth from him directly. Honestly, we can save all this trouble by questioning Tejesh directly. But I am not sure if we would be able to get the truth out of him within the day. Permission to get to talk to him itself would take half a day. I have put in a request. But let's see," said Vedant.

"We have to find the bald man and the jacket man," said Heera.

"I think I may have the guy you are looking for," said Shakti. She had been thoroughly enjoying the exchange of thoughts and ideas among the team. "Agastya had sent me the profile of 9 men whom you guys call ATM guys, I assume. Anyway, one of the 9 guys' DNA matches with the flesh recovered from Veerkaran's nails. He was definitely one of them who had been there during when Veerkaran was murdered. To top it all, he is bald. So I think you have got your bald man." Shakti passed over a file to Veerkaran. She told the name to Agastya who effortlessly took a printout of the bald man and pasted it on the board.

"Michael," Agastya gave the details of the bald man. "No surname registered. Caught for drugs 5 years back. Attended the rehabilitation course arranged by New Life Group. Has been clean from then. No complaints registered against him after that."

"We have our second murderer," said Sagar looking at the picture intently.

"Fax his picture to all the police stations and teams, Agastya," instructed Vedant. "That leaves us with the mastermind."

"The hair we recovered from the murder scene- Samar's- that's definitely been cut. It didn't fall voluntarily. Your guess could be right. Someone could have dropped those hair to frame Samar," said Shakti.

"Can this mastermind be Rajesh?" asked Vedant.

"Mastermind and Rajesh?" laughed Sagar. "Come on. He renamed himself as Mukesh Ambani. How could he be the mastermind!"

"That's a point," seconded Heera. "I think Rajesh wouldn't fit our story as the mastermind."

"I agree too. He isn't a leader material," said Ruby.

"He could easily have been blackmailing Samar to take blame, else he would kill Shulya and Amar," pointed out Vikram.

"I don't see Samar as a person to be intimidated by his own brother. I don't see him taking instructions from him," said Ruby.

"Our mastermind is still Mr. Unknown. But he is definitely someone who has a personal grudge against Veerkaran. That could be due to the rape case or due to something else totally," said Vedant.

"It has to be connected to the rape case somehow...since we have Tejesh and Samar involved. It can't be a coincidence," said Heera.

"Can we say Rajesh aka our Mukesh Ambani isn't involved in this case at all? He isn't part of the accident scene," said Vikram.

"But he belongs to AC Constructions. He could have been at the murder scene," said Vedant.

"But his last sighting is weeks back. How are we going to find him?" asked Heera.

"These tasks would be time consuming. Let's set it aside. What else do we have?" asked Vedant.

"Sorry Sir..." interrupted Agastya. "Isn't it weird that he hasn't been sighted for weeks? There are no hits in any of the travel modes- trains, buses or airplanes. Even if he hadn't registered and taken a government bus, there isn't a single person who seemed to have seen this guy."

"What are you implying Agastya?" asked Sagar.

"I feel Rajesh is still in the city and is in hiding. And if he is hiding, it means he has something useful to hide. I think we shouldn't alienate this task."

Vedant gave a little thought before he agreed. "But you have to follow up on this."

Agastya nodded. "Yes. There is also Veerkaran's phone which has been recovered from Tejesh's room. Dr. Shakti was kind enough to ask her team to send all the details saved in the phone- Messages, Pictures and Contacts. He doesn't use a smartphone for one." There was contempt in Agastya's tone. "Not many pictures as you know what kind of camera these non-smartphones have. Nothing interesting on contacts too. Mostly his colleagues and friends. Probably few relatives as well. Something interesting in Messages though."

"What?" asked Sagar when Agastya lingered.

"Not having pictures in your mobile is Ok. But not having any messages- ANY messages is really weird. I mean not even those useless promotion ones. Not only his inbox is clear, all his sent messages and conversations are deleted too."

"Someone definitely wanted to destroy those messages. Veerkaran knew some truth and he was silenced," said Heera.

"What if he knew who the mastermind was?" asked Sagar.

"Could have. But what messages were deleted? Did Veerkaran share his knowledge with someone else. If so...who? That person would know the truth and his life might be at risk too," said Vikram.

"I am trying to retrieve all the deleted messages from the phone now, but it would take some time," informed Agastya.

"There is one more thing," Shakti spoke. "We had retrieved a woollen fibre from the accident scene of Veerkaran's, precisely from his bike. Same kind of fibres were found at the rape-murder crime scene too. The report tells, the fibres were taken from the nail in the leg of a table. It's impossible to say it's from the same source as there is a gap of nearly 5 years. But it's strange how similar fibres are found at both the scenes. I have ordered for a test. Results in the evening."

"Thanks Dr. Shakti," said Vedant. "Any news from the surveillance team?"

"No Sir. Everything is quiet. Lohan, Shulya and Amar are in the house at the travel agency building and haven't come out since their interrogation. No one have met them too," informed Sagar.

