Murder In Beltour | Chapter 10 | Who Killed Ruchi?

Sunanda waited in her office for Saira and Diya. She had called for them one day before when she had to report to the University on the findings. As she sat there, she had a slight smirk on her face that refused to be wiped out.

A knock at the door brought her back to reality from the meandering thoughts. Raghav let in the two girls. Sunanda briefly thanked Raghav, as she always did, and the door closed leaving the three of them to themselves.

“Hi,” said Sunanda, breaking the silence and smiling. This was a different smile although. A smile that wasn’t restricted to its tight professionalism.

“Do you have something you want to ask us? We already told you everything we know,” said Diya. Sunanda continued smiling.

“Please make yourselves comfortable. I am here to tell you something, not ask you,” said Sunanda, and let out a long breath. The two girls sat down, confused and doubtful. “Hear it like a story, like a puzzle that gets solved and sorted.”

She gave a pause for a moment, and then she started.

“A fire breaks out in your hostel and a girl dies. The girl is Ruchi. Your college authorities approach me to take up the case. The next day Dev, a shattered employee of the Boss who had been quit the previous day, arrives and tells me about an attack planned on The Period, a magazine that had plans to release footage that would put the Boss in trouble. Dev claims that he didn’t know about the fire and that Ruchi had died. He claims that he didn’t know that I worked for the Boss, and he also claims that he didn’t know I was taking up the fire case. And, according to Dev, Ruchi was supposed to carry out the attack on The Period. How did they both come to me? Was it a coincidence?

Now, on the day of the fire, Ruchi was supposed to get a note that had to be delivered by Dev. But, at the last moment Dev quit and Yash was sent instead. The package went to the warden who gave it to you. And, you never gave it. So, Ruchi must not have gone out in the morning. And, in the afternoon, someone set fire ablaze and it killed her. It couldn’t have been someone from outside the University. That doesn’t seem possible considering the evidence through the surveillance cameras. So, it had to be someone from the University. Who could have started the fire?

The fire seemed like it began from the window corner, yet that’s a mislead to shift the attention to an entry from the window. But the tool mark visible on the bottom of Ruchi’s door points to an entry from the main door to Ruchi’s room. While the person trying to break in had tried to use a ledge and break the room, the break had been unsuccessful. Instead, the newspaper trails indicate the drag mark on the arch of how the door had been opened. Ruchi must have heard the noise and opened the door when the attacker was trying for a break entry. Who did Ruchi see?”

Sunanda gave a pause again, and looked at the girls. Saira and Diya were sitting up straight and staring at her, their mouths partially open in anticipation. Sunanda gave a quick laugh and started again.

“Your dean has close connections with The Period, a friendship with the editor in chief of the magazine. Dev was fired suddenly, and the next thing he does is come straight here to report like a good man. Isn’t that strange? Dev was jobless, homeless and penniless. When a man is put in such a situation, he doesn’t become good all of a sudden- he becomes desperate. Desperate for money, to sustain, to live. He wouldn’t have the guts to come and report. No one would, and that’s natural. Yet he did. Why? Because, The Period paid him to report to me. But, why? How does The Period gain from that?

Dev came and tried to convince me that killing Ruchi was the Boss’s job. But, he was paid by The Period to say so. Did someone from The Period kill Ruchi? The Period also pushed your Dean to ask me to take up a case. So, it wasn’t a coincidence. But, why me? I worked for the Boss, too. And, I stopped. And, The Period must have thought that I would be the ideal person to accept Dev’s story in my past anger and write off the case on the Boss. That was their best shot. And, if I did, then the next trouble onslaught would be between the Boss and me, and The Period wouldn’t have their name involved. Very calculated.

But, who inside the University worked with The Period? It wasn’t the Dean who set the fire. It was the girls’ hostel and no man has been seen to enter the hostel in the surveillance footage. So, it must have been someone from the University and the girls’ hostel.”

Sunanda paused again, and then looked at Saira. The girls were still sitting in anticipation and bated breaths.

“Why did the warden give you the message instead of giving it to Ruchi herself? To avoid any suspicion. The message to Ruchi was not really from the Boss. It was a fake one that The Period created to get Ruchi out in the morning, and to finish her off. But, that didn’t happen to their disappointment, thanks to you Saira. The message never reached Ruchi and she never came out. So, the warden had to execute Plan B. A fire, in her room, that killed her. The tool marks match with the ledge that is there in the warden’s room.

