A/N: guys! Huge thanks to all those who favd/reviewed this fic. After ages.. I know, so so sorry for keeping the suspense for too long. This chapter is only investigative one. May be in next chap there will be some cute moments. Please bear with me. :)

Mystery dot com

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In case you guys forgot ... read the story so far!

Story so far: Tarika leaves for her friend Naina's wedding in Delhi. After coming to know about mysterious deaths of nine married couples who tied knot in the same venue; Abhi, Fredy enter the Palace which also happens to be the wedding venue of Naina's. They disguise themselves as Naina's Dada ji and his friend. The entire team joins them. Vineet finds out that the deceased couples have drawn a huge amount of money from their bank account a few days before their death. That night CID team keeps an eye on the happenings of the palace. They follow a mystery man who drops a piece of evidence for the team in a hurry. This evidence is a newspaper article about Marriot palace by a reporter named Lokesh. The team decides to trace Lokesh and also interrogate Palace owner about the case. Freddy and Abhi find Avinash is fishy. Daya meets ACP sir and they discuss about the unused hind portion of the palace and decide to check it. Rajat, Purvi, Nikhil find out that Lokesh the crim reporter who almost solved the mystery was killed in a car accident. Freddy finds a bracelet from the spot where bearded man vanished. It's revealed that bracelet belongs to Avinash. Sachin vineet interrogate the palace owner Rajiv who claims innocent, they also find that Avinash is Rajiv's son. Also that Rajiv's brother Kamal might be behind this happenings as he is greedy for money & as Kamal always wanted to own the palace. Later that night while keeping an eye on the surroundings of the palace, the team spots bearded man again & manages to catch him. Meanwhile tarika goes missing…

Ab.. agey! :P

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Chapter: seven: The other angle

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Contd. From prev chap.

The mask is pulled off and the bearded man is none other than Avinash. The officers drag him to his room where they begin to question him.

Avinash aka Avi is seen sitting on his bed, sweat trickling down his face. He chose not to wipe it while answering the questions. Beside him is Naina with worry written over her face.

Daya questions him.

"yeh chakkar kya hai sach sach bataao.. kyu aise bhes badal ke ghoom rahe the?"

Avi keeps mum for a second. Abhi pulls him up by his collar.

"sach sach bolo, Kaun ho tum? Aur Tarika kaha hai?"

Avi is confused. Just then Salunkhe sir enters the scene.

"udher kya dekh rahe ho? Bolo, jo curly haired ladki tumhare saat hai, woh Tarika hi hai na? kya kia tumne uss k saat?"

"sir mujhe nahi pata… hum dono wahaa palace k pichle hisse mei kisi ka peecha kar rahe the, tabhi woh achanak gayab hogai.."

"jhoot! Jhoot hai yeh.. CID se jhoot bolne ki bhool mat karna. jo bhi hua sach sach bataao.."

"CID?"

"haan CID Mumbai.."

"mujhe lagaa aap- Accha hua ki aap aagaye sir.. main bataata hu sir.."

Abhi lets go of his collar.

"sir Tarika meri dost hai. hum dono saat bahar gaye the.. achanak woh gayab hogai tho, main- maine bohot dhuunda usey. Par woh nahi mili. Signal bhi nhi tha. Par mobile ka signal milte hi maine doctor salunkhe ko phone kardiya. "

"aur doctor salunkhe main hu.. mujhee lagta hai ki isee ne mujhe phone kia Abhijeet.."

Avi is shocked.

"Aap hai Dr. Salunkhe? Par aap log ithni jaldi yaha kaise.. aap Mumbai mei rehte hai na?"

"hum log yaha pehle se maujood the.. ab chup-chaap bol. Kaha chupaaya Tarika ko? Kaise gayab kia bol. Bol warna.."

"Abhijeet!"

Acp sir stops Abhijeet from slapping Avi.

( Avi is teary) "sir mera yakin kijiye. Main Tarika ko kyu gayab karunga? Meri best friend hai sir woh.. behen jaisi hai woh meri.. aur woh meri shaadi mei aayi hui mehmaan hai. maanta hu sir, thodi galati meri hai. ki maine iss bhootiya palace ko apna wedding venue banaaaya."

"kya? Tumhe pehle se pata hai ki yaha kuchh.."

Daya n everyone is surprised.

"ji sir. Main ek private detective hu. aur main pata lagaana chahta tha ki aakhir mere hi palace mei yeh ho kya raha hai."

Duo exchange glaces. Avi goes on…

"roz yaha se log gayab hojaate hai, humare staff, aas-paas k log. Iss liye maine socha ki yahi pe meri shaadi hogi, yaha reh kar main pata lagaaunga ki baat kya hai. jab Tarika yaha aayi, mujhe pata tha ki woh forensic doctor hai. usski madad se main yeh mystery solve karna chahta tha. Mujhe kya pata ki.. ithna kuch hojayega!"

Fresh tears escape his eyes. Beside him Naina is seen weeping.

"tum jhoot tho nahi bol rahe ho na?" Abhi is doubtful.

"sir main jhoot kyu bolunga. Yeh raha Tarika ka mobile. Iss k zariye hi maine salunkhe sir ko call kia.."

Daya takes the mobile. Salunkhe confirms someone informed about Tarika by calling from her mobile. Daya is furious.

