Somewhere unknown

23-08-2025 11 : 00

"Take first left onto the mud road after the arch Sir, over!" said a voice on the receiver.

The car took a sharp left and entered the mud road. The weather outside is stormy. It has been pouring since two days straight. The road is bumpy, clogged with rain water. The car slowly moved towards the gathering in the middle of the road. There were multiple police cars and media. The car stopped near an old building next to the gathering. Rohit slowly got down the car.

His already dirty shoes got sludge marks from the clogged water. He was wearing a jacket and his hair was undone and looked like he never even bothered. His subordinate, Ramesh came running with an umbrella. Ramesh was a 25 year old chap, works as an assistant to Rohit, training to be an investigator like him. "You're late.", he said looking at the building. "Sorry sir", Ramesh replied.

"Where ?"

"First floor sir. The local police are questioning the property owner."

Rohit smirked. He grabbed a cigar from his back pocket and lit it.

"Sir, it is a residential complex"

"Yeah! Totally!", Rohit replied mockingly.

They entered the complex. It was an old three-storey building. There was cracks and sludge all over the corridor walls. All kinds of clothes were dried over the corridor. From two-piece clothes to modern dresses to saris. They made their way towards the corner room of the corridor where the owner was being questioned. He stood at the entrance of the room and slowly let out a puff of smoke before entering the room.

"How's that for an entrance?", he asked looking at the local inspector. The inspector completely ignored it and came forward to shake Rohit's hand. Rohit moved away from the inspector towards the corner of the room ignoring him. There was a small bulb hanging from the roof over a table. A middle aged man sat at the table with his hands cuffed. He looked ordinary with his looks. There was a young and attractive woman sitting next to him on a stool with her head down. She was in a sari with a lot of makeup.

"10 points for the setup", he said mockingly turning back to the inspector.

He sat on the edge of the table.

"How long have you been operating here ?", he asked.

"3 years sir." replied the owner.

Rohit started laughing looking at the inspector. "Three years!", he said to the inspector. The room was filled with Rohit's laughter and the owner slowly started laughing grabbing Rohit's attention. Rohit stopped his evil laugh abruptly and slapped the owner so hard, his head hit the table and one of his ear started to bleed. The entire room went uneasily silent.

"You are the one who was with him ?", he asked the woman who was still in a shock.

"Huh ?", he shouted bringing her out of shock.

" Ye.. Yes sir!", she replied stuttering.

"When ?"

"Yesterday sir! in.. in the night!"

He signalled Ramesh to take notes.

"Which room ?", he asked.

"third floor.. 31... 316"

"What are we waiting for ?", he said rubbing his hands moving out of the room. "Call the forensic guy!"

All of them entered the room 316. It is a small room with a table next to it. The fan made creaking sounds making the room look creepy. The entire room is filled with excessive perfume making breathing difficult.

"Anyone else been here after you guys ?", he asked looking at the woman. She shook her head in negative nervously. Everything in the room looked messy. The bedspreads on the bed were thrown out of place. There laid a broken ash tray near the table.

"A rough night, eh?", he said grinning. "You did it on the table ?", he asked looking around the room. The woman just bent her head. "Kinky!", he added.

"Tell me..", he asked, " How good was he ?"

"Let us be professional here" interrupted the inspector.

"Yeah, that would be you shutting up!" replied Rohit promptly.

The woman looked at the owner with a confused look. "He.. he was pretty good", she said with doubt in her voice.

"Hmm.. I guess, I gotta be exceptional", he said stretching his hands and winking at the woman. "In chasing him", he added with a deliberate pause. He moved across towards the dust bin and stepped on its lever.

"Ha! Jackpot!", he said looking into it. "It's his ?", he questioned the woman. She nodded. "Can you identify the DNA from it?", he asked the forensic guy referring to the used protection in the bin.

"Yes! But, I would need a reference DNA sample to identify. Probably from an item used by him", came the reply.

"Yeah, Not a problem. Heading to his place next. Will get you something to play with", he said firmly looking outside the window.

"Take them into custody and get them to a secure facility", he told the inspector pointing at the woman and the owner.

Rohit started moving out and stopped at the forensic guy who just collected the semen sample. "Next time, fit in a Sir somewhere in there, eh?", he said patting his shoulder and paced out of the room.

" Let's go get some DNA", he said getting into the car along with Ramesh and gesturing a rock-and-roll symbol.

There was absolute silence during the commute. Finally, they reached their destination. They entered a busy street which definitely felt like a rich neighbourhood. "Dollars colony", read the road sign. They slowly entered a nice looking gated community and parked in the visitors parking.