But, if The Period wanted to kill Ruchi, and the Dean was their friend, why didn’t they close it as an accident? Because they wanted the blame to go to the Boss. That would only reinforce what they were planning to release about him through the footage. So, now you can see who killed Ruchi. But the case is not here today to find who killed Ruchi, but to frame who they wanted to be the killer of Ruchi.

The whole stunt is choreographed. Everybody is a player- your Dean, Dev, The Period, everybody.”

There was a minute of absolute silence. Then Saira spoke.

“Why were you keen on knowing if my room was open?” she asked.

Sunanda seemed a little taken aback, but she managed to give a smug smile before she answered. “I saw the same tool mark in your room. The warden had entered your room to check where the package was before she proceeded to Ruchi’s room,” she said briefly.

“So, why did you tell us all this?” asked Diya.

“Well, I wanted to tell the people who knew a little background but aren’t involved too,” said Sunanda, her composure coming back to a normal. “And, I am going to the police with the truth, I’d be glad if you two can stand testament to what I told you.”

Saira and Diya nodded gravely. Sunanda gave them the air of importance that would convince them to agree. After a couple of more exchanges, the girls took their leave.

There had been a play of power, a choreographed stunt by The Period. Yet, the one thing they miscalculated was that Sunanda had been fired by the Boss. Sunanda had worked for the Boss and been way high up in the ladder. For reasons unknown, she quit and was yet left alive for so many years by the Boss though she knew too many things about his deeds. They didn’t bother to find out why, in their excitement to frame him and add to their success. And, she did solve the case. She didn't lie. She just hid a small part of the truth that changed the game. Sunanda ensured that the girls had left before she placed a call on her phone.

“Boss, it’s done. The warden will be transferred to the base tonight. All the arrangements have been made. With the warden considered to have fled, The Period will be successfully framed, and no way they can run it. You’re safe.”

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 09 | Dev’s Story

Dev had joined on the low-rung of an inconceivably complicated interconnected network of thugs, the head of which was someone called the ‘Boss’. Dev was not someone you could call a good man, but with a slight push he was capable of being one. And, the ‘Boss’ had given him several top-down orders to be executed. Sometimes, they were petty thefts of things that seemed insignificant to Dev. And at other times, it was either a job to threaten someone or finish them off. 

Dev wasn’t someone you could call a good person, yet he wasn’t so devoid of emotion to be capable of shooting someone dead. Or, stabbing them, or any other physical violent means of bringing death. So, he had never been assigned anything more than poisoning someone once. And, with this weakness came Dev’s downside- he never really progressed up the ladder like the others did. Like Yash did. As always, Dev got the job of delivering a message to Ruchi one day, as he was always the one to do such trivial jobs. But, the job was taken back from him, and Yash was sent instead. And, then he was made to quit, and was sent to the streets. 

The Boss had made one mistake- of thinking Dev was as much a fool in his head as he was physically. Dev was sharp in his senses, his eyes and ears always noticing and hearing things. And, by the time he was thrown out, Dev knew quite a bit about the plans that were being whispered through the hierarchy ladders. There was going to be an attack on the owner of The Period.

He had rushed to a detective so that he could find more, and make sure it didn't happen. That’s when he had met Sunanda, another woman who had worked for the Boss but had been way high up in the ladder. For reasons unknown to him, and he didn’t dare ask her, she was left alive by the Boss though she knew too many things about his deeds. He had narrated everything he knew about the plan to her. 

As rumoured in the rung of the ladders, The Period had a set of sixty tapes with the whole history of the Boss since twenty years ago, when he was in his formative years to rising a terror ladder. Who was the Boss exactly? And, what did he terrorize? Dev did not really know exactly, and to Dev’s best knowledge, nobody seemed to know when he had worked with them. The Period, over the years, had grown so big that threats weren’t really effective with them. The Boss wanted the editor-in-chief done away with, to induce terror, stall the project and destroy the content they had. And, it had been rumoured that Ruchi, a very trusted aide of the Boss, was supposed to do the job. 

But, by the time that Dev had gone to tell all the little conversations that he had heard, Ruchi had already died in a fire. When he had reached out to Sunanda to save the editor-in-chief, she had already been involved in the fire case in which Ruchi died. How did both the cases come to her? Was it mere coincidence?

Sunanda sat in her office, her notebook in front of her, and her thoughts turning over what all the case had thrown at her. Sunanda had seen the paper trails and the tool marks at the bottom of Ruchi’s door. And, Saira had kept her door unlocked for two minutes. Somehow, all of them were involved: the Boss, The Period, Ruchi, Yash, Dev, and yet, something was still missing for her. Who did Ruchi have to meet the morning she died?

