Dreamy Red

Episode 14 - Tragic Date

When I reached almost near the entrance, I spotted him parking his bike in the adjacent parking lot. He waved looking at me and I waved back. He walked toward me with a gentle smile on his face. He was wearing a blue shirt and worn-out grey jeans. Angelic again. We both walked together to a table nearby the entrance and sat down facing each other. We ordered two cold coffees and two sandwiches.

Before we could talk, I noticed a rather intriguing detail. The top two buttons of his shirt including the one on the collar were missing. Actually, his shirt perfectly matched the shade of blue like that of the masked man. And the button was our second piece of evidence. But if he were the killer, he wouldn't be wearing that shirt around. So, I complimented him without arousing suspicion, "Nice shirt. Where did you get it from?" He answered calmly, "Thank you. But it is quite an old one. I haven't worn it for a while. See, it's missing two buttons too." He pointed to the buttons. Was he being careful? No one would be so shameful enough to point out two missing buttons! After all, he was a haughty attitude freak.

Convinced that he would attack me sooner, I held my gun ready in my bag under the table. He spoke precariously, "I am sorry that I had been such a jerk before. I was afraid of that old scum. She is always pestering me that I made her son a goon. I swear that I have nothing to do with their elopement." It took me some time to understand what he was speaking about. The old scum was Mrs Kannan. "Making her son a goon?", I asked him in amazement. "Yes, Naveen has been acting strangely for a couple of days. He would get angry on silly matters and even hit people. I believe he was involved in drugs. All because of bad company of Sid! I warned him about mingling with that guy. After all, he was Chaitanya's brother. But he ignored me and continued to hang out with the so-called cool dude!", he said with a pinch of sarcasm. Yes, I could gather a lot of information about Chaitanya from Karthik, I thought.

Before that I wanted a fact cleared. "Ok, what were you doing in Nishanthi's house the night before she was killed?", I asked fervently. His eyes enlarged in surprise. "How did you know that I met her that day?" "Well, I just guessed and you got yourself caught", I snapped. "No way!", he dragged. "Someone must have seen me there and tipped you. But I'm not even concerned about it! Else you would declare me as the culprit." So it was clear that he was being careful. He continued in the same tone, "Yes, I met Nishu that night around 10 to tell her what happened. On my way back home from work, I saw Naveen and Arpitha with Sid on the highway beside the Chirathu Club." Oh. So Arfaaz hadn't lied about seeing them in the club.

Karthik said, "I went over to them to ask them what they were doing so late at night. Naveen aggressively pushed me down and said that it was none of my business. Arpitha helped me up but forced me to leave. So I had to leave. Then Mrs Kannan called me and told me that there was no news of Naveen and that she found me responsible for it. She didn't even wait for a reply. I seriously could not bear that!" He sighed again and continued, "So I returned back to Chirathu Club. But they weren't there. I asked the bartender and he said that Naveen was going to run away with Arpitha on the command of Sid. I did not know what to do and hence met with Nishu to discuss the issue."

So Naveen did displease his grandfather. "Wait. Was the bartender's name Arfaaz?", I asked interrupting him. "I don't remember. Let me try to recollect", he said pressing his fingers on his head, trying to remember. "Yes, I think his name was Arfaaz", Karthik said without doubt. Then probably Arfaaz made it up. Because he had told me the same thing. Perhaps he would have heard half the argument and assumed things. But his guess may have been true too.

Karthik continued his narration, "Nishu didn't invite me in, instead spoke to me from the gates. It was quite strange. She wasn't surprised at all and hurried me to leave because she felt that I would fall in danger. I was very confused. Then she started weeping. She said that Sid was a bad guy like his brother and that she was in trouble because of him. She spoke no more and went back hastily into her house, leaving me at the gates. So I returned home and slept off. And the next day I hear that she is dead and Naveen has gone missing. Bibbitha, we have to find Sid asap before he could kill Naveen also". I listened to him without even blinking my eyes.

When he was done and looking at me expectantly for a reply, I said, "Sorry, Karthik. Naveen and Arpitha are already dead and Armaan is missing too". Karthik shook his head and his eyes filled up. I thought Sidhanshu could be the culprit because Nishanthi had said so. But how could I blindly trust Karthik's words, I wondered. Just then, I spotted some faded blood smears on Karthik's collar which sophisticated my thoughts. Was it Sidhanshu or Karthik? Or were both of them in it together and were trying to make a fool out of me. I was totally confused.

"What about you molesting Nishanthi? You call her your best friend and you do that to her??", I asked coldly. But he answered calmly, "Oh, no. You have misunderstood. I didn't do any of that. It was staged." I didn't understand. Why would Nishanthi put such blame on her best friend? Moreover, he didn't seem affected by the charge. I raised my eyebrows in question. He spoke gently, "Nats broke up with me. So Nishu fake complained to Nats that I tried misbehaving with her." "Why would she do that?", I asked hastily. "Because she thought that Nats wouldn't accept such an accusal and would reunite with me. But the plan foiled", he said in a dejected tone. "She believed it was true and turned her face away forever", he pouted and put his head down in disappointment as he spoke. "Nishu tried explaining, but she didn't budge", he said with his head down. Then he lifted his head and said sanguinely, "And I don't want to be with a girl who can not trust me!"

As we were speaking, we heard a loud screech of a car dashing fast on the road. I turned around to look when a steel bullet of a rifle viciously flew across me. I knew it had hit someone behind me. I didn't stop to look at who was injured. Instead, I ran as fast as possible and kick-started my scooty. What was I even thinking? How was I gonna chase the speedy car which was not even in sight with my Vespa! Anyhow, I sped in the direction where it raced toward.

I could see the car fading away at a distance. I knew where it was heading for. It was heading toward the highway. If it gets to the highway, I would lose it forever. But no fool would go that way though it was a shortcut to the highway before the renovation in the market. Probably, the guy inside the car wasn't in town during the recent changes. I knew the other way round to the exit of that road. If I reached there first, I could stop him. So when I was nearing the market, I took the right turn into Shipra path. I passed through Nishanthi Villa. Mrs Kannan was crying crazily loud in her house. She must have gotten the news of Naveen's demise. Poor she.

At the end of the street, there were two turns. One to the left and another to the right. The left one was the easiest way to the highway but the right one led straight back to the market. So I took the right turn. I noticed the red car speeding toward me from the opposite side. I pulled out my gun, aimed precisely at the wheels of the car and click. I released the trigger and spat. The tyres flattened and the car crashed onto a caravan parked near a flower shop like the one in my dream.

I rushed along on my scooty to the spot. Heavy black smoke was coming out of the open bonnet. The overcrowded place was in chaos. Unfortunately, there was nobody inside the car. I looked around for someone suspicious. I obviously could not find the crook out in the crowd. My long chase had been in vain.