"Good. So what do we have? And how are we going to find our mastermind?" asked Vedant eyeing his team.

"What about our knight in shining iron and steel? Pragat?" asked Sagar.

"Without evidence we can't touch him," said Vedant.

"We can touch his son, can't we?" asked Vikram with a mischief.

"That we can," said Vedant with a smile. "Sagar, Bring Akhilesh in...Create a fuzz around it so that we have his dearest daddy running in all by himself."

"Pragat is linked to every suspect. Wouldn't that make him our prime suspect? Can't he be our mastermind?" asked Heera.

"That would mean he should be behind the rape murder also," said Ruby. "A man of his power. There is every possibility that he might be involved in all this."

Vedant took the marker to write down the agenda of their on the last day of their case. "Leaving out Samar, Tejesh, Vincent and our new bald man Michael, we still have our hunt for our mastermind. Pragat can be one. May be even Rajesh. Else...we have someone whom we haven't even laid our suspicious eyes on. In that case, it has to be someone from New Life Group or Jeetenge Hum Party or..."

"From his army days," said Charith.

"Good. Yes. Three possibilities. We strongly know our killer had some high personal grudge against Veerkaran which is evident in the brutal way he was killed. He definitely had enemies which someone other than Veerkaran should know. Possibly his family or his friends and colleagues. We need to know about that."

"Sir...Just a thought," interrupted Heera. "Our line of investigation is going on right. We are trying to find the motive behind the killing. What about the means? How did they carry out this murder? If it's all planned, then someone should have been watching Veerkaran and his movements. They should have known Veerkaran was going out to the hospital and they carried out their plan."

"Shall we check the CCTVs in the housing area?" asked Agastya.

"May be his neighbours might have seen something," suggested Ruby.

"What's the matter?" asked Vikram who noticed Vedant sitting still with his eyebrows furrowed together in deep thinking.

"I may be wrong but listen carefully. Veerkaran received a call asking him to come to the hospital. His car didn't start and hence he borrowed his neighbour's bike to travel. Correct?"

"Yes," said Vikram.

"Sagar, when you interviewed Vincent. What did he say? What did he say about Tejesh giving him money for the drugs?"

"He said- he was desperate for drugs. Tejesh didn't give him for free and asked him to do a job in exchange. He asked him to bring a car and smash a bike away at the junction road at a particular time."

"Correct!" exclaimed Vedant. "How did the murderers know beforehand that Veerkaran would definitely be travelling in bike and not his car? He doesn't own a bike. He always uses his car. Yet, Vincent was asked to smash the bike way before the incident happened! The murderers already knew Veerkaran would be travelling in bike. Their plan was to make Veerkaran travel in bike."

"You mean to say, somebody sabotaged Veerkaran's car so that he would borrow his neighbour's bike?" asked Heera.

"Exactly. Someone from the killer's group had access to the house."

"But Sir...How could they have been sure that Veerkaran would definitely borrow the neighbour's bike and not someone else's car?" asked Sagar.

"We have to talk with the neighbours and Veerkaran's relationship with them. May be Veerkaran was close only to his bike neighbour...what's his name?"

"Hariprasad," said Charith.

"Yes. Talk to the neighbours Charith. See if anyone had seen anybody loitering on the streets near Veerkaran's house. Talk to Hariprasad too and ask him if he had lent his bike to Veerkaran before or if Veerkaran asked him for the bike that night."

"Yes Sir," replied Charith. Another day at the field. He was excited.

"Agastya! I want the manager in-charge or any higher authority of New Life Group in my office as soon as possible." Vedant continued his allocation of jobs. "Sagar! Bring in Akhilesh Chandra and question him on how the murders happened in his construction site and why he had keys to the locked site? Heera! I want you to be with me while I question Mina and Sharad. Agastya...Use your genius brain and get me some good records to corner Pragat. Phone records won't be enough."

"What about me?" asked Ruby.

"I want you to go through all our interview transcripts- Samar's, Vincent's, Shulya's...all the reports and see if we are missing out on something," Vedant paused thinking. "Meet Samar's ailing mother. See if you can get something out from there."

"I will continue with my tests but forensically it's going to be very difficult to put your mastermind on the scene," said Shakti.

"Sir...Media is here," informed Agastya placing down the receiver of the intercom which he took even before it could ring out completely. All eyes were on Vikram. Vikram instantly remembered the mess he had created.

Vedant placed down the marker and adjusted his appearance. "Leave it Vikram. I'll handle it. You can do me one help though. I want you to meet the family whom Veerkaran had gone to meet at the hospital. I want to know who called Veerkaran that night."

Everybody pondered on the jobs in their hand.

"Heera! Talk to that Military officer who spoke with us...Dinesh Chavan I think. See if you can get anything about Veerkaran's life in the army...what award he refused and why...Also if he had any enemies." He paused. "And everyone-"

"Aren't you going to give us a motivation speech? 24 hours is what we have...something like that?" asked Sagar amused.