Sleep took over Sunanda as she worked it out all on her mind- over and over- was it the Boss? Or, was it The Period? She fell asleep on the table, her notebook still open and a pencil still clutched in her fingers.

*

Read Chapter 10!

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 08 | Ruchi

Dev and Sunanda were sitting in her office. Sunanda was looking at Dev closely. Neither of them spoke, and yet it seemed like Sunanda was waiting for Dev to tell her something. When he didn’t, she broke the silence finally.

“So, he didn’t ask you to deliver the message to her?” asked Sunanda.

“No, I was supposed to initially, but then the plan changed. Yash was going instead of me. I don’t understand why he quit me, but I know that they were planning an attack on The Period,” said Dev.

“Are you sure?” asked Sunanda, looking down into her notepad, and doodling frantically on the top right of the page.

“I volunteered to be a part of it, and was rejected. I came here hoping there is a chance to save The Period from him, but the whole thing has gone haywire. Why would he kill Ruchi?” said Dev, in a tone of complete perplexion.

“There is something amiss, Dev,” said Sunanda, in a voice barely more than a whisper, as she mechanically thickened the outer linings of her doodle.

There was a curt knock on the door, and Raghav, the boy at the desk,  entered. Sunanda looked up at him.

“Miss, there are two girls who have come to see you. Shall I send them in?” he asked.

“Two girls? Not now, ask them to take an appointment for tomorrow,” said Sunanda, dismissively. But, as Raghav was about to leave, she called him back. “What are their names?”

“Saira, miss, I asked only one of them,” said Raghav.

Sunanda and Dev exchanged glances, and Raghav waited patiently near the door.

“I should leave,” said Dev, getting up from his seat.

“No stay, they don’t know much, you’ll be safe,” said Sunanda. Dev, after a few moments of thought, dropped back into his seat.

“Send them in, thank you Raghav,” said Sunanda, closing her notebook.
Raghav went out, and sent the two girls in. Saira and Diya entered the office room. Dev glanced at them, with a brief smile.

“Yes, how may I help you, girls?” said Sunanda, putting up her tight smile again that said get straight to business.

Saira and Diya each picked a chair and settled in comfortably, to the surprise of Sunanda. She raised her brows at them as if to ask them the question again. Diya let out a full, long breath, and then looked at Saira. Saira was staring at Dev.

“Who is that?” asked Saira. “We need to talk in private.”

“Yes, please meet Dev Som. He is my assistant, and he works on every case that I do. Everything you say is confidential, so feel free to go ahead,” clarified Sunanda.

“We know the boss killed Ruchi, and so do you,” said Diya.

Dev and Sunanda exchanged glances. “Is that so?” said Sunanda plainly.

“Why aren’t you being clean about this? We know you worked for the boss, are you covering him in this case even though you don’t work for him now?” asked Saira bluntly.

“Excuse me, girls, if you are here to question my credibility, please show yourselves out. You can address whatever your concerns are about me to your University,” said Sunanda, her tone slightly off, yet her face keeping up the tight smile.

“We have something that you may like,” said Diya.
“And, what is that?” said Sunanda.
“A threat message, for Ruchi from the boss.”

Sunanda at once became alert and active. She whisked open her notebook. “You have the message?” she asked eagerly.

Saira handed over the ripped package with the file and the note on it. Sunanda grabbed it from her before she could even extend it completely. Dev looked tensely at Sunanda, in anticipation.

“Be energetic like the outstanding, unique Redshank. Mornings are better in the balcony. Boss,” Sunanda read out loud.

“The Period?” asked Dev.
 “Or the boss, we can’t discard that,” said Sunanda.

Saira cleared her throat loud enough to get their attention back to her. “Sunanda, can you please tell us what that means to you?”

“Ruchi was supposed to meet someone in your playground in the morning of the fire,” said Sunanda softly.

“What, it wasn’t a veiled threat?” asked Diya. Sunanda stayed quiet, but Dev answered.

“No, it is a part of the series of instructions for something. Ruchi worked for the boss, too.”

*

Read Chapter 9!

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 07 | The Message

Diya was sitting cross-legged on the floor in Saira’s room, deep in thought. Saira had just told her that the private investigator worked previously for the Boss who might be the main reason for the fire. But, how did things fall in place so perfectly?

“Do you think she is lying?” asked Saira.

“No, the message that I read did ask her not to take it up. If she was still working for him, then the Boss would have wanted her to take it up, I think,” speculated Diya.

