No answer. I give Karthik a meaningful look, and we both raise our feet, slamming the heels against the slight left of the lock.

It shatters, and the door swings open automatically. "Neel, stay back," I warn, one hand perched on my gun.

Karthik goes in first, stepping carefully into the house. His eyes dart around the scene before a scream rises from inside and he turns.

A woman glares at us, holding a cricket bat protectively. "Isn't it better to knock on the door instead of break it down?!" She says angrily. "And who allowed you to come without a gun?"

I step forward. "First, we did knock, you didn't open the door. Second, the watchman let us in. We're with the police. Sit down, Miss Sharma."

She's still suspicious, so we have to show her our IDs before she relents. I lean forward, unsure of how to break the news to her. There's a silence.

"Haan, toh? Are you going to explain to me what happened?" She asks.

Neel pipes up. "Yes, we are, Miss Sharma. Please, remain calm as you hear this information. Your mother has been murdered," he says calmly.

The reaction is almost comical. Her mouth drops open, eyes widening in shock. The bat clatters to the ground loudly, and she glances between us for a solid two minutes.

"D-dead?" She sputters.

"Yes," the three of us reply simultaneously. She seems to lose her anger instantly. "Kaise?" She gasps, grabbing Neel by the shoulders.

He flinches away from her touch, and Karthik speaks coldly. "Miss Sharma, kindly let go of him. He hasn't killed her, so do not touch him like that."

Her face twists in rage. "What has happened to my mother?" She shrieks, normal behavior for someone who has lost a loved one. "Tell me where she is, abhi batao!"

I gently push her back down. "Please calm down, Miss Sharma."

"What do you want from me?" Her voice is raw and she doesn't look us in the eye. But she has calmed down, so I sit opposite her, leaning forward.

"First, we need to know why you didn't pick up, even after we repeatedly called you yesterday, from your mother's phone."

Riddhi takes the phone as though it were a relic, tears brimming in her eyes. "So mumma really is gone," she whispers. "My phone broke yesterday, at around two o'clock."

Her story checks out because she hasn't been online since then. She even shows us the broken phone.

"Okay, why don't you just tell us about how your day went?" Karthik suggests, very kindly so not to make her any more scared than she is.

"Yesterday, I had an important call and a meeting at office. I told ma that I wanted to talk to her about something and called her at around 12, before my meeting began."

"What was it?"

She realizes the question. "Yesterday was my dad's death day anniversary. It's a very... Auspicious day for me, you could say. I miss him a lot."

Karthik winced from next to me. I knew he had lost his father too.

Losing someone close to you hurt more than words could explain. I thanked the gods that I had never lost anyone like that. I was truly lucky.

Riddhi continues with her story. "My mother never liked the fact that I was still close with papa. It was her fault that they had to divorce, though."

That hits me by surprise. They had to divorce because of Mrs Sharma? She never struck me as the cheating type.

Neel looks just as surprised as I do. "It was her fault?" He repeats, and Riddhi nods. "Yes. She cheated on my father with another man."

I voice my shock. "But I know Mrs Sharma and she is a dutiful Indian wife! Why would she cheat on him?" Riddhi offers me a sad smile.

"She changed herself. But my mother used to be easily swayed by money and jewelry. The man that she cheated with my father on was... is... quite rich. She was taken quickly."

Riddhi sighs, her eyes clouding over. I scan them once to make sure that she's telling the truth. Her eyes are dull and emotionless, mouth set.

Karthik briefly makes eye contact with me before speaking up.

"Riddhi?"

She startles, blinking her eyes much too rapidly. "Oh... I'm sorry. This is just too much of a shock. I never thought that mummy..." she trails off.

"Neither did we," Neel says gently, smiling at her. He's a very calming person, so I'm not surprised that she wipes at her eyes and nods.

She determinedly tells us the rest of the story. "When I spoke with mummy she sounded fine. It was all  normal. After that my phone broke."

A sigh escapes her lips. "I had promised ma that I would visit her but when my phone broke I got distracted and forgot. I feel like this is somehow my fault because of that."

We give her another moment of silence. "Miss Sharma, what did you do after your meeting yesterday?"

"I ate my lunch and then finished off some remaining work. Around two, I caught an auto to go back home. It was around that time that this broke."

She holds up the phone. "So I was distressed and spent the rest of my afternoon looking for phone shops within my budget. I didn't find any, so I came home. I forgot all about ma."

Karthik says,"Okay. And what about today? What did you do?"

She thinks about it for a moment. "I got up early because I had a work call and that took up most of my morning. Then I cooked lunch and you came."

I realize that the delicious aroma of Indian food is in the air. "Oh," Neel inhales and smiles. "Is that rajma and rice I smell?" Riddhi nods.

"I was going to invite mumma over for lunch today and explain everything, in a way to apologize to her, but, well..." She winces.

I stand. "Well, Miss Sharma, I think that's all I have for today. Could we have the number of your boss and your office's name, please?"

"Yes, one minute."

She disappears into another room, and Karthik rubs his temples gingerly, sighing. "Well, we got something of it, all right."

Neel's eyes glint with anger. "She was a cheater. I hated Mrs Sharma but I never thought she would stoop so low."

I shake my head. "Me neither. First we check Riddhi's alibi. And then we work on what to do next. At least we have some sort of lead, now."

As if on cue, Riddhi appears, handing me a small piece of paper with a number scribbled on it. We thank her, apologize once more and leave.

I'm almost out the door when Riddhi speaks softly from behind me. "Officer Choubey?" I turn to see her looking at me, pain etched in every feature. She takes a shaky breath.

"I never loved my mother as much after she betrayed me and papa. But I never hated her, either," she says.