They got down and Ramesh went ahead to get information. "The third one on the left", he said pointing to a two-storeyed villa. Rohit and Ramesh reached the villa and stopped in front of the gate. "The Iyers", said the nameplate next to the gate. They were welcomed by a young lady into the house. She looked 24 to 25 with a grim face.

"Prerana Iyer", she introduced herself, "I am Pritam's wife".

"Good to know", replied Rohit. "Who else lives here ?"

"Just me and my husband"

"Okay! We need to check his room", said Rohit firmly.

"Sure", she replied moving into the living room. A guy probably in his thirties came towards Prerana and hugged her. "Bye! Call me if you need anything else", he said and left.

"Who's this?", asked Rohit.

"He is my friend. Lives next door. He has been helpful since yesterday"

"Interesting", said Rohit widening his eyes and signalling Ramesh to write it down.

"Our bedroom is on the top floor", she said leading them through stairs.

"Whose ?", asked Rohit mockingly.

"OURS", came the reply firmly.

"Must be a damn good banker to afford such a place", he said looking around the house, " No ransom calls you say?"

"No."

They entered the bedroom. It is the most lavish place Rohit has ever been to. A king size bed positioned to get perfect breeze from the large glass partition, which led to a balcony with the park view.

Rohit put on his gloves and started skimming through Pritam's things. He slid the door of the cupboard and found a huge array of formal suits. Each one accompanied by matching ties, socks and cufflinks.. Everything was so perfectly organized. He "How long are you married ?", he asked going through the cupboard.

"1 year"

"Huh.. Young couple", he whispered under his breath.

He opened a drawer and an interesting object caught his eye. "Yours ?", he asked showing it to Prerana.

"It is Pritam's", she replied. "He is suffering from asthma since childhood. Doesn't usually forget it." she added. "He forgot it once and this happened", she started sobbing.

Rohit carefully collected the inhaler and passed it to Ramesh. He also collected a used comb. "I think this would be enough", he said.

"How often does he go to these music festivals ?", he asked.

"This is the first time. He won tickets in a local casino."

"Casino!" replied Rohit. "he goes there often ?"

"Not regularly! Once a month or so.."

"Did he ever tell you about having to pay someone over there ? Any kind of financial stuff ?" he asked.

"He used to talk to someone called Babji on phone about money. But, it never felt very serious." she replied.

"Uh huh" he said thinking deeply. "Okay then! We got what we needed. We will update you if we find anything"

He signalled Ramesh and raced out of the house.

"I need Pritam's full financial transactions since last month. Also get the details of Babji" he ordered Ramesh.

Rohit's Office

[23-08-2025]

"All right people! It's story time!", Rohit shouted sitting on his desk. His team of 3 people gathered around him. It included Ramesh, Arjun and Neha. The latter two work as analysts in the team.

"Ramesh", he said munching his sandwich suggesting him to start.

"Okay! We got a missing complaint late in the night yesterday about one Pritam Iyer. A rich investment banker with an MNC. Recently married. Suffers with Asthma. Owns a villa in Dollars colony. Went missing when partying with friends at a music festival. Won tickets as a bet from local Casino. Had.." started Ramesh.

"Break 1", interrupted Rohit. "As per his friends, he wanted to catch his breath and left the event. Never returned. Mobile found in nearby trash can. Sent for fingerprint analysis. Continue"

"Okay, he had carried out financial transactions with a local real estate dealer Babji. Lost bets in casino and still has to pay him a hefty amount. We got a call from a resident of Gandhi Nagar today morning stating that he saw Pritam early in the morning at around 3 : 00 in his neighbouring complex. Said he recognized Pritam after seeing hispicture in the news." Ramesh paused.

"Gandhi Nagar is 15 minutes from the place where the music festival happened" added Rohit.

"The complex was searched by local police. Busted a sex racket that has been operating since 3 years right under their nose. A prostitute claims to be with Pritam since midnight yesterday. No security cameras available in that area. Found used protection in her room. Sample sent for DNA analysis." completed Ramesh.

"Wife name is Prerana Iyer. Close friends to their neighbour", added Rohit grinning.

"What do you mean ?", asked Neha already knowing the answer. Rohit ignored her.

"Theories people!", he asked moving towards the white board with a marker.

"Kidnapped by Babji for money", suggested Arjun. "But no ransom call yet. Probably did it to threaten him directly."

Rohit wrote it on the board. "2) Kidnap by Babji."

