He forced himself to move, one step at a time, and approached the bed. He had no doubts about the person who lay on his bed, stabbed through the heart, blood slowly staining his shirt. Dr Mathur lay on his back with his eyes and mouth open, his face twisted in horror.

Sweat now bead his forehead, and he stood glaring at the game fate played with him. His fingers curled in anger and he gritted his teeth. The man who could tell them everything was now lost to them and to the world. He sensed company and spun around so as to not lose sight of the intruder, but it was no stranger and it surprised him.

Masan was standing at the door, his eyes fixed on the body lying on the bed, and approached the bed cautiously.

"Who did this?" he asked eyeing Bandu.

"I don't know," Bandu replied shaking his head in frustration.

"How did he get into your room? Unless you let him in,"

"I don't know"

"You must know something, Bandu!" his tone seemed strange to Bandu and he looked up at the man who had a frown creasing his forehead, "I was coming back after checking up with Nayantara, when at the stairs I noticed a shadow and began to follow it. It brought me to my room and then I found this and the shadow was nowhere to be seen,"

Masan retrieved his phone and relayed the murder.

"I hope you haven't touched anything,"

"No, only the door knobs,"

"Can you in any way tell that the shadow you followed was Doctor Mathur?"

"I can't be sure, because the dim lights in the corridor made it difficult for me to identify the person as he was wearing an all-black outfit,"

"You can't sleep here now. This room will be sealed. You can retrieve some clothes for use in a bag and carry them to another room. I will ask someone to arrange another room for you,"

"Masan, I don't understand something?" Bandu said walking out of the room with Masan.

"What?"

"Why did he come here? I thought he had escaped from the palace,"

"Obviously it was not that way. He came here for some other purpose but was instead murdered,"

"But who did it?"

"Ok, then assuming that there was a third person who did this, then where and how did he disappear from the room?" Masan said carefully scanning the room, while Bandu watched. Suddenly he bends down and stretched out himself under the bed to bring out a white envelope. Bandu's heart missed a beat seeing the dreaded object in Masan's hand. He turned it around and then looked at Bandu observing that it was addressed to him. he handed it to Bandu, who flinched at its touch.

"Read it before someone comes," Masan advised.

With great apprehension, he opened the flap and pulled out the note, and read it aloud.

"Come to Ghatti and get her or else she dies"

Bandu's world reeled around when the words hit its target. They had got miss Sakhi and he couldn't do anything. Once again, her life was in danger because of him and this was the first time there was demand. It was not cash or property but him they wanted and now he was very clear who his enemy could be.

"This note talks of miss Sakhi, doesn't it?" Masan asked and Bandu merely nodded.

"What is it with you, Bandu?"

Bandu had remained silent and left the room slowly as though his feet were heavily chained. He sat on the chair and held his head in both his hands as a throbbing headache rammed inside him. After a few moments, he felt a hand on his shoulders.

"I don't understand any of this Masan, I don't understand, so give me some time to figure out things"

"Ok" Masan said as Bandu felt a deep press of the hand on his shoulders and then it lifted away.

"But you should understand, you may be a suspect in this murder," he warned.

"I understand Masan, the figure I saw had disappeared, god knows how, but I rely on your department to find out the truth"

"That we will,"

There were police officers swarming the room after that who had come to take first-hand information about the crime scene. His detailed statement was taken down and the note too was taken away. Soon enough the dead body was taken away.

Someone had packed his clothes for him in a bag and handed them to him to carry away as they were to seal the room. He walked over to his mother's room as his own was being sealed and knocked on the door, but received no response. Realizing that they were all asleep he took out the spare key and let himself in.

More than himself he wanted to rest his aching heart and for that, there was no need for a separate room at that hour of the night. He kept the bag on the table and himself on the sofa. The cushion had become his pillow to lay his throbbing head to rest as sleep had completely evaded him and in its place, Sakhi's face floated around in his thoughts. Dr. Mathur's murder baffled him more than who had committed the crime and why. Was he really connected to the sender of the letter? And if so why? Can money really make a man kill another human? He had only questions as of now with no answers and with that he drifted in and out of sleep the whole of the night.

A pull on his left shoulder woke him up in the middle of a stretch, it was then he realised that he was on the sofa. He sat upright and tried to loosen that muscle.

"Bandu what are you doing here so early in the morning?" at that voice he gave another unwanted jerk and the pain shot up in the shoulders again. He began to massage the area with his fingers.

"What happened to your shoulders" Sukhi came close to him and then her eyes fell on the bag.

"Why is your bag here brother?" she with her third question moved over to the bag to look at it curiously.

"Sukhi I will tell you everything after I freshen up. Are the children awake?"

"No, they are still sleeping. It's only 5 am," she said.

"Ok, while I freshen up can you please call up the kitchen to bring up a cup of tea for me?"

"Ok, brother" still having that concerned frown she agreed to his request.

Sukhi was waiting for him with his cup of tea on his return. He took a sip and the warmth of the liquid acted as a feel-good factor to his mood.

"Dr. Mathur has been found"

"Oh my! Really! Where?"

"He was found dead to be precise," he said and heard a gasp escape her lips. There were no further inquiries from her side and he knew that the news had her stunned, but not for long.

"Dr Mathur...dead...are you sure?"

"Yes, and upon my bed, stabbed through the heart," there was a very audible gasp this time with her eyes rounded in terror at Bandu's description.

"You saw him?" he nodded and looked at her.

"I was one who found him first,"

"That's really horrible, brother. Who would have done such a thing? Why kill him in the first place?"

"I have no idea Sukhi. This seems to be an endless maze, which doesn't make any sense and it keeps pulling me deeper and deeper inside to be eaten alive by its questions.

"You are right. This all doesn't seem to make any sense,"