The dim light shines on Riddhi, a shadowed halo around her head. I can't move, can't speak. I just stare at her. She smiles sadly.

"Thank you."

With that, she turns her face toward the window, and the door shuts in front of me. For a long moment, I stand there, wordlessly staring.

"Aadhyavi?" It's Neel who shakes me out of my stupor, confused and worried. "Are you okay?" He asks.

I look him in the eye. "Neel," I say, and am surprised that my voice sounds so firm. "We have to solve this. We will find out who murdered them."

Kartika appears at my shoulder. "Yes, we will," he replies. I take a look at the three of us. We began investigating this mystery.

Which means we can end it, too.

***

"We need to make a quick stop at the station," Karthik says as we drive out of Riddhi's society. "I have to pick up some files. Any other ideas?"

"While we're at it, we should head over to Riddhi's office and confirm that her alibi is solid," I suggest. "I am not sure she's being fully honest."

Neel eyes me. "What makes you say that, Dhavi?" He asks.

"For starters," I begin. "Clearly her and Mrs Sharma aren't on the best terms with one topic- Mr Sharma. And Riddhi clearly feels like this is her mother's fault. Which it is."

"And what else?" Karthik prompts, keeping his gaze fixed on the road. I can tell that I've got his attention, though, so I tell them what she said.

After I'm done, I wait for them to digest the information. Then Karthik lets out a sigh. "You're right. We can't rule her out completely."

The rest of the ride passes in silence, until we arrive at the station. I decide to check if I left any belongings behind the last time I was here.

To my surprise, a young woman sits at my desk, boredom clear in her movements as she does paperwork.

"Vinaya?"

At the sound of my voice, she looks up sharply, and gasps, throwing herself into my embrace. "Aadhyavi! Where have you been?" She scolds me.

I smile, happy to see her. "Sorry about leaving so abruptly. I've got a case on my hands. I've been figuring it out with Karthik and Neel."

A slow smile spreads across her face and she giggles. "What?" I say.

Vinaya waves her hand. "You have all the luck, Aadhyavi. Karthikeyan Rajeshwar ko bhi pata liya tu ne," She jokes, and we both laugh.

"Mein ne nahi, usko toh Neel ne pata hai," I reply, winking. Neel might stab me for this, but I think it's both cute and funny. And Vinaya thinks so too.

A sudden commotion from the room next door startles both of us.

"What's happening?" I ask Vinaya, and she pales. "Oh I forgot to tell you, Chief Bhatt is mega pissed off that you left without telling anyone."

I scoff. "He can't harm me, Devi is my senior, not him." Vinaya shakes her head. "It's not you I'm worried about, Aadhyavi. It's Neel."

The light bulb finally goes off. Neel is under Chief Bhatt's charge! And since that asshole (Bhatt) didn't get his case, he is going to be horrible to Neel.

Sure enough, I can hear Bhatt yelling before I see him. He seems to be scolding Neel, who is trembling.

Neel has never been in the category of boys that I would associate with the backbenchers. He is quiet, witty and a very kind person. His emotional tendencies are the target of bullies.

I've defended him more times than I can count because I will never stand to take shit from anyone. And I am about to defend him now, too.

However, just as I step forward, Chief Bhatt slaps Neel across the face. The sound is a sharp crack, and Neel stumbles backward, clearly shocked.

"Neel!"

I take one step toward him but I never get there as Karthik taps my shoulder, his voice low and almost guttural. "It would be great if you could move."

I catch sight of his dark eyes bubbling with fury and automatically step aside, more terrified than I'd like to admit.

As I watch, Karthik glares at Bhatt, walking over to Neel. "You cannot manhandle your employees, Chief Vijay Bhatt," he says quietly.

Bhatt apologizes profusely, and backs into a bookcase, much to my amusement and satisfaction. Karthik speaks one word, "Leave."

And the man that had been yelling at the top of his lungs scrambled out of the room with a sound like a kitten yowling in fear.

"Are you alright, Neel?" Karthik asks, his tone abruptly switching to a gentle one. Neel wordlessly nods, his face flushed and a red welt forming where he was struck.

I mask my grin as Vinaya walks up to me, murmuring, "You were right, Aadhyavi. Neel ne toh isko aache se pata ke rakha hai." We high five.

Karthik's phone rings. He glances at the caller ID in distaste. "Sorry, it's the team. I have to take this." He walks out of the room.

"Neel, you sure you're okay?" I know he'll never lie to me.

"I'm fine," he mumbles in a daze. I nudge him with a smirk. "So how did that little incident make you feel?" Neel turns to me, embarrassed.

"Shut up, Aadhyavi!" He whines, but joins in my laughter. Our happiness, unfortunately is short lived.

Karthik rushes over to us, his expression unreadable. "We've got a problem." Without another word he ushers us to the car and starts the engine before I've even buckled myself in.

Neel and I exchange looks. "What's going on, Karthik?" We say simultaneously. Karthik chews on his bottom lip anxiously.

"Mrs Sharma didn't only die by a stab wound, Aadhyavi," he says. "There were traces of drugs found in her body during the autopsy."

My jaw drops. "What are you talking about?" I press on.

Karthik exhales shakily. "Well, that's not the only problems. The drugs that she had been administered before her death? Well, they were found."

Neel breaks in. "Really? Where?"

The answer is so shocking that it takes me a minute to process what he is saying, shock numbing my mind.

"Ram Bhaiya had them."

***

I rarely put author's notes at the end of chapters but I believe this is a bit of a special case. I'm going to be writing the next chapter asap but I will need to do some research beforehand so the update might be a little later than expected.

Not by much though. Also, I would like to thank Rachelhermionerose for sticking with me always. I love you, Rimz. Well everyone, bye!