The Lines of Fate

9: Just the start!

"Will you be fine, Radhika?" The chief, Mr. Das asked. "It is fine if you don't take part in the investigation."

Will she be fine? The answer was very simple... 'No'. But Radhika knew that this was a lead. Though it was not proved whether it was the same killer or not but her instinct told her that it was the first step she could take to finally find her father's murderer. She can't back down now.

"Yeah, I will be fine Mr. Das," Radhika said. "There will be no problem."

"Okay if you say but remember if you don't feel well, we will have to move you out of the investigation."

"That moment will not come," Radhika said. She would make sure of it. She will not let anything stop her.

"Then let's go to the meeting." Mr. Das said before pushing the door of the meeting room to step inside.

Radhika followed in and took a seat between her brother and Dhruv. Last night she met him at the resort. Rather to her surprise, he asked her to accompany him for the interrogation of the guests there, when the others told her to take a rest. She was not sure but she felt like Dhruv understood her situation, the urge to catch the criminal.

She was more than grateful for that.

"So, what did you guys find out?" Mr. Das asked after writing something on the paper placed in front of him.

Hearing him Dhruv went to the screen placed in the room. Ansh projected the pictures taken of the body on it.

"So, as we know a body was found last night in Front Liner's Resort in room no 503. The victim's name is Bristi Ahuja. She is none other than the elder daughter of the owner of the hotel Mr. Dakshit Ahuja. A birthday party was organized for Ishaan Sen, son of Mr. Aditya and Lily Sen. Miss Bristi was invited and she was a member of the Arc... I mean the group of magicians the Sens were a part of."

"What is the autopsy report?" Mr. Das asked turning at Rishav.

"The internal organs were hurt due to the stab wounds. She died of excessive bleeding and damage to many major organs. There is no sign of any poisoning. But it looks like she had a struggle with the killer before she got hurt." Rishav replied.

"Did you guys find the weapon?"

"No sir. We are still searching." Vaarsh said.

"What about the interrogation?"

"I and Radhika interrogated the guests there. Mr. Aditya and Mrs. Lily Sen had the same verdict that they didn't know anything about that and they felt sorry. Miss Bristi was a close student of Mrs. Sen so she was quite shocked. Vaarsh's parents Mr. Aadarsh and Mrs. Basanti Banerjee said the same only. They were not even close to the Ahujas so much. They are also not part of the Arc" Dhruv said after coming back to his seat.

"We couldn't speak with the victim's family. So, we will go there after this meeting. It was the same case for Mrs. Charlotte Langston but her husband, Mr. Oliver Langston, acted differently."

"What do you mean by different?"

"He was rather angry. He said that she was young and completely incompetent to become the leader of the Arc. He said that she got what she deserved." Dhruv said.

"What!!" Mr. Das exclaimed. "He can be the prime suspect!!"

"Yes, but he never left the hall. I, Rishav, Radhika.... we were all there. We had seen." Vaarsh said.

"He can have an accomplice." Mr. Das said while tapping the desk with his pen.

Everyone nodded at his comment.

"What about the leader though?" Mr. Das asked.

"I will tell that," Radhika said.

After hearing the complete explanation from her, Mr. Das asked, "Other than Mr. Oliver, did anyone say anything else?"

"Ishaan Sen was the only one who mentioned the similarity with this case with the murder case of Mr. Vikram Sengupta the actual founder of the Arc," Dhruv said. "The position was different but he was also stabbed and tied up to a wooden pillar."

Radhika felt her hands shaking hearing about her father's name being mentioned. Rishav on noticing squeezed her hands with an assuring smile on his face as if it was telling 'It's fine. I am here with you.' She nodded her head before putting concentration on the meeting again.

"He also mentioned something about tarot cards," Dhruv said. His words intrigued everyone's attention. Radhika remembered what Ishaan said when she went to ask him with Dhruv. He said that both the positions of the victims related to the tarot cards. Her father was like 'the magician' and Bristi was like 'the hanged man' but they were inverted.

Dhruv said those to Mr. Das who in return told him that it could mean something and to find someone who could decipher more information about those.

"And Mr. Keshav also said," Dhruv said.

"Keshav! You mean Keshav Kaur??" Mr. Das asked in shock. "I know he is in India. My daughter had been eating my head to go to his show. But what was he doing there?"

"He is also Mrs. Lily Sen's student," Dhruv replied.

"Woah!!! Such a small world!" Ansh exclaimed who had been silent for the whole time, listening to everyone.

"Oh! Right. I completely forgot about the CCTV...play it." Mr. Das said.

The footage was played. Ishaan took Bristi to her room at 10:35 pm. They had some argument inside the elevator and Bristi came out of the elevator angrily. Ishaan didn't follow her and went back. Bristi entered her room at 10:37 and then didn't come out. The attendant went inside the room at 11:15 and Radhika and Rishav reached there at 11:18.... No one came there or went out of the room in between that.

"That's strange!" Mr. Das said crossing his hands over his chest. "What did the attendant say?"

"The attendant said that she got a call from Miss Bristi at 10:40... She ordered a bottle of red wine. When she reached the room, she saw the door was open. She still knocked but when she didn't get any reply she entered and found the body." Dhruv said.

"Okay. Dhruv, you go and interrogate the family members. Take the victim's phone and search. See if there were any threats or something like that. Keep a look on Mr. Oliver. Also, ask the son of the Sen what he was talking about with the victim in the elevator. Ansh, search the CCTV of the entrances of the resort, and Radhika and Vaarsh go and check the place once again and give a visit to Mr. Keshav. We can get help from him about the tarot cards." Mr. Das said before standing up.

"But sir, he can be a suspect too," Vaarsh said.

"He may but we hadn't found anything about that. We can keep a close eye on him like this." Mr. Das said. "So, let's end the meeting here. And get sure to eat something. You guys are working from last night." He said before walking out of the room.

"Ahhh!! Finally got free." Rishav said before laying down his head on the table. Everyone smiled at his action, though everyone knew it was just the start.