Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 13: Following the Vine to Find the Melon (1)

"Arti Sinha?" Sidharth's finger tapped the conference table, once, twice. He spoke quietly into his Bluetooth
headset. "Give me everything you can dig up on Arti Sinha, Shehnaaz's classmate."

Shehnaaz's classmates had already been subjected to a background check once, before her transfer to C University two years ago. She had
been cleared to study there only when each and every one of her classmates had proven to be ordinary and law-abiding citizens. Sidharth's database soon uploaded all available information on the Sinha family and projected them onto the screen in the conference room.

Sidharth idly toyed with a gold coin in his hand as he looked over the information. His dark eyes narrowed. "No evidence? What do you mean, there's no evidence?"

"Of course we don't have evidence. We only have what Sana told us, and she may not remember a thing when
she wakes up. We need hard evidence, Boss!" Sandeep reminded Sidharth.

The corners of Sidharth's mouth curved upwards. He slammed the gold coin onto the conference table and stood up. "Did you forget our biggest evidence? H3aB7."

Sandeep jerked his head up and stared at the Sinha family dossier that was displayed on the screen. He slapped his head. "You're right! How could I have forgotten?"

Sidharth walked towards the screen, arms folded. The black T-shirt on his back was supposed to be loose-fitting,
but on him it was tight;the muscles on his chest were visible beneath it.
"I recall hearing you talk about this drug, once. You said that according to the data, it's a highly potent drug. Naturally, I wanted to use it on our men as part of their training, but
you said you couldn't get it for me because it's very rare. You also said that even in Japan, only the top dignitaries get to enjoy it." Sidharth stopped in front of the screen.

Sandeep nodded. "That's right. So..."
"So tell me, knowing what we do of the Sinha family: how did Arti Sinha get her hands on it?"

The Sinha family may be filthy rich in the eyes of most ordinary folk, but ultimately they were just wealthy
businessmen, nothing more. H3aB7 was not something you could buy with money alone. Even Sandeep, a high-ranking Medical Officer backed by the Special Operation Forces, had never gotten his hands on the real thing, only bits and pieces of data regarding it. So, how on earth did Arti Sinha, a mere college senior, pull it off?

Sidharth turned; once again, he barked orders into his Bluetooth headset. "Deepak Rathi, get someone to look into what Shehnaaz's classmate, Arti Sinha, was up to before and after her birthday party yesterday evening. Who she met, what she did, the things she said, everything. You have half an hour to compile a complete report on her last 24 hours."

Deepak Rathi was Sidharth's other personal secretary. He was
meticulous, thorough, and had an exceptional memory. He was also a computer whiz, and usually helped
Sidharth take care of confidential matters.

Deepak answered in the affirmative. Sidharth grunted in reply and disconnected the call.

Sandeep flashed Sidharth a thumbs-up. "The Bossman does it again! Nothing escapes you!"

Sidharth slipped the gold coin on the table into the pocket of his camouflage pants. "Let's go. We'll know what the deal is when we hear from Deepak."

Sandeep followed behind Sidharth. He said, ruefully, "I really want to know how Arti Sinha got her hands on the
drug. And so much of it, too."

Something stirred inside Sidharth. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt that something was amiss.

He returned to the third floor. He looked at the door to the bedroom but could not bring himself to enter.

He was saved by a phone call from Rohit. "Sir, Miss Gill's interview has been postponed to three days from now, and will take place at eight o'clock in the morning."

Sidharth said, impassively,
"Understood. Now, I want you to report to the small conference room as soon as you're back."

He turned and said to Sandeep, "Keep an eye on her. I have things to take care of." Then he left.

Half an hour later, both Rohit Maan and Deepak Rathi entered the small conference room for a meeting with Sidharth.

Deepak stood before the screen and presented his findings.

"There was nothing particularly suspicious about Arti Sinha's behavior in the last 24 hours, aside from the fact that she bought a yellow pear-shaped diamond ring from her cousin for one million yuan."

A photo of the pear-shaped diamond ring appeared on the screen. Sidharth stared at the protrusion in the middle
of the pear-shaped diamond ring, and then said, "Zoom in on the ring."

The ring on the screen grew bigger and bigger, until at last every single groove could be seen clearly. It was scary how much detail could be seen on a high resolution photo.

"Where's the diamond ring now?"

"Still on Arti Sinha's finger," said
Deepak as he pulled up a photo of Arti Sinha; in it she was stepping out of a black car, her left hand resting on the top of the open door. Clearly visible on her left middle finger was a yellow pear- shaped diamond ring.

"This photo was taken just fifteen minutes ago, when she returned to her house after completing her university
interview," said Deepak.

"Interview?" asked Sidharth, surprised. "What interview?"

"Arti Sinha and Miss Gill both sat for the postgraduate entrance exam for B University's Law School. Miss Gill came in first place, Arti Sinha,
second," said Deepak. He exchanged a look with Rohit.

Rohit recalled that Shehnaaz did not go for her interview that morning, and also that General Shukla had
specifically asked him to help arrange her leave of absence.

He turned to Sidharth and asked, "Sir, does Miss Gill have something to do with all this?"

Sidharth did not reply. His face was grim as he gave the order. "Keep digging. Find out where Arti Sinha's cousin got the ring from." Having said this, he took the flash drive containing all the information from Deepak, and
marched off to find Sandeep.

Sandeep took the flash drive from him and immediately transferred all the information into his laptop. He began
analyzing the ring. Although he had never seen the ring with his own eyes, it was possible to calculate the actual dimensions of the ring with the help of the high-res photo. This meant that it was also possible to ascertain how much liquid the protrusion at the top of the ring could have potentially carried.

An hour later, Sandeep aborted the program running the complicated calculations on his laptop. "The volume matches the amount of H3aB7 that was injected into Shehnaaz
yesterday." He rubbed his bloodshot eyes, and looked up at Sidharth. "It's ironclad. It's definitely her."

"I know, but she may be just another puppet. Someone else may be pulling the strings." Sidharth changed into his
military uniform. He put on his black fingerless leather gloves; he was going to the firing range for shooting
practice.

Sandeep said nothing. Like Sidharth , there was now a flicker of uneasiness inside him.

...

Night had fallen. The evening lights had just come on at Fortune Palace, C City's luxury club. Inside, well-groomed
men and women laughed and talked in low voices. The club occupied the top five floors of a high-rise building.
On the top floor, in a private room at the very end of a corridor, a well-dressed young man was so drunk he could hardly make out who he was talking to. He mumbled vaguely, "You want H3aB7? It ain't cheap..."

"How much? Name your price," said a fat, oily-faced man, in a voice oozing with greed. "I have all the money in the world!"

*
*
*

I hope you enjoy reading it.
Love you all.