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Word Count : 3800

Target : 120 Votes | I mean it. |

Audio Theme : Ezra | Search For The Untold Truth |

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41 | The Hued Reflection

16th May 2023

| 1230 Hours |

| Afternoon |

Her gaze trailed through a series of gigantic weeping fig trees on both sides of the Mirandavile Church Road, whose dark green foliage beat violently against the heavily blowing winds.

"It's sunny today yet the winds are so vehement." Rukmini remarked, steering the SUV through the long Mirandavile road. The dried fig leaves crackled underneath the rotating wheels of the functional vehicle.

She turned her gaze away from the window to look at Rukmini. "Yes." She nodded. "Keeping in mind what happened last time, I hope you have kept a spare tire and an emergency car kit in the trunk?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I am carrying an umbrella. Are you carrying one?"

"Yes ma'am." Prompt was the reply.

"Alright."

Rukmini passed a faint smile as she took a clean left cut, entering straight into the premises of the episcopacy of North India, leaving the iron grill gates behind. Ceasing the SUV's movements right in front of the medium sized open air parking area, Rukmini keyed out of ignition.

Hinduja corrected the position of her specs on the bridge of her nose, with the tip of her forefinger. Her eyes traipsed around the whole place as she fished out a shawl from her satchel to cover her head while getting out the SUV.

The religious ancient establishment was virtuously erect on it's foundation, the enormous off-white cross still coruscating at its steeple under the gentle rays of sun.

The ends of her saree along with the shawl danced in the direction of the wind as she unfolded it to wrap it around her head and shoulders. Hinduja looked ahead. For some reason, the miniscule tendrils of hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood up, all of a sudden. She felt chilly.

The massive Neo-Gothic style edifice stared back at her as if it knew something that she didn't, as if it was house to someone she was searching for.

"Let's go ma'am." She heard the ASP say from behind.

Nodding her head, she quietly matched steps with the officer. Meanwhile, Rukmini covered her head with a dupatta she had brought along.

Suddenly, it felt as if the heavens wrecked havoc. Gone was the sun behind an array of rain filled clouds following a loud crack of thunder, as a greyish-dark sphere formed right on top of the Cross on the steeple. The firmament turned gloomy while the air current grew even more harsh than before.

Hinduja gulped, staring up at the cross. "Take out your umbrella." She extracted one from her own satchel.

"Yes."

As both of them entered the episcopacy, the atmosphere turned gloomier. It didn't rain though.

Seconds later, they strode through the vestibule of the colossal gothic revival building. It was exactly as they had seen before, the familiar looking arches, arcades and tourelles, all elegant and refined. The archaic brass wall lamps cast a yellowish light upon the greyish-black hued stones that were the building blocks of the episcopacy.

The walk extended further into the endless vestibule.

"Officer Rao!" A loud call erupted from behind. Hinduja instantly turned around followed by Rukmini.

Father Emmanuel Alberto promptly walked towards where both of them were on halt. "Good afternoon." He wished.

"Good afternoon." The profiler went ahead with a greeting as well. Rukmini just passed a light nod.

"His Excellency is waiting for you both in his chamber." He smiled. Raising his left hand up, he respectfully gesticulated at them to follow him. "Let me guide you."

"Sure." The corners of Hinduja's colorless lips lifted up. "Thank you."

Shortly after, the clergyman walked ahead as the two feminine frames followed him to the Bishop's office. Taking a right turn from the long corridor, all three of them entered into another lengthy passageway.

Hinduja recognized the path they were walking on as her gaze meandered upon the pristine white water lilies floating on top of a half-filled water pit. Water bounced on the their wax-coated leaves just like last time. But there was a clear difference-no sun beams were falling on the lilies from the square-shaped sieved vent on the ceiling above, like the last time, courtesy of the gloomy weather they had witnessed outside sometime ago.

The father kept on walking, so did they, finally stopping in the terminus of the long and wide corridor-with a massive door in front of them, and two on their left and right sides respectively.

Father Alberto inched closer to the wooden door on the right side, raised his hand up and knocked twice and then quietly walked in, leaving them behind.

Rukmini glanced at Hinduja, scratching her cheek. "I should have had my lunch and come."

"Rukmini," The profiler called out sternly. "Focus."

The ASP nodded like a lost puppy.

"One more thing." Hinduja trailed in faint whispers.

Rukmini quirked up her ears in attention, moving closer. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Listen to whatever I talk with the Bishop carefully and think a hundred times before uttering out even a word. Don't divulge any information about the case unless I signal you to do so. Don't reveal the name of anyone from the SIT, or for that matter, the department as all." Their gazes met. "Lastly, closely monitor the eye movements of the Bishop while we are talking along with his clothing and any kind of jewelry you see him wearing. Clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

Hinduja then took out her phone from her saree pocket and turned it on to activate the voice recorder. She then put it on silent mode and shoved it back inside the pocket.

