Thiya gets wide-eyed, noticing Seyon has masked the number plate of his car. In her haste earlier, she couldn't notice. Catching her clueless gaze in that split-second, Seyon chuckles. She throws him a glare.

They get into his car, settled in the front; carefully remove their disguises upon Thiya verifies the puzzle box isn't bugged.

A Japanese-style puzzle box! Thiya exclaims, looking at the intricate patterns, chunks of wooden pieces needing to be moved in a certain way for the box to unlock and reveal what's inside. This should be fun. Or it's not...

Seyon gives her a light, encouraging shoulder pat. "You're the brain genius. Let's try opening that box."

Driving for a couple of minutes, he pulls to a stop in a deserted alley far from Aran's house. Thiya looks at him in awe for a second and breaks into a smile. "We aren't waiting to do this in hall 57? I like this."

They chuckle in unison. She gets to work, Seyon praising her hacking skills. She keeps quiet, not wanting to react to everything he says. Thirty minutes grappling with the complicated mechanisms, she is on the brink of quitting. Seyon still encourages her, "you got this!"

She suppresses a smile with a shake of her head, glancing at him. "Seyon, these are old fashion mechanisms, not computer codes, know that? You're wasting your praise. Sorry."

Seyon bops her head oh so faintly. It's scorching hot outside, the sun shining bright and fierce. He's sure he they are dehydrated, hungry and sweaty. Their blazers lie in the backseat, they are wearing pure, chic linen. His car ac is saving grace, but until how long on an empty stomach? They will need their fluids too, to keep working.

"Hurry and open that box so we can have our lunch. And a few hydrating drinks."

"Lunch? Seyon? You think I can solve this puzzle that quickly?"

Thiya's incredulous voice rings in the car's interior.

"It's my belief, Thiya. Not thinking. You can. You are capable.'"

Feeling touched, Thiya redoubles her efforts. After a few random taps and turns, she hears the satisfying click of the box unlocking.

"It opened! Aran's treasures are... A few acrylic stands and stickers, of his favourite actors, yeah."

Seyon, Thiya exchange glances before focusing on what they found. Thiya clicks several pictures on her phone as backup. Cops do need backup. First division once lost their clues because of a system failure. The computer experts couldn't recover the lost data.

"Ha. Those guys always mess up. It's the first division fault."

"Yeah."

Seyon and Thiya nod at each other again, their thoughts perfectly in sync. The custom made 4-inch stickers are of various Tamil actors. The merch sure isn't the one they sell anywhere. Do they? Only one way to find out.

Seyon quickly checks his phone, makes a few inquiries to confirm that indeed, such stuff doesn't sell. He faces Thiya after ending his current call.

"Aran must have made these acrylic stands and stickers, like he's made the tech."

Thiya's eyebrows arch. "Wow. The kid's creative. Look, this one's an old picture, not super clarity like the others."

Seyon looks at the acrylic stand she picks. "You're right. It's the odd one out."

"Is he an actor, or this is from Aran's personal collection?"

"I can't recognise this man as an actor. Plus, we need to refine his featurs a bit. Can you do this Thiya?"

"Uh, you don't tryst the Audio Video Processing Lab?"

"Nah, not with this case and with ACP still as our boss."

"Uh-huh. Aran works in films. It's possible he's obsessed with Kollywood, Seyon, but... thi feels personal. I watched a lot of black and white films as a kid, trust me and I can't recognise this actor."

Seyon shakes his head and chuckles.

"You can't be that familiar with Kollywood."

"Oh try me."

"All right. Aran works in the film industry for additional earnings. The locker wasn't there the last time we went, right? It's possible he's not obsessed with Kollywood. He's planted this new clue to distract us."

"Possible, but how else do we proceed?"

"Agreed. This actor's picture is pretty old. Was it with Aran? He couldn't throw it away as it's important to him? And he turned it into a sticker and an acrylic stand? This may be a clue mixed up with other items. He wiped out all other clues, but couldn't throw this one as he's particularly attached to this one."

"Then he won't be happy learning it's lost."

Thiya thoughtfully hums and sighs. Seyon chuckles again. "The band of thieves are to blame."

They immediately chuckle, feeling a déjà vu. They both certainly feel like they had a similar conversation in the past while they were working together. Maybe the old days are returning? After months of collaboration, now they finally feel like a team. Seyon clears his throat.

"Let's consider this as a clue, Thiya. Off we go to the CBCID."

Thiya loads the stickers and the stands into her bag, wipes out any traces of fingerprints on the puzzle box. When Seyon swerves past a curb and she locates a large garbage bin, she tosses the box into it with a perfect throw. Not just suspects. Cops can bury evidences of their actions too!

***
Seyon parks his car outside a McDonald's restaurant, swiftly gets two wrapped pockets of Mc Aloo-paneer meal from the drive-thru pickup.

"I thought we'd only stop at CBCID. And you're not racing this time?" Thiya grabs her lunch with a smile, also grateful for the cool touch of the cola that came with it. Seyon sits back in the driver's seat, munching on his meal.

"I'm not in a hurry. We found a clue."

Thiya chuckles this time, unable to hold it in. Seyon is thrilled at the sight. This might be the first time she genuinely laughed at something he said. Suddenly working on the case has suddenly become fun. Thiya's feelings are similar; it was stilted to be around Seyon, but now she feels free. A part of her craves more but she's enjoying every bit of what's coming her way. She can see Seyon feeling the same. Of course, this doesn't mean the case is taking the back seat.

***

After lunch, they head straight to CBCID, step into the hall 57 when Seyon receives an update from Soham and Mira.

"A message from Soham and Mira. Looks like they did a bit of digging themselves and have something to share. Another clue?"

Thiya shrugs, meeting Seyon's hopeful eyes. Not long after, Soham, Mira, rush in, ecstatic. Soham is the one to deliver the news.

"Professor Arindam lied. He has not mentored Aran from his college. We visited his house and found some clues. The man himself agreed! He knew Aran as a child! He has been the mentor for all these years!"

Seyon, Thiya look at each other in shock, wondering how to process this information.

"There's more. Professor Arindam doesn't have personal pictures for display. Yet we managed to unearth this one!" As Mira gestures, Soham shows a blurred picture of two men standing with a kid on his phone.

Seyon, Thiya instantly recognise both the faces. One is professor Arindam, other is the unknown actor whose picture Aran turned into an acrylic stand! It's highly likely that the kid in this new picture is Aran himself. How does this all connect to the case? If this is the clue they needed, why did it take ages to reveal? Indeed, everything has a timing.

***

💫TBC💫

💦WC: 1161💦

an: phew didn't think i could finish this ugh the struggle... how's the chap come out?

💗💭💭Up next: The four cops discuss their new clue. Thiya does some image processing which leads to her to bond more with Seyon again. meanwhile Soham mira take a route to get Aran to confess using a means that may be dangerous. Seyon Thiya also will soon embark on a roadtrip to get more clues and solve the case...

V & C. Stay tuned!💗