Prologue
Winter, 1997
"Geet Handa, will you please step outside the class?" The school administrator announced as he stepped inside the classroom. Forty three pair of eyes were staring at her – some blatantly and some her back. She stood up slowly and walked outside the class.
"Yes?" She asked once she was outside classroom. She was surprised to see the headmaster and he had her house master alongside. Their grim faces made her stomach drop.
Something was wrong.
"I am sorry Geet," the headmaster whispered.
"What's going on?" She asked worriedly.
"It's your father," he said. She looked at him sharply.
"What happened to my father?" She asked her voice hoarse. Were her legs shaking?
"It was an accident Geet. He was working in his study and there was a fire…" he trailed.
She collapsed then.
Loud cries of sadness and abandonment came a moment later.
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"It has been one week and you still haven't found who has murdered my brother-in-law yet?" A woman in her mid-thirties asked the police officer, frustration obvious on her face and her voice.
"Ms. Gaargi, please." He tried to placate the woman. "We are doing everything we can and we have rounded up several suspects. No one seems to have seen or heard anything which is making the entire investigation much harder," he said. The policeman was sincere in his words and his team was working hard to find the trace of the killer.
Dr. Pratap Handa was after all a consultant forensic psychiatrist for the police department.
"Do you think it's a case of revenge or something much deeper?" Seventeen year old Geet Handa asked the police inspector, Venkat. He was little taken aback at the direct question.
"Why do you say that?" He asked her. Had it been someone else he probably wouldn't be entirely honest with them. But Geet wasn't just any other person. She probably had more knowledge about what was going than then many people in the force.
"The profession my father was in had seen many people either put in jail or sent to correction facility or deemed insane. Isn't this a natural deduction?" Geet asked. Venkat simply nodded while Gaargi sighed.
"We have already checked in that direction and there were no one flagged red," he said. "Everyone is accounted for."
"What about the latest case he was working on?" She asked again.
Venkat looked at her sharply.
"Has he discussed the latest case with you?" He asked slowly.
"He didn't. Last year I started boarding school and my time on phone is quite limited. Unless I am on vacation, I don't really get to know about the things that go on here," she said wriggling her hands. Venkat hummed in response.
"Is his murder related to the latest case?" Gaargi asked.
"I don't think so," Venkat asked.
"Are you sure about that?" Gaargi demanded. Venkat's face turned hard.
"I will let you both know about the development of the case whenever we find something new, alright? I am not in liberty to discuss any case details with you two," he said ending the conversations.
"But…" Geet started to argue however Venkat cut in.
"Go home and get some rest Geet." He said and walked out of the visitors' room.
She knew that Venkat wasn't telling her everything. Her father's death seemed connected with the latest case he was working on.
Unfortunately, most of her father's work on the latest case was burnt in fire.
To be continued/.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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