"khud hero banne ka shauk hai tumhe? Police ki madad kyu nahi li? Tumhari waje se aaj ek ladki ki jaan khatre mei hai. Aur hum tumhari baton pe yakin kaise karle huh?"

"sir please. Mera yakin kijiye. Police ko bataane se kya hota? Police tho do saal se jaanch kar rahi hai. kuch nahi hua. Mera dost Lokesh, woh iss mystery k tehh tak pohoch gaya tha. Kisi ne ussko bhi maar diya. Iss liye maine yeh plan banaaya.."

"Lokesh tumhara dost hai.. yaani woh paper cutting jo tumhare jeb se hume mili hai. Lokesh woh crime reporter?"

"haa sir.. aur main sach keh raha hu sir."

Naina speaks.

"sir yeh sach keh raha hai.. maine bohot manaa kiya. Shaadi ko detective movie mat banaao, iss palace mei shaadi karna thik nahi hai. par iss ne ek nahi suni. Lekin sir, hum Tarika k saat kuch galat nahi kar sakte. Woh meri college ki dost hai sir. Aap chaaho tho hume jail mei daal do. Par pehle Tarika ko bachaalo sir.. bachaalo please! Usey kuch nahi hona chahiye." (cries)

"kuch nahi hoga Tarika ko.." Abhi answers her.

Suddenly Salunke sir speaks in a panicked tone.

"Abhijeet! Tarika.. Tarika ko bachaao. Yeh sab maamla khatarnaak lagta hai. Meri bacchii ko kuch nahi hona chahiye.. Abhijeet, pradyuman yar kuch karo tum log. Meri bacchii ko dhoondho jaldi.."

"sir please relax! Hum usey dhoondh nikaalenge"

Duo console the old doctor.

"Salunkhe kuch nahi hoga Tarika ko.."

Pradyuman assures him.

"sir mujhe unki chinta ho rahi hai.."

"nahi purvi. Hum kuch galat soch hi nahi sakte.." Rajat tries to calm purvi down.

Everyone is tensed.

"Daya sir, yeh palace ithni badi hai… yaha tho signal bhi nahi hai kaise. Kaise dhoondhenge hum Tarika ko?"

"dhoondhna padega Shreya.."

Daya then goes to console Abhi who is seen tensed.

"calm down sab log. Abhijeet yar calm down!"

"kaise calm down? Jab tak woh nahi mil jaati na, tab tak main calm nahi reh sakta."

Abhi goes to Avinash.

"tum bataao.. aaj raat exactly hua kya tha? Aur Tarika exactly kaha gayab hogai.."

"sir. (gulps) aaj raat main Naina aur Tarika yahi isee kamre mein bait ke baatein kar rahe the.. aur.."

*Flashback-

"Avi dekho.. maine kisi ko kamre k bahar jaate hue dekha.."

"ithni raat ko kaun ho sakta hai.."

"ohh lord! Yeh bijli kyu chali gayi?"

"Avi chalo. Chalke dekhte hai.."

"chalo Tarika. Naina tum yahi ruko..hum chal k dekhte hai.."

"careful guys.."

"yeah don't worry. Hum jaldi aajayenge."

They both were off trailing the unknown person.

End of flash back**

"hum dono ko woh aadmi kahi nahi mila. Hum aas-paas dekh rahe the tab achanak mobile tower ki light band hogayi. Hum daudte hue waha gaye. Kisi ne Mobile tower switch off kardiya tha."

"kya mobile tower ko switch off kardiya? Kaise?"

"yahi tho sir. Hum log yahi jaanna chahte the. Ki raat ko yeh tower deactivate hota kaise! Iss sunsaan jagah, jo city se bohot door hai, iss mei yeh ek tower hi connectivity ka zariya hai. Aur har raat yaha signal nahi milta.."

"haha tower off hai tho kaise milega.." Freddy jokes.

"haa sir. Hum jab tower k paas gaye tho ek aadmi tower supply board k saat ched-chaad kar raha tha.."

"sir iss ka yahi matlab hai sir. Ki jissne bhi yeh kia, usey cell tower k bare mei puri jaankari hai.."

"right vineet.."

Avi continues his story.

"hum uss aadmi k chehre ko nahi dekhpaaye. Par ussne hume dekhliya. aur bhaag gaya. Usska peecha karte karte hum- hum neeche ki taraf jaa rahe the. Main agey, Tarika mere peeche, aur achanak.. Woh aadmi bhi gayab aur Tarika bhi gayab hogayi.. maine har jagah dhudha sir usey, woh kahi bhi nahi mili, koi nishaan bhi nahi, aur naa hi koi aawaz"

The officers discuss among themselves and conclude that Avinash is not lying.

"ab kya hoga boss.."

Salunkhe sir is hell panicked.

"yeh ghabraane ka waqt nahi hai salunkhe kaam karne ka waqt hai."

Pradyuman assures his friend and the team is set off to find Tarika.

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Next part- will they find Tarika? Hang on to know..

A/N: short chap, but I hope u liked the twist n detailed investigation. Also hoping that I dint bore you guys. Do review n lemme knw if u liked this or not. Thanks for reading. Once again, sincere apologies for updating this story this late.