“What are you thinking about, then?”
“I was thinking about Ruchi.”
“What about her?”
“Do you remember the first day we all came to college? We were standing outside the hostel, and we met these new girls. I remember Ruchi was also there, and we were just chit-chatting.”
“Yeah, I remember.”

Diya stayed silent for some time, her expression lost in thoughts again. And, when she spoke again, she left the previous train of conversation abruptly.

“It is impossible that someone from outside could have caused the fire,” said Diya.

Saira nodded, and both of them were silent, racking their brains to comprehend what was happening. Saira was staring into her table when she noticed the unopened parcel.

“Diya…”
“Yeah?”
“I have Ruchi’s parcel. The warden gave it to me the other day and asked me to give it to Ruchi on the way, and I forgot completely. It was just on the morning of the fire. Do you think I should give it to that investigator?”
“Open it,” said Diya, jumping up to a stand enthusiastically and reaching out for the parcel on the table.
“Wait.”

Saira and Diya looked at each other, Saira eyeing the package  doubtfully.

“What if it is something like a bomb inside? Maybe it was supposed to have blown up her room or something, we don’t know,” said Saira, her voice faltering.

Diya sniggered. “You do have a great sense of imagination, my friend,” she said, jokingly.

“What if-” started Saira.

“We’ll know what when we open it. Ruchi is long dead.”

Before Saira could say anymore, Diya tore the package open. There was a blue file inside, and the file was empty. But, on top of the file was a sticky note.

“Be energetic like the outstanding, unique Redshank. Mornings are better in the balcony. -Boss”

Saira and Diya stared at the note, and then after what seemed like an eternity, looked up and stared at each other, thoughts racing in their minds in a muddled run. Diya finally broke the silence.

"So, was this a threat?" she guessed.
"But, why the file then?" asked Saira.

Diya nodded speculatively. "Maybe, for it to just seem like a package."

"Maybe, but the message makes no sense. It says morning, but the fire that killed her was in the afternoon. And, I still don't know why Sunanda was interested in knowing if my door was open," said Saira, crinkling her nose and face as she read the message once again. "I think Sunanda might know better. But, we don't give this to her unless she tells us something more."

*

Read Chapter 8!

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 06 | Questions

Saira had been called to the Dean’s office regarding the fire. She waited outside the office, tense and fidgety.

“What?! Why you? What do you have to do with it! You didn’t even know there was a fire, you were sleeping!” Diya had exclaimed when Saira told her about the call. “You don’t even know what happened.”

“I don’t know, but they won’t know that. My room is on the same floor as Ruchi’s. Let’s see what they want,” Saira had replied.

Standing there, Saira’s thoughts wandered back to the day of the fire. She was sleeping deeply, and she remembered nothing. She wasn’t even someone close to Ruchi, after all they had a very polite hi-bye relationship that faded away into a curt smile. What could they possibly want to know from her? The opening of the Dean’s door by a woman, Sunanda as they had called her the other day, brought Saira’s thoughts to an abrupt end.

“Saira?” asked Sunanda.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Saira.
“Please call me Sunanda,” she said, smiling professionally. “Saira, please take a seat. I won’t take much time, I have a couple of questions that I want to ask you, that is all.”

“Sure. The Dean isn’t here?” Saira was confused. The Dean’s office had only this woman and no one else. But, she had got an email saying she needed to meet the Dean. Sunanda looked up at Saira.

“No,” she said curtly. “I am Sunanda Amble, and I am a private investigator. I have been asked to investigate the fire by the Dean of your college, and hence I am on this case. I need to just ask you a few questions, and then you can go back. Please take a seat.”

Saira sat down slowly in one of the two chairs in front of the Dean’s desk. “Investigate? So, it wasn’t an accident?”

“I’d advise you to just reply to my questions, and not ask any yourself. So, where is your room?”
“Second floor.”
“Number?”
“42.”
“Do you know Ruchi?”
“This is a small place, we all know each other. She lives on the same floor as me, so I saw her often. But, I don’t know her well enough beyond the smile we gave each other as we passed.”
Sunanda paused and nodded.
“Can I know what you usually do around afternoons in college?”
“I sleep. Everyday.”
“And, on the day of the fire?”
“I was sleeping, as usual.”
“How deep?”
“I can’t sleep at night. I have trouble sleeping at night. So, afternoon is the time I make up for it. I wouldn’t know if an elephant was stomping around when I sleep in the afternoon.”
“Do you lock your room while sleeping?”
“Yes, always.”
“What were you doing right before you went to sleep?”
“I came back from the University classes.”
“And?”
“And, slept.”