Vedant shook his head with a smile. "Don't waste time. Get on with your work."

Vedant left the room to issue an official statement to the media regarding the case and the shootout.

------

Originally posted by: ...Shibu...

Awesome update 👍🏼

Originally posted by: maniwood

Just awesome!

Pace is fine ( you always ask about it 😆)

Loving the way you are wrapping up am connecting all dots in ways I could not imagine... Every time suspect is changed 😆

It was nice how team accepted vikram and handled the case especially vedant ( he is hell of a man..just loved him)

So samar is not entirely good like we were thinking...

As I said mind blowing ❤️

Chapter 22

"It's a really unfortunate incident that happened in Hunar Market yesterday night. An inquest has been ordered and any officer found guilty would be severely reprimanded. Steps are being taken so that such an incident doesn't occur again in the future. My sincere apologies and condolences with the family of the deceased."

Vedant read the statement to the press. No one else shared dais with the Head of Special Branch. Cameras were flashing and media personnel were scribbling down every word uttered by the man in-charge.

"What was the intention behind this shootout? Was it an encounter gone wrong?"

"Details would be disclosed once the investigation is done. The concerned officer would be informing you."

Vedant didn't sit to answer the questions. His only motive was to give a statement for the media to speculate their own versions for the day- to keep them and the public busy. He didn't have the time to answer questions and clarify every story when he himself had no clue which was the true one. With screams of asking him to answer their questions, Vedant left the stage leaving the media disappointed but with an intriguing story to run. "Irresponsible senior official avoids media. A quick concoction under preparation?" He didn't care, not at least for the moment. He picked up a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and built a mind calculation. Sharad and Mina were due in another hour and he couldn't afford to waste time. He might as well use it on someone who was already in the building.

------

SAMAR

Samar was surprised by the new entrant. He had seen Ruby and Vikram for most part of his journey in the murder case. He considered them as able but close minded people who looked for answers instead of asking the right questions. He had given them satisfying answers deliberately to leave them pricking their mind. But the smile on the face of the senior office who sat in front of him told a different story. Though the initial two officers were in control, he knew they were desperately looking for answers. But the new man seemed to have a strange confidence. Something was wrong. He knew something that he ought not to know.

"Comfortable?" asked Vedant to Samar who looked at him as if he was a ghost. "What happened?"

"What do you want? I have told everything I know," replied Samar defensively, for the second time displaying a slight nervousness. He was nervous when he first knew about his hair at the crime scene.

"You have told me what you want to tell me. It's not the same as you have told me everything you know," said Vedant, sitting casually, laid back and relaxed. "But I can tell you what I know. You want to hear?"

Vedant's main aim was to get into a conversation with Samar. Samar intentionally changed his body language into a careless one, portraying that he wasn't interested in what the officer had to say.

"Doesn't matter I will tell anyway," said Vedant.

"I want my lawyer," said Samar with an irritating smile.

"I am not asking you to tell anything. Just hear," replied Vedant pleasantly but strongly. "So...My team talked with three people yesterday. Probably you know them? Lohan Mishra? Shulya? Amar?" Vedant was pleased with himself to get the reaction he wanted from Samar. "You know them right?"

Samar realised why the officer had a strange excitement. They had finally got to his weakness. He nodded his head in agreement but didn't tell a word.

"Good. We got to know everything about you, Rajesh...the marriage...your liking for Shulya...your love for Amar...everything."

Vedant was enjoying rattling Samar's cage.

"I am not a fool to not see that you are taking the blame. I am also not a fool to not see that you are being framed and you had no clue about it. What I can't understand is why you are taking the blame and for whom? Now...there are only two people for whom you would do anything. Shulya and Amar. So you are definitely saving them from which I can see that someone knew your love for them. Now who can that be? Your friend circle. Rajesh, Tejesh and few more possibly? They are blackmailing you and you are abiding to it. Right?"

Samar listened silently.

"You are to take the blame for the murder and they would keep your family safe. Was that the deal? Let's just assume that was the deal. What will happen if they know that you are actually not going to be charged for this murder? What will happen if they get to know that you are going to go scot-free and we, the police are going to keep our hunt for the real murderers? Remember...you aren't going to be there outside to save your family.

Forensics have proved that your hair at the accident scene was planted which means it is easy to prove that you were tried to be framed for murder. Your confession becomes useless to us and hence, right at this moment, I can set you free from this case. And right at this moment, I can disclose to the media all these details which would make the headlines of every newspaper and channel in the next one hour and would reach the ears of the people whom you wish and pray don't see or hear it. I'll sure to make it a point that the name of Shulya and Amar, and the address where they live ring in every media person's ear."

"Is this a threaten?" asked Samar.

