Chapter 8
A/N: Hey guys! :D Thank you for the awesome reviews and I'm really glad that you all are enjoying the story. There are going to be only two more chapter after this mostly, but nothing can be said as of now. :D
I'm sorry I can't thank all of you'll in particular, but Riya, I'm more than overwhelmed that you think of my writing skills so highly. I know I am nowhere as near as Mr. Dan Brown, but the faith you put in me is something I treasure a lot! :D A HUGE and hearty thank you to all the reviewers and viewers once again! :D
Now, in case you'll are wondering about how the progress of the updates are going, you'll can check my profile regularly for new progress tracks on the next chapter. :D Also, I noticed a particular mistake I made in the last part of Chapter 4 which has now been rectified. :D
I've kept you'll too long. So for now, happy reading! :D
Abhijeet got up feeling strangely calm for the first time in so many days. The same calm that the weather outside reflected. He swung himself out of the bed while looking at the clock. 6:15AM. Sufficient time to get all of his work done and still have some time for himself before he left for the Bureau. However, he felt that something was missing.
Missing, not in a general sense, but as though he was forgetting a very important thing. Usually, whenever he used to have memory lapses in the past, it would not feel connected to him until he felt the repeated flashes of the same pass in front of his eyes, but this time, it was different. It was as though he was missing a particular chunk of his memory about the previous night, but it did not bother him strangely. He would get to it when the time came. Feeling the new-found calm he felt within himself, he entered the washroom, making plans about how best to tackle the case.
Finishing his toiletries, he headed towards the kitchen, when a muddle of messed-up papers caught his eye. Taking a detour, Abhijeet now headed towards the living room, where a haggard Daya came in front of his sight. Daya had both his hands cupped on his cheek, while his elbows were resting over his thighs. And a wave of memories rushed through Abhijeet's mind; only this time, the memories were very vague. The only thing he could recollect clearly was a gunshot going off and Daya staring at him with a mortified look. But he could see two Dayas shuttling continuously from one image to another. Aside from that, he only remembered feeling ill and the doctor visiting him at what must be two in the night. The main question that ran in his mind was only this - what did trigger this feeling last night?
Snapping out of his thoughts, Abhijeet took a seat beside Daya, while the latter gave him a startled look, being completely unaware of his presence before he sat, before settling for an awkward silence.
"Tum kal raat soye nahi?"
"Nahi, mujhe neend hi nahi aayi."
Abhijeet nodded. It must have barely been a few moments, before Abhijeet asked Daya the question he had been fearing the most to answer, and yet, had been preparing himself for it all the same.
"Daya, kal raat ko kya hua tha?"
Abhijeet looked at Daya with a strange fear building up inside him. Usually, whenever he had memory blackouts, he usually never missed having any memory of it before the flashes would start, but this time, it was different. Different, because he knew that there was something big, something drastic that had happened the previous night, that he had no recollection of. Daya, on the other hand, replied in a calm tone, even though he was anything but calm.
"Tumhein kal raat night terrors hue the. Maine doctor se baat ki hai, aur unka kehna hai ki antidepressants aur tumhaare current medication ke mix hone ke wajah se yeh trigger ho gaya. Yahi kaaran, tumhein shaam ko panic attack aaya tha. Par ghabraane ki koi baat nahi hai, doctor ne advice kiya hai ki tum apna current medication chaalu rakho, aur ab tum antidepressants lena band kar sakte ho."
It was too much information for Abhijeet to grasp at once, so all he could reply with was a simple "Oh..". But at that point, a new memory was burning clearly in front of his eyes, of having his service gun in his hand. But why, indeed, did he possess it at that hour of the night? He tried to put forth his question to Daya in the best way possible, but he could not set his mind on how best to go about with it. He instead, settled for a half trailing question, expecting Daya to understand what he wanted to know, and his doubt was not proven wrong.
Daya cringed at the question, and looked at Abhijeet for a few moments before making his mind up about the main thing that was running through his mind - to do what's right or to do what's easy? Finally coming to his decision, he instead put forth a question to Abhijeet.
"Tumhein kal raat ke baare mein kitna yaad hai?"
Abhijeet looked mildly surprised, but went into narrative at once. Nodding at Abhijeet once he finished speaking, he sighed. His suspicion was indeed correct. Abhijeet had no recollection of what had almost taken place last night. Avoiding his gaze steadily, until he built up the courage, he looked at Abhijeet now with a blank look in his eyes, as he replied, "Tum apne aap ko goli maarne wale the."
