Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods.
-Albert Einstein
"Argh, what's happening in Delhi?" Sakshi frowned as she cut the call, asking to none particular. Near her Shree and Chotu looked up from their files quizzically.
"What happened?"
"My colleague is going to Delhi. There has been another body in gutter, bludgeoned to death. Face is unrecognizable." She shuddered, "He says the killer ruined it with acid."
Shree gulped in distaste while Chotu winced, "It's like, horror film quality."
"Is this a serial killer?" Shree asked, "It's like, 5th body in this week, right? Same M.O. of face ruined beyond recognition."
"Any suspect?" Chotu asked.
"Nope." Sakshi shook head, "Really, what's up in Delhi? First that shoot out, then this serial killer? It seems that the Doom of city is here."
The boys chuckled, "You are already making up headlines." The IT head teased.
The trio talked for a while about the bizarre murders and killers fascination with face ruining and dumping bodies in gutter. Sakshi simultaneously bashed Police and boasted if ETF handled this case, they would have solved it. Chotu pointed out that chances of that are, if not impossible, but slim. Normally they don't go beyond the state. If Police turned out incompetent, CID will handle it, then CBI, by then it will be stuck and files will be closed. The duo were still arguing over it, when the door banged open and ACP Mukherjee appeared. Before she could even keep one foot inside, she paused and took out her phone, frowning, which only deepened when she saw something in her phone which looked like a text. She turned sharply around, without looking up from her phone, and directly collided with the Director herself.
"Look where you are going, will you?" She scolded lightly. The ACP gave her a look, before proceeding to walk away, only to be stopped by the former.
"Now where are you going?" She asked in exasperation. Still not uttering a word, the ACP put her phone up in air for the Director to see. Whatever it was, she was not happy.
"I was just missing these sudden disappearances'." She deadpanned. Rolling her eyes, the ACP walked away, putting her phone inside and stabbing at the elevator button as she stood near it.
"What's up with the mute vow?" Sakshi asked jokingly as the Director entered. Beside her Chotu and Shree went back to their files, looking as if they had never stopped, eyes on the file but ears on alert.
"Why, you missing her sugary sweet voice?" The Director replied, the question dripping with sarcasm. The duo's lips twitched in amusement.
"Wow. Apparently, sarcasm is contagious." The crime journo muttered. The former rolled her eyes before asking about the absence about the rest of team, to which Shree replied how several minutes ago they got news that the husband of their latest victim surrendered in the local PS, confessing to the murder of his wife, and the senior officer along with Second-in-command went there to check on it. Nodding, she left, the crime journo following suit because she had to finish an article to be published the next day.
The slow day made the hours felt like they were engaged in a competition of who can be the slowest. Around evening the team called it a day earlier than any other day, stepping out as they made plans on how to use these rare hours before any case drops and ruin their plans. Sakshi chatted away with others on the new restaurant that opened last week near ETF, requesting the Second-in-Command to drop her there with a cheeky smile in between, to which the Man nodded, his mind and fingers busy hovering over a particular number and if he should call. It has been several hours that she left, and while it was not anything unnatural, but he felt he should check on her.
The call went unanswered the first time, and it got cut the second time after 4 rings. The team had bid goodbye and he and Sakshi were already near the SUV. The phone went on ringing for the third time and before it can make him more uneasy, someone picked it up.
"Rawte." The voice that greeted him simultaneously surprised him and made him feel like he was intruding. Still, he cleared his throat to speak up.
"Good Evening, Sir." He bit his lip once before speaking, "I was just checking up . . . she left hours before." He stammered.
"She's with me." Raghu sir dismissed him in four words, "She will get back to you later." The Man paused, and for a moment Rawte thought he wants to add something, but then the call was disconnected abruptly.
Frowning, he looked at the blank screen of his phone, then he put it in his pocket and getting inside his SUV, the frown this time forming due to the nagging of the crime journo.
The uneasy feeling never left.
