The house was unlocked when I reached home.

The wife.

"Pooja?" I called out to her as I got in. I kept the shoes at their respective spots and went in.

She rushed to me with a glass of water in her hand, a bright smile on her face.

"Hey! I missed you." She hugged me despite both of our hands being occupied.

"Where were you...last night?"

It was last night, wasn't it?

Just...great!

"I was in Pune for a meeting. I told you about it, come on!" She put some distance between us after a kiss on my cheek.

If I were her, I would have given up.

Then be a better man for her, no?

"I am sorry. It must have slipped out of my head." I put my bag down and held her.

It was as if I was able to breathe better, things felt lighter. She gave me a small smile, the one that reached her eyes.

Yeah! It is going to cost me.

My phone interrupted us. She huffed out a breath and pulled away completely.

"Yes, Avi?" I took the glass from her before she left with my bag.

"Tomorrow, we have to go to the forensics. The reports and everything are ready. Anything else?"

"Uh, try to find the usual routes, and what all places the car was taken to on the day of the accident. And go home." I shrugged my shoulders as she glared at me.

"Sir!"

"Come on, Pooja. You know how things are." I couldn't help the sigh as I sat on the platform of the kitchen.

"We rarely are able to find time for each other. And since Ahaan–" She stopped abruptly. I looked at her, waiting for her to finish.

"You know what all I want to say, Sid!" She turned off the stove and came closer to where I was.

"I know. But just as I made my mind, we got a big case on us. Rajiv Khanna was found dead."

"Oh! How?"

"Road accident. And I cannot tell you anything further. As soon as this is done, we will take that trip. I will go talk to that shrink of yours. Promise!"

"Yes, please. Make it quick." She ruffled my hair.

And for the first time in a long, long time, I felt how it was to have a safe place, to...belong.

But the restlessness, the sleeplessness was still there.

Will it all ever end?

****

"There are no signs of external force or trauma on any of the bodies. Just this one guy died after his head banged against the window. The rest drowned." The forensic doctor informed us as he showed us the images of the bodies.

"There are no odd injuries on any of the bodies, except their backs have these nail marks." He showed me the pictures.

Avi and Dhruv both looked at me and at each other.

"Yes. This is exactly what you guys are assuming." The other apprentice shook his head with a sigh as he collected the pictures.

"All the stuff that was found in the car and then from the sea were some papers, their wallets, water bottles, cans of energy drinks and beers." They scattered all the images in front of me.

A particular bag caught my eye. It was not for males, not branded. It was just something else, but it surely didn't belong in the car.

"And this?" I extended the picture of that particular bag.

"The water washed all possible DNA. So, we cannot exactly tell. But we have a miniature simulation of what might have led the car into the river." The doctor signalled at his assistants, and they got a model.

Another forensic officer stepped up. "Keep it simple." I spoke as we all sat down.

"So, the car was going at a great speed when it was on the bridge. Then Rajiv just swerved...turned the steering away." He showed the car on the bridge, and then with a jerk turned it slightly toward the railing.

"Since the speed was high, the car kind of climbed the railing of the old bridge and only stopped because of the pillar and some nails." He put the car at the juncture of the pillar and the railing.

"Yes. This is exactly how the car stayed in the air for very little time. None of them had the patience or the calm to use their brains. The panic made them move, and the car..." He pushed the little car from the railing. "The blood on one of the windows shows that they were desperately trying to escape, but since they could not think past their panic, the chaos must have thrown the guy on the very left against the window. Which hurt his head. Then the excessive bleeding. The water didn't help much."

"Can there be more people in the car initially? Could this person have distracted Rajiv and then escaped when the car was in the air?" I happened to think out loud.

"We considered that too, but those chances are too thin. The blood was on the side away from the railing. The only escape was behind the driver's seat, which is impossible in our scenario." He answered back.

There has to be someone else. What else could have broken the other window entirely?

But they are saying there was no scope of escaping whatsoever.

"Fair enough. Give us some time to think. We...I might keep coming back to you about this." I told them as we all stood up and shook hands.

"The car seemed like it was coming from Kamathipura. We traced all the camera footage we could get." Dhruv spoke as he held the door open for me.

Sounds too entangling. I don't want this.

"Udhar toh aapko hi jaana padega, sir. None of us can be trusted." Avinash shook his head.

"But didn't we already go there?" Dhruvil frowned. "And they didn't have anything to say."

"We went there as a wild guess. Now we have things to pursue." Avinash shot him a look. "And no one can handle Madhu like you." He then looked at me.

"So now I have to take on defamation too?" I scoffed at them. They tried hard to suppress their laughs. "See if this guy has any enemies or someone we should be worried about. Try to check what the papers were about."

"Sir!"

"I think this is it, just science working against them with their own nonchalance." Avinash spoke when we got into the van.

"Me too. Everything just...fits." Dhruvil muttered.

That is exactly what is bothering me somewhere. Everything aligns too perfectly.

Not everything has to be twisted or malignant.

But most of your memory holds everything that is malignant.