Part8

Khushi came to the final decision of not talking to Arnav anymore. She warned Pooja also.

Khushi: Pooju, you should not talk to Arnav sir. Ok?

Pooja(sadly): Why Bua? He is so good na?

Khushi: Listen to me, don't talk to him means... don't talk to him. Ok...

Pooja(yelling): But why? I like him very much...

Khushi: Don't you like Bua?

Pooja: Soooo much...

Khushi(clutching her hand): if you talk to him, Bua will also go to God...

She cried.

Pooja(wiping her tears): Don't say like that Bua... Mumma and Pappa also went to God na...

Khushi: That's why I'm saying, not to talk with him.

Pooja cried.

Khushi: I will take care of you... I will learn to cook... I will take you to the park... ok?

Pooja nodded ok crying. Khushi hugged her cursing her fate. She decided what reason she could give Arnav.

Next Morning

Pooja was ready to go the School. She came with Khushi to catch the school bus. She saw Arnav talking on the phone, locking the door. She bowed down immediately which made Arnav surprised.

Arnav: Hi... Good morning...

Neither Khushi nor pooja wished him. They took the stairs instead of the elevator which made him more surprised. He rushed towards them.

Arnav: Hey... what happened? Are you all right?

Khushi: Sir, please try to understand. A girl who is living alone can't talk to a bachelor like you. It's horrible to hear taunts. I hope you won't disturb us.

Arnav stood tightening his jaws. He took a step to let her go, looking at Pooja. Getting down the stairs, Pooja turned towards him and looked at him sadly which hammered his heart.

Arnav recently... after her sister's accident... feels very concerned for the children who lost their parents. Khushi asked him a million-dollar question yesterday. "How will you take care of your sister's baby?" being a bachelor, it's not that easy to take care of an infant. It's very hard to survive without parents in the world. He and his sister had experienced it. They lost their parents when he was in high school. His sister Sadhana was the one who worked hard to get him to finish his studies. This is his turn to bring her child up. He felt bad for Pooja when she tried to wake her parents up, not understanding they were dead. It's infernal to be left alone without parents. Yes, Khushi was right. This society is hell sometimes... it won't understand people's needs... it won't miss the chances to taunt... the society's DESIGN is like that... hell...

Arnav went to his flat. Let Khushi back to her house. He shouldn't disturb her nor make anyone raise their finger towards her. He fell on the sofa and closed his eyes, leaning on its back. He opened his eyes jerking, hearing a knock on the door. His face brightened. Could it be Khushi? He rushed to the door and pulled it wide and frowned, seeing Arun Prince. Is not he supposed to come tomorrow?

Prince: Hi dude...

He hugged Arnav...

Prince: Looking more handsome than our college days yaar...

Arnav rolled his eyes.

Prince: How many girlfriends?

Arnav glared at him...

Prince: It's a trend dude... one is for chitchatting... one is for dating... one is for...

Arnav: Shut up... how come you come today, leaving your work?

Prince: Of course... but I don't think my work will be thrilled that this murder car.

Arnav shocked...

Arnav: Wait... how do you know about the case? I didn't say anything about it...?

Prince: You didn't say but the killer...

Arnav(more shocking): Whaaat!

Prince: He challenged me, buddy...

Arnav: Challenged?

Prince: Kind of... indirectly.

Arnav: Don't' beat around the bush... Tell me.

Prince: He sent me a message... from a private number... I tried to trace his location but I failed... this is the first time, I couldn't find something. He must be skilled and brave. Or else he won't send me a message even after knowing I'm a hacker.

He showed Arnav the message.

"Welcome to the case. All the best to find me - Killer"

Arnav frowned.

Prince: See, how dare he is... instead of getting scared, he is enjoying my entry in this case. What he is up to year...?

Arnav was thinking deeply...

Prince: Is anything hitting your police brain?

Arnav: He wants the case to get popular...

Prince: Means?

Arnav: He doesn't care about getting caught. He wants people to know about what he is doing and why he is doing it.

Prince: Ohh... it seems it will take time to reach the killer...

Arnav: No need... you have to do something.

Prince: Yeah... waiting.

Arnav handed over the list of phone numbers of the murderous.

Arnav: You have to take all the details of these phone numbers. Incoming calls, outgoing calls, messages, Whatsapp messages, Facebook chats, everything.

Prince: ohhh... I got your point. So you are going to find out about the murderous and their characters?

Arnav nodded yes.

Prince: Ok... bring me a strong coffee. I will give you the details.

Arnav(stunned): In between the coffee-making time?

Prince(smirking): Not all the cases... but one...

Arnav: Ohhh are you that skilled?

Prince: You know only flittering Arun Prince... today, you will get to know about the hacker...

Arnav raised his eyebrows folding his lips...

As Arun said, Arnav got all the details about the four murderous women. Though Prince plucked them easily Arnav needs at least half a day to read the message of ONE murderous. He sighed.

Arnav: Ok... take a rest. I will read it in my office...

Prince gave him the pen drive.

Prince: It will be easier if you take a printout.

Arnav: Yeah... I will.

Prince: Let me sleep for a while... after that, I will pull all the case's chats down...

Arnav: Go ahead.

Arnav came out. He couldn't resist glancing at Khushi's flat. Pooja's saddened face flashed in his eyes. What would have Khushi told her that she got compromised? It's not that easy to make a child understand sensitive matters. He knew how Pooja enjoyed his company. She looked at him longingly in the morning. He reached the office thinking about those things.

Arnav gave the pen drive to Aman and asked him to take printouts of the messages. Aman smiled. It was Aspire Builders Stella Mary's number. He wondered.

Aman: Sir, there are more than two thousand calls from the same number in the past two years, sir...

Arnav: Note down the number and give it to the Inspector, Eswar. You take the printout of that one particular number's chats first.

Aman: Yes, sir...

Arnav (looking at Eswar): Find out, whose number is, through the CONTROL ROOM.

Eswar: Yes, sir...

Aman started to take printouts and Eswar was connected to the Control room. Arnav took a few printouts and went through them. He frowned. Those were kinds of ORAL SEX.

At the same time... inspector Eswar finds out the Owner of the number.

Eswar: Sir... it's Aspire Builders Manager Mr. Ratan Sinha's number, sir.

Aman looked at Arnav, who folded his hands across his chest smirking.

To be continued...