"Vaishali ... Vaishali..."

I could feel someone shaking me as I lay sprawled on the sofa.

I woke up yawning and jumped up to sit straight as I saw both Anil and Mr. Jaswani peering down at me. All the events of the day flashed up in my mind with a jolt. I looked up at Anil with fear in my eyes but he assured me with a slight nod of his head and facial expression that things were still under control. I heaved a small sigh of relief. I saw that Ramu seemed to have cleared the snack plates he had got for me earlier and a fresh plate of snacks and tea awaited us on the table.

"We have still not filed a missing person's report as it can be only done after 48 hours," said Anil giving me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Vaishali... hopefully we will find our Lekha before that" said a worried-looking Mr. Jaswani.

I felt quite guilty for keeping him in the dark. I felt as if he needed to know so that, even he wouldn't feel the burden of losing Lekha. I could feel the fatherly concern he had for Lekha which went above and beyond the legal responsibility.

"We had checked out the CCTV cameras around the fort for any suspicious activities," said Anil giving me a pointed look.

"Mr. Jaswani thankfully had some connections at the right place so we were able to access the CCTV footage, giving the excuse that we had lost a purse. We were only able to access the footage from the cameras near the Sheela Mata temple and the taxi stand."

"Wait Anil... I just remembered ... Do you remember the footage of the temple..." interrupted Mr. Jaswani.

I looked at Anil to gauge by his reaction if they had seen something suspicious, but he seemed to be acting quite cool.

"Yes, we saw ourselves going towards it but instead of entering we turned towards Ganesh pol."

I remembered that Anil had actually wanted to enter the temple but Lekha feeling impatient to be on her mission had said that we would be visiting the temple on our return. On our return, we had come out via the temple front as Anil wanted to just join hands from outside seeking the blessings of the Goddess in our difficulties that we would be facing soon.

"But ...didn't you notice anything unusual," asked Mr. Jaswani.

"No.." said Anil as his eyes darted towards me making me suspicious.

"Anil ...how many times have I asked you when doing an investigation lookout for even the smallest suspicious thing you might see..." he said quizzing Anil.

Anil stuck fixedly to his role of playing the amateur apprentice, kept pretending to fail in remembering anything suspicious. My heartbeat increased as I guessed that we must have made some kind of mistake while returning back and Mr. Jaswani had caught on to it and was playing the game of cat and mouse with us before pouncing on us. I kept giving furtive glances towards Anil so that he would look towards me and with a subtle gesture tell me if the game was up. With my hands clenched tightly by my side, I waited with bated breathe for them to end my uncertainty.

Mr. Jaswani seemed to give up on his pupil as he shook his head with disappointment at Anil.

"Didn't you see that just as all of you were moving towards the temple ... another couple was slinking out from the side wearing the same dress as both of you" he said looking towards his pupil waiting for the sign of some kind of intelligent comment or deduction he might have.

"Oh yes... you meant that couple "exclaimed Anil as if the bright light of enlightenment just shone on him.

"But we couldn't see their faces ..." he continued with the masterful expressions of disappointment on his face, sending me the look I had been waiting for.

Blood rushed back into my clenched palms as I unclenched my hand in relief. I suddenly remembered seeing someone like Lekha as we were near the temple. Had our timelines crossed? I jumped up from the sofa in excitement to utter my suspicion. Both Anil and Mr. Jaswani looked at me in surprise at my sudden movement. Anil seemed to have guessed that I had some inputs about this weird coincidence but gave me a quelling look gesturing me with his eyes to sit down quietly.

"Vaishali what happened... had you also seen that couple while you were there," asked Mr. Jaswani with interest. He seemed to really want to play detective and solve the mystery himself.

"No..." I said stiffly and clamped up as I saw both sets of eyes on me. Mr. Jaswani kept looking at me as if he wanted me to continue after that abrupt denial. Although his kind eyes were comforting the inquisitive intelligence behind them had me in knots. Trying to get over my stage fright being the focal point of my two audiences with variable interests, I slowly calmed my palpating heart.

"I just felt excited that you saw us on CCTV camera and got a clue..." I said coming up with the lamest excuse in the world. I sounded like a dumb child even to my own ears.

Mr. Jaswani looked at me stunned for a minute then cleared his throat as he shook his head with the similar disappointed look he had given Anil before. At that moment I felt as if he was totally disillusioned and disappointed by our generation.

Anil too shook his head towards me and gave me a look that had the word 'unbelievable 'written all over it. He gestured for me to sit down. Even though nobody said anything I felt like a properly reprimanded kid as I sat back on the sofa trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible.