Abhijeet looked dumbstruck, his expression now being an exact replica of what Daya sported on his face a few hours ago. He tried to speak several times, but he could no longer make sense of what to say. It was no wonder why Daya did have a look of shock and terror combined on his face at that time. Finally gulping several times, before finally coming to terms with what was being told to him, he settled for the only logical question he could think about.
"Kya yeh mere night terrors se related hai?"
"Haan." The two of them fell quiet. They were once again enveloped in the eerie silence that prevailed in the house the previous evening, trying to wash away the memory and the truth of the previous night, when the first ray of dawn hit their faces.
After what must have been moments, or to them eons, Daya got up from the sofa, and headed towards the kitchen, leaving Abhijeet alone. As soon as Abhijeet saw Daya leave the living room, the former felt himself get zapped back to reality. Staring around, having finally convinced himself that none of the events that had taken place on the previous night were his fault and it were the medicines that brought over the side-effects, he now turned his attention towards the various sheets of paper lying on the table.
His mind was not at rest, neither was his conscience by the weak assurance he kept giving himself, but he knew that it would have to do for now, and he would have a life long to ponder over it. Or maybe not. But as of now, he only had two day in his hands to solve the case, after which he would act on the path of the fate he sought for himself.
Arranging the papers in order, Abhijeet realized that the papers were all related to their current case. Scanning through the papers, almost immediately keeping them aside, Abhijeet was about to pile up the couple of unwanted papers lying about, when his eyes fell on a particular Bank Statement. It belonged to Arjun's last few transactions of the month before his untimely death.
Reading through the statement, Abhijeet was about to discard it when something struck him odd. Reading through it again, Abhijeet realized the last link that he had been missing all along. He was about to call out to Daya, when the latter re-emerged from the kitchen, with two coffee mugs in his hand. The two friends looked at each other for a moment, before Daya gave Abhijeet a smile, that was more than enough for him at the moment, before he reciprocated the same. There were several things to sort out yet between them, but for now, this would do.
Keeping the incident of the previous night locked in their minds safely, for them to explore it another time, the two of them now turned their attention towards the biggest problem they had. Taking a seat once again at the same spot on the sofa, while handing over one of the mugs to Abhijeet, Daya spoke.
"Tumhein kuch mila kya?"
"Haan." Sipping on his coffee, he felt the caffeine hit him and open up his mind strongly. Continuing now in a much clearer voice, Abhijeet continued.
"Daya yaad hai humne Arjun ke bank account ki statement mangwaayi thi jismein yeh 5 lakh ka last deposit tha?"
"Haan yaad hai. Humein who account track karne ki koshish ki, par account ke certain priviledged rights ke wajah se hum account holder ka naam nahi jaan paaye. Par kyun?"
"Daya, agar hum saamne se apne suspects ko unke bank statements ke liye puche toh? Waise bhi, jis tarah se khoon ho rahe hai, use toh yeh hi saabit hu hai ki Rajeev issi company mein bhes badal kar kaam kar raha hai. Ho sakta hai isi bahaane humein kuch aur pata chal jaaye."
"Yeh toh maine socha hi nahi tha. Mujhe ek aur baat khatak rahi thi ki agar Rajeev sach mein zinda hai aur usne apni plastic surgery karwayi hai, toh iske liye uske paas itne paise aaye kahan se? Kyunki uss wakt uske saare bank accounts seal karwa diye gaye the."
"Iska matlab zaroor woh wakt kisi na kisi ko Rajeev ki zakhmi laash mili thi khayi mein se, tabhi jaake yeh sab mumkin hua hoga. Ho sakta hai ki woh Mannu hi ho?"
"Haan ho sakta hai Abhijeet, par Mannu ke paas itne paise aaye kahan se honge? Plastic surgery karwaane ke liye bhi bohot badi rakam ki zaroorat hoti hai. Ho na ho, iske peeche kisi aur ka hi haath hai."
"Filhaal abhi ke liye, main Sachin se bolke sab ke sab suspects ke Bank Statements mangwa leta hoon. Phir dekhte hai uska kya nikalta hai."
"Theek hai. Abhi hum Bureau ke liye tayyar ho jaate hai. Freddy aur Kajal ko phir se jaane se pehle sab samjha dete hai."
At the CID Bureau:
An hour and a half later, Abhijeet and Daya had explained once again everything to Freddy and Kajal, while Vivek and Sachin had been allotted their task as well. So far, neither Abhijeet, nor Daya had received any phone call from their boss, but it was quite typical of him no never phone when off duty. Walking towards the murder board where the case was explained and linked before him as clear as water, Abhijeet went over and tried to experiment a bit more. He tried to fit in various theories, discussing them with Daya alongside, while the latter put his important views and opinions on the same.