"Hmmm..." thought Vedant. "Sort of...yes. It is a threaten. Look. Whatever I said, I am more than capable of carrying it out and don't ever think I wouldn't do it. If you think that, then you don't know me. It's evident that you are protecting someone. I even know that you yourself have no clue who is behind all this. You probably didn't know the first time too. I am giving you a chance now. Help us. I assure to help you and your family out. If you still want to put on that stupid "I don't care" mask- go ahead. No one can save you or your family then. Whatever you have been doing to protect your family all these years would go down in the drain.

And for your information- Tejesh is in our custody and at one point or the other, he is going to cough out the truth. You are of no use to me now actually. But- you have wasted police time and effort and have given us a horrible time. My team wouldn't forgive me if I don't punish you. So...One last chance. Want to help us out? Or want me to go to the media to make your family famous...sorry...infamous." Vedant waited for a reply.

"Alright! But promise me that my family would be safe," said Samar, finally breaking.

"Who is to lose here, Samar? You or me? You are in no position to bargain here. Yet...I give my word that your family would be protected. Tell me what you haven't told me."

Heera, who had been witnessing the entire interview through the monitors outside, leaned forward with interest.

"What do you want to know?" asked Samar.

"Do you know who is behind these crimes? Do you know who is framing you?"

"No. You were right. I have no clue myself."

"Where you present at the rape-murder scene?"

"No. My sample was taken later and included as evidence." Samar's answers were quick. He didn't have to think before replying.

"Who took the sample and when?"

"Some stranger. He was let into the cell where I was held during the trial by the policeman guarding it."

"How did you decide to take the blame?"

"Rajesh. He and his friends had escaped from the crime scene and came home hiding. Rajesh told me that I had to accept that I was part of the crime too, else Shulya and Amar's life would be in danger."

"But why would your brother do that to you?"

"Because he knew I had a liking for Shulya."

"And he didn't like it?"

"Naturally. He wasn't with Shulya but she was still her possession. In order to save someone, Rajesh pulled me into the mess. We weren't as close as people think we are."

"How did Rajesh profit from all this?"

"Money of course. I think he was paid in lakhs and was promised that he would be out of the prison within a few years- which happened."

"And you kept quiet to keep Shulya and Amar safe?"

Samar nodded. "I didn't have a choice. I genuinely liked them."

"What about now? This murder? You got a message again?"

"Yes. I got a letter from Rajesh again. It just said "Repeat". I didn't understand what it meant then. But when my hair was found at the crime scene, I understood what had to be repeated. I burned that paper."

"You don't seem to be a person to easily give up. Why did you give up and agree to their demands? You could have asked someone to keep your family safe and came out with the truth. Don't tell you didn't have any trusted friends?"

"When my brother could use me like this...I couldn't trust anyone else. Yes. I had good friends but I didn't know whether to trust them or not. Also...I knew whomever Rajesh was working with was very powerful. I couldn't take any chances."

"Did you meet your brother when you were on parole? Do you think he has a hand in Veerkaran's murder?"

"I tried meeting him. But no one seemed to have seen him for weeks. As for the murder, I got the message from Rajesh in the prison. He must be part of it."

"Tell me about your meetings with Veerkaran?"

"Veerkaran Sir- he was sure the rape-murder case was covered up. He was sure I was lying. He wanted me to come clean. He wanted me to accept in public that it was a cover up. Even if it couldn't be proven, he wanted me to show courage. He said he had a media friend who was willing to hear me and go public with my story."

"But you refused?"

"Yes. I couldn't accept it. As I said, I couldn't risk my family's life."

"Did Veerkaran know why you were taking the blame?"

"No. I just told him that it would be better for him and me that we leave the truth alone. But he was persistent. He said he would fight till the end and would prove truth triumphs at the end."

"What changed?"

Samar realised the officer knew about Veerkaran's sudden exit from the regular meetings. "He came one day out of the blue and said he detested my cowardice and has finally realised that it's a complete waste of time to pursue me, to try and change me. He said something about he would get to the depth of the problem himself and doesn't need my help anymore."

"And he left?"

"Yes. But I told him that I had no clue myself as to who was behind. Veerkaran was the only visitor I used to have and seeing that it was his last visit, I decided to tell him that I had no choice but to play the game. I left the rest for him to interpret."

"That's it? Did Veerkaran tell you anything else? How did he seem during his last meeting?"

"He was really angry. I had never seen him express his anger so much. I realised something had happened, especially because of his sudden visit."

"Did you ask him?"

"Yes. But he didn't tell me anything, at least nothing in specific. He just told me that he wouldn't budge to mean tricks and would never associate himself with anyone who succumbs to pressure instead of standing up."

"Hmm," said Vedant, his mind searching for any other possible angle of questioning. "Where do you think we can find Rajesh?"

"I have searched for him myself everywhere. But it seems like he has vanished. It could be part of some plan too, I have no idea about that. I met few of his friends during parole, but they haven't seen him too."

"Where did you meet them?"

"In public places. I didn't want anyone to know I was looking for Rajesh."

