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Hello, my lovelies! <3 

How's Life?

I hope you're doing great!

This chapter is going to be a bit boring if you don't like murder mysteries. But if you do, then buckle up because this is going to be a rollercoaster ride!

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Author's POV

Late Morning, Malhotra Enterprise, Meeting Room.

The room held a loud silence shared between the Malhotra brothers. Seated in two opposing chairs at the long table placed before the presentation screen, both the brothers were lost in thought. 

Ashwin opened the door, "Guess what?" he asked dimly, the laptop in his hand somehow balancing itself. The brother shared a look, concerned about the news he had come bearing.  "Interesting news..." He said, connecting the presentation screen with his laptop. 

Abhimaan got up and closed all the windows and doors, making the room soundproof as they sought to keep the matter as private as possible. The presentation screen lit up and a photo of an unknown man was shown on the screen. 

"Meet S.G.E Jayprakash," Ashwin said, igniting curiosity in the room. "These are his twins, Savitri and Nirmala," he said as two young girls were displayed on the screen. "Now you must be thinking why I am introducing you to these people." "Yes." both the Malhotra brothers replied in union.

"Well, well, well... Plot twist. Pankaj-" he said, as a photo of Pankaj appeared on this screen, "-murdered S.G.E Jayprakash," he said in a grave tone. "What?" Eknash asked, not believing his company would hire a criminal in such a high post. "Take a look," he said, passing Ekansh a file. 

Ekansh opened it. It was a legal document, signed and proven. "Pankaj Ditra was arrested on the 15th of June 2018 on the charges of murder. However, his father bailed him out after a year by gathering money from the black market." Ashwin informed Abhimaan. 

Abhimaan rested his elbows on the table and shoved his face in his palms. Their company had a criminal hired with official criminal records. "It's true Abhi..." Ekansh said, disbelief clear in his voice as he read the documents. 

"Here's the catch, the arrow used to kill him was a handmade model of the Gold Tip's Series 22 shafts - the old heavy Series 22. This means we can't trace its production nor can we find out where it was purchased. It does not have a product number, a slash bar, and no information whatsoever. It was shot from a distance of 2.7 km, 60 degrees west of the place of death which means the archer took the shot from the barren land. There are no CCTV cameras there which means no footage." He explained pacing left to right.

"But the real question is- How did Pankaj walk down to the back of the building hands and feet tied with duct tape? His office is on the 18th floor, and according to the forensics report, he was taped before he was shot so I checked all the footage around the office building and found this." He explains and a tape of CCTV footage is displayed on the screen. 

It was the footage from the back of the building where the murder took place. Pankaj was pushed into the frame, right where his dead body was found, his hands and legs tied with duct tape, knees on the ground, and terror in his eyes. He did not dare scream as his body shook with fear. 

A gun could be seen at the right edge of the screen but the person holding was not captured. Pankaj then stood up with difficulty and turned to face the barren land as if he was commanded to. Within a few seconds, the arrow pierced his heart and he fell backward. Blood flowed from his body as he whimpered for a few seconds before he died. 

"I still believe that there is someone who is hiring these skilled professionals. But I am not sure if this is Nidhima. The info doesn't match." Ashwin said, passing me a file on S.G.E Jaypraksh's personal details. "His wife, Sushmita, is still alive and well, taking care of her daughters. So the catalog doesn't match." He said with a sigh. 

"What does this mean then?... If Nidhima is not the one behind this, then who is?" Abhimaan asked. "I'll dig deeper and find some connections..." Ashwin said, closing the presentation. "And how exactly will you do that?" Ekansh asked.

"Find similarities," Ashwin stated, taking his laptop and sitting down next to Ashwin. "Elaborate on this Ekansh... Why did you allow a security guard like Prashant access to the Company's Financial records, Vendor contracts and Sales information?" He asked Ekansh with scrunched eyebrows. 

"Well, he had a computer on his desk which had the access..." Ekansh replied. He had personally checked the list of members who had the access to such intel after the breach. "And his access was denied after the breach if I am right?" Ashwin asked, going through documents on his computer. "Yes," Ekansh answered, sleeping on the table, his head facing Ashwin. Abhimaan on the other hand, was going through the personal details document of S.G.E Jayprakash.

"And Pankaj also had access to such data but was denied after the breach?" Ashwin asked, "Not quite sure about that..." Ekansh replied not remembering. "Well... It seems so." Ashwin sighed. "Both of the victims previously had access to the intel but are now denied..." Ashwin stated. His mind racing to find leads. 

"Could it be that someone wants to get their hands on the intel so they are killing people who are now denied access hoping to persuade us to allow access to everyone who previously had the access?" Ekansh asked, slowly getting up and sitting straighter. Ashwin's eyes widen at the theory, "If so, then the Unsub must be someone who is denied access currently and wants us to allow access to everyone who had before!" Ashwin continued. 

"That makes sense..." Abhimaan said as Ashwin quickly wrote the theory down. "So we just have to make a list of the people who had access previously but are now denied and start investigating them," Ashwin said, enthusiasm clear in his voice. "Sure, I'll send you the list..." Ekansh said, taking his phone out of his pocket. "So the murderer is a person from our own office? He is here, right now, in this building?" Abhimaan asked, disturbed. 

"That's a scary way to put it but yeah..." Ashwin said shrugging his shoulders. "Are you sure this theory is right?" Ekansh asked doubtfully. "Well... that is the only lead we have right now..." Ashwin said typing away on his computer. Ekansh sighed, searching for the list through his phone. 