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Shutting the flip phone off, Raghu sir offered it to the owner, who was currently occupying the seat opposite his desk, eyes on the floor like it has some interesting pattern to follow. She made no move to take the phone so he put it on desk, at the same time noticing how she kept rubbing her arms like its cold in here. He glanced at the AC, it was no higher than normal.
The Man started pacing up and down, the sound of clock ticking is the only thing audible in the room. The silence was building up a strange kind of anticipation, and just when it felt like an invisible bubble was about to burst, the door was opened and a timid looking uniformed- man in his mid -fifties entered, nodding slightly at the Commissioner. He stopped pacing and hurriedly walked toward him, both of them now talking outside. Whatever the topic was, it had to be intense and not good, because when the former returned, his face was which can be only described as ashen.
"You were right." He finally said, to which the ACP looked sharply at him, jerking from her trance, "My phone was hacked."
Her reaction was neither of feeling content that she was proved right, nor of boasting. Her face hardened momentarily, a paradox to the vulnerability of her eyes. Silence was once again dominating the room, and Raghu sir didn't break it, expecting her to say something, which she did, after several hundred beats had passed.
"He was always good in technology."
The Commissioner crossed the distance between her and him in several long strides, then dragged the chair opposite her and sat, "Tell me. From the start."
"I already did." She gave him a semi heated cum tired look.
"Then do it once more." He was getting impatience. The ACP looked away, and closed her eyes as she started.
"Your text came around 1 in afternoon. You never text me, still I thought maybe you could not talk or maybe your PA sent it." She stopped, "I reached the venue, the same park you jog every morning. You were not here, of course."
"He was there." Raghu sir added for her. She nodded wordlessly.
"Neel Sahaay was standing there?" His voice had the incredulity and disbelieve of a skeptic, yet his expression was one of the investigator's. She nodded again.
"I hope you believe me after your IT department checked your phone."
"They said some third party took control of it for a few seconds." He ran his fingers through hair, "I see no message in my outbox, yet your phone has a message from me." He inhaled deeply, "So he was alive all these time? Where was he?" He frowned slightly, "Why he contacted you? What does he want?"
She straightened her back, "He said he is in danger. That he needs my help."
"For what?"
"To send him out of country."
The frown deepened, "This doesn't sound right. Did he want your help or the department's?"
"He didn't mention police." She rubbed her eyes with palms tiredly, "He just said he is in danger, and that bad people are after him. The only way he can be safe is to get out of country, for which he needs my help."
"For some unfathomable reason," Raghu sir said, "his words sound like a ton of Horse crap."
The fire was at last back in the ACP's eyes, "Maybe because He was the one who faked his own death?" Her face twisted in disgust, "I didn't forget how Johny never changed his statement about that particular thing, no matter how far I went with him. You remember too, don't you?"
"But why you would he do it?" He inquired. She stood up suddenly, her whole body vibrating with the reaction she was suppressing for hours now.
"It all makes so much sense. How nothing I came across ever felt like it's related to this case, because it was not, was it?" She asked to herself rhetorically, "He faked his death. It was all him." Her voice cracked in the end.
"Maybe you are rushing in this thing." He said gently with a touch of concern.
"I remember, Sir." She met his eyes finally, before looking away, running fingers through her already messy curls, "It doesn't matter. Why he did, where he was, what he did, nothing matters."
He could feel how she is interpreting the whole situation in a wrong and rushed manner, and for a moment chose to intervene, but one look at her shaken state and he put that thought away. There will be plenty time to argue with her and making her see sense, but it's not now. Later. For now, everything can wait.
Suddenly she turned to leave and he blinked, before standing up in a flash, "Where are you going?"
"Away." She answered without turning.
"My men will drop you at ETF." The more public place, the better chance she won't pull anything stupid. He had termed her many things, but never thought a time will come where he will fear her for her own safety. It sounded strange, even in his head.
"There is no need." She was quick to decline. He picked up his office landline.
"That was not a suggestion." He started making arrangements.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Normally, Director Kapoor doesn't do late nights. It sounds unnatural given her job, but she always tries to give herself and her team proper hours for personal life. Early on her life she had separated her work and personal life, and till now she remained stuck on it, barring a few important cases which demands the crazy time table.
