MaNan : CRIMSON

2. CRIMSON

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Nandini's mood is sour. If she were in a cartoon, there would be an angry cloud above her head, pouring down all its rain onto her with lightning and thunder coming out of it. 

The entire crime department seems to notice it and yet, her partner pretends like nothing is wrong.

"I found out how the third victim is connected to Manik," Abhimanyu says, sitting down next to Nandini who simply ignores his presence, which doesn't seem to bother Abhimanyu. 

The page of a document displayed on Nandini's computer screen is where she's been stuck for the past half an hour, rereading the same line over and over again while gritting her teeth.

"How?"

Nandini doesn't mean to be snappy, but she feels annoyed. 

The sadness that plagued her body for the last few months disappeared and was replaced by an angry, enraging feeling, one that doesn't make her reminiscent of the moments with Manik together, instead, makes her try and figure out the perfect comeback to Manik's sly reply and the last sentence he said to Nandini before the said detective walked out on him.

Dammit, she should've said something. Something along the lines of 'We'll see about that' or 'Who said we needed you?' but Nandini knows that no matter what she said, her husband would still stand victorious because he was the one who hurt Nandini more than she cares to admit.

Gritting her teeth, she looks at Abhimanyu who gives her a raised eyebrow. "I won't ask what happened with... Manik. Nobody but him has been able to make you this livid", he finally says.

"He's a bastard. A fucking idiot. I hate him. How have I ever been stupid enough to marry him?!" Nandini wants to pull out her hair. "I hate him.. I hate him. God, he makes me so angry."

Abhimanyu lets Nandini rant. 

The deja vu that comes with it isn't worth it but Abhimanyu remembers that time Manik accidentally trampled some evidence at a crime scene he wasn't supposed to be at. Nandini was so angry at that time that Manik slept on the couch for a week.

He finally realizes the hidden agenda behind it, "That bastard," Abhimanyu mutters.

Nandini turns to him and nods. "Agreed. Completely. Never should've married him", she is still on her train of thought where Manik looked like he won and she felt like a fucking heartbroken loser.

"No, I mean... Remember that time Manik brought you a sandwich to a crime scene? When he ruined like the only evidence we had of The Portrait Killer?" Abhimanyu asks.

Nandini's face falls into a bored expression, "That fucking bastard", she is not even surprised anymore.

"He was erasing the evidence he accidentally left. How did we miss that?" Abhimanyu exclaims.

"Because he meant a lot to us", Nandini answers.

Both sag into their chairs, sighing. "Damn."

"Damn, indeed."

Nandini shakes her head, "Okay, whatever. We were dumb, blinded by love. We aren't blinded by love now. What did you find?"

Abhimanyu raises an eyebrow, almost as if he's telling her he doesn't believe a word she's saying. But he doesn't say anything, he only places another folder on the desk. "The man that was murdered is the person who was going to replace Manik at the university."

"So what, the killer is targeting people who have in some way hurt Manik? His ex, his art professor who didn't like anything Manik did, his replacement?" Nandini asks.