purvi splashed water on her face thrice, one after the other, there was this unexplainable restlessness to her agitated demeanor. she took a deep breath, as she wiped her face quickly, and came out only to grab her phone. she had this seemingly unsettling nervousness in her hands, as she dialed for a number. 

she closed her eyes, placing the phone against her ear, taking deep breaths, in an attempt to calm herself down. fortunately, the call went to voicemail. 

"hello, hi, ashutosh...i, uhm, don't know if you have received my resignation yet...uhh, i mailed it to you, last night....so uhm, yeah just needed to say that..yeah, ok...bye." she opened her eyes only after hanging up, this sudden shock yet relief consuming her, she didn't know how to process any of it. 

she looked at the contact that flashed on her phone screen, ashutosh-boss, as she happily sent it to trash. it was like she experienced freedom in a click. 

suddenly, she heard a knock on her door, she looked up only to find ishita in front of her eyes. she walked over to her, as purvi only gleaned at her with disdain. 

"hey...." entered ishita awkwardly, not to mention that she couldn't have been more inappropriately dressed, with her spaghetti strap black baby doll dress, that well, if the neck went more deeper, would have made her clevage felt like it was being shoved into your face. it was safe to say, it's not the thing you wear in front of the man who had been sleeping with's wife, that too when it wasn't even 24 hours ago when she found out about it. if anyone looked at her from a neutral view though, she looked like the best dressed vamp there ever was...

"uhh, woh, tumhe toh bata hi diya hoga kavin ne, bani ne joh mujhe bataya, hospital mein...it's just, i, uhhm, well this journalist friend of mine, uske sources maine thodi information nikalwayi, apparently uss ACP ko shak hai ki jasmine aur bani ka involvement ho sakta hai....saumya ke murder mein...and well, before they both get into any further trouble, we'll have to act quick..." stated ishita, as purvi had never felt like she agreed with a person she felt utter disdain for, and well, she had been a journalist, so...it was quite intense, to say the least. 

"well, i think the important thing is we find them first, right?" questioned purvi, as ishita nodded, a very snide smirk she was trying to not show, but oh well, when have the truest of intentions remain hidden?

"how about we just, mislead the police?" purvi raised her brow, as ishita gave her a vey mocking look, the hypocrisy was just laughable, to be honest. 

but really, purvi and ishita, unlocking their dark sides together to the fullest, what can't they do? 

                                                                                           ***

abhijeet and team were led to an abandoned dungeon when they came in search of where saumya's body was found.With dozens, old evidence bags, detached from files, pasi too followed him behind, as they were about to recreate the crime scene. 

a dark, dingy room where a creaky wooden chair was placed, untied ropes suspended from the armrest of the chair, seemed like a typical hostage escape scene, as abhijeet glared at the pictures for every tiny detail. suddenly, his eyes fell on a tiny blood spot on the top of the chair, making him look closer. 

"agar chair ke iss hisse pe khoon laga hai, matlab ki chot bilkul gardan ke upar lagi thi...sarr ke neeche hisse pe, par phir itna hi khoon kyun?" muttered abhijeet, as pasi was starting to wonder too. 

"sir, usse chot yahan pahuanchne se pehle hi lagi thi...aur sarr ke neeche ke hisse pe maarne se toh behosh karna bhi bahaut asaan ho jaata hai kisiko....shayad isliye..." suggested pasi, as something struck inside abhijeet's head, making him immediately take out the file, examining all the photos of the wound on saumya's deadbody. 

Photos displayed red circular marks around the wrists, a dislocated shoulder, not to mention a very prominent red mark, circled around the right side of her forehead. the biggest giveaway though, was a slightly broken fingernail of her right hand. 

"nahi pasi sahab, yeh koi planned kidnapping nahi thi, dekho, itne struggle ki injuries hoti kya agar unhone bas zor se sarr pe maar diya hota peeche se? sab bahaut hauch-pauch mein hua hai...saumya ko aakhri baar bhi raat ko hi dekha gaya tha reports ke hisaab se...uss raat ko hi kuch hua hai uske ghar...yeh arjun, uska bhai, usse zara phir bulana...uss raat ka bayaan zara phirse lunga main usse...." instructed abhijeet, after his quick analysis, as pasi looked at him with a slight dismay, from not being able to oblige with the given order maybe?

"sir, woh toh nahi ho payega...." replied pasi, as abhijeet raised his brow at him. 

"woh sir, jab hum yeh case files study kar rahe the, tab hamara dhyaan gaya ki case file karne ke 4 hafte baad hi gautam singhania ne yeh case waapas le liya, jab ki police ke paas toh thoos evidence bhi ekhatta ho gaye the...bas, ek report aani reh gayi thi.." replied pasi, as abhijeet listened alertly as he waited  for him to reveal what he wanted to hear. 

"yeh joh nakhoon toota na saumya ka, ismein se ek baal mila tha...kaafi chota, ek ladke ka hi ho sakta tha...uski DNA testing ki report aani hi thi, ki case waapas le liya mr singhnia ne...." informed pasi, as abhijeet was damn curious to know what the report said. 

"woh baal arjun singhania ka tha...." revealed pasi, shooking abhijeet with shock, making the case and in fact any theory he could have came up with before the revelation, turn completely upside down. 

                                                                                     ***