Just as Abhijeet and Daya were formulating a new theory, Dr. Salunkhe walked in.
"Arre Salunkhe sahib, aap yahan."
"Kyun bhai, yahan aana mana hai?"
"Nahi sir, aisi baat nahi hai, magar..."
"Magar kya, haan? Magar kya?" Dr. Salunkhe scowled at the pair of them, though he was inwardly enjoying himself.
"Kuch nahi Salunkhe sahab, aapke samajh se bahar hai." Seeing that the forensic doctor had an angry retort in the coming, Daya cut him quickly.
"Sir, ar aap yeh toh batayiye ki baat kya hai? Case ke silsile mein kuch mila aapko?"
"Haan Daya, aur yeh case ke bare mein mujhe jo pata laga, who tumhaare pure case ko hilaake rakh dega."
"Oho, Salunkhe sahab, ab bata bhi do."
"Abhijeet, tumhaara khooni Rajeev nahi, balki koi aur hai. Mujhe abhi ballistic reports mile, aur uss mein se yeh oata chalta hai ki jis ne bhi Arjun aur Mannu ka khoon kiya hai, uski height 5'11 hai, jabki Rajeev ke files mein saaf-saaf likha hai ki uski height 5'7 hai."
Abhijeet and Daya did not look conpletely surpried or shocked by the news. On the contrary, the two of them gave each other a significant look and gave each other a smile. Among the numerous theories they had made up, their current one seemed to go exactly as they had formulated. And Dr. Salunkhe had brought in one proof to seal their theory.
"Waise Dr. sahab, hum logon ko yeh laga tha ki shaayad Mannu ne Arjun ko maara hai."
"Tumhaara shak sahi hai. Mannu ne hi Arjun ka khoon kiya hai. Uska bhi height 5'11 hi tha."
"Toh iska matlab, iss case mein teen khooni hai. Mannu ne Arjun ka khoon kiya hai, Rajeev ne Akash ka khoon kiya hoga, aur company mein se koi teesre ne Mannu ka. Shayad Mannu uss teesre insaan ke liye kaam kar raha hoga. Kyunki agar woh Rajeev ke liye kaam kar raha hota, toh ann ban uske saath hoti, aur Rajeev uska khooni hota, jo abhi possible hi nahi hai."
The three of them fell into a dignified silence, before Salunkhe spoke once again.
"Waise, tumhein itne dino baad Bureau mein dekh ke accha laga. Abhi tabiyat toh theek hai na tumhaara?"
Abhijeet looked at Dr. Salunkhe and smiled. Fight and bicker as they would with each, their concern for one another never went amiss.
"Haan doctor sahab, main theek hoon ab." Even though Abhijeet felt Daya's glares at the side of his head, he ignored it. Smiling at Abhijeet's reply, he was however, was saved the time of replying back, as at that moment, Freddy ad Kajal entered the Bureau with a briefcase.
"Kajal, Freddy, ismein kya hai?"
Freddy smiled happily at Abhijeet and Daya, while both of them opened the briefcase. And two simultaneous gasps left them without their knowledge. The suitcase held the 100 gold bars and the stolen formula papers safely tucked in. Smiling broadly, Abhijeet smiled triumphantly, while Daya looked beyond happy. But but that not all.
"Sir, yeh lijiye, locker ke kone me humein yeh mila tha." Kajal handed a microchip over to them. Daya quickly took it and inserted it into the computer. As soon as the folder opened, several files popped up. Some contained details of a plastic surgeon, while the other folder held details of a certain pharmaceutical company.
Scrounging throught the entire folder, the case fell in front of their eyes as clear as a forget-me-not blue sky. There were still several questions and confusions regarding the case, but the only thing answered was the name of the rampaging murderer. Shocked as they were at the disclosure of the identity of the person, it was somewhere always present deep down his mind. They only needed one last shred of proof and that came in the Bureau in the forms of Vivek and Sachin. They entered the Bureau, an ecstatic look on their faces. Heading straight towards Abhijeet, he handed over the papers to them.
"Sir, jis aadmi ne Arjun ko paise bhijwaya tha, uska pata chal gaya hai."
"Dikhao." Abhijeet took the paper from his hand and examined it. And a broad smile came up. The bird was finally trapped.
Finally! :D Do tell me how this chapter turned out, and also constructive criticisms will be more than welcome! :D Also, most sincerely sorry for the typing errors. :D