Chapter 26 Unspoken Truth

The case was unfolding a chapter with every passing day and it kept both Debjit and Advait on their toes. The mystery was getting more intense. Was Aparna’s death an accident or a murder? It was raising many questions and Debjit was in a fix. He wanted to know the real truth, the real gamble.

Why was Aparna killed?

What made Avinash choose the darkest path? Why wasn’t he stopping?

Where were Utkarsh and his family?

Debjit and Advait couldn’t harbor anything specific about the mystery of the case. It was becoming more and complicated, which made both of them asking more questions. They were lagging behind to catch Avinash and they needed to be quick. They were curious about and totally involved in Avinash’s past life. They wanted to grow more information and so Debjit contacted all of his informers to find out Avinash’s whereabouts. He circulated his picture and told them to get the details about Avinash no matter what. He sounded furious than ever. His conscious gasped for more information which could lead them one step closer to catch Avinash h. He wanted him to pay for his sins.

Advait was sitting alongside him and watched him convey the order to the informers. All the evidence, such as his watch, photo frame, the burnt letter pieces, glasses, and most importantly, the diary, proved Avinash to be guilty. He picked up the log again and went through the pages. He read about Debjit, and his head whimpered out a question automatically.

“Sir, you were a part of his life? Can you tell me more about that?” He asked, and it made Debjit recall some bitter- sweet memories of old.

“It goes back around seventeen years. I was in my 11th Standard and had opted for non-medical. As you know, Avinash’s father was a physics teacher. He was my tutor at school also and, during the evenings, I went to him for home tuition. Avinash and Aparna were kids back then, one little happy family. Everything was great back then and I used to enjoy their company. Both of them considered me their elder brother. We had a wonderful time together for two years - years that I would say was the best part of my life. But somehow, when I went to Delhi for my higher studies, I lost connection with them. Then, I got to know that their mother died and his dad was suffering from paralysis. After my selection in Civil Services, I got posted back in Bombay. And after the gap of 4 years, I got to meet him. At the time, he was suffering from finances, I helped him a little. Avinash’s life was never an easy. He was charged with murder, which landed him in jail for six years. Because of that incident, I broke connection with him. I moved on in my life, got married and had a sweet daughter one year later,” Debjit spilled out the full story.

..

Debjit and Advait, were investigating the case further. Till then, they had searched Avinash’s house, inquired from Chhavi and his colleagues in the news channel, but nothing conclusive had come up. Debjit wanted to explore more and so they searched Utkarsh house too. They both went in there but didn’t find anything specific. The house was closed for around five months and was all dirty and dusty. They couldn’t find a thing that could bring the next development to the case. Then, they inquired from the neighbors. Both of them diverted in opposite directions hoping they could lead to someone; both kept on asking people about Utkarsh and Avinash. Advait moved on to the next street, he came across an old house. An elderly person in his late 60s was walking with a stick on the way to his car and had almost left the place when Advait intervened

“Hello Sir” He greeted

“Hello,” the man replied in a sweet voice.

“Sir, I wanted to ask you if you knew Utkarsh Dhiman and Avinash Sampath. They used to live in 55-B.” Advait asked

“Yes, yes. Utkarsh Dhiman. I know him. The other person you named Avinash might be his brother or friend something”, he sighed.

“Yes, did you meet any of them recently?”

“As far as I know, he went abroad with his family.” the person replied

“Oh, I see.”

“By the way, who are you?”,

“I am a police inspector; we were looking for Utkarsh, wanted to have a chat with him,” Advait told him.

“Okay, buddy. I am getting late now. I need to rush to my wife’s place.” There was a subtle change in his expression. He suddenly looked in a hurry. His body language said that he knew something. His hands were shaking. Advait noticed it but didn’t pay any close look towards it. He started his car.

“This is my card if you get any info...” before he could finish his words, he pulled up his car window and left the place. This act made Advait a little anxious. He made a look at his car number plate, so he could read it. But, it was blank and that made Advait more suspicious about the person, but what could he do now? He called Debjit and asked him to come to the place. Meanwhile, he broke into the house and wanted to see what the man was up to.

As he entered, he saw some bags lying and packed up like the occupants of the place were about to leave for somewhere. He proceeded towards the living room area and saw some certificates hanging on the wall. He read the name on it, and it came as quite a shock to him. All the certificates were printed in the name of ‘Utkarsh Dhiman’. In the meantime, Debjit also entered the place, and they searched for more…

“One second. Advait, you saw that person, can we identify him?” Debjit asked him, he was keen to get to know the real identity of the person.

“Yaa, I saw him, but he was around 65 or something, I don’t think he was Avinash. Moreover, he was walking with a stick,” Advait told him.

“Damn, I am sure he was Avinash only. He might must have been disguised as an elderly person. You saw the number plate?” Debjit was furious.

“I am sorry to say, sir, but his car plate was blank,”

“Fuck.”

Both of them geared up and searched each and every part of the house. Starting from the living room to the kitchen, bedroom to bathroom, they searched for it all. They were throwing all the stuff out like madmen. Now, the house was looking like it had been burgled. From the Utkarsh’s room, Advait found a photo frame and called up Debjit to look at it. The structure was a little broken, but still, the picture was visible.

“This is the photo from Utkarsh wedding.” Debjit identified it.

“Where you got this from?” he asked.

“It was lying near the almirah,” Advait showed him.

Their eyes went to the almirah which was locked with a safety number. They tried to unlock it first while dialing a random number. It didn’t work. The only way to open it was to break it. Debjit found an iron rod from the storeroom. He banged on it many times and eventually managed to unlocked it. But, what they found after that was the most astonishing thing they could ever see. The almirah doors lead to a tunnel downstairs.