The night brought a quiet darkness, only the sound of emptiness in the air flowing through the Pradyuman household was audible. Everyone occupied their rooms in lonely silence, which was only broken when the doorbell rang. 

ACP Pradyuman sat at the desk in his bedroom with a file open that he stared at blankly, clearly something else occupied his mind. Only for him to immediately leave that file and walk outside to see who it was. His wife who had answered the door, turned to him solemnly, as Daya and Shreya entered the house with awkwardly polite smiles. 

"woh...hum khaana laaye the..." stated shreya, pointing to the container in her hand. 

"abhijeet...ko pasand haina...jeera aalo..." added daya, as Pradyuman sighed, and kavin appeared just stepping downstairs. 

"shreya bhabhi? aap...bahaut jaldi aa gayi... aapki transfer toh..." expressed kavin his surprise, as shreya and daya exchanged glances. 

"shok manane aayi hogi..haina?" stated abhijeet, smirking, as he stepped outside of his room, shutting the door behind him, only a few steps away from the main door. 

"tumse milne aaye abhijeet! chinta ho rahi hai hum sabko tumhari!" exclaimed an overwhelmed daya, while shreya squeezed his arm to signal him to stop, which he did. 

"sir, aapko yaad haina jab mera transfer letter aaya tha? aapne kaha tha delhi aate hi sabse pehle jeera aalo banaon aur aapke liye bhi laon...hamesha ki tarah..." attempted shreya to cheer him up, as abhijeet scoffed. 

"yaar shreya..taras khaake aane ko toh nahi kaha tha...khushi baantne aane ko kaha tha...par ab khushiyaan ko mahaul kahan!" replied abhijeet sadly, as everyone was left speechless at his dejected self. 

Only for all of their attentions to be brought back to the main door, as someone unexpected knocked. 

"kambaal hai! aap log darwaza kholke baithe the mere intezaar mein..." remarked dushyant sarcastically, entering inside through the main door still left opened. 

"tum!" exclaimed kavin, appalled, as dushyant smirked at him, while everyone looked in complete surprise. 

"welcome bhi bada acha tha! thanks kavin!" replied dushyant cheekily, as his eyes revolved around the room, observing everyone present. 

"khair, aapki shok sabha band karni padegi...kalse, officially inquiry baithegi." informed dushyant, eyeing abhijeet. 

"yeh batane ke liye aaye ho?" questioned abhijeet's mother, disgust apparent in her eyes as she glared at him, while he just passed a tight lipped smile. 

"pata hai kya, aapke bete ko, abhi mere alawa na, koi nahi bacha sakta...aur main haarta nahi hoon...isliye mujhe aapko kal ke liye taiyaar karna hai." stated dushyant, averting his glance focused from abhijeet's mother to abhijeet himself. 

"kya matlab?" asked kavin, puzzled. 

"kal inke official statement se shuruat ki jayegi...dr.tarika ki bhi li jayegi, with detailed questioning...yeh pure inquiry mein sabse bada evidence hoga, jiske base pe hi koi bhi proof ya witness establish hoga...ismein ek bhi chook nahi honi chahiye..." stated dushyant, as everyone listened carefully. 

"isliye, joh yeh bechari  jeera aalo laayi hai, roti ke saath khao, dimaag chalao, aur sab kuch mujhe pehle batao...phir main bataunga kal kya kehna hai aur kya nahi...uske alawa ek shabd nahi bolna hai...warna main kuch nahi karne waala...aur naukri toh bhul hi jao..." instructed dushyant sternly, as abhijeet raised his brow. 

"but yeh...galat nahi hai...i mean...tumhe independently sab investigate karne ko bulaya hai..." expressed shreya her confusion, as dushyant scoffed. 

"dekho baat aisi hai, dr tarika ke paas toh free ki legal consultant hai apni behen..usne pura train kardiya hai apni behen ko apna case strong banane ke liye...aur DCP ko bhi apni iss family se personal problem nikalni hai...isliye bithadi ek female legal consultant joh zaroorat se zyada emotional hai aur tarika ke dukhde ko maan bhi legi...ab, iss sab mein, inko bachane ke liye...mere alawa koi aur kuch karega?" explained dushyant, as shreya only sighed in disbelief. 

"bhai innocent hai..unhe koi zaroorat nahi hai kuch chupane ki..." argued kavin, as dushyant let out a mocking laughter. 

"yeh koi murder case nahi hai tumhara...sexual harrasment hai...pura case...sirf iss baat pe hota hai..ki kaun sabse convincing kahaani bata sakta hai ki hua kya...humein agar inki story convincing karni hai, woh khaali sach se nahi hogi." retorted dushyant, as daya who seemed to be in deep thought, looked up to respond. 