Within the next second, the door before them unbolted again as Father Alberto walked out. "Please go in." He said politely while gesturing at the slight ajar door.

They looked at each other for one last time as Hinduja stepped inside the office and Rukmini followed behind her.

Hinduja's gaze slowly examined the whole office. It was bland or rather very mediocre to be precise. The walls were of the same material like the rest of the episcopacy, constructed of greyish-black stones. There was a book self on the left end of the office. One old wall clock of faded green color with a cross right on top of it, were affixed to the front most wall. A window graced the wall on the right end while a table with a broken foot along with a chair was stationed in the middle of the office. The whole chamber was illuminated with the help of just one sconce which was attached to a piece of timber affixed perfectly above the cross.

And in the middle of it all, on the chair, sat a man whom she recognized almost immediately. A benevolent smile, a lucid pair of ebony eyes, a thin nose with a pair of thick lips underneath. The hair strands were a shade of silver just like they were on the day of Sebastian's Baptism Ceremony. Clothed in a black cassock with a cincture band woven out of intertwined gold and green threads neatly wound around his waist, Bishop Anoop Philip got up from his chair. Out of nowhere her attention, was grabbed by something around his neck. It was a locket with a chunky red crystal embedded in it. The material of the chain was definitely gold, as she determined but the material of the crystal embedded in the locket was unknown to her. Way beneath the locket hung the pectoral cross again with the help of a chain.

"Good afternoon." He greeted.

"Your Excellency." Hinduja bowed faintly.

The ASP followed suit, with her eyes keenly examining every minute motion of the Bishop. "Your Excellency."

"I really apologize for my absence on the 11th." He let out polite apology, clasping his hands together in the front. "You see, the feast of Pentecost is approaching closer."

Hinduja shook her head. "That's absolutely fine, your Excellency. We understand."

The Bishop smiled. "Alright." He then lifted his right hand and signaled at the door. "If officers from the law enforcement department are here in the episcopacy, then I believe that the matter must be something really important." He paused. "You can already see that my office is very dimly lit, so how about we continue with our conversation while walking along the Verandah on the other end of the episcopacy? It's well lit due to the natural light."

Hinduja nodded. "Sure, no problem at all."

Ten minutes down the line, all three of them reached the said place. Hinduja glanced at Rukmini the moment the later looked at her. Unknown to the Bishop, suddenly, a silent strategic conversation swept across their sharp eyes.

"Ma'am, my father has been feeling sick from yesterday night. He is in hospital currently." Rukmini morphed her face to form a sombre expression. "I have to call our family physician."

The bishop looked at the two females in obliviousness.

Hinduja smiled. "Sure, go ahead. I'll talk with His Excellency until then."

"Thank you ma'am! I am so grateful to you." Flashing an ear to ear grin, Rukmini walked away from the two while feigning a fake phone call.

Hinduja then turned around and shifted her attention to the clergyman before her.

The weather was still gloomy with occasional clapping of thunder. Beyond the Verandah, was a vast piece of land with a number of trees standing tall on it. They swayed with the wind.

The Bishop slowly strolled along the pillars of the verandah as Hinduja matched steps with him.

"So, officer, what is the matter of concern?" He asked, with his hands still clasped in the front. Meanwhile Hinduja had her hands locked behind her back.

Hinduja's gaze subconsciously swayed to the locket around the Bishop's neck. The bright red crystal reached a little above his sternum. Her gaze then moved to assess the pectoral cross locket under it. "We have a case that concerns important dates on the liturgical calendar." She began.

Anoop Philip scrunched his brows together. "As in?"

Hinduja sighed. "Your Excellency, do you know about the Maia's month abduction case? It has been on the headlines for quite some time now."

He rubbed his clean chin. "Yes."

"Well," The lady resumed. "The dates that are being put to use to abduct the girls are actually important dates on the Liturgical calendar." She paused. "To be specific, the Liturgical Calendar of the Syro-Malabar Church, from Kerala."

"What?!" The Bishop appeared a little unsettled with his calm demeanor tearing down into shreds. "Dates of importance from the Liturgical Calendar of the Syro-Malabar Church? As in Resurrection and Mar Addai kind of occasions, you mean?"

"Yes, your Excellency." Hinduja nodded.

Taken aback with this unnatural piece of information, the clergy personnel walked silently for some moments.

Hinduja assessed the trees at some distance.

"How am I supposed to help you then?" The Bishop probed, finally emerging out of his stupor.