"Why did you go to meet Shulya?"

"Simple. I wanted to see her."

"You seemed to have spent nearly an hour in the house," pointed Vedant.

"I was playing with Amar," replied Samar.

"Nothing else?"

"Shulya told me not to come again. That's it. I have nothing else to say. I have told everything I know."

Vedant sat without any visible expression. Most of the story his team had weaved was right.

"What about Tejesh? Tell me about him."

"Drug addict. Very close to Rajesh. Violent at times. Selfish and would do anything to save himself. Was part of the plan with Rajesh to incriminate me. Don't know much about his private life."

"Good. Thanks Samar for cooperating. I will do my best to see that your family's name isn't brought in. If you have anything else to tell, call me."

Samar felt relieved. A weight was taken off from his mind and heart. He had been carrying the burden of the truth for long. He had wanted to tell Veerkaran everything, but somewhere, in some part of his mind, he couldn't trust Veerkaran completely.

Vedant sat in the chair next to Heera, watching Samar in the cell.

"4 men were seen fleeing the rape-murder scene, according to the case report," said Vedant.

"If Samar wasn't one of the four, then who is the fourth? Our mastermind?" asked Heera.

"Seems likely. He seems to be someone who wants to be part of the crime. Enjoy it directly."

"What shall we do with Samar?" asked Heera.

"Call his lawyers. Detail them about what happened. If needed, show them the recording of this interview. I am sure they would jump saying we shouldn't have interrogated in their absence. Handle it. Drop charges against him. Call the prison and inform them about Samar's return. His parole would be cancelled though. He might get one after the current case is over. I'll see if we can have any of our guys to be one of the prison guards. I want to have eyes on Samar all the time."

Vedant's phone rang which he answered. It was Vikram.

"Veerkaran's friend whom he had gone to meet at the hospital was discharged few days back. I got the contact details and called the son of the patient whom I had met the other day. He confirmed saying Veerkaran arrived around 8.45 pm and left at 12.00 am. But he also said he or his father never called him. He said he assumed Veerkaran had come to meet his father on his own. He also remembered that Veerkaran did tell that he had got a call from them but when they denied, he let it pass. But Mina Singh said Veerkaran had got a call from his friend in the hospital and hence he left. This means someone else had called Veerkaran to get him at the hospital."

"And make him stay till 12.00 am. Any idea how and why he stayed in the hospital for so long?"

"The man said Veerkaran did leave around 10 pm but came back saying his bike tyre was punctured. A mechanic nearby was attending to it. The mechanic got the bike ready only by 11.30 or 11. 40 and then after the exit pleasantries, Veerkaran left around 12.00 am. I think someone had been watching him and deliberately punctured the tyre to delay his leaving."

"Someone had been watching Veerkaran from his house. Made the call, sabotaged the car, and watched him at the hospital all the way."

"What should I do now?"

"Nothing. If anyone sees you are still getting involved in the case, you will put everyone's career at risk. Get an appointment to meet the Commissioner and then go home."

Vikram could see that he didn't have any other option but to abide by his boss' words.

--------

"NO CCTV cameras in Veerkaran's colony," informed Agastya as Vedant and Heera entered the squad room. "It's impossible to find if anyone had been watching Veerkaran's house."

"Let's hope Charith finds something from the neighbours," said Heera.

"Anything from Veerkaran's phone?"

"Messages from THAT number," Agastya pointed at the number he had written on the board. "Yamini Sharma's. Pure harassment and threatens. Messages about Veerkaran's wife. Lot of abusive words. It has been going for at least 3 months."

"Anything on the rape case?"

"Yes. Mentions about Veerkaran's witness statement and how his case failed. More like mockery. BUT...the most important detail. One of the messages says that "You could have won, but don't dare dream of any victory from now on."

"So whoever was messaging knew Veerkaran from long back and there had been some kind of rivalry," remarked Heera.

"May be from his Army days," said Vedant.

"Heera, Dinesh Chavan's number," Agastya handed over a small piece of paper.

"This could well be something connected to Veerkaran's army days," commented Vedant.

"Or something with his family too? Family feuds?" suggested Agastya.

"Meet Dinesh Chavan in person Heera. I'll deal with Sharad and Mina," said Vedant.

-------

HARIPRASAD'S RESIDENCE

"Hello...Yes?" greeted a young lady in a casual T-shirt and jeans. Charith looked around awkwardly. He hadn't been trained to face situations like that. Field work in itself was something he wasn't trained for. It was Vedant and Vikram's idea to use Charith for on-field investigation. He was young and dynamic but had immensely low self esteem which got exhibited like a shining bright sun, in situations similar to the current one. He not only stood like a school boy but behaved like one. He was yet to learn the art of shooting authority. He belonged to the Special Branch. He might not be an investigating officer by name but he was still part of the Special Branch. Every time he was sent on the field, excitement got always coupled with fear and at crucial moments, his fear overcame his mind.

