ArHi: Starlight and Moonshine: #16, Pg 54, 29 July - Page 8

Originally posted by: Anu567

Krittika - Sorry for trying to correct you here, blame it on an eternal editing preoccupation. Isn't it 'Karthika'? Not sure if it is different in other part of India, this is true down south

Originally posted by: greenteaholic

Krittika is from Sanskrit. Karthika is colloquial.

Thanks for your comment :)

I am not sure whose image I should post: Evans or Stan. :)

Originally posted by: greenteaholic

Krittika is from Sanskrit. Karthika is colloquial.

Thanks for your comment :)

I am not sure whose image I should post: Evans or Stan. :)

04: Rohini: The Red one

"What do we have today?" Khushi asks snapping her gloves on.

"Fifty-six-year-old woman found dead in her apartment. The maid dialed 100. She lived alone." Satya, an inspector gives her the gist.

"What do you suspect?" Khushi closes her eyes for a moment praying for the dead and picks up her scalpel.

"Since she was found floating in water in her own bath tub I will go out on a limb and say drowning." Satya manages to respond with a straight face.

"Or she could have been asphyxiated under water and left for dead." A new voice chimes in from doorway. "Aren't there some strangulation marks around the victim's neck, Dr. Gupta?"

Khushi stills her scalpel and looks up from the body only to come face to face with ACP Arnav Raizada. Cocking her head, she replies, "Or our victim here could be into breath-play."

Arnav snorts while Satya looks confused. "It's erotic asphyxiation. It's a sex kink. Supposedly gives high to the involved participants." Khushi cheerfully explains as Satya's face colors red. Arnav is unfazed.

"Unfortunately ACP here is right. It's not fun asphyxiation. She was probably choked." Khushi drives the scalpel in. She looks up few minutes later to see the two police offers hovering in her lab. "Do you need anything else?"

Arnav and Satya share a look. Arnav asks, "Can you look at the crime scene once you are finished here? Dr. Venkat said it should be okay."

"Yes of course," she replies, surprised at the polite request rather than the barking order she generally received.

"Do you mind if I observe?" Arnav walks towards the table while Satya vacates the lab. She cannot decipher the look on Arnav's face.

Khushi scowls and stops anger from entering her voice. "You want to supervise my work ACP Raizada?" She looks down as she speaks and works on cutting off the ribcage.

She misses Arnav's look of surprise. "Not at all Dr. Gupta. It's just that..." Arnav trails. She stops her ministrations and waits for him to continue. He sighs. "I am new here. I don't know anyone. And it's too noisy at the station."

Khushi bites back a smile. "And standing in front of a cadaver is relaxing?" Her look holds a challenge.

"More like comforting - standing in front of a puzzle waiting to be solved. Is that weird?" He asks. Challenge met, she notes.

She shrugs. "There aren't many people who prefer company of the dead, ACP." She points to the victim's lungs and smiles sadly. "No water in the lungs. She was dead before she was put in the tub." Arnav nods.

"Why do you want me at the crime scene now? Hasn't someone from my department already processed it?" She is curious.

A hint of red tinges Arnav's ears. Khushi slaps herself mentally when her brain supplies heart-eye emoji and a high pitched "cute" screeching in the background.

"Arjun tells me you are the best in the department. And I like to work with the best." He wrings his hands like a school boy standing in front of an older girl expressing a crush.

Khushi predictably flushes. "Oh." She says intelligently.

"I need a different perspective." Arnav offers an explanation.

"Of course I will be happy to help," she confirms. He nods and turns to leave. She blurts before she can stop herself.

"This is a punishment transfer to you isn't it?"

Arnav turns back and looks at her blankly. "I am a government officer Dr. Gupta. I go where I am told to go."

Khushi stands her ground. It has been three months since Arnav's transfer and the department gossip hasn't stopped churning about him yet. "Arnav." She says. Stupid curiosity, she curses herself.

He startles at her tone and in the way she has chosen to drop his title. He lets out a breath and nods. "I arrested a religious cult leader. No one cared about the proof I provided or witnesses accounts. I got transferred and the cult leader was let go."

Khushi was quiet. "I am sorry to hear that." She apologizes freely.

He shrugs. "Don't be. Dr. Gupta, in this line of work whatever needs to be done has to be done and has to be done on time. Consequences cannot be controlled by us." She smiles at that.

"That's a cynical outlook on your work life, isn't it?" Khushi replies thoughtfully. "If you were to go about your life with predetermined set of notions that are to be executed mechanically because they simply ought to, you become a cog in the machine."

He leans on the doorframe and appraises her critically. "When cogs fit, system works."

Khushi bites her lip and shakes her head. "Eventually the systems go obsolete. What do you think happens to the cogs then?"

Arnav throws his head back and laughs. "Then what do you suggest Dr. Gupta? What do you think should happen to these cogs?" He asks with a teasing lilt to his voice.

She, of course, had absolutely no idea how they had ended up here. "Evolve." She blurts.

He watches her for a moment longer and gives her a tiny smile. "Call me when you are done. Satya and I will pick you up." He says and bids her goodbye.

She picks up the scalpel and gets back to work. His words become her companion.

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