Chapter 4
"So you're telling me your mother met you at school during lunch, gave this locket to you? And that's the last time she met you?"
Arjun asked Samay.
"Yes, Sir. I don't even know why she came to school. But I was called down by the reception and I saw Mumma waiting. I ran to her and she hurriedly gave me this locket and said Take Care and went away." said the boy, tearing up.
Arjun exchanged a glance with Riya,his brain trying to put two and two together. He ran his hands over the plain locket, trying to make sense of it. Beside him, Riya bent down to hug the kid, almost hiding him in herself. Samay fully burst into tears and cried out for his mother. That brought his father to the room.
"What the hell is going on? Why are you crying Samar? Now shut up I have to work"
Riya turned to the man, anger in her tense form. "He needs his mother. It's been 24 hours, she's not home yet, the kid looks as if he's barely eaten anything and you're talking about WORK? What a shame of a father you are."
Shravan stared at the woman in front of her, and was almost going to shout at her but one look at the ACP beside her restrained him and he left the room. Riya turns to the kid, a smile on her lips and cups his face in her hands and says," Don't worry. We're going to find your Mumma. But you have to promise me you're going to look after yourself okay? We can't have the finest wizard starving now, can we?"
Samay wipes his tears on his sleeve and nods. "Papa Acha nahi hai. Mumma se hamesha ladte hai. Hamesha Mumma roti thi"
Riya looked at the young boy in front of her, troubled by his parents behaviours. But she needed to know, "Kyu ladte hai?"
"Mumma wanted to work. Papa Kehte Hai she's only meant to be in the kitchen. Mumma hated that."
Riya could feel heat rise to her cheeks. Stupid society, stupid men and their stupid nonsense. She held Samay's shoulder and said in a fierce tone, "No one I repeat no one has the right to tell someone what to do and what not to do. When you grow up always remember this. Never doubt a woman. You don't how strong she is. Don't let the world show you a one sided way of life. Women can do anything they like. Period "
Arjun let out a sigh of relief. If anything was normal with Riya right now was her fierceness when it comes to blatant misogyny. And he hoped she would have knocked some sense into the poor kid. The world has enough misogynistic pigs to last a lifetime. Slowly tapping her shoulder, he pulls her away. "Let's go."
Riya turns to give one last look at the boy and kisses his head and ruffles his hair. "Take care" she says softly. Arjun could swear he'd break something soon.
"I'm holding onto your promise" he smiles back.
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"The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true. " - Leigh Bardugo
It was a gloomy Wednesday morning. The ETF was still trying to find a lead that could help them. They only had a locket.
Riya was seated on a platform by the balcony, a cannula on her left hand. She has stopped by at the hospital that morning to get her weekly IV. Arjun had insisted he'd accompany her but fate had other plans for him. The Commissioner had called him over urgently. So Riya went ahead alone. And she liked that. She hated when Arjun would look at her like she was a fragile doll (which she was at the moment). His care, his concern towards her was getting the best of her. She wanted to be cared for. She craved his touch, gentle and comforting. But she couldn't let her heart wander that way. She kept telling herself it was just his guilt showing but somehow Riya knew how pathetic the lie sounded to herself.
Sighing, she took the water bottle beside and her tried to open it. She couldn't move it an inch. The stiffness of her left hand and the prick of the butterfly cannula wasn't helping either. She tried, again, this time letting go when a sharp pain rose in her hand. Tears stung her eyes and she threw the bottle away. She hated how weak she had become.
Unknown to her, two pairs of eyes were watching her silently. Arjun and Yash stood across the room, watching Riya fight herself. Something let loose in Arjun and he could feel his eyes moisten up. Beside him Yash was a perfect pictures os stillness. He watched how the girl was slowly giving up on everything, her anxiety getting the better of him. He had seen Arjun go through the same. He'd lost a part of his childhood best friend and he just wasn't ready for Arjun to lose someone who matters to him so much just yet.
Yash nudged Arjun and indicated him to to go to her. Arjun blinked away the tears and slowly crossed the room, his heart drawing him towards the pain in hers.
He slowly crouched down in front of her, startling her all the same. She turned her head away, wiping the tears. Arjun bent down and picked up the bottle and twisted it open in a giffy and held it in front of her. Shaking, Riya took the bottle and gulped half of it in one go. She looked at Arjun, his eyes soft and moist, almost mirroring her pain. She let out a loud sob and crashed into his chest, crying her heart out. Arjun held her shaking form, stroking her hair and rubbing her back. It took him everything to not break down in front of her.
A few minutes later she separated from him, eyes red and puffy. Arjun handed her the bottle once again and she took a small sip hastily and let it go.
Arjun took her hands in his, slowly caressing them with his thumbs and said, "Never think of yourself as weak. You're stronger than anyone I know. Actually you're even stronger than I am. Strength isn't physical, Riya, Strength is commanding your brain to do what you want. And you can do it. Strength isn't fighting down someone, strength is having the guts to change someone. " Saying so, he kissed her hands." I've seen you at your strongest, Riya. That day at the hotel, when you came into save me, that day when you shot someone to save me, That day at the dam, you saved us Riya. All of us. The situation was getting out of hand. You saved us. Slight tumbles along the way don't mean you're never going to get up again. And you know when you were strongest?, " he paused." When you were there for me. Even when I didn't want it. You don't know the effect you have on people. You are like the Light in this world. My world. "
Riya suppressed a sob. Her head was spinning at what she just heard. She looked down at their hands. "I... I don't know.... I just feel..... Suffocated. Like I'm not in my own skin...."
"I know" he whispers softly. "And its okay.Its completely okay."