There was a long pause. Sunanda stared at the notebook in front of her.

“So, you came straight back from the classes, and slept?”
“Yes. I always do.”
“You never left your door open and went anywhere?”
“No.”

Saira was confused. Why was the woman repeatedly trying to figure out if her door was open? Did it matter?

“Okay,” said Sunanda, dragging her voice.
“Uh, I think I went to fill my water bottle before I went to sleep.”

Sunanda’s eyes darted back to Saira.
“When?”
“After coming back to the room, and right before sleeping. The cooler is just down at the end of the floor. Ruchi’s end.”
“Did you leave your door open?”
“I latched it from outside, but didn’t lock it. The cooler was right there.”
"How far is your room from Ruchi's?"
I am not sure, but around 8-9 rooms away, I think."
“And, how long did you take to get back to the room?”
“A couple of minutes. Maybe two or three. Not more than that.”
“Right, thank you very much.”

Sunanda suddenly seemed to be scribbling tons of notes into her notebook, and Saira was curious to know how it mattered.

“Why? How does it matter?” asked Saira.
“That’s my job, Saira. Thank you for your cooperation,” said Sunanda, politely. “That is all, you can-”

“Something isn’t right. You are involved in this beyond being a private investigator, aren’t you?” asked Saira plainly.
“Why would you think that?” Sunanda’s tone was smirky. She went back to looking into her notes, and scribbling with a pencil.

“Who is the Boss?”
Sunanda’s face turned white like a sheet, and for a brief moment Saira thought that she saw a hint of fear. A couple of moments passed, and then Sunanda looked up from her notebook.

“Excuse me?”

“Who is the boss? And, why doesn’t he want you to take up the case?”

*

Read Chapter 7!

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 05 | A Hunch

Sunanda checked her watch, it was twelve noon. The sun was blazing hot, and the heat was unbearable. She scanned the semi-burnt room. A table in one corner, with a whole lot of burnt junk on it, a pile of ashes from what must have been a stack of writing paper, spilled mud from the broken pot of an aloe vera plant, and every inch of the room was closely observed and recorded by her. Having taken all the notes that she needed to, and looking around repeatedly for something that she missed, Sunanda stood in the centre of the burnt room where the girl died, as her eyes darted sharply from place to place. 

The char patterns, the direction of the melt and the heat shadows showed a clear place of the origin of the fire. Dev walked in at the moment, and she gave him a brief glance before turning her focus back to the room, and specifically the window. 

“Found anything? You have to hear me out, it will help,” said Dev. 

“Not here, you came at a time I had to leave, so be patient. We go back to my office and then you spill the beans. But, till then, I would request you to zip your mouth and act like an assistant,” she said, without glancing at him and her tone in a slightly loud whisper. 

“But-” he began, but Sunanda cut him off sharply. Then she turned back to the desk and the broken window, and walked closer to it.

“It started from the desk, the char pattern is all too clear, and the desk is near the window. No plug points around the desk- couldn’t have been a circuit fire that began there, and if she did not start the fire by herself-”

“Of course, she did not. I know that for a fac-” started Dev again, but was once again cut off mid sentence. He gave an exasperated sigh.

“-then it leaves us only one option through which fire can come from outside. The window,” she completed, taking a careful peek outside the window sill making sure she doesn't touch it. “I don’t want to hear anything from you before I finish my inspection of the room, please. I don’t need a pre-influence before I take my first look. That would be a route to failure in this case.”

Dev nodded slowly. “Okay, so what do you think is the cause?”

“There are only three possible causes for a fire,” she replied. “It can be chemical, electrical or natural. While the origin place of the fire is too simple to identify here, and I can’t understand how and why that is so, the cause I can only take a wide guess. I don’t think electrical, and I have a hunch it’s not chemical.”

“What did the fire services tell you?” asked Dev.

“They think accidental, and the University feels it has been purposely set-”

“It has been. I know-” started Dev, but she glared at him.

“You ask questions, then you wait for answers. Don’t jump in.”

Sunanda sniggered at him. “A fire is usually a complex event whose origin and cause are not obvious.”

“But you just figured them out, they are fairly simple in this case at least,” commented Dev, walking up to Sunanda who had by now bent down to scrutinize the bottom part of the main door to the room. 

“Too obvious, and that can never be,” said Sunanda, taking out her camera and clicking a shot at what she was scrutinizing. Dev bent down to check what she clicked. 