The girl who stood in from Charith looked curiously at him. "You are?" she asked again.

"Uhmmm...Charith, Special Branch," he said showing his ID card. "Is Mr. Hariprasad at home?" Charith managed to throw out some words.

"No. He has gone out of town. He must be back by tomorrow. You can call him over the phone if it's urgent," she said sweetly.

"And you are?"

"I am his sister. Ritu...Dr. Ritu Taneja."

"Oh! Doctor...real doctor or PhD one?" joked Charith before he could stop himself.

Ritu laughed. "Real one. I just came back from my shift at the hospital."

"Do you know Veerkaran Singh next door?"

"Not really. My brother is a close friend of his. I have met him. Just Hey and Hello- nothing more," she replied. "Do you want to come in?"

"Thanks," said Charith as he entered. "I just have a few questions."

"No problem. Coffee?"

"Yes please. Where you at home on the night of Mr. Veerkaran's murder?"

"Yes I was."

"You remember so clearly?" he asked with astonishment.

"I wasn't feeling good that night and had taken off from duty. Else I would have gone for my night shift. Mr. Singh's car wasn't starting and my brother and I were trying to help him. Later my brother offered him to take his bike."

"And did Veerkaran accept immediately?"

"No. He insisted on booking a taxi. But my brother said it would be easier and quicker to take the bike. But Mr. Singh didn't budge. We called a taxi service, but there were no taxis available immediately at that time. My brother tried few more agencies, but in vain. At the end, Mr. Singh had no choice but to take the bike. We thought he met his end because of the bike. My brother felt so guilty. Though it's a shame, I am quite relieved that we weren't the cause for his death."

"Did you see anyone suspicious in the area in the past couple of weeks?"

"Hmm...Not really. To be honest, I didn't notice. I am not a keen observer. My brother always hated that behaviour of mine." She giggled. "Why are you asking these questions? Haven't you people caught the guy?"

"Yes," stammered Charith. "It's just part of the investigation. Actually it's your brother I wanted to talk to. How is your mother?"

"Mother?" There was completely chaotic expression on Ritu's face.

"Mr. Hariprasad told me yesterday that he was going out of town to visit his sick mother," replied Charith with wonder.

Ritu stood still, her hand which was stirring coffee halted. She didn't know what to say.

"Hasn't your brother gone to meet your mother?" asked Charith again.

"I would have lied if it had concerned someone else. But since it's about my mother- My mother died 10 years ago. I don't know why my brother told you that," said Ritu with a low voice.

"Where has he actually gone to?"

"Business trip was what he told me."

"What is his business about?"

"Actually it's not exactly business. He is self employed. He is a freelancer and consultant."

"In?"

"I don't know exactly. He trains a lot of people. Mostly motivational speeches I think."

"You don't know what your brother exactly does for his living?"

"I moved in here only few months back. We aren't very close. We both had never been at home together. I went out for studies. He went out for service," explained Ritu.

"Service?"

"He is an ex-servicemen. Indian Army. He came out years back."

"Your brother is from the Army?" Charith was shocked at the newest news.

"Yes," replied Ritu confused. "What's there to be so surprised of?"

"Did your brother know Veerkaran from his service days?"

"I don't know," she replied getting irritated. "I don't think so. My brother didn't mention anything about it. I think it's better you speak to my brother. I can't help you anymore."

"Does your brother work for New Life Group?" he asked.

"Could be. He mentioned the name once or twice. Look...My duty timings clash heavily with my brother's. I don't even meet him every day. I usually have night duties and leave by the time he comes back home."

"Can I have his phone number?"

Charith got the number from Ritu.

"Was your brother home on the night of the murder?" Charith immediately knew he made a blunder.

"Are you accusing my brother of murder? I'll complain for harassment. I want you to leave my house right now," shouted Ritu.

Charith immediately moved out of the house, nearly ran out. He hadn't only accused someone of murder without any clue, but he had also given a heads up for Hariprasad in case he had a part in the murder.

-------

Time flew. People always said. Vedant was reminded of its practicality when it was nearly 1 pm and he still had nothing concerning the mastermind. One part of his mind asked him to let go of the investigation and hand over the case to another department, probably CID. But his instinct told him to fight till the end. He was in his room staring at the roof of the table, blankly. He had nothing to do till Sharad and Mina turned up. They were late but it wasn't school or college to reprimand them for that.

"Sir!" Vedant heard Ruby's voice calling for him. He felt very lazy to pull himself up to walk to the squad room. Those were the moments where he realised he was getting old for the job. He wasn't running around the field, but the stress at times did take a toll on him. He dreamt of a time where he needn't worry about anything and sit leisurely. A time without emergency phone calls and meetings to prove his and his team's accountability. A time when he needn't inform the family of the deceased about their loss and give assurance of justice.

"Sir!" Ruby called again, peeping to see if her boss heard her voice. She saw him dragging himself towards her place.