"Coming to it." Hinduja used her thumb to scratch the base of her nose. "Your Excellency, religion in our country, is both a matter of great reverence as well as concern at this point of time. I fear, that once, the details of this case come out in the civilian population, especially the matter of the liturgically important dates, a civil unrest or more like a communal riot is bound to transpire in the state."

"So?"

"I need your help to control it, if at all a situation like that erupts." Hinduja answered.

The Bishop suddenly smiled. "I see where you are going with this."

Hinduja nodded with a faint tugging up of her lips as well. "Once the details come out, its quite obvious that the people who follow Christianity will think that it's a religious propaganda against their faith. To dissolve this thought of theirs, we need someone they trust and listen to." She paused meeting his eyes. "You are someone at a very high post within the clergy. Moreover, most Christian people residing in Delhi follow the order of the North Indian Episcopacy leaving aside the Protestants and the Orthodox population obviously. But, that's a problem for later. Currently, I am here to request you to conduct mass peaceful speeches in for of the investigation both on T.V and in person, if a situation like a civil unrest ripples the state. If there is anything that you can do other than this, that's fine as well. I just need your help to subdue the tension at that time." She explained word by word. "That's it."

The Bishop looked at her with a faint smile, with a faraway look in his eyes. "How old are you, my child?"

"Soon going to turn twenty-six." Came a firm reply.

"Prescience is quite a rare trait these days." He then raised his hand up, patting the top of her head. "God Bless you." He paused, positioning his hands at their initial locus. "You have my support. I'll talk with Archbishop Avaran and employ a few others to get this task done along with me, if needed. You need not worry at all."

Hinduja bowed softly. "Thank you, your Excellency."

"Anytime."

"You won't ask me anything else about the case? Aren't you curious?" The lady questioned.

They resumed strolling along the pillars.

Anoop Philip chuckled. "Curiosity is good but we must only know things that we are supposed to know. The thirst to know anything beyond that is detrimental to the conscious mind." He looked at her.

She acceded.

Suddenly, the clergyman closed his eyes, as if he were taking in the breeze in the surroundings.

"Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 9, Verse 18th

"गतिर्भर्ता प्रभु: साक्षी निवास: शरणं सुहृत् |
प्रभव: प्रलय: स्थानं निधानं बीजमव्ययम् ||"

He calmly recited the shloka, tasting each alphabet on his tongue.

Hinduja turned her head to look at him in absolute shock. Eyes wide, she stared at him in utter bewilderment. "You have read the Bhagavad Gita?"

Instead of replying to her, he put forward his own question. "Do you know what's the meaning of this verse?"

"Kind of" She said "Yeah"

He smiled. "In this verse, Lord Krishna says, I am the Supreme Goal of all living beings, and I am also their Sustainer, Master, Witness, Abode, Shelter, and Friend. I am the Origin, End, and Resting Place of creation; I am the Repository and Eternal Seed."

He then looked at her. "Do you know, we have a verse similar to this in the Bible as well?"

"What?" She asked, a little curious.

"Bible - John 14:6
'Lord,' said Thomas, "we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus Answered -
'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

The Bishop recited peacefully, again shutting his eyes close. "Whether, it's the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Torah, the Guru Granth Sahib, the Qur'an, the Tattvartha Sutra, the Pali Canon or for that matter any other religious text from any faith from around the world, they all have one thing in common-the belief that God is everywhere." He explained. "And the reason why I said all this, is to make you understand, that you need not worry so much. God is everywhere. God is watching everything, even his own beings who have turned vicious, lost their conscience, culminating themselves into wrongdoers. And if God is watching everything, justice will definitely prevail at the end."

He pointed at the ground beneath. "Either in this realm." Next, he directed the same finger at the sky. "Or in some other realm."

He halted his speech. "But justice will prevail no matter what. All humans are bound to answer their creator, the wrongdoers included."

"Yes," she voiced out. "But, I am shocked you have read the Bhagavad Gita."

"Bible or Bhagavad Gita, what's the difference?" Anoop Philip chuckled. "The forms or names might be different, but at the end of it all, he is one, the supreme power above us all."

Hinduja nodded while smiling at him.

"Let me guess." The bishop suddenly said. "You are an atheist?"

Hinduja shook her head. "No."

"Then? A theist?" He quizzed further.

"That neither." Hinduja again shook her head.

"Then?" He looked on, a little perplexed.

"I am neither because I have only two beliefs." She paused, maintaining a thorough eye contact with him. "Dharma." Her tone turned a little firmer. "And Karma-my actions and the reactions pertaining to them."

"Interesting." Flashing an amused smile, the bishop remarked. "Often times, I see people even fearing the supreme Lord, and here you are, so different than most people I have come across."

"If it's fear that's governing someone to believe in their faith, is it even belief then?" She voiced out. "Because for me, that's not devotion, but fear. As for me-" She halted in her steps as both of them reached the end of the Verandah. "I fear none but Dharma alone."