"Why is this case so hard?" Ashwin sighed. "What makes you say so?" Ekansh asked, curious. "Well, first of all, the lack of connection. There is absolutely no connection to anything in the two cases. Expect the intel access there is no other connection and both of them getting away with charges. Even our initial catalog doesn't match. Even though S.G.E has a daughter, Nirmala, his wife is Sushmita so the chances of Nidhima being the unsub are slim. Second of all, Malhotra doesn't have major rivalries. You guys are pretty cooperative and professional with deals. All we can do now is interview all the members who previously had access and are denied presently." he said, closing his laptop.

"S.G.E... Nidhima's father was named Siddharat..." Ekansh informed. "Yeah I checked that too, but the chances are slim. We'll go with your theory and start with the investigations... If we don't find any leads after that, then we'll come back to Nidhima..." Ashwin concluded.

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Noon, Akshita's Office

"Really? That must be cool. Imagine the dedication to make a handmade one." Akshita replied to Amarpal who just informed her about a body he received for post-mortem. Named Pankaj Ditra, a 27-year-old, East-Indian, dressed in business clothes with a handmade model of the Gold Tip's Series 22 shafts - the old heavy Series 22 shot at his chest from a distance of 2.7 km, 60 degrees west from the point of collision.  After sending the post-mortem of the body, Amarpal called Akshita during lunchtime.

"I know right? Sounds like some very highly trained killer." He replied, stuffing a piece of paratha in his mouth. "Well, do you know about the Malhotra case? There was a guy murdered at their office." Akshita informed, "Yeah, I heard the news, I guess Batch 2613 handled that body..." he said chewing on his food. "What was the whole thing about anyway?" he asked, curious. "Apparently, his ex is trynna get into his company, trynna steal some intel, and is killing people with criminal records hired in his company. " She explained, feeling hungry. 

"Criminals hired in his company?" Amarpal asked in disbelief,
"Tsk, I meant people with past criminal records... I don't even know how they managed to get in such a high-class company."
"Rasika would never allow that," Amarpal said huffing.
"True that," Akshita remarked, a proud smile on her face, 

" His ex? I heard he divorced her right?" he asked, thinking Akshita would know about the matter. "Divorced? He didn't mention marrying her?" she asked, "No, I think they were court-married?" he asked, remembering some rumors he heard. 

"Well, who cares now if they were married or dating? They're off now and that's all that matters," she said and yawned feeling sleepy and hungry. "I am so hungry!" she whined. "Well, my days of pampering you are gone, call your pati dev and ask him to take you out! Bye!" he said and cut the call. 

A smile crept up instantly on her face at the mention of Ekansh as Pati dev. She opened her contact and dialed Ekansh's number.

 Tr Tr... Tr Tr...

"Hello?" he asked, his voice grave.
"Hello... you alright?" she asked, her smile falling at the variation in his voice.
"Yeah... just... I have some news..." he hesitated.
"Something I should be concerned about?" I asked, not waiting to intrude in his personal space if he wanted to tell me something. I trust he will.

"Yeah actually... Where are you right now? We'll meet for lunch?" he asked, "Um... Actually I'm quite busy... I have an appointment in 90 minutes so I don't think- How about I order Zomato and you can come here to my office and we can take about it?" she expressed the idea that popped in her head.

"It's settled then, You can order whatever you want..." he said, walking out of the conference room with his files. "Don't forget to bring Vikas too! I'll order for the four of us," she said excitedly making Ekansh smile. "Of course how can I forget?" He said, opening the doors of his office. 

"Okay then... See in you a while. Bye..." Ekansh said keeping his phone on his desk and arranging the files to keep them in his personal drawers. "Bye... Love you!" Akshita chirped and cut the call immediately.

The files dropped from Ekansh's hands hearing her words. A wide silly smile took over his face as shook his head chuckling at her behavior Her could already imagine her hiding her face, blushing. 

Akshita hid her face in her hands cursing herself for doing such silly things. Remembering about Tejaswini after a while of blushing, she came out to tease her. "Tejuuu? Guess who's coming overrrr?" she dragged her words with a teasing smile. "Is Vikas coming here?" she asked, turning her chair around to face Akshita. 

"Someone's overly-excited!" Akshita teased and Tejaswini cleared her throat, schooling her expressions. "Well, who else would you tease me with?" she asked, turning back to her desktop to hide her blushing face, realizing what she just uttered. "Oye hoyee..." Akshita went in front of the table to tease her more ending in a burst of laughter. 

"Don't tease me, if you do, I'll start teasing you with Mr. Malhotra and for what I know, he won't shy away Mrs. Malhotra..." Tejaswini teased Akshita. "Accha accha, vo sab chodo..." (Okay okay, forget about that...) Akshita said earning a glare from Tejaswini. "Tell me... What would you like for lunch? I'm ordering food and Ekansh and Daksh are coming here to eat with us... Ekansh said he wanted to discuss something but you know how busy I am... I have to catch up on last week's appointments too..." Akshita whined as Tejaswini agreed. After some discussion, they order and sit waiting for the food and the boys.

~ 2,036 words

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Hello, my lovelies!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! <3

So... what are your thoughts on the story so far?

How do you think the story will continue and most importantly who do you think is behind all these murders? 

Is it Nidhima or someone else?

What do you think about Ekansh's theory, Do you think they'll find any leads in the investigations?

I just want to know what y'all think about. It's fun to read your oblivious comments lol.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! 

Thank you so much for 330 votes!

Hope you have a great day/night!
Don't forget to Vote and add this book to your reading lists so you don't miss any updates! <3

Until next time
Lots of love <33333

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~ 2,190 words