I was sitting in the air conditioned office of Assistant Commissioner Mr. Rajesh Rai in Central Delhi Police Station sipping the special masala chai. Having worked together over several cases, we shared a good bond.

“So?”, the officer questioned me brusquely.

Mr. Rai was a tall, stout man with grey hair. The sensible police officer wore rimless spectacles. We had worked together in other high-profile cases too where he had been a soft-spoken officer who rendered full cooperation but this case was different. With continuous pressure from the business world and politicians, Mr. Rai was losing his patience every second.

“I saw that again”, I told my colleague. Despite, I was supposed to find clues in this case, my mind was constantly going back to that headless silhouette.

“I think it has something to do with this case”, Mr. Rai mocked at me incredulously letting out a sardonic laugh.

Closing my eyes in despair, I confessed, “I am not able to concentrate on my work because of that silhouette”.

“Relieve yourself from this case and seek a psychologist”, Mr. Rai yelled.

I was disappointed as neither my colleagues nor my family was trusting me. Everyone was calling me mad and this was frustrating me more. I wished to make them understand that a beheaded man walks in my lane every day past a week and he was not any illusion of my mind.

Changing the topic, I grumbled, “I think we are missing something in this case”.

“I know that but I want you to find out what it is”, Mr. Rai spoke nonchalantly.

“I have studied this case from every possible angle but it seems as if this stupid young lad disappeared from this planet”, I voiced out my frustration.

“See, we cannot tell Mr. Awasthy that Sir, your son is abducted by the aliens of Kepler-1649c for experimental purposes and since this planet is out of our jurisdiction, this is an open and shut case”, Mr. Rai sniggered.

I could not help but laugh at his response but one sharp glare from him and I glued my lips.

“Did you summon Priya Vashisht for enquiry?” I asked Mr. Rai primarily to change the topic. Belonging to a middle-class family, Priya was working in a content management firm and she had been dating Ansh six months ago.

I was not doubting her and she was clearly not in the picture except of the fact that we had found several calls from Ansh’s mobile at Priya's contact number. Apparently Ansh wanted to talk with her and she was clearly ignoring him over two months. Priya had changed her job recently and joined some firm in Gurgaon. She was clearly out of picture.

“What will that middle-class girl do?” Mr. Rai buzzed unconcernedly but his statement rang  the bell in my mind. While in Lucknow, I had come across several cases where the culprit was someone who was not at all suspected.

Though my primary suspect was Atharv but I realized sidelining Priya without any enquiry would not be a wise thing to do.

“I have not found any clue so I will summon her for enquiry”, I admitted in a demanding tone and left Mr. Rai's cabin. Scurrying away from the police station, I headed towards my office situated at Barakhamba Road. The ride was short but I was excited all the while after all, I had found a ray of sunshine in this dark case.

“Radhika”, I called upon my assistant who was busy compiling the details of this case on the desktop.

“Yes sir”, the young girl spoke timidly as she rushed towards my cabin.

“I want you to keep a tab on Priya Vashisht and gather information about her while I will go and talk to her”, I commanded Radhika and asked her to fix a meeting with her.

Taking out a paper and pen, I was trying to figure out all the possibilities of this case when I strengthened my conclusions regarding the case.

Firstly, it was not a case of kidnapping or abduction as Randhir Awasthy had not received any call for ransom of any kind. Secondly, this was a pre-planned abduction of Ansh Awasthy by someone who had monitored his activities really well because the culprit knew that Ansh walked over a park every evening without his phone and car. Thirdly, we were still not able to find the cunning mastermind behind the disappearance of Ansh.

The trance of my thoughts was broken with the ringtone of my phone. I smiled realizing it was my wife, Anvita calling me.

“Hey”, I chirped trying to hide my melancholy.

“Eat well, don’t drink and sleep on time. I will be back by Monday.” Anvita spoke from the other side. I could hear the hustle-bustle of the airport in the backdrop and I realized that my wife was about to board to the flight.

“Take care”, I mumbled giving a set of instructions to her regarding solo traveling. Despite, I knew she was an independent woman and I was always proud of her yet I never left the chance to tell her to be vigilant and careful while she traveled all alone.

After a short discourse, we had disconnected the call and I was restless. The fear of facing that beheaded man built up inside me and I gulped. I began sweating profusely remembering the silhouette in black kimono that walked in my lane every night.

Walking towards the washroom, I washed my face repeatedly splashing the cold water on my skin that was burning due to blood rush in my capillaries. Calming myself, I wiped my face and went back to my cabin and I was flabbergasted to find Atharv Awasthy waiting for me along with Rahul, my colleague.

😎😎😎

Word count: 970

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What is Atharv doing here?

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