The Gentleman's Game

4. Unravelling The Truth

At Samaira's House

It was a huge house with sublte architecture surrounded by trees. It was giving peaceful vibes. Somebody came and knocked at the door. Samaira opened and was surprised. Senior Inspector Apoorva Mishra and Inspector Salim Khan were standing with a powerful gaze in eyes. "What a surprise visit!" Samaira said nervously. "Good morning Samaira, sorry for the inconvenience but we need to check the CCTVs which are installed outside your house," Apoorva said. "CCTV's why?" "Well actually, we know how Sanjeev was murdered." "What!", Samaira screamed. "A speed sensitive bomb was attached to his car and he must either have stopped the car somewhere or would have applied the breaks therefore the bomb blasted," Apoorva explained.

"Who could have done this? Oh right! Aviral must have killed him. He wanted a revenge. It's obvious," Samaira blustered. "Listen, we know you are tensed but that does not mean that you can blame. We are doing our work so let us check your house's CCTVs," Apoorva said firmly. "Sure. Go ahead." "Salim let's go," Apoorva ordered. "Yes mam." They check the CCTVS which are outside the house, on the road and then leave for the headquarters.

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Crime Branch

"Sir, we have taken the video from every CCTV that was near Samira's house," Salim informed. "Good job. Now, let's check." Abhijeet said with an excitement .Salim inserted the disc in the laptop and started  playing. "Start playing from when Sanjeev arrived at Samaira's house," Abhijeet said while staring at the laptop.

The video showed Sanjeev arriving at Samaira's house. He got out of his car and went inside. Ten minutes gone, still nothing happened. Then suddenly Abhijeet saw something. "Stop Stop!" Abhijeet screamed, "Yes, we finally found him. He thought that he will do this and no one will know. Ha! What a dumbass!" Abhijeet guffawed.

In the video, fifteen minutes after Sanjeev's arrival, a man appeared  out of nowhere and installed the bomb in Sanjeev's car. "Sir, I think he must have hidden in Samaira's garden while waiting for Sanjeev. As soon as Sanjeev arrived, he installed the bomb and left," Apoorva states.

"You are right Apoorva. There is no place to hide other than the garden. He went there and later did his work," Abhijeet said with a smirk. They play the video again in slow motion and notice that he appears from a bush which was somewhat near the entrance. "He was hiding there," Salim exclaimed.

"Sir, Sanjeev Arora's parents are here. They want to meet you," a constable informed. Abhijeet gestured to bring them inside. "Salim, look into Sanjeev's call records. Apoorva, you stay here. His mother might need your support." Both the officers nodded at their senior. Salim opened the door and allowed the elderly couple to come inside, before leaving the cabin himself.

The couple settled down in front of Abhijeet. They were in their late fifties. The woman was sobbing while the man too was having a hard time controlling his tears. Apoorva offered them water. Mr Arora spoke, "He was our only son. Who killed him, sir? Please tell me." Abhijeet lowered his eyes, "We don't know that yet. We are still investigating." "His team members were saying that Aviral killed him. Sir, they were really good friends. Why would Aviral....," Mrs Arora spoke between her sobs. "We are still investigating, madam. Do you suspect someone?" Abhijeet leaned in. "No," Mrs Arora sobbed, "He was a very good person, rarely lost temper. Why would someone? He had been worried since a few days. I thought that was because of the tournament. But....oh!" Apoorva rubbed her back and looked at Abhijeet. He gestured her to send them back. Apoorva nodded and took the couple outside.

Apoorva came back and sat down in front of her senior. "Sir, do you think that Aviral will kill Sanjeev just because of a punch?" "What do you think?" Abhijeet asked. "I have doubt on this model, Samaira Roy. Maybe she is lying, she could never reconcile with Sanjeev and killed him." Abhijeet nodded.

Salim entered the room in a hurry. "Sir, Sanjeev had received a call at half past two in the morning, half an hour before the blast." Both his seniors looked at him attentively. He handed over the documents to Abhijeet. "At what time did Sanjeev reach Samaira's place?" Abhijeet asked. Apoorva checked her diary, "Around 2 o'clock." "How much time would it take Sanjeev to reach the place of accident from Samaira's house?" "With empty roads, maximum ten minutes on an average speed," Salim wondered why his senior was asking such questions.

"So, Sanjeev must have left Samaira's place earliest by ten minutes to three. And he received the call twenty minutes before that. Apoorva did Samaira mention anything about this call?" Apoorva shook her head in negative. Abhijeet chuckled. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go." They leave for Samaira's house for inspection.

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At Samaira's house

"Mr. Abhijeet what happened?" Samaira asked as she opened the door. "We are here to inspect your house," Abhijeet said while looking around. "Are you doubting that I have killed Sanjeev?" Samaira said in a high pitched voice. "We just need to inspect your house. Let us do our work without wasting our time," Apoorva insisted.

Abhijeet and Apoorva started searching inside the house and Salim went into the garden. They were searching meticulously for clues. "Sir," Salim yelled. Abhijeet went to him. "Sir, I have found footprints near that bush." Abhijeet went into the bush and searched for clues near it. He found a strand of hair. He picked it up with a pair of tweezers and put in the evidence bag. They all went inside the house.

"Samaira, we have found in CCTV that someone came near Sanjeev's car and installed the bomb." "What? Why he had to kill my Sanjeev?", Samaira started crying. "By the way  you never told us that he got a phone call when he was with you," said Abhijeet. Samaira gasped. Her expressions clearly showed that she knew about the phone call.

"Yes...I had picked up that call and a girl responded. She said to meet her the next day 10 PM at Star Hotel, Room number 1209. I was devastated by this call since I thought he was having an affair." " You jump to conclusions really fast," Apoorva said. "Let us search for the clues in the house," Abhijeet declared.

Abhijeet found something in Samaira's room and came downstairs. "It doesn't look like it's yours," Abhijeet said while holding a pair of spectacles. "Yes, it belongs to Sanjeev he must have forgotten them here," Samaira said while rolling her eyes. "Why didn't you tell us about the phone call and the spectacles?" "I..I didn't think that was important. So, I didn't inform you guys about it," Samaira stuttered.

"Ms. Roy, do you realise that an investigation is going on and that's related to your beloved boyfriend? You have to tell us every single detail. Do you get that?" Abhijeet scolded her.
He took Sanjeev's spectacles with him and left Samaira's house.

Samaira recalled the day when they were going celebrate their anniversary and the phone call she attended. She was in doubt. "Was it really an affair?"