"Why number 2?", asked Ramesh. "Because Rohit thinks Prerana is cheating", replied Neha rolling her eyes.

Rohit shrugged smiling and added a point to the board. "1) Killed by Prerana."

"Pritam absconded to evade money from Babji.", suggested Ramesh. "But he could have just taken a loan on his villa and paid him off"

"Fair point" replied Rohit and added it to the board. "3) Became Mallya"

"Let us start with Babji", suggested Neha. "Okay Madam" replied Rohit shaking his head playfully.

The group was interrupted by attender. "Package from Traffic department", he said placing the package on the nearby table and left.

"About time", gasped Rohit. "Arjun, Neha check the footage. Ramesh let's go play PUBG with Babji"

Babji's place

[23-08-2025]

"I hope you know who my brother is", started Babji with a threatening voice. Rohit and Ramesh are sitting opposite to him in his lawn. They are sitting in an expensive wooden furniture while sipping tea.

"Local MLA Balaram", answered Ramesh hinting it to Rohit.

"Very well then. What is it that you need?", asked Babji.

"We wanted to understand your relationship with Pritam Iyer" asked Ramesh. Rohit still getting a clear view of the surroundings.

"That idiot owes me 3 crores. I saw the news today morning. If I get to know that he ran away, I will send my boys and raid his house" replied Babji angrily.

"Is it legal ? " asked Rohit arrogantly. "The betting."

"None of your business. Mr. Homicide investigator"

"Very well. I have heard that you were speaking to him over call about a financial transaction. What is it about ?"

"Well, I asked him to pay up by end of the month. Gave him an excellent deal also."

"What's that ?"

"You might have met his wife. A piece of art she is." he said grinning. "I asked her for 1 week in exchange to let go of 3 crores"

"He said No I guess", Rohit replied with a grim look.

"Yeah! It was a fair deal though", laughed Babji.

Rohit exhaled deeply stood up. He threw tea on Babji's face and kicked him to ground. "Fair deal you say", he said bruxing his teeth. He plucked a bamboo tree nearby and started hitting Babji lying on the ground. "You think you can get away with anything just because your brother is an MLA?", he shouted still swinging the bamboo. "I am going to get a search warrant and strip you naked, you bastard!", he said. He threw the bamboo tree aside and raced out of Babji's place.

"Talk to local police and get security at Pritam's place", he said angrily to Ramesh entering his vehicle.

Rohit's office

23-08-2025 16 : 00

Rohit quickly entered his room when Neha called him from across the hall. "Rohit, you need to see this!". Rohit is making his way towards Neha when the attendant came. "Boss man wants to see you sir!", he said. "Urgent".

Rohit gave a look to Neha and made his way to his boss. Mr. Krishnan sat calmly at his desk when Rohit entered abruptly.

"What is it ?" asked Rohit.

"What happened at Babji's place?"

"He threatened me. I showed him his place"

Mr. Krishnan got up to his feet and slowly moved towards Rohit. He pushed Rohit to the wall aggressively and held his neck tight. "I am not your dad inside this office." he said. "If you don't behave, I will show you your place."

He left his grip on Rohit's neck. Rohit got down on his knees and gasped hard for breath while grabbing a water bottle from the desk and gulped from it.

Mr. Krishnan bent down and said "Don't blame yourself for your sister's death. The person responsible is rotting in a jail cell. If you continue being like this, I will dismiss you stating conflict of interests. Do you understand?"

Rohit nodded wiping his red eyes and went back to his office and reached Neha's desk.

"What is it?", he startled Neha from back.

"Everything fine?", she asked with concern looking at his face.

"I'm fine" he replied weakly.

"Maybe call it a day! We can discuss about this tomorrow."

"That's fine! Tell me what it is"

"Well, we went through the traffic camera footage from yesterday night. There were no security cameras near the event ground. But, there is only one road to enter or exit the ground and there is a traffic camera covering that road. But.. there was a power loss for 30 minutes around the time Pritam went missing. There was no footage for that interval." she paused.

"But, we found something important" she continued showing two images on the screen."These two shots are taken apart 30 minutes. You see any difference?", she asked.

"There on the top right. A parked vehicle is missing after power loss."

"Yeah! More specifically, a black van is missing!" she added.

Rohit stood there gazing at the screen in shock.

"A black van! The one he used to bait Maggie!" he mumbled.

He slowly moved towards the whiteboard angrily and added an entry to it "0) Vikram"

"You think it's him!", asked Neha.

"I don't know. But, let's not take a chance. Let's go break this bastard's bones." he said angrily.