"Bad news!"

"Doctor Mathur is no more,"

"Dead! But...but how? When?"

"He was found murdered in my room and I was the one to discover his body. The murderer escaped from the room undetected and now the police are investigating,"

"But why him? Oh god, he was such a good man,"

"Well, that won't be entirely correct,"

"What do you mean?"

"He ordered the overdose of sedatives for Raja Saheb and Nayantara,"

"What! Impossible, I just can't believe it,"

"The police couldn't question him, before that he was killed,"

"You mean some conspiracy is afloat in the palace to do away with Raja Saheb and his family?"

"It may be more than that, Miss Sakhi. Now even Nayantara is missing,"

"Missing! I just don't know what to think. How did it happen?"

"She escaped,"

"Bandu, you are not making any sense. Why would she want to escape from her own home?"

"She was an impersonator, brought here in place of the real princess who was kidnapped and taken to an undisclosed location. When the police found her fake id of the impersonator they came in to question her, but before that, she escaped with the help of Ramesh, Raja Saheb's secretary,"

"Ramesh, was is involved in this too?"

"None of the family and relatives were allowed to see Nayantara when she was brought here after the accident. That was a clever way to keep her identification a secret,"

"When did this all happen?"

"Yesterday, after you were kidnapped," he said, "And that's not all"

"What else, Bandu?"

"The envelope has surfaced again,"

"Oh no! Bandu...what does it say?"

"Found it near the doctor's dead body and it said 'Come to Ghatti and get her or else she dies'. I don't know if he meant to deliver the note to me or if it was already there. There is no evidence to link the doctor with it,"

"So they want you to come to Ghatti to get Nayantara,"

"It seems so,"

"How has Raja Saheb taken the news?"

"Badly, I must say. But mother's presence was a relief to him in his grief. We all had lunch together just now,"

"Poor man, take care of him, Bandu. He is such a good soul. How far has the police reached in the case?"

"I have told comm seth about my connection to the research and the warnings I received,"

"You told him!"

"Yes, I had to for Nayantara,"

"But how are both of them related? That is you being a member of the tribe and her disappearance,"

"The message in the envelope. It surely talks about Nayantara and it was delivered to me, then they are related,"

"You do have a past that you never told me, Bandu, I would like to know about it one day,"

"My past is my nightmare Miss Sakhi and next time we meet I will share it with you,"

"I would like to share your pain, Bandu,"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because...because I am your friend,"

"Hmm..."Bandu hummed, it pleased him that she stammered before answering because she had meant to say something else.

"When are you leaving from Chalhat?"

"I have not yet decided, the director and mentor Dr. Satyamish Puri is visiting the sick team in the hospital. He is staying at the same hotel as me and we will meet over dinner to discuss the future of the research. So I will let you know about the outcome tomorrow,"

"Right then, please be careful before you trust anyone blindly, and be alert. If you have any problems call Ravi there,"

"Ravi, was a godsend that day. I was so happy to see him, I just had lunch with him an hour back,"

"Oh... so he was there,"

"Yes. Ok, Bandu, bye for now,"

"Ok...bye," he said a frown already adorned his face, but then flicked off the jealous feeling off his mind.

It was already past 3 when he left his room in search of Masan. He found him buried in some files on the desk in the office. He gazed at Bandu with surprise.

"What is it?"

"No, nothing, I just came to ask if you found any lead in the case,"

"No nothing much, other than a lone witness, a milkman, who was delivering milk in the early hours, happened to witness an accident in which the escaped couple was involved,"

"Accident?"

"Yes, the car in which they were escaping dashed into the lamppost and the milkman was the only soul present on the road then. So he stopped his cycle and saw the couple come out of the car and inspect the damage. When he called out to them and offered to help, they refused and hurriedly got themselves into the car and rushed away,"

"They have a car, then it can be traced,"

"They have but not one in the palace. They must have not gone far and certainly not off the city limits. For identification, their photographs have been sent to all the check posts and police stations,"

"I will wait for a day, then will make my move to Ghatti,"

"No Bandu, you should not rush blindly into the kidnapper's trap. We don't know what they want of you,"

"That's what puzzles me the most. I don't remember hurting anyone in my life till now, then there is no question of any revenge. So I said I will go to Ghatti as that was the first demand that has been made of me,"

"Don't take any decisions until comm. Seth advises. We might get some breakthrough in the case,"

"Who so ever has masterminded this has always been way ahead of us. He seems to be brutal and rich," Bandu said in frustration.

"Maybe, but he will face the law one day," Masan groaned.

"Let me know if anything comes up. I am in my mother's room" Bandu said leaving Masan to his work and proceeding upstairs. He had to talk to her about her survival from the house fire. She never attempted to say anything about the events she face after the one time he asked her about it. But now he had to ask her or else comm. Seth would force her to tell everything.

She looked fresh after a nap, but Sukhi and her children were asleep in their room. Bandu thought that this was the right time to ask her.

"Mother, I had a talk with comm Seth and disclosed my past to him. He was surprised and said that there might be some link to this case,"

"Well, then let them investigate. We need our daughter back safe and sound,"

"Mother, how did you and Sukhi escape the fire?"

Her eyes flickered sideways with a frown on her forehead, and her fingers clutched each other on her lap, but she did not look up at him.

"Mother...I know it is difficult for you to remember the past that affects you so much. But still, we need to know our enemy and why he did this to our family" Bandu added softly. Now she looked up, tears glistened in her eyes, but sheer hatred shone on her face, surprising him.