"Please tell you found something," said Vedant as he took the seat next to her. "Where is Heera?"

"She has gone to meet..." Ruby paused since she doesn't know the name of the person.

"Dinesh Chavan...Right. What have you found?"

"I was going through all the transcripts and video recordings of all the interviews we have conducted till now. There is something really interesting about Shulya's answer. See this..."

Ruby played the recording.

"And your husband?" asked Ruby.

"Rajesh ruined my entire life. He was never there for us. He was a selfish, egoistic and a madman who couldn't think straight anytime. I was forced to marrying him."

Ruby paused the video.

"I didn't think much about this statement before. But now when I see it again, I feel very strange the way Shulya talks about Rajesh in the past tense," said Ruby.

"She seemed to be talking about her marriage which is in the past. You did say that Shulya wanted to put her marriage in the past. As a matter of fact, she was talking in the past tense almost all the time I think."

"Yes. I know. But the confidence Shulya showed then tells a different story now. I mean...I find there is another version to it. I was so emotional back then to notice it."

"Like?"

"Keeping aside the fact that Shulya suffered a lot with Rajesh, she doesn't seemed to be worried much about him now..."

"That's because he isn't interested in her right? He left her to rot."

"Yes," said Ruby impatiently. "What if there is a different reason for her to be relieved?"

Vedant shook his head.

"Sir...Shulya has always been troubled by the Lala brothers, both Samar and Rajesh. She said it doesn't make any more difference to her now and she wants to have a meaning to her life- lead life the way she wants and not dance to others tunes."

"She is a strong lady, as you said before," said Vedant unable to understand the point.

"Yes. No doubt there. But I made few calls. I spoke to the factory manager where she works. He said that Shulya is a very timid lady, doesn't speak to anyone, always keeps to herself...which doesn't match with the portrayal we saw, does it?"

"Don't you think you are trying hard to read between the lines?"

"I can't prove it Sir, that's the point. I have that hunch. I can see that something is definitely wrong. Her attitude and her confidence of leading an independent life is just not because of her strength but due to something else."

"She has her brother's support."

"Something else..."

"You have decided what the reason is. Come out with it. Don't play riddles with me...I just don't have the strength for it, Ruby."

"You might laugh at my theory," said Ruby shyly.

"I might bark badly at you if you don't spit out your theory now," said Vedant competitively.

"Samar is in jail. He isn't going to trouble Shulya. So that's one brother out of her life," explained Ruby as convincingly as possible. "That leaves Rajesh."

"Who left her long back and hence is out of the equation too..."

"But not entirely, is he? He is still in the city and could always come back. What if he did come back?"

"You mean to say Shulya was lying?"

"Where is Rajesh? We are nowhere close to find him."

"You are saying Shulya knows where he is?"

"I am saying Shulya knows Rajesh is dead and that's why she is relieved."

"Ruby!" spoke Vedant with exasperation. "That's too much speculation. I can't even see how you deducted that from the video."

"I was amazed at the way Shulya was rigid and unemotional throughout the time she narrated about her life. I thought life had battered her so much making her immune towards emotions. I mean, there was absolutely no emotions anywhere- not when she spoke about Samar or Rajesh or her own life which made me think. I think the entire narration and the answers were all well planned. She didn't think a moment before answering because she knew what she would be asked. She was sure she would be questioned about Samar and Rajesh...but what she wasn't ready for was questions about Tejesh. That's when she put her hands up and said she wouldn't answer. This could be because she had no clue Tejesh was also involved."

"You mean to say, everything about what Shulya said about the brothers is a lie?"

"No. What she said might well be the truth. But it was precisely what she wanted to say. She told us what we wanted to know, she told us things that would make us happy - in course - she conveniently avoided the most significant details which would be useful for us, which might even change the entire scenario."

"But it's still a grand speculation, Ruby. What do you want to do?"

"I want to speak to Shulya again. Something doesn't seem right."

"Fine. Talk to her. But how do you think it will help our current investigation?"

Ruby remained silent. Shulya and her reasons weren't going to be anywhere connected to the Veerkaran case. In hindsight, Samar himself wasn't connected to the case anymore.

"If you ask my advice Ruby, I would say leave it alone for the moment. Let's focus on the murder. We can get back to the love triangle later," said Vedant watching Ruby keenly. It was still early days for Ruby at work. He didn't want to disappoint her by discarding her ideas and initiative. He knew an early dismissal of idea had high opportunities of the person never taking initiative in the future.

"I think you are right, Sir. Now is not the time for a different line of investigation. We can discuss this tomorrow after we close this case," replied Ruby with a bright smile to Vedant's relief. "I may be new to the team Sir, but I am not a kid to not understand the situation." She added.

Vedant nodded with a smile as he stood up to leave.

"Sir!" Agastya called as he kept down the phone receiver. "A man is downstairs demanding to meet you. He says it's urgent and he has some news. But he will speak only to you. What shall I say?"

