Chapter 25 Meeting With Chhavi

Debjit and Advait were standing right in front of Chhavi’s house. They were closely monitoring the activity going on inside the house, through the front window. Chhavi’s Mom was preparing the lunch, with help from her husband. After a while, both spotted Chhavi as well. The three of them were now having lunch in the dining hall. Debjit wanted to wait until Chhavi was alone. They wanted to talk with her in private. They were sure about one thing now that they finally have a lead in the case now. Chhavi was an essential part of Avinash’s life. She could hopefully bring them one step closer to finding Avinash. Thirty minutes later, her parents came outside the house. They sat in the car and left for the city. It was perfect time for Debjit and Advait to talk to her. They rang the bell. The door opened slowly, and Chhavi appeared.

“Good Afternoon Mrs. Chhavi Mehta,” Advait greeted. “Who are you?” she asked.

“I am sub-Inspector Advait Chauhan and this is Inspector Debjit Acharya, we are here to ask you about Avinash Sampath,” Advait stated.

...

“First things first, why are you not with your in-laws?” Advait asked.

“Why was I supposed to be there. I divorced Jaghdheer five months back,” She replied in a firm voice

“You divorced him? Can we know the reason why?” Advait asked.

“No, that’s my personal life. I don’t want to tell you about

it,”

“Okay, No worries. Let’s get back to the main topic. Do

you know where Avinash is right now?” Debjit asked her. She was silent and didn’t respond. Debjit asked again.

“I don’t know,” She blurted out.

“No, you are lying, he met you after Aparna’s death, didn’t he?” Advait said infuriated.

“No, he didn’t,” Chhavi said.

“Why are you hiding him from us, you know a lot about Avinash, but you are not telling us anything about him,” Debjit asked.

“I am not hiding anything,” Chhavi said sounding tense and felt as if she was under pressure.

“Why did he murder Pratham’s parents and made Pratham responsible for the bomb blast?” Debjit exclaimed as he got closer to her.

“Why, why,” he was excited and wanted to know the truth badly. He picked up a glass from the table and banged it on the table, which itched Chhavi. She was in a dilemma and averted her eyes from Debjit glare.

“Why, Chhavi tell us?” Debjit said in a loud voice almost as if he was screaming. She closed her eyes and screamed it out.

“Because Pratham’s parents killed Aparna, they were responsible for her death.” The atmosphere felt quite intense. It was shocking for both of them to hear the truth. It was an unbelievable truth. Debjit’s mind was sent reeling, unable to comprehend or process the information they learned of…

“But Aparna’s death was an accident, and it was also written in Avinash’s diary,” Debjit said.

“Dairy, what diary?” Chhavi exclaimed.

“Avinash had a diary, where he wrote everything that happened to him till Aparna’s death. “ Advait said clearing her doubt.

“As far as I know, Avinash’s never wrote in any diary.” “He has, it was taken in as a piece of evidence,” Debjit

said.

“What happened next, no one knows except you. And

then there is the fact that we have no idea where Utkarsh and his family are,” Debjit said.

“And now you are telling us that, Aparna’s death was not an accident?” Debjit said curiously. His mind started thinking of different thoughts. He asked Chhavi again.

“It seemed like an accident but it was not. It was all planned,” Chhavi said looking at him directly.

“Pratham’s family was very violent towards Aparna. She was a target of domestic violence. She couldn’t get herself out of it, a victim of male chauvinism, she was a victim.” Chhavi revealed the truth.

“But Aparna and Pratham loved each other,” Debjit said.

“No there was no love, forget about it. He was very cruel towards Aparna, it was as if he was taking revenge on her. And I don’t know why, his attitude, his behavior completely changed after their marriage,” Chhavi said.

“What kind of revenge, and why Aparna was unable to convey this to Avinash or even Utkarsh,” Advait asked.

“I don’t know why, I think she was afraid. I guess, I can’t think of any other reason why, she had to be,” Chhavi mumbled.

“You know everything but you are refusing telling to us.” Debjit said as he became arrogant.

“I only know about Aparna’s death. It was the same night when Utkarsh went to Canada. The incident happened around five a.m. in morning. They killed her, and made it look like an accident and as far as I know about Avinash’s whereabouts, I cannot help you in that regards as I don’t know about it myself, I still ask this question to myself every night, about where he could be right now,” She said letting us know of her feelings.

“Do you have any proof that it was murder?” Debjit asked.

“I don’t have any proof, but Aparna wrote about Pratham’s cruelty in a letter,” She said.

“Which letter are you talking about?” Advait asked, and his brain begun to run in distress at the thought that it could be the burned letter. The same thing was going through Debjit’s mind.

“Aparna, didn’t wanted to convey the message to Avinash face to face so she wrote a letter the day before she died.”

“Where is this letter, give it to us,” Advait demanded.

“I don’t know where it is, on that day it was right their in Avinash’s house,” Chhavi said. To clear any doubts, Advait asked about the burnt letter. “What was the first word written on the letter?” he asked desperately.

“I think it was SORRY,” Chhavi replied. By listening to her, Debjit and Advait confirmed that Aparna had indeed read the letter.

“What was written in it, I think you read the whole letter so please help us understand the situation,” Debjit and Advait said.

“That night, I went to Avinash’s house. I wanted to clear ip the misunderstanding that happened in our relationship. I wanted to resolve it. When I reached the house, the door was open but no one seemed to be inside. All the lights were turned off. I didn’t find Avinash there instead I found the letter which was lying on the inner most part of the front door. I opened it, and read it, and came as quite a shock to me,” Chhavi said.

“It read out,”

I am sorry brother, I am guilty of not being able to tell you this in person but I am not comfortable with my in-laws. If I told you anything about it, they all would have killed me. They never wanted me to talk to you, but I know you will get me out of this. Please get me out of this, I don’t to live here anymore. I

am a victim of domestic violence. Brother, please help me get out from this hell.

Your Sister Aparna

Chhavi blurted out the details about the letter. Debjit and Advait still weren’t satisfied with her answers. And, they knew that she was still hiding something.

“Did anything else happen after that, after you had met up with Avinash and told him about Aparna,” Advait asked.

“No, that morning he was with Ishita, his phone was switched off. I wanted to tell him about it. As soon as possible, but it was already too late. Aparna was already dead by then.”

“As I reached there, Aparna was already dead,” Chhavi said again.

“You told him about the letter?” Debjit asked.

“No, I didn’t, I kept it there on table, at Avinash place.

And I left.”

“Did Avinash read the letter, and then burn it,” Advait thought.