"What did DCP Roy want?" Lobo asked the moment Kelkar stepped out.

Kelkar watched him for a minute. He had seen Lobo walk over the DCP the second he left Kelkar's cabin. "Didn't the DCP tell you?"

"He said you are going to need all the help you can," Lobo smirked, "I was wondering what exactly did you do this time?"

Kelkar's face turned rigid, "Rather than worry about what I did, it might be more productive to worry about the case. We have to solve it in the next four days."

"We or you?" Lobo asked titling his head.

"Do you want to try going by your own timeframe and seeing if it is just me or you?" Kelkar asked before walking away.

***

It was past midnight when Kelkar tiptoed into his bedroom and sat gently on the bed.

"Did you have dinner?"

Kelkar sighed and turned around.

His wife was already out of the bed and walking out of the room as she said, "Get changed and come for dinner."

"You didn't need to stay awake," Kelkar told her as he sat to have his dinner.

"I wouldn't ...if I could trust you to have your food," she said resting her elbows on the dining table.

He sighed but didn't reply back.

She watched him for a few minutes, forcing the food down his throat, "What is bothering you?"

He looked up at her blankly.

"It would help if you can share what is going on in that head of yours," she said.

"You cannot help me," he muttered.

"Remember that next time you call me for help," she shot back.

He opened his mouth to speak a couple of times before muttering, "Sorry"

She shook her head, "Now tell me what is the problem?"

"That asshole–"

"Pradeep!"

"–Roy," Kelkar looked at her with a rigid expression, "I am not going to apologize for calling him what he really is. Not when it is just us."

She rolled her eyes but let him continue.

"He has come up with a new way to get me thrown out. A deadline for solving every crime. And if I don't solve it in time, I have to resign. This is just his way of making things difficult for me because he doesn't like me," Kelkar grunted washing his plate in the sink.

"You think he has personal grudge against you?"

"You know he does!" Kelkar shot back.

"He didn't get to that position by holding personal grudges."

"So you think I am wrong?" Kelkar gritted through his teeth.

She shook her head, "All I am saying is that there is more to the man and what he does than what we know."

"Which is what?"

She put the leftovers in the refrigerator and turned to look at him, "I don't know."

He fumed as he looked at her.

"So what is the deadline?"

"Four days," he said as he rested against the kitchen platform.

"You have been able to solve cases in that time," she reasoned.

"Not in a case like this where I cannot even make heads or tails. I have been shooting darts in the dark and my team ..." he waved his hands in the air, shaking his head.

"I met them," she said with a small smile, "well most of them at least"

"And you still think Roy isn't holding a personal grudge!"

"They are not bad," she said.

"In what way? I have a model who only flirts. A bully and perpetual fighter. A over excited child who cannot execute instructions sometimes. A military man who I am not even sure knows for himself why he is here. And then there is Lobo."

"You are forgetting the grumpy angry boss of theirs," she said with a teasing smile.

He shot her a pointed look.

"Do you know that you haven't spoken more than one sentence about this case that you are supposed to solve in four days," she said watching him, "one sentence."

"You are saying I am distracted?"

"What do you think?"

He watched her for a second before a grin broke on his lips, "You are smart."

"Thank you. I didn't realize it until now," she said matching it and crossing her arms, tilting her head in challenge.

"But you still cannot tell me whether it is accident or homicide though, doctor."

"It is usually best not to be sarcastic with someone who you depend on so much at work and at home, don't you think?" she asked arching her eyebrow.

"I have to remember it next time," he said smirking, "Never marry someone from work."

"You were lucky I accepted your proposal this time, otherwise you would have been a bachelor for life," she said walking away.

He held her wrist, "Thanks," he said with a gentle smile.

She shook her head, but turned around to look at him, "So Hebbar?"

His jerked his head back and looked at her with narrowed eyes, "How is it that everyone knows what goes on in my team?"