"Did he say what is it regarding?"

"No idea. He said he wouldn't tell a word until he is met by the top officer."

"Fine. Get him to the interview room. I'll meet him. Anyway, I have nothing to do till Sharad and Mina comes in."

------

Vedant walked two floors down where the interview room was located. A junior officer stood outside the room and let him inside.

"I am Vedant Vashisht. You wanted to meet the top officer. I am the top officer," spoke Vedant as if it wasn't anything important.

A man in his 50s, half bald with messy grey hair sat with his legs shaking wildly. Dressed in a half white shirt which must have been pure white once upon a time and a black pant, he held a dirty bag very closely to his chest. He looked at Vedant wide eyed, not in awe, but he was looking closely to affirm himself that the man in front was indeed a top officer.

"Yes yes. I have seen you. You were on the TV- paper- you are a top officer," he said getting up and standing closely to Vedant.

"Sit down," said Vedant as he effortlessly pushed the man back to the chair. "What's your name?"

"Raj Kapoor," said the man.

Vedant closed his eyes in fatigue. Another lunatic to waste his time.

"I am not a fool. My parents named me after the actor. Am I responsible for that?" he asked with strange aggression.

"What information do you have?" asked Vedant ignoring the question.

The man opened his bag and brought out a dirty newspaper. He scrolled to the page he wanted, dropping down mud and dirt on the floor from the bag. He placed the bag down as he spread the dirty paper on the table. He tapped at a picture and looked with excitement at Vedant.

Vedant peeped at the photo and understood the reason why the man was present.

"You know him?"

The man nodded like a kid.

"Do you know where he is?"

The man repeated the action.

"How do you know him? Where can I find him?" asked Vedant doubling the amount of questions.

The man remained silent. Vedant pinched his nose trying to get his focus back.

"Will you please answer, Sir? How do you know him?" asked Vedant again with forced respect.

It seemed to work for Raj Kapoor.

"'I know him because..." paused the man. He was enjoying playing with the officer.

Vedant wished Vikram was around. He was the right person to deal with people like the one present.

"Because?" Vedant played along.

"Because...I was the one who cremated him."

Vedant picked up the filthy paper slowly and looked closely at the picture pointed by the man, a picture of which he had asked Agastya to circulate in the media, a picture of Rajesh Lala.

-------

Originally posted by: do0dleR

Res... 😉

Unresed on pg-10 and 11...😊

Will Unres the rest soon...

Unres...

Another amazing chapter..👏. I am loving how everything is unfolding one by one... Neither rushed nor dragged...😊

Oh! so Samar's family does actually live in that travel agency building. It is tricky, I couldn't guess that an office building had two rental apartment also..😆.

There are buildings which have offices in the first few floors and rentals at the top.

It is so sad how the actual rapist got away just because he was influential... and along with that the lives and careers of some good doctors got wasted...I hope Dr. Anand is able to provide a good lead to who the fourth man and that murderer is, though I have a gut feeling that he is Akhilesh Chandra along with Rajesh and Tejesh as accomplice...May be Pragat Chandra is just trying to cover up for his son.🤔..

Politics is always a part of every crime IMPOV. Someone or the other's influence plays a part in every crime's cover up.

I think Maninder is introduced here first time, I don't remember reading his name...

I introduced Maninder long back...but he was dead after he got released. So he was of no use to the case.

I always wonder what may have happened between Dr. Shakti and Vedant 25 years ago😉... one of my theories is that Vedant may have fallen for her and she purposefully drifted apart from him due to some reason or maybe Dr. Shakti got engaged / married to someone else... In each scene they seem to share an unsaid special bond... Sometimes they even express it unknowingly😳

They indeed have a special bond. The last chapter will deal with everyone's personal lives.

The hair being cut off or from the root is a very valid point...

Finally Shakti is coming to Vedant's office... Vedant must be impressed...I hope they mend their equation😉, whatever it is, friendship / relationship...

Wow, Hariprasad may make a comeback... Looking forward to what he has to say...👍🏼

I love to read Sagar-Heera nok-jhok... the way Sagar is obsessed about being "Senior" Investigating Officer😆...

Tea stall guy is their informant.😲..Interesting... Are Prakash and Shirish too?...

Only tea stall guy is the informer. The rest are just good citizens.

This Akhilesh Chandra is a cunning man, first he asks for keys, commits the crime (I assume he is our man), then when police reaches the crime scene, they claim that someone broke in and stole cement bags and file a case with police so that the team can't have their files...meanwhile they manipulate the data...Poor Shirish has good chances of getting framed...

Politics + Business...Great combination for a crime.

They call Rajesh, Mukesh (Ambani) Sir.😆..

Oh My God!! Poor Vikram... This was a shocker!!😲 Vikram, Vedant and the entire team must be very upset. The political pressures on the team is bound to increase...Keeping fingers crossed...

Off to read the next😉