“What did you click?” he asked, not able to notice anything obvious.

“Burnt newspaper trailers, and tool marks,” she said pointing to them in particular without touching them. “And, that’s the right hunch.” 

“Did you collect other types of evidence?” asked Dev. 

Sunanda gave a short, incredulous laugh. “I am just going to leave that question and rightfully conclude that you know nothing about crime scene evidence. Let’s get going and hear your story.”

*

Read Chapter 6!

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 04 | Sunanda

Dev was taken inside by a boy who must have been sixteen or seventeen years.

“Straight in. You see the cabin?” asked the boy, pointing his hand towards an opaque wooden door.

“Yes, thank you,” said Dev. The boy nodded, and went back to the front porch to assume his usual position.

Dev walked up to the door, but stopped. He examined the heavy rosewood door on which a shiny plate carried the name of the person whom he had decided to meet- Sunanda Amble. With a sigh, he pushed the door open.

Inside, was a lean, young woman, poised on a high, fashionable chair, who must have been no more than twenty-five. She was wearing a skinny jean, and a crisp, white formal shirt, that fit on her perfectly. Her springy hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail that fell down till  her shoulders. She had a tight, formal smile on her face. Her hands were rested on the teak table in front of her chair.

Sunanda gestured Dev to sit down in the chair in front of hers with a wave of her hand.

“Yes, Mr. Som? You-” Dev cut her mid sentence.

“Just Dev, please,” said Dev. Sunanda smiled tightly.

“You must be here with a reason. I guess you know me, but for formality's sake- I am Sunanda Amble. I am a private detective. I am in no way affiliated or associated with any firm or establishment. I have my own contacts when I need information. I respect my clients’ privacy, and anything that you say here doesn’t go out beyond that rosewood door. So, please go on,” she said in a breathless, quick string of sentences, smiling her tight smile.

“Okay. I-I-” he mumbled, not knowing how to start. “All right, I have reason to believe I am not like any other regular client of yours. Before I say anything, I need a hundred-percent guarantee that nothing ever ever-”

Sunanda gave a firm assurance of confidentiality. Dev still felt nervous. He wasn't sure, now that he had come so far, whether he was doing the right thing. He would get eliminated from the face of Earth in no time, if found.

“Okay, okay. See… Let's get this straight,” said Dev, looking right at Sunanda. “If anything ever goes wrong in this process I might be as well dead as a doornail.”

“What do you do?”

“You could call me something like an ex-criminal,” Dev said, finally gaining confidence about the idea.

“How much of an ex exactly? Two, three years before?”

“Till yesterday.” Sunanda’s brows rose in a question, but she said nothing.

Dev, who was fidgeting with a pen on the table, put his hands a little farther away on the table- more to the lady’s side than his. And, immediately, an alarm started ringing. The footsteps of the boy on the porch could be heard in the corridor connecting the porch and the room.

Dev, reflexively, swooped down and cut the alarm. Sunanda looked down, rooted in her spot, her eyes wide and suspicious at the man- Dev Som as he called himself.

“Miss is in trouble?” cried the boy, as he burst inside the room.

“No, thank you, Raghav. It was an accident,” said Sunanda, calmly, and sent the boy off.

“What was that for?” asked Dev sharply, as soon as the boy went away.

“You kept your hand rather far away from yourself, on the table. Very much on my side… I happen to be in a field where I talk to a lot of people, like an ex-criminal,” said Sunanda, slowly, taking a look at her client in detail for the first time.

“No, but it is this alarm…The alarm only the workers of the Boss have, how? Who are you? Did you work for him, too?” Dev said to her, his eyes boring into hers.

“And you knew how to switch it off, which only some of the men of the Boss know to do,” she replied, her tone exactly matching his. There were a couple of moments of silence. Then she broke it by a simple question.

“When did he quit you?”

After a few moments of more silence, Dev said softly, “Yesterday.”

“And, why are you here?”

“I want you to take up the Beltour case, I want to remedy what the Boss started through me.”

*

Read Chapter 5!

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 03 | Diya

Diya and Saira were standing outside the hostel. The fire that had happened a couple of days ago caused a major destruction to the hostel, and all the residents were shifted to another building temporarily inside the campus of the University. A girl had died in the fire, and that had set the University and the residents on a binge-discussion. Diya and Saira were no different from the rest of the University residents.