But staying in hospital didn't do any good to anybody, so she was stuck with more paper works than usual, which, even after 2 weeks, didn't lessen like she wanted it to. It was already 12 when she glanced at her wrist watch, and headed for elevator. Walking past the discussion room, she made some notes in her phone's app, before pausing in her steps.
She was not sure why she stopped. Maybe because the Discussion room was unnaturally dark even though rest of the office was illuminated in a soft low light. Or maybe because, in the dark, she could manage to figure out a shadow. Or maybe it's just a cop-sense thing. Whatever it was, it made her push the glass door open and switch on the light.
The woman managed to stop herself from freaking out at the last minute when she noticed the eccentric ACP Mukherjee sitting in a far corner in room, on the floor if she might add, so unnaturally still that for a moment she wondered if the former was even breathing. Calming herself down slightly, she took several steps toward her.
"What are you doing here in dark?"
The ACP didn't reply, neither she made a move which would feel like she heard the other woman. Frowning, the Director closed the distance with small steps, stopping only when there is barely one feet of gap between them.
"Hey." She asked in low, hesitant voice, her eyes never leaving the ACP's frame or face. That's when she noticed the former was trembling slightly. The ACP must have sensed her scrutiny because her fist clenched and unclenched in a rhythmic manner, like she was trying to control herself.
But tears never let Human to control them. A small, treacherous, lone tear escaped from her eyes, and when the Director noticed, it literally brought the woman on her knees.
"What's wrong?" Her voice was shaking now as she gently grabbed the upper arm of the ACP. The trembling increased tenfold, and before she knew, the former had engulfed her in a hug which felt more like she was trying to hide herself from everything. If the tremble or tear didn't set alarm bells off in the Director's mind, this action surely did. She can't remember if she had ever seen the ACP like this, even at the peak of their friendship in the past. Whatever had occurred, it was not good.
The Director kept asking what's wrong over and over again, but got no response from the former. Tremors overtook both of them, one due to the fear of unknown, the other due to unimaginable grief. One was getting the much needed release which was overdue for so long, not only limited to last few hours, but from years. For so long she had suppressed her emotion, and now she discovered she had nothing to fight for. The helplessness, sense of betrayal, and confusion of unanswered questions overwhelmed the sobbing woman, finally pushing her over the edge and making her break down. While the other woman's anxiety level keep increasing. The most impatient, also the unnaturally composed person she had ever met is crumbling down right before her. Nothing good can come out of it.
"Okay, okay." The Director let the other woman grief for a few minutes, before making up her mind and distancing herself from her, "Tell me. What is it?" She tried to make the other look at her, and when she didn't get any response she prompted, "Is this family? Did something happen? Say something dammit, I am imagining worst case scenario here."
The ACP wiped her face with the back of hand, still not saying something. The Director growled in frustration, thinking to shake her and get some answers. How is this possible she broke down right before her, yet not uttering a word about her feelings?
"Are you going to say something?" The latter nearly yelled at her, her whole body vibrating with nervous energy. Finally words failed her, and she gripped the upper arm of the ACP tightly, silently urging her not to test her limit anymore.
After a few moments passed, the Director heard a low, almost missed by ear "He's here."
"He who?" She asked.
She met the former's eyes with an unreadable expression. The Director was taken aback slightly at the sudden movement, at the same time her mind saying something she is missing which is right before her eyes.
"Who's here?" She repeated.
"Him." The ACP replied quietly, still not saying the name of the person. For a moment the Director was almost mad, but then something clicked and she stared at the other woman.
Nobody said anything, engaged in a staring contest of disbelieve and quiet acceptance. The Director blinked a few times before she said anything.
"Who?"
"You know exactly who." The ACP said quietly. The former shook her head in a repeated motion.
"No." She forcefully said, "No, no, that's . . " she bit her lip, "That's insane." She whispered.
