Where In The World Are The Killers?

Blackout Dead

"Ah, Chhattisgarh, it's probably a very nice place to visit if you could turn the lights on," Fili jokes as he and Adalet examine the map of Chhattisgarh on the briefing room's monitor. The map showed everywhere in the state without power, that is to say, everywhere in the state!

"I'm sure the locals would agree with you, Fi," Adalet replies, "so far we haven't heard anything about when the power will be restored, and workers are still trying to figure out how the blackout happened in the first place! It looks like it knocked out areas of Chhattisgarh one by one. Thankfully, we managed to land before the airport lost power!"

"Which is why I have sent out the team to investigate the areas most impacted by the blackout," Chief Ripley joins in, "local police have been able to keep rioting and crime at bay, but we don't know how long the peace will last. We must find a way to restore power to Chhattisgarh before all hell breaks loose!"

"Where do you want us to go, Chief?" she inquired.

"We got reports of a riot recently occurring at the Bilaspur Junction railway station; I want you and Fili to investigate the area for anything suspicious," she directs, "and keep your wits about you; blackouts are the perfect time for people to strike so stay safe!"

"We will, Chief!" Fili salutes, "come on, Starlight, we're going for a train ride!"

Adalet groans, "yeah, cause that ended so well last time!"

Fili, Adalet and their dogs took the second Jeep inside the garage and headed to the train station. They drove through the eerily quiet town, pulled up near the entrance, and grabbed flashlights. They turned them on as they walked toward the tracks. They climbed the short staircase onto the platform and looked for anything suspicious.

The place was deserted; not even the trains had managed to make it back before the blackout. They followed the tracks' path when Dean and Hunter suddenly began barking at something. Fili and Adalet leaned over the platform's edge and flashed their flashlight to see a dead man sprawled across the tracks.

His skin had chard marks across his arms and legs, and his face was frozen in permanent shock. His lifeless green eyes reflected the light from their flashlights, and his dirty blond hair was burnt in some places. Looking around the platform, Adalet spotted some rocks piled up against the side of the platform walls, and Fili noticed a cardboard box with a pretty yellow ribbon tied to it.

"Well... I think the Chief would call a dead body "suspicious"," Fili quips.

"You think?" Adalet asks rhetorically, "but what's even worse is I know this guy!"

"You do? Who is he?" he inquired.

"Bodhi Green, Jack and I met him back in New Delhi!" she replies, "but he was alive and doing yoga back then!"

"Well, he won't be bending over backwards anymore," he says, squatting down, "the burn marks on his body suggested he was electrocuted... He must have fallen onto the tracks before the blackout killed the power!"

"I think pushed is more accurate," she argued, "if he had fallen, he would have landed closer to the platform. I think Bodhi was murdered!"

"If that's the case, then we'll need to get his body to Angela," Fili says, standing back up, "if he was murdered, she'll be able to tell us for certain!"

"And that pile of rocks looks to have been recently disturbed," Adalet remarks, aiming her flashlight at the rocks below, "maybe something fell into it during the murder!"

"We'll have to search through it to find out," he says, walking over to the box he had spotted sitting on a bench, "and this box looks like a care package. It's got a blanket, flashlight, rations, batteries... It must be something made to give out to the people of Chhattisgarh!"