“But, how? How did the fire break? The college is not disclosing the cause of the fire, how is it possible that they haven’t figured that yet?” said Diya, incredulously. She had been tripping on the thought of how careless and off-handed the University seemed about giving them the concrete answers that they deserved. Well, if the house is set of fire, then there better be answers for those living in it!

“There are rumours that this was not a mishap, and it’s an attack of some sort. But I think that’s absurd,” commented Saira, gazing on the burnt walls in the upper part of the hostel, partially collapsed. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know… There are too many questions, most of them vague and improbable, if you consider it to be an attack,” speculated Diya. “But, there are also weirdly pieced facts that the University has told us. How is it that no one except Ruchi was in that part of the hostel when the fire broke out? Isn’t it odd considering that we all know the third floor corner is one of busiest? Most of the rooms there are occupied. Also, I didn’t really see much of Ruchi before this incident. Maybe something was wrong.”

“Suicide?”

“Really? Burning down a hostel? I don’t think, though we never know anything about these things. I hope the University gives us some explanation.”

“Well,” started Saira, in a long, stretched out tone. “We have to just wait and watch I guess.”

“There is no time to wait, come on Saira. Why is the administration so quiet about this? I feel like something is amiss.”

“Let’s not overthink where we don’t even have the base to think.”

The sound of a car pulling up near them, in front of the hostel, cut off their conversation. A lean, young woman stepped out of the car, dressed in a casual pair of jeans, a white tee, and sneakers. She had a small duffel on her back and she tugged it as she stood observing the slightly dilapidated structure. Soon, the authorities of the University came along, and the woman exchanged curt pleasantries with them.

“So, shall we head in? I’d suggest as few of you to accompany me as possible. Two is the cap,” she said, briskly and in a matter-of-work tone.

“We are very thankful to you, Sunanda, for agreeing to come today,” said the Dean as he, Sunanda, and one more faculty walked into the hostel. “This is a matter of the highest urgency to us.”

Diya and Saira looked at the woman going inside, each speculating in silence as to who it could be. Finally, Saira broke the silence.

“Let’s go grab something to eat, I’m starving,” she said. A notification sound made them both turn to its source. It was from inside the car. Saira ignored when she realized it was the phone that was inside on the seat of the car. But, Diya looked in for a few more seconds, and her eyes fell on the screen. Her heart pounded, and her eyes widened. The lit home screen had one short message from the Boss.

Let go of the Beltour case, and I’ll spare you.

*

Read Chapter 4! 

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 02 | Dev

‘QUIT’ said the message.

Dev couldn’t believe it. It seemed to have come right from the ‘Boss’. He stared at the piece of paper that had come to him, through a known messenger, sealed tightly. He read it again carefully, though there wasn’t much to read. 

    Well done Dev. Mission successful. Now QUIT before death. Else, death awaits in an hour. -Boss    (12.15)

Why would his Boss do this? Ask him to quit when he has just achieved his position in the brotherhood? Something was amiss. He was completely shaken. He really hadn’t expected anything of this kind to happen. The message was already old by three-quarters of an hour. He read the message again. Was this a code to a new mission? Didn't seem like that. What should he do now? He had two choices. One, to go and quit from the brotherhood, like what the message asked him to do. Two, wait and see till the end of the hour, hoping that the message has a side meaning or some clue for him. 

Conveniently, Dev chose to do the second. He just couldn't fathom being thrown away like that after all that he had worked. The last quarter was passed with tense silence and repetitive reading of that single-lined text. The clock ticked away till 01.15. Dev breathed a sigh of relief allowing a snug smile tug at his lips. Just then, the doorbell rang. Dev’s heart leapt at the unexpected ringing. Fear gripped him again. He opened the door slowly. To his extreme relief, the face of whom-he-thought-a-friend peered at him with a grin.

“Thank God! It’s you! Come on in, I have the most bizzare-” said Dev opening the door wide. 

The next thing that Dev knew was a hard jab on his face, and a punch landing on his gut. He fell to the floor writhing in pain. The man stepped in deftly, leaving the door half closed. 

“You should have gone after the warning message from the Boss!” said the man, with a derisive, ridiculing look that spelled you-aren't-good-enough. 

“Yash? You are not here to kill me! I am your friend- we are like family!” said Dev, panic rising and his voice quavering, as he clutched his abdomen and managed himself on to the feet. 

“Anything to please the boss, buddy. He is family. Not you, not anyone,” laughed the man.

“Yash, Yash, no! You will not do it!” pleaded Dev. A blow on his nose again sent Dev doubling on the floor holding a bloody nose. But this time, the door was on his side. “Yash, Yash, stop!” he cried.