"I might have gone insane then." The former gave a bitter, hollow laugh. She gave a sharp, angry look.
"Don't joke about this." Her voice sounded desperate. The smile vanished from the ACP's face as she looked away, her eyes empty. The Director moved away from her, now pacing up and down as she rubbed her fingers in nervousness.
"How he can be . . . " She stopped, suddenly raising her voice as she went, "He is supposed to be dead. Dead! We witnessed his cremation, we saw the priest handing over the ashes!" In a clear state of disbelieve, she looked at the other woman, like she has the answers of this incredulity and mockery of a game that is the Universe playing with them.
"He is not . . . " The ACP replied quietly, voice choking and going to barely audible level, "He was standing in front of me, Aisha. I heard him. He touched me here, " she pointed to her hands, "He was warm. Not cold." Then she shivered slightly.
There was nothing that the other woman could say except 'How' or "why', and she had already surpassed the quota of How's. Shaking her head in disbelieve once again, she asked in a trembling voice, "Why?"
"Don't know." She replied simply, exhaustion taking over her voice, "I can't bring myself to care."
"You didn't ask him." The disbelief just increased tenfold in the Director's voice. The ACP ran fingers through hair as she ducked her head.
"There was a Man, Johny." She started.
"The prime suspect." Director added. The former looked up in surprise.
"You remembered?"
"Of course." She nodded. The ACP stared at her for a few seconds, before looking away.
"I had him. I nearly killed him. I choked the life out of him and he was nearly taking his last breaths, and yet he kept on saying the person who was supposed to be dead in the car blast was the same man who gave him contract to blow it up. I didn't believe him then, but maybe . . . " She paused, "I should have. It all make so much sense now. How nothing felt like it links to the case because nothing had any link to it. There was no case."
The Director gaped in stunned silence as the words flew in. There was so many questions, about how she got to Johny and when she got him, but none of this matters. The Man who was supposed to be dead four years ago was not really dead, and if she believes to the former, he was the one who faked his death. A supposedly dead person was not really dead. What has this world come to?
"You . . . you said you saw him." She said, trying to bring calmness to her voice which didn't stop shaking since the moment she walked into this room.
"He seek me out. He hacked Raghu sir's phone and text me. I thought it was Sir but saw him in the venue." There was a ghost of a smile, "He was always so good at technology, yeah?"
The nerve of that Man!
But the expletives or the mini freak out over a not-so-dead person can wait, the priority currently was the woman sitting on the floor who looked wear out in an aching way, eyes hollow and aged like decades had passed. Suddenly Aisha was scared for her, but there was nothing she could say in sympathy or solidarity. Licking her lips, she formed coherent sentences in her mind as she bent down in front of her once-former friend.
"What are you going to do?" She asked quietly. The ACP blinked several times.
"I . . . don't know." The answer was hesitant, unsure. She could not remember hearing that tone ever.
"Are you going to go after him?" She needed to know this time exactly what was the former thinking, what was her plan after this. For so long she had let her do what she wants to, and where did it take her?
"No." She shook her head, "I am . . ." Taking a deep breath, she added with a whisper, "I am done."
The words didn't carry any weight of anger, sense of betrayal, or even exhaustion. It was simply hollow, a reflection of what the other woman was feeling right now. But if Aisha had ever heard a final statement, it was this. She don't know if this was right, leaving things half- baked when it went simply out of control, at the same time heading to a clear direction in a bizarre way, when the former had already invested so much into it. But it was not a decision she could take, it was the other woman's life, her choice. Also, the recent changes were too much to process, she needs a break. She was not going to push her, at least not right now.
"Why don't you go home?" She was startled when the other woman spoke to her, and blinked at the question. She understood what the former trying to do, sending her away. She immediately tensed at the suggestion.
"I am not leaving you alone." She replied.
"You need rest." The ACP pointed out.
"I am not leaving you alone." The Director repeated. The former gave a half smile.
"I am not running anywhere."
"I don't know that for sure." Her voice had the trace of heat. The expression switched to exhaustion.