***

Day 2. 6:30AM

Kelkar walked into the plush sea-facing flat, at Glacier Apartments building in Worli, followed by a grumpy Lobo. Its resident was already expecting them thanks to the heads-up from apartment security team.

Prakash Gawda was about 5' 9", slender. His hair had started to grey in places. The man wore simple clothes, quite unlike the opulence of Hebbar. He had studied with Vishnu and his wife Sadhana in the same college in Bengaluru. Gawda exuded a certain intelligence as he gazed at them through his glasses.

"I was just on my way to the airport to pick up Sadhana," Gawda said, "That is Vishnu's wife," he explained quickly.

"We will join you in that case," Kelkar stated, "We can talk on the way over."

Gawda looked at them before nodding reluctantly.

"What did you want to know?" Gawda asked when they got into his car.

"When was the last time you met Vishnu Hebbar?" Kelkar asked.

"What has that got to do with anything?" he asked, "Bengaluru police said it was an accident."

Kelkar could see Lobo glance at them through the rear-view mirror. He turned to the man sitting beside him, "It was a general question, Mr Gawda."

"Doctor. It's Dr Gawda," he said primly.

Kelkar's face lost some of its friendly expression, "So when did you meet him last?"

Gawda watched him closely, "Is there something you are not telling us?"

"Is there a reason why you have problem in answering a simple question, Doctor?" Lobo asked from the front passenger seat.

"What is that supposed to mean? Am I not allowed to even ask the logic behind this questions?" Gawda asked leaning back in his seat and watching Lobo and Kelkar in turns.

"Not every question needs to have a deep logic behind it," Kelkar said bluntly.

"You expect me to believe that," Gawda shot

"You have a nice car, doctor. Did you buy it yourself?" Lobo asked.

"What?" Gawda gawked at Lobo.

"Your car. It's really comfortable. I like it. Did you buy it recently?" Lobo asked again.

"Umm...No. It has been provided by my company."

"You must be at a really good post to get such a nice car," Lobo said smiling at Gawda, "Ours are horrible. The suspension that take your back out."

Gawda frowned at Lobo but stayed silent.

"Your flat is really good too. Sea view. These days' flats don't come cheap do they. Do you think I can afford it?" Lobo motored on.

Kelkar watched Gawda scrunching his eyebrows at Lobo.

"I wouldn't know. I am not well-versed with police inspector's salary," Gawda said primly, "My company rents that flat for me. And before you ask, yes I am at a good post at my company. I head research & development. I am also the president of the company."

"You must be really close to the owner," Lobo said.

"Yes. I am," Gawda said bluntly, before turning to Kelkar, "What does this have to do with Vishnu?"

"Nothing."

"Then what is with these questions?" Gawda asked.

"Since you weren't interested in answering any questions about Hebbar, I thought I would ask something else to pass time as we drive to the airport," Lobo smiled calmly.

Gawda looked at Lobo and then at Kelkar before his expression turned somber, "I saw him four days ago."

"Nothing after that?" Kelkar asked

Gawda shook his head, "He called me a day later asking me to come over to meet him, but I couldn't get away from my commitments. We are in the middle of a big data collection exercise as part of new research project."

"Was there anything specific he wanted to talk to you about?" Kelkar asked

"Not that he mentioned on the phone at least," Gawda shrugged.

"But he didn't give any indication of it being important then?"

Gawda shook his head.

"What about when you met him?" Lobo asked, "What was he like?"

"His usual self really," Gawda said shaking his head.

"And what was his usual self?" Kelkar asked.

"Boisterous–"

"We are at the airport," the driver said.

Gawda leapt out of the car and started weaving through the crowd towards the arrival area.

Kelkar and Lobo shared a quick glance before following after him.

Thanks for reading. I couldn't leave Kelkar high and dry without his own form of romance. Hope you like them and their interactions in future. 

You will meet the family in the next one. 

If you liked the chapter, do vote and consider dropping a line to let me know what you thought of it.