"mujhe lag raha hai yeh sahi keh raha hai...Tarika bhi yeh case isliye toh file karpayi...agar woh sab sach batati toh yeh koi offence kaise maana jaata? "  stated daya in agreement, as ACP sighed. 

"abhijeet, iske saath yahan baitho sofe par, aur kaam pe lago..zaroori din hai kal. agar koi galti pehle ho bhi gayi hai toh, dobara ek bhi nahi honi chahiye..." instructed ACP firmly, as shreya, kavin and abhijeet's mother looked in disbelief, dushyant and abhijeet surprised, while daya reassured at the statements.  

                                                                         ***

Purvi sat next to her study table in a cushioned chair, sipping on her coffee and going through her notes, as tarika looked at her with a perplexed glance, sitting on the bed right next to the study table. 

"kya dhoondhna chah rahi ho tum?" asked tarika in confusion, as purvi finally turned to face her. 

"main jitna ho sake utna aapke statement mein se loopholes ki possibilities eliminate karna chahti hoon...but...i don't know i think there's still something that's there...par nahi mil raha.." remarked purvi, as she started to get lost in her thoughts. 

"main phirse statement bolti hoon, tum cross question karlo mujhe...ho sakta hai kuch mil jayein..." suggested tarika. 

"hmm...ok theek hai...let's go over this again..." stated purvi, as tarika nodded in agreement. 

                                                         ***

Dushyant and Abhijeet sat across each other on the sofa in the living room, as dushyant had his notepad and pen out, while abhijeet looked at him in dismay. 

"dhyaan se, saari details batadijiye...kuch bhi chutna nahi chahiye...agar koi aisi baat hai joh aap chahte hai bahar naa aye, woh toh zaroor bataiye main uska zyada dhyaan rakhunga." stated dushyant, as he flickered the top of his pen. 

"zyada kuch nahi hai...in fact, baat choti itni thi...mujhe toh abhi tak samajh nahi aa raha iska itna batangad kaise ban gaya..." stated abhijeet in disappointment, as dushyant sighed. 

"choti baaton pe dhyaan nahi dete na hum, isliye...khair, shuru kijiye ki hua kya tha uss raat?" replied dushyant, as abhijeet took a deep sigh before he was able to recount that night.

"yeh hafta, bahaut overburdened tha, case load dekhe toh...hum iss baari hum log teen cases par saath mein kaam kar rahe the...2 unmein se, ek saal se investigation mein chal rahe the...kuch nayi leads pe din-raat kharab karne pe bhi kuch nahi nikalta aur, naya joh case aaya, uska double pressure tha...high profile tha..18 ghante bureau rehna bahaut, aam hogaya tha. mere liye kuch khaas tha bhi nahi, maine toh kabhi kabhi do din lagatar bhi kaam kiya tha as a junior. But ab juniors ke saath itna nahi kar sakte...toh unhe main 14 ghante baad hi ghar jaane ko keh deta tha...mujhe late tak kaam karne ki aadat thi..kahi baar, isliye akele hota tha bureau mein...woh raat bhi yahi hua." began abhijeet with his description. 

"main crime scene photos baar baar dekh raha tha...ki kuch mil jaye bas...tabhi, bureau ka achanak se darwaza khola...tarika thi." stated abhijeet. 

                                                                    ***

Tarika recounted the night with cold eyes and a resentful voice, seething anger coming through them. 

"Hum log ek saal se do bahaut controversial cases pe kaam kar rahe the..forensic ke liye mushkil yeh tha ki evidence kaafi contaminated mila tha aur jitna advanced techniques lagte unn par, uska matlab tha mahinon toh permission aur equipment aane pe barbad hona...but, one of those analysis, unki reports actually ended up giving a very important clue. It was late at night, but i knew abhijeet toh most probably hoga hi, if not with, daya as well...so i decided to go immediately, considering kitna important tha..." narrated tarika the beginning of her story, as she recounted what happened next, and found her face turning solemn. 

"bureau mein abhijeet akela tha...crime scene photos dekh raha tha and, desk pe hi, mujhe ek sharab ka glass dikha...scotch thodi si thi usmein abhi bhi..shayad, thodi der pehle hi peena shuru kiya tha..." recounted tarika, stopping to think of that one detail. 

"mujhe uss waqt ek feeling hui...ki kuch toh bahaut galat hai...now i think, mujhe tab hi chale jaana chahiye tha..." confessed tarika, repenting before moving forward. 

                                                               ***