"Where will I go?" She replied quietly, for a moment miles away from this illuminated discussion room of ETF, before meeting her eyes with a trace of amusement, "It's time I stop driving you crazy."
The Director looked away, "You are staying in the Office." She gave an adamant look to the other, and when she heard no response or protest, she added, "I will order the security to not to let you out of building. If they have to physically restrain yourself, be it."
The ACP didn't say anything as the Director stood up on her feet again and gave her a last look near the door, "I better see you in the morning."
The answer was just a small, hollow smile.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next morning saw the ACP in the same position she was in yesterday, in a corner of the discussion room and on floor, body hunched over one knee which was pulled near chest, while the other remaining horizontal to the floor. Every now and then her petite frame would shake ever so slightly, which felt more like an internal thing than her body's inability to bear low temperature due to the AC. Her hair were still untied and messy, falling everywhere, making her look like a still picture of painter.
The discussion room's door was opened with minimal sound possible and Arjun entered, his steps immediately haltering seeing her frame. It's not that this was the first time he had seen her spending night in office, still it didn't stop him from worrying. Kneeling down in front of her slowly, he quietly said, "Hey.", his fingers unknowingly reaching for her wrist like it did many times in past. Immediately he noticed how cold she was.
She moved, straightening her back as she raised her head, managing her hair with one hair as she gave a small, throaty "Hey." back, lips curled upward in a barely-there smile. Something squeezed inside him at the simple gesture.
"You are cold." He said. Her eyes finally fell on his fingers and her wrist, her gaze which can be only described as empty.
Without commenting on his previous statement, her eyes unknowingly went on his hand, because all the other time he had brought her Coffee, her favorite McD, maybe a part of her had hoped he would bring this time also. He seemed to sense what she was looking for, as his face went apologetic.
"The shop was closed. I could not bring it." He explained quietly.
"It's okay." She whispered, still not meeting his eyes. The air went heavy with unsaid answers and unspoken questions, and he cleared his throat before breaking it.
"You took off again yesterday." He scolded lightly, "And you didn't even return my call."
"It won't happen again." She answered in the same quiet tone. He frowned at the tone, but before he could call her out on it, the door was burst open behind them. He turned, and saw the Director looking like she had ran from somewhere like a bat out of hell, looking worried and disheveled, but it was gone as soon as her eyes fell on the ACP. He felt like the other woman was clearly worried about not seeing the ACP, and was relieved to see her again. She barely composed herself when she noticed the Second-in-Command much later than she would normally, sparing him a nod.
"If you will excuse us for a few moments."
He nodded back, leaving the two lady alone even though his eyes remained glued on them. The Director kneeled in front of the ACP on the exact same place where he was sitting a few moments ago, her face compassionate and, if he can say, careful as she stared at the other woman. Then both shared a small smile, before the Director stood up, after a few moments offered a hand to the other who took it, pulling herself up.
"You are here." The Director said, internally sighing in relief. The ACP tilted head.
"I said I will stop driving you crazy."
"I am glad." She replied, before taking in her appearance, "Go and freshen up. We will talk later."
She nodded mostly to herself, "Yes, we need to." To which, the Director frowned a bit, before shaking it off. Taking a step toward the other woman, she lightly held her upper arm.
"I wanted to say Thank you." She said, and started to explain at the surprised expression of the former, "We always have a choice when it comes to show our grief to other people. I am glad you chose me."
"You have my selfishness to thank for that." The ACP replied dryly.
"Then I am thankful to your selfishness." The former replied, then sobered up, "Go. The team will be arriving any time now."
Rawte had to look away when the Director came out, nodding at him as she left. Inside the discussion room, the ACP ran fingers through her messy curls for the umpteenth number time since last 20 hours, making it messier, and her eyes out of focus as she stared at something. She looked unnaturally still, frozen, which made him want to reach out to her, but it was gone the next moment as she straightened her spine, turning on her heels and making a way toward locker room.
He didn't know for sure, but it looked like much had transpired since last afternoon.