It must be one of the neighbors who might have called on him, he thought. On the contrary he faced a bespectacled man standing in front of him holding two empty bottles in his hands. He was lean and wore pajama and kurta along with a wide smile on his fair, clean-shaven face.

"Sorry for disturbing you at this time of the night," he spat with genuine urgency.

"Who are you and what do you want?" questioned Bandu in a stern voice and scanned him up and down with a frown on his face.

"My name is Rajeev Mathur. I am your new neighbor and have come to live in the house opposite yours," he said pointing to the house, about which Bandu had inquired with Sukhi a while ago. He never imagined he would meet the new occupants so early. The man looked a little intimated by Bandu's unfriendly stance.

"Oh...ok"

"The gas stove got damaged in transit, so you see we cannot boil water for drinking, incidentally we have exhausted the bottled water that I had purchased. No shops are open this time of the night and that is when I saw the light in your house and decided to approach. Can I borrow two bottles of water please? I hope I did not disturb you," he trailed off and took in a deep breath.

Without breaking his eye contact with the fellow, Bandu extended his hands.

"Alright, give me the bottles,"

The man placed the bottles in Bandu's hands looking relieved.

"Thank you so much"

"Sister, fill these bottles and bring it please," he said giving the bottles to Sukhi who was standing beside him behind the door not visible to the newcomer.

"I am a doctor and have been transferred here from another government hospital. My mother stays with me. My wife and children did not travel with me...,"

The doctor continued to blabber his history while Bandu heard it with boredom and was happy when Sukhi returned with the bottles.

Bandu handed over the bottles to the doctor who then again began to profess his thanks.

"May I know your name, please?"

"My name is Bandu Raghav,"

The following silence served as a cue for the doctor that Bandu did not wish to take this conversation further so he said his goodbye and left. This meeting felt a strange to Bandu but in what way he could not pin point.

"What was that all about? You behaved strangely with him," Sukhi rebuked him.

"Did I? I just tried not to be overfriendly with a stranger, that's all," he replied sounding surprised while putting up an innocent face.

"Oh, really...you were rude to him, brother. You did not invite him in," teased Sukhi.

Bandu knowingly smiled at her once again latching up for the night and followed his sister as she laughed.

The next day after finalizing the menu for the day with the boys he left for a brief visit with Ravi to give back his mobile. On the way he made a call to Sakhi and came to know that both, her assistant and her maid decided to stay with her for a few days. Bandu felt a sense of relief knowing that Miss Sakhi would not be alone at home.

The accident had left Ravi with impatience, who hated to be closeted and idle away his time, having no other choice in the matter. He was happy however to receive his mobile.

"What have you decided to do?" he asked Bandu as they occupied chairs on the terrace of his house overlooking the city.

"I have decided to take inspector Sarathi's advice," he replied.

"Ok, but why involve him at all. This case doesn't come under his circle. You have to report this matter to the Bali police station. Inspector Sarathi would advise that too,"

"I realize that, but wanted to put this incident in his ears, just in case he knew of any culprits who escaped in the previous case and was up to some mischief,"

"We can do that too, but officially you have to report the matter to the police station," he remarked, but Bandu remained uneasy.

"What is it Bandu, why are you reluctant to approach the police," he nailed it.

Bandu looked up at that question.

"I will approach the police, but it involves Miss Sakhi too. I wanted this matter to be as discreet as possible as she had received a warning not to approach the authorities. I fear a black lash on that pretext,"

"I had forgotten about the note. Then you better approach inspector Sarathi first," he nodded to Bandu.

Bandu rang up inspector Sarathi.

"Hello, sir Bandu here. Hope you are not too busy,"

"Bandu...hello...Bandu...yes...yes...you can talk,"

Bandu explained everything to him.

After Bandu finished there was a moment of silence on the other end raising doubts in Bandu's mind whether the line got disconnected. But he heard something from the other end and realized otherwise.

"What do I do sir?" He prodded.

"Bandu, the matter will have to be reported to the police station. Usually in such cases a constable in plain clothes will be send to take Miss Sakhi's statement. The police will step up vigilance in the area and even a night patrol after that. I will contact the incharge of the Bali police station to intimate this matter and pass on your contacts to him. As regards the notes you received it is similar to the one you received during the Bali murder case, however there is no definite link to it because the motive is not clear as to why you are being targeted in all this,"

"Has anyone in the previous case escaped arrest? Maybe he wants to free his boss who is in jail,"

"I think the whole gang was arrested that day. No...no chance of anyone escaping, but I will still find out if anyone came to meet him in jail. Bandu, you keep on getting into a deeper mess every time. Take care and keep me informed," he said as a parting statement.

Bandu lowered the phone from his ears and thought about what inspector Sarathi said, 'You get into a deeper mess every time'. He was right and shook his head in resignment. Rather than getting into the mess some unknown entity was pulling him down into the mess. With the only way ahead was to fight and protect his own.

"What did he say?" Ravi spoke up making Bandu realize that he was not alone.

"He does not see a connection between these events and the Bali murder case. He mirrored your words that it was a case under Bali police station. Understanding the nature of threat looming over us he willingly came forward to contact the incharge of the Bali police station and explain to him the case. He mentioned that police men in plain clothes are likely to visit Miss Sakhi to take her statement,"

"And what about the note you received?"

"He says that the motive is not clear to establish a link to the previous case,"

"So we have to wait for the police to complete their investigation to come to any conclusion," he commented, dejected at the prospect of delay in the investigation process.

They both sat in silence pondering over the matter.

"I have to return to the shop now. See you later and take rest,"

"I will, thanks for the phone and Bandu be careful,"

Bandu nodded his head and began to climb down the steps followed by Ravi.

He reached the shop after 2 and found it closed. Confused, Bandu parked his cycle, and entered the shop through the kitchen. An unfamiliar odor tickled his nose and he cringed.