The bishop smiled. "Rare." He muttered under his breath.

Hinduja assessed the weather. The sky was no longer gloomy. Rather, it appeared clear, with sun rays already beaming across the blank spaces between the pillars and falling on the Verandah.

Her subconscious then shifted to observe the surroundings. "One more thing, Your Excellency."

"Go ahead," he responded.

"That day, in the church, you saw me-" She trailed.

The bishop felt his lips tugging up, clearly understanding what she was trying to say. "Don't worry, I haven't told anyone else that Mr. Mahadevan Dogra is married or the fact that it's you he is married to." He paused. "If you don't want anyone to know about the marriage yet, I assure you no one will know, at least from my side."

Hinduja nodded, passing a smile of gratitude. "Thank you."

Roughly, ten to twelve minutes later, the bishop and the profiler walked ahead to his office as Rukmini followed behind, supposedly finishing the call with her family physician.

"I hope your father is okay now, officer?" Anoop Philip asked.

"Yes, your excellency."

"That's good." He gently smiled.

Along the way, something caught Hinduja's eye in an instant. It was that same office room-Father Emmanuel Alberto's chamber-where she and Rukmini got locked last time. Her pace decreased as she eventually stopped in front of it. The doors were open.

Witnessing the young officer ceasing her movements in front of an office room, the bishop stopped too. "What happened?" He asked.

"This is Father Alberto's office, if I am not wrong." Her gaze directly fell on the brass flowerpot, again sporting a dark silhouette on itself this time. "I really liked the design of the brass flowerpot there." She pointed at it. "Wanted to buy an exact same piece for my home."

"Oh," the bishop burst out into loud chortles. "Okay."

Meanwhile, the lady in question continued to stare at the silhouette on the brass flowerpot. It was almost similar in structure and height to the silhouette she had seen on the same flowerpot on the 11th of May. Her eyes then traced the path of the shadow falling on the pot, eventually reaching their final destination, the opaque object being Bishop Anoop Philip. But, along with that, there was something else that caught her sharp eye-something that she had seen that day as well-a hued reflection.

Her attention shifted to the red crystal locket around the bishop's neck. Light was cast upon the red crystal locket from an archaic wall lamp affixed above Father Alberto's chamber door, which in turn caused the crystal to cast a red-hued reflection on the object directly in front of it in some distance, which was the brass flowerpot.

She had seen something almost similar to that on the 11th of May as well-a hued light or perhaps reflection, but there was something different here.

"Tudor," she said. "That's the brand of the flowerpot, I guess?"

The bishop shook his head. "I have no idea, officer."

"Anyway, let's go." She suggested, smiling at him.

And they started walking again. Meanwhile, Rukmini scratched her head, weirded out due to her senior's sudden interest in buying a flowerpot.

She is really weird.

A minute later, as they entered inside the bishop's chamber again, Hinduja's gaze traversed around the whole office once again, gradually finding something that she hadn't noticed before-a photo frame.

Rukmini gulped down large sips of water from a tiny Kinley water bottle to subdue her roaring stomach while Hinduja casually strolled towards the photo frame appended to the wall next to the bookshelf.

It was a group photograph. Judging from the clothing, it looked like a group photograph of the members of the episcopacy. She instantly recognized the man sitting in the front most row. It was the bishop with the same locket around his neck. Her gaze then traversed to the other figures sitting next to him in the front row.

The poker face remained intact as she turned around, only to find the bishop standing just behind her.

His calm eyes slowly surveyed her expressions. "It's a group photo of all us brothers here."

"I understood." She smiled, meeting this gaze.

"Anyway, our work finishes here." She trailed. "We will take our leave now. Thank you so much for your help." She added.

"My pleasure."

Sometime later, as she and Rukmini emerged out of the episcopacy with the bishop on his toes behind them, he said. "One more thing, that I would like to ask." He announced. "I will definitely help you handle people from the Christianity faith, but how do you plan on controlling people from the other religions, if at all a situation like civil unrest arises?"

Hinduja bowed, "I have my ways, your excellency." She raised her head up, connecting their gazes. "Please don't worry about it."

"But I am most definitely worried about you. Your protection is as important as that." He stated, with a hint of worry.

Her back turned ramrod straight. "The Dharma protects those who protect it." With a tone as clear as lucid ripples of river water, she quoted her most potent belief. "Your Excellency." She added the designation.
" धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः" He smiled ever so lightly. "Indeed."

Bowing her head for one last time in front of the bishop, the criminal profiler about-faced and strode straight towards the SUV parked in the parking area. The Assistant Superintendent of Police followed suit as the Bishop looked on.

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