The Trail to Spring

Chapter 26

I sat on the living room sofa as Rakesh finished his call with the police.

Mrs. Majumdar had not yet returned and something told me that she'd not be very impressed with her new guest. The intruder was still securely tied in the detective's room, and this time gagged too to stop her from moaning incessantly. I didn't like what was happening at all.

Rakesh came and stood in front of me after he had finished his call.

"I think you want an explanation?," he asked, his hands inside his pockets. I couldn't see his eyes behind his sunglasses and that kind of irked me.

"I want to know what you have been up to," I said.

The detective stared down at the ground for a moment.

"Remember that I had left you in Ballygunge Place after you said you'd be going to Darjeeling? I got a text message from Pops not soon after. He had found where Mrs. Pyne was. She was in Darjeeling," he said slowly.

All the impressions that I had made about the detective was crashing down upon me with his every word.

"That's why you offered to accompany me?," I asked.

"No," he shook his head, "I mean partly no."

He shrugged his shoulders and I rolled my eyes.

"Yesterday you were ill so I decided to try and get the pen drive from Mrs. Pyne. Your friend, Atifa had already sent me her address so I didn't face any problems in seeking out her place so as to speak. I waited till late at night when everybody was asleep in her house before I broke into her place through one of the open windows. I found the pen drive to be kept inside the drawer of the desk in her bedroom. I got it but while coming out, I struck my hand in the window pane which woke her up from sleep. As I walked away, I could feel her eyes trained on me from her window. I had tried to act natural when I realised that but you know, it was two in the morning. So I ran away never believing for one moment that she had managed to follow me here until tonight."

Everything was falling into place now - him not answering his calls, him giving a day off to Sukhiji, his late night escapades. I stared down at the glass table in front of me.

"You used me," I said in almost a whisper.

"When I returned home after," he continued, "I found that you had bought me The Last Mountain Standing. That's when I realised that you cared about me. You were thankful to me that I had given you a hope that you didn't have all these years."

He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and held it in front of me. It was the little piece of paper where I had written 'Thank you for giving hope'.

"I decided then that I will......," he stopped abruptly.

I stood up and snatched the paper from his hand.

"Open your annoying sunglasses," I ordered. I was surprised by how cool my own voice sounded when I knew I was panicking inside. The detective opened his shades and looked at me.

"Will you help me find my brother or not?"

Rakesh put his hand on his forehead and faintly shook his head.

"You won't help me," I answered for him.

"You're not getting it," he said, "I am trying to....."

"You're right!," I interrupted him, "I have not been getting it. I was wrong about you. I was wrong about everything."

I tore the piece of paper in my hand into little bits in my anger and forced them into the detective's hand. I couldn't stay here anymore. I left Rakesh standing behind and slammed the door to my room.

I looked at my wrist watch. It was just past eight o'clock. If I was lucky, I could still find accommodations in a hotel. I couldn't stand to stay here with the detective one moment longer. I packed my belongings into my backpack which wasn't much trouble because half the clothes that I had brought along for my journey were presently on my body. I wrote a thank you note to Mrs. Majumdar for letting me stay in her place and then walked out of my room to the front door, passing the detective who was still standing silently all this while in the living room.

"Where are you going?," he asked on noticing me with my backpack.

I opened the front door.

"Somewhere away from here," I replied.

"You can't leave now, Ms Ganguly," he protested, walking up to me. I sensed the fear in his voice just like the first time I had met him.

"Who are you tell me that?"

"It's not safe out there. You have to listen to me. It's not SAFE out there," he said, his voice louder than ever before.

I looked at Rakesh standing on the front door, his hair dishevelled, his sunglasses drooping from his left hand, the torn pieces of paper on his right hand and a pleading look in his eyes.

"It's not safe anywhere."

I trekked up the gravelly path to the front gate and peered outside. There were very few street lights on the road and so parts of it were engulfed in pitch darkness. But I had the torch in my phone so I was sure I could easily find my way to the Mall and then find a hotel to stay there for the night. The rest I could decide tomorrow.

I turned around to look at Mrs. Majumdar's place for one last time. The house looked exactly the same as when I had seen it two days ago. Darkness surrounded it on all sides with only the lights coming out from the various windows showing the faint outline of the garden around it. The detective stood at the front door but I couldn't discern his expression anymore from such a long distance. The whole environment around the house carried a feel of secrecy and foreboding around it which had looked somewhat appealing to me the first time. But now I was only relieved to be finally getting out of it.

I opened the front gate and walked out.