You could have saved him!

chapter 3

All he ever wanted to be was a detective. But never thought what will he do when he is one. Because when you are a detective in your own town. Every case is close to home. Every dead body is a familiar face. Even this one. Although the face isn't familiar because he never met the kid but the fact that his niece occasionally mentioned him was good enough as knowing. And then comes the faculty. The criminology department is his focus because Taran was a criminology student. But the faculty struck him as very weird. Miss.Joshi, the marks of old wounds on her hand, which was carefully hidden by her long sleeve dress shirt, didn't missed his eyes. Or Dean's attempt on wrapping the investigation faster. What did Dean want? This was his only thought when the man was sitting opposite him on in the make shift investigation room in the college.

"So you don't remember what he said to Taran that day which made him this upset that he intentionally picked a fight?"

"No officer. I don't even remember what I said to him but I know for fact that nothing I could possibly said that made him upset. Because there is no cause of it. He was the best of our college. I was counting on him to go to one of the Ivy college for higher education. What would I ever say to a student like that... I must have called him to congratulate him on some of his achievements."

"What was he like?"

"Ummm.. chup chap sa tha. Jada baat nai karta tha. Which is good. Ek student ko esa hi hone chahiye."

"I mean uski interests kis chiz main thi?"

"Wo toh... Kya hai na officer. Main jada students ke sath interaction nai karta. But Miss.Joshi ko pata hoga. Students just love her."

Sambhavita

"He liked to draw. Bohat acha tha. Trained nai tha. But fir vi... Once in a while, mere liye kuch draw karta tha. " Miss. Joshi wiped her tear smiling as if she could remember him giving her a art piece. "Last week ek ..."

"Yes?" Vikash prompted.

"Ek clock tower ka picture dia tha usme mujhe." Sambhavita looked at Vikash as if expecting him to make it make sense.

"College ka clock tower?"

"Nai. College ka nai. But it was beautiful. Mere fridge pe lagi hai ab vi. Kya wo mujhe batana chahta tha kuch us picture se?"

They both stared at each other for some seconds.

"Uske bullying ke ware main ap kya janti hain?"

"Shant sa tha. Isliye Target ban jata tha. Mujhe lagta hai usse isbaat se kuch fark nai padta tha."

"Isiliye you called your boss, Dean Singh a "bloody imbicil" when he deciplined Ayan for hurting Taran?"

"Ayan didn't hurt him..." She paused. "I was there when it happened. It was an accident. Ayan ko Taran se jada chot lagi thi. He was trying to save Taran from falling. Ap jante hain maine Dean ko Imbicil kab kaha tha? After he deciplined Ayan, jabki khud Taran ne kaha tha ki ye accident tha aur Ayan use bachana chahta tha. I was dressing Ayan's head injury, and Dean was still scolding him. He didn't even checked his son's injury. Didn't ask if he was alright. He was ranting about how he made him look infront of the trustees. How it would reflect on college and his reputation... I lost my cool. I admit that. I even wrote a formal apology."

"Why so much care for a bully?"

"Because for me he is a kid. A troubled kid. But a kid. Ayan thoda disturbed hai after Dean Singh Sr. Passed. Wo apne dadaji se bohat close tha. But he never had or will hurt someone physically."

"Not even you?"

Sambhavita's hand went to her left arm unconsciously.

"It was an accident too. I was careless so I bumped into him. He didn't pulled me harder."