Pursuit (Completed)

Four - Part A

Dhruv explained the happenings of the evening. He had retired to his room, while the three adults shuffled into the study room on the second floor. He received a call from Aakriti. When he answered, he realised that Aakriti had called and left the phone on for Dhruv to listen in to the conversation. Dhruv would bet she did it accidentally but knowing his Aunt's love for the crypt, it could have been intended.

“Ayaan is visiting Aashayein frequently. Almost every other day.” His Mom reported. “I doubt he is on to something.”

“Is that why you agreed to the sale?” That was his Dad's voice.

“Yes. Aakriti, you didn't happen to tell him anything, didn't you?”

“No. No, I didn't. Why do you think he is visiting?” His Aunt replied.

“No idea. Why would he go there so frequently? He wouldn't find anything there.”

“I will talk to him. See if he tells me.”

---

Ayaan thought for a while before saying, “I must be careful. Mom must have set up a GPS on me. I normally don't take my car when I go there. Anyway, you are here only to tell me this?”

Dhruv nodded. An awkward silence filled the room. Ayaan and Deepshika exchanged glances briefly turning to Dhruv and evaluating him. Reaching a decision, Ayaan said, “I think we are going to need him.”

“Fine, brief him.” Deepshika picked up the phone and called room service for three cups of tea. “It's a long story. I need it to keep me awake.”

With hot tea in hand, Ayaan dived into the narration. At the age of five, he had lost his mother at a railway station but was grateful for being rescued by a stranger who admitted him to the orphanage. As he grew up, he always wondered why the stranger never returned to visit him, despite promising him to do so. Four years ago, he found out that the stranger, named Vipul Gupta, was shot dead. He tried to retrieve the police report but was unsuccessful as the police refused to share the information.

In the due course, after almost a year from the time he found out about Vipul, he witnessed a scene at Mahanidhi by chance. A stout man in police uniform handed a file to Chhaya and received a thick envelope from her. Once he left, Chhaya handed the file to Raghav. Ayaan followed Raghav into the kitchen. By the time Ayaan came down the spiral staircase and reached the kitchen, Raghav lighted the stove and was about to place the file on top of it. Ayaan snatched the file from him and demanded an explanation. “Ayaan, please don't tell anyone about this. Chhaya will fire me from this job.”

“You usually call her Chhaya ma'am.” Ayaan reminded him, clutching the file against his thigh.

“You can have that file. I will tell you my identity when the time is right. But not now.”

In the present time, Dhruv jumped forward at the revelation. “Raghav is also involved in this?”

Deepshika answered him. “He is but we don't know who is he playing for."

Ayaan continued, “The report stated the death of a 60-year old man. The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning in his car. The file contained pictures of the victim when he was found, the death certificate and postmortem analysis.”

“Why would police give the report to Mom and most importantly, why was Raghav destroying it?”

“No idea.” Ayaan sounded dejected after narrating his findings. “On further investigation, I found out the victim is none other than the Director at the orphanage, from where Mom and Dad adopted me. When I visited the site of death, I found that it was a few feet away from the old bungalow. It unsettled me deeply that it happened so close to that house, of which nothing is spoken about in our family. Too many questions raised in my mind with no answers, except that it's related to Aashayein. I had set out to investigate Vipul Gupta's death. If the Director was alive he would have given me some clue. But with him out of the equation, I have run out of options. The orphanage burned down years ago. The man with a possible clue is no more, pointing to Aashayein for some hope that it would provide the clue.”