"Are you sure ...you didn't see ..." questioned Mr. Jaswani after a while, looking between Anil and me suspiciously.

I shook my head in denial as I kept my head down unable to meet his gaze. I cussed my impulsive self for acting on my thoughts without thinking about the consequences first. I was quite sure that Mr. Jaswani doubted our statements as he seemed to observe both of us closely. Before his concentration had been just on Anil, but now I was under his scrutiny too.

After a pause he continued "I still feel that couple had something to with Lekha's disappearance, as ... how come they were dressed similar to both of you. I wish we could get a better look at them ... but they were quite clever "

"Did you see that both of them didn't come quite near the camera? They joined hands from quite far" he continued with his attention back on Anil. I felt my breath relaxing back to normal as the focus shifted away from me.

"Generally, people always enter the temple .... That is why I had asked the security guy to rewind the tape to the beginning ... but they had not visited the temple before that..." he said thoughtfully.

I took a small peek at Anil saw that he had a thoughtful expression on his face proving himself to be a better actor than me.

"You are right Sir. I wondered why you had asked to rewind the recording but couldn't ask in front of that guy"

I saw Mr. Jaswani give a small smile of approval towards Anil as he pumped up his ego with the right touch of flattery without making it obvious. After the boost, Mr. Jaswani seemed to be in a better mood. Even though still worried about Lekha's disappearance, I believed that he thought himself no less than Sherlock himself on the verge to solve the mystery without any help. Anil played Dr. Watson to his Sherlock with just the right amount of naivety. I might have enjoyed the scene being played in front of me if it had not been my head which was at stake along with Anil's.

"Oh!... I had been feeling so troubled by all this that I forgot my responsibilities as a host. Come eat something Anil... you haven't had anything for so many hours... you too Vaishali dear don't feel shy. I hope Ramu took care of you while we were gone"

I nodded my head with docility.

"She is feeling shy... Anil you pour us the tea and serve her the snacks" he said.

We had the snacks in complete silence as each person was lost in their own thoughts.

"Should I get you dropped at your orphanage dear ... you must be exhausted "asked Mr. Jaswani breaking the silence.

I hurriedly looked towards Anil, my hand with the snack stuck midway before reaching my mouth, unsure what to say. I didn't want to do more blunders.

"Actually Sir, she is a bit scared to return there as she would be questioned and...." Said Anil.

"Oh... that is there. .... Then... "Mr. Jaswani paused as he seemed to decide on the best course of the event.

"She can stay here ... in our guest room? "he said as he seemed to be still wondering about the offer.

I looked at Anil in desperation unable to refuse the offer as there didn't seem to be any other option, but I didn't want to be left alone with the person who might later just end up incriminating me.

"Sir... I was thinking that ... if you permit ... I can take her to my home as she is more familiar with me ... my mother will be happy to get someone else to pamper apart from me ..." said Anil hesitatingly as if testing the waters.

"O ...that's indeed a better idea my boy" exclaimed Mr. Jaswani.

The way he said it I had a feeling that he was happy to be unburdened by the load of hosting me. Though it was of equal relief to me too, my insecurities came to nudge me that even this person who was so desperate for Lekha didn't want me. I subdued that feeling of being rejected again in my heart as that wasn't the time for these issues to be addressed as the real problem was much bigger.

He seemed to have realized his mistake as the silence followed his words, so he added as an afterthought" but ...you can leave her here ...we have plenty of space and ...Ramu can pamper her too "

He smiled at me indulgently, but he was a minute too late for damage control.

I smiled back at him "It's alright uncle ... even I feel that I will be comfortable at Anil's place "

"So, it's done ... I will call up the orphanage and tell them that Vaishali is staying overnight with me .... And Lekha too" the last part made him grimace as he must have recalled the real issue why we were there.

"Come back early Anil in the morning ... Vaishali can stay back at your place ... we have only a few hours left to work on Lekha's disappearance before we have to file an FIR. I didn't want it to take the form of a police case... "he said the last part giving Anil an intent look as he left the warning about the consequences unsaid perhaps for my benefit.

"Think about what else we can do. If needed we can watch the footage again just to be sure that we didn't miss out on anything important ... I will find another excuse for the permit "he said with a thoughtful expression.

"Now take the girl home ... it is getting late"

Then he turned towards me and said "Don't worry dear ... we will find Lekha. Don't be frightened I will not let anything happen to you. Lekha .... She loved you a lot "

He patted my head in assurance. I had an odd feeling as if he knew something I didn't or I wondered if he had guessed that we knew something and was trying to guilt me into a confession. I subdued my apprehensions and followed Anil fast out of the gates to catch an auto before I committed any further blunders.