Secrets of the Past (Completed)

21. Killer?

Everyone was stunned in silence and looked at Kushi. She was sitting near Manorama with a bewildered and shocked expression.

After few mins, she whispered “this is my voice, but how?”

No one was able to get head or tail of the message, except four people.

Among them, two had tears in their eyes, after listening to the voice. It had been so long. Now they understood who was behind the killings. But they had no proof. No one would trust them, so they kept quiet.

*************


12th march 2020, CBI guesthouse, morning 9 am

Mahindra Singh Raizada’s body was found hanging in the porch of the guesthouse. Getting irritated with the continuous ringing of the front bell, Bubbly opened the door to see her father’s body hanging. She fainted.

The officers were as usual doing their duty while the family had no tears left in them to shed.

Manorama and bubbly were seated in the living room, with a faraway look. Anjali was wiping the tears and trying to get a reaction from her mother like Mami and her sister, only to get silent treatment from them.

Shyam was with the officers, while Arnav had again disappeared to his study.

Kushi was taking care of Anjali’s kids.

After completing the formalities, except for Ranvijay and his team, the rest of the officers left the place.

Vasundhara and Ranvijay approached Shyam who was the only sober one among the family.

“Mr. Shyam, we are sorry for your loss. This is a shock for us too. But we have to plan something fast so that at least we are able to save ASR. We need your cooperation.”

Not knowing where the conversation was heading, Shyam gave a confused nod.

“Listen carefully, we know it’s a really difficult time for your family, but the remaining target is Arnav. To nab the culprit, we have no other way than this. Hopefully, you will cooperate.”

********************

20th march 2020, CBI guesthouse

The whole family was mourning Mahindra Singh Raizada’s death and his last rites were being performed.

Escorting Nani to her room, Bubbly and Manorama stayed with the elderly lady till she slept due to medicine effect.

Savita Gupta stayed with her friend while ushering Manorama and Bubbly to rest in their respective rooms after an eventful day.

After closing the door, she sat on the recliner and looked at her friend with pity. She and Devyani were childhood friends. After their respective marriages, they were in contact and had promised to turn their friendship much more strong with their grandchildren’s marriage. But fate had other plans.

Sighing over the horrible past, she just hoped that Devyani and her remaining family members were strong enough to cope with the terrifying truths.

Looking at her silent phone, she called someone.

“Hello”

………….

“No, she is sleeping, how is everything there?”

………..

“I still feel we should tell her the truth. Its time she knows her past.”

……….

With a sigh, she said “ok, as you deem fit, but once she gets to know the full truth, she will definitely get mad at us.”

…………

“Ok, take care”

*******************

22nd March 2020, conference room

The entire team sat together and started discussing the possibilities.

Vasundhara “ I tried  reading the poem in reverse.”

After rereading the poem, the entire team sat silently.

Vasundhara “we have to first find the name, which will automatically lead us to be on top as winners.”

Ranvijay after a few moments of silence wrote a name on the white board, which baffled the team.