The Last Second

Ananya’s hesitation continued and her heartbeat raised. Sabari could hear the ringtone clearly, as Ananya did not disconnect the call. He screamed and Ananya was still able to hear him, as she was almost a foot away from the mobile. “Come on Ananya!!! Why don’t you pick up the call?” Ananya held her mobile back closer and replied, “Don’t you know who is calling?” “I know that it is Abilash.. What is stopping you from taking the call?”   “Whatever and however you advise me, I don’t have the self-confidence to have a conversation with him. I might blabber and screw up the storyline. If you were here, that would give me some confidence.” “Okay.. Okay.. If that is all you need, I will be there in another thirty minutes” “Oh good.. But I wont take any calls from Abilash until you are here” “Ok… I’m starting now” Ananya began to wait and time crawled. As promised, Sabari reached home in thirty minutes. Ananya was relieved. In the next few minutes, Vasudharini’s phone rang...

“Mahadev!!! Are you sure?” “Yes sir.. This is as per the report provided by GH’s Microbiological department.” “We need to enquire the research folks of ‘Biospace Technologies’. Did you do that?” “Not yet” “Who owns the company?” “Mr.Sidharth...Prathap, who was earlier murdered earlier, was the Chief Scholar of the Research Division of the company.” “Did you get to know the motive for the murder?” “Not yet sir.. We just completed the first round of enquiry” “Whom did you enquire?” “As of now, only with Sabari, who worked closely with Prathap” “And…What is his statement?” “He said that Prathap might have been doing some personal research work at his home, apart from his usual routine official work. Moreover, looks like he had some connection with someone in Japan” “Where is Sabari now?” “After the postmortem, Sabari and Sidharth have taken the body for the final rituals. It is expected to happen in Besant Nagar today around 2 to 3 PM” “Ok.. Listen Mahadev… I w...

Tears rolled down from Ananya’s eyes hearing Sabari’s statement. She was about to burst out at any time. In a shaky voice, she said, “Sabari!!! Are you serious? Just imagine the situation. Say you are gone to Thailand. Abilash would definitely ask for Vasu and if I answer that she is missing, do you think he will believe me? Fortunately if he believes me, what do you think his action will be..” Sabari threw a confused look at her and replied, “You say…” “He will go to the cops. The cops will ask him where was she seen last and Abilash will point the fingers at me. Now I will leave it for your imagination on how the rest of the enquiry would move” Sabari took a deep breath and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Relax Ananya…I do understand that. Abilash would definitely go to the cops. His statements as part of his complaint would be favourable for us” “Like what?” “In his complaint, he has to start from how he knew Vasudharini. He cannot hide the fact ...

“Who is Vasudharini?” The question from the nurse gave a speechless moment for Sabari and Ananya. Sabari quickly recovered from the shock. “Vasudharini??” “Yes sir” Sabari imitated to recollect something out of his head and replied, “Hmm.. Not sure sister.. Why are you asking this?” “When the patient was out of coma for a minute, I was the one who was nearby. He jabbered a few words. Out of the few words, most of them weren’t clear. The only word that I could hear was ‘Vasudharini’. That’s why I asked you that question” Ananya joined the conversation. “Sister!!! Do you remember any other words from his conversation?” “Not really madam. He was speaking in long sentences. May be, he was in a hurry to speak up everything he wanted to, but ended up speaking in blocks. The only word that I heard clearly was ‘Vasudharini’ “ “Are you sure it was that or something else?” “I’m very sure” “But…. We don’t know anyone by that name” After a couple of ...

A thick shaft of light from Jayaram’s torch brightened the trench. Jayaram searched through every corners of the trench dug for erecting pillars. Baskar, who was couple of feet away browsing through the surroundings asked, “Jayaram!!! Anything useful?” Jayaram, without looking at him answered, “I don’t see anything inside. However, I can smell an odor from inside” “Odor?” “Ya!! A kind of.. Medicine or something” A constable who accompanied Baskar replied, “I too can smell it sir”   “It is somewhat closer to the aroma produced when rains fall on dry soil. Shall I get inside to check?” “Can you?” “Yes I can…” The constable searched around to find a wooden ladder. He pointed that and said, “The ladder will help to go down into the trench” “Ok.. But a couple of things before you do… The odor may be more when you go deeper. Use your hanky to mask your nose and mouth. If at all you feel any trouble in breathing, return..” “Sure sir” The c...

“What??” Police officer Rasheed was slightly shocked. “Yes sir.. One was a female” “Didn’t you say that you couldn’t see their face in the dark?” “Yes… I did sir” “If so, how do you know that one was a female?” “Even if it was dark, anyone can find out whether one is a male or female from their movements.” “Ok… I got you… Did you happen to check what was thrown inside the pit?” “No sir.. I didn’t want to do that…. purposefully… I’m a graduate, new to the city and in search of a job. So, I did not want to get into any trouble. I suspected that those people might be involved in a crime and I wanted to report it through the right channel. That is all I did. It is over to you now.  I will give you the exact location of the building.. You note it down if you like to..” Rasheed noted down the details. He disconnected the call and immediately dialed someone on the landline phone. The call was picked up at the other end. “Inspector Baskar here…” “S...