Riya clenched his hands tighter and stared at him. Silence followed
"Do you trust me?" he asks out of the blue.
She nods her head vigorously. Of course she did. She trusted him when he told her she's going to be alright in that van and she trusted him when he told her she'll be okay at the dam.
"This is the Riya I know and I'm grateful for"
That statement bought Riya a feeling she couldn't just label. She blinked away her tears, only to have fresh ones grace her eyes. Arjun pulls away his hands and cups her face and smiles at her. He looks in Riya's moist eyes and swiftly kisses her forehead. The feel of his cold lips on her skin, made Riya dizzy. She gave him a watery smile.
"Uh Uhm" a cough breaks then out of their reverie. And they look back to see Yash still standing across the room. Arjun glared at him, warning him not to do anything that Riya wouldn't like. As if challenging him, Yash swiftly crosses and sits beside a surprised Riya.
"You're not weak Riya. Look at you. You've got the toughest cop on his knees" he reassures her. "Matlab aisa kahan dekhne ko milta hai. Come on Riya, don't be so modest. Aur Haan don't let this news get out. Warna tumhe lakhon ke bribes milne wale hai."
Riya let out a small laugh, the twinkle in her eyes returning and Arjun relaxes seeing her relaxed. He smiles at her, thanking Yash silently. Trust his best friend to make a joke out of anything.
Riya turns to look at Arjun and whispers a thank you to which he just shrugs away, "This is the least I could do for you. And just so you know, I'm here for you." She flashed a smile at him, she was grateful for him.
"Acha ji, I made you laugh and you're thanking him? Tch tch Bhalayi ka Zaman hi nahi hai" Yash says feigning sadness.
Riya turned to him "Thank you so much Sir."
"No need, buddy. Bas tang kar raha hoon. Just stay happy okay? You're strong Riya, Don't let anyone tell you otherwise" he said, wrapping a hand around her shoulder. "Lo dekhlo, ACP Arjun is now plotting a murder on his mind."
Riya laughs and looks at Arjun. He did look jealous but happy at the same time. He smiles at her, and now Riya has lost count of all the times he's smiled at her.
Arjun shakes his head, silently wishing for an end to Riya's turmoil. He was about to say something when Liza rushes towards them, panting "Sir the locket...." and the ACP in him woke up.
_________________________
"What in the world is this?"
"A paper?" Sakshi offers.
Exasperated, Arjun says "Woh toh dikh raha hai sabko Miss Anand. Ye paper pe kya likha hai?"
gfwwjq uzg
00:30
bjisjxifd
"Looks like gibberish to me." Shree pipes in. "I mean what is that supposed to mean"
The two ACPs took turns at going over the piece of paper Liza had managed to pryout of the locket. Scratching their heads and spinning their pens, they just couldn't make head or tail of the little phrases, if they were that.
The door swings open and Riya enters, having washed the tears away and immediately notices the frown on Arjun's face. She walks over to him and sees him
trying to make sense of something on a piece of paper.
"What is it Sir?" she asks, her voice low.
"They found this piece of paper in the locket Suman gave Shravan. We're just unable to comprehend it" he answers, still staring at the three lines.
"Can I see it?" she asks, rather unsure. Arjun's head snaps up as this is the first time Riya has come forward to help in the case on her own since her return. Until now, she'd only do what Arjun asked her to. Silently thanking his stars for the positive change in her, he hands her the piece of paper.
Riya looks at it, her brain trying to comprehend the puzzle in front of her. She pulls out a paper and a pen and copies the lines down. Arjun brings a chair for her and she smiles at him and sits down trying to focus. She writes all the 26 alphabets separately and tries to figure out what's written.
Arjun begins pacing the room, his eyes all the while on Riya. The others stare at her, waiting for something that'll help solve the case. Moments later, the silence in the room by Sakshi's taunting voice "Rehne do Riya. Tumse nahi hoga. Arjun aur Yash ne bhi dekha hai na? Jab unhe kuch nai mila, toh I don't think anyone else has a chance."
Riya looked up and pleaded with Arjun, "Just a few minutes sir. I'm almost there."
Before Arjun could say something, Yash pipes in. "Don't worry Riya. Take your time. Waise bhi no one is leaving until we crack this"
Riya gives him a grateful smile and focuses back on the code. A minute later, she looks up, a smile on her lips. "You've cracked it, Didn't you?" Arjun asks her, proud of her.
"Yes. It's a Caesar's Sipher. It is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is 'shifted' a certain number of places down the alphabet. In our case the shift value is 5. Meaning each letter is shifted by five places. The paper reads as
Barrel Pub, 00:30, Wednesday. that is 12:30am because siphers Mein you usually don't change numbers "
" What. A. Genius. Riya"Yash exclaimed, happiness evident on his face. "I mean wow. Hum kabse dekhrahe hai. Kuch nahi samjh aaya. And look at you" he says waving his hands. "Kahan thi madam ab tak aap"
"Good Job Riya!" Arjun tells her while raising his hand for a high five. Riya raise her eyebrows as she returns it. The others just looked at her with awe. Did she just do something none of them could. Chotu was proud of her and he let her know it "Kamaal hai Riya. Bilkul mast!". She smiles at him, happy he told her that. It meant a lot to her.
"Lekin tumne Cryptography kahan seekhi?" Arjun asks, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Kahin se nahi. I read a book called" Digital Fortress "by Dan Brown. And the protagonist Susan, was a cryptographer. Usme explained tha. Toh bas....." she trailed off. Arjun smiles at her and that was more than enough appreciation for Riya.
"Now that we know what that damned chit has, let's get to action, shall we?" asks Yash his eyes glistening.
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