Yash slowly took out from his pocket a dagger. Realization crashed on Dev. It couldn’t be, but it was. Dev searched his adversary's eyes for a non-existent sign of hope that he wouldn't do it. Yash wouldn’t hesitate a moment to stab him dead. Yash advanced, ruthlessly, slowly and steadily, eyeing his target and not wavering for even a fraction of a moment.

“Yash! This will not help you. Where will you go after you kill me? You will be dead! Boss will do away with you, too. I just realized that, he doesn't care. Don’t-for both our lives! Just stop, and we can set things right. We have a chance, Yash, listen to me,” whispered Dev, as fear wouldn’t allow him to be any louder. 

Dev, didn’t know what to do. His breathing was becoming heavier. Yash was near, advancing closer. Suddenly, with a spurt of courage from an undefined source, he pushed open the door near him, and sprinted down the alley with all his energy to God-knows-where. Behind him, he heard his attacker’s footsteps for what seemed a long time. Then it suddenly died. But, Dev continued running, on and on and on, until he crashed down on the street, unable to move any more. Exhaustion took over as the world went black for the young man.

After many hours, he woke up with a start, to find himself on the hard tar road. A few moments of confusion was followed by a hard-hitting recount of everything that happened, and it felt to him like a hard punch on the gut that leaving him in writhing pain. He realized fully well what his position was. 

No home. No job. No money. But, an opportunity to set things right.

*

Read Chapter 3!

Murder In Beltour | Chapter 01 | Saira

Saira was lying on her bed, her back facing the ceiling, her mind and body in a deep lull. An old, battered ceiling fan spun at a disgraceful pace coupled with a brash, rattling sound that was an irritant to the ear and racket loud enough to have woken up the whole colony. But to Saira, the noise of the fan was soothing- a familiar, comforting and monotonous lullaby that kept to its reassuring rhythm in her world of chaos. 

A day in the life of Saira was made up of five hours of University lectures, another three hours of back-breaking academic work requirements of the University, a good solid period of relaxing after the long day that started as a break of one hour but extended to an ungraciously long five hours of wasting time, three hours of long, luxurious meals, two baths for an hour and a half each that wasted all the water resources available as Saira conveniently stood under the mellow, cool shower lost in her thoughts and unproductive daydreams, three hours of trying to sleep, and then a sleepless night. But every afternoon, Saira slept blissfully, like a child, like a warrior in peace, like a vagrant comes to rest, taking in the monotonous rattle of the fan as a child takes to the lullaby. 

Any student at the University of Beltour, a prestigious institution for the study of Law nestled in the heart of the small, bustling town of Beltour in the southern part of the country, was considered to be a top performer- an assumption the world made by default. Saira, like the rest of the other students in this University, was promised that the 'Beltour-ite' tag would ensure that the rest of her life is a heaven if she managed to clear the entrance requirements and aptitude tests for this University. And, Saira aced them to secure her seat. What a proud moment it was for all who knew her! And, what a relief it was for Saira who believed that her life is now set!

Diya was her best friend from school, and another girl who was promised a bright future on entry into the esteemed institute. And, they both got sailed through inside in a bout of success after their schooling. Diya had always been a natural fighter when thrown in a race of competition. She was the kind of winner one never felt bad losing to and who made it look like she deserved to win, and she always won. A happy girl with a breeze of confidence, and a steady look at her goal, her march to victory was mostly unwavering even when there was an equal match for her.

Saira always had a subliminal pride in her friend, something that went beyond the superficial successes and was more about her very spirit. The two of them had always dreamt of the day they would start something together, and watch it grow under them. They always saw their lives entwined as the best of friends- extending it to even their professions.

A loud thud on the door of the room made Saira jump up from her deep slumber. Someone was banging the door hard and calling out her name. And, along with the bang she heard a high-pitched siren. Her head spun in confusion. What in the world was happening? Was it a dream?

'Saira! Saira! Open the door,' yelled the girl outside.

'Who's it?' Saira called back, her cluttered mind unable to register or recognize the voice. Her heart was pounding fast from the sudden banging noise and the siren. Her reflexes were slow, and her eyes were hazy and unfocused. She got up to open the door, steadying herself.

As she pulled the door open, she saw Diya standing there.

'What's-' started Saira, her eyes wide awake and reflecting the alarm from the chaotic noise. Her nose caught the smell of smoke, and she gave a short cough.

'There's a fire in the hostel. Let's get out.'

*

Read Chapter 2!