Aman was in a fix. He knew that something awkward was about to happen but finding Nikita in this condition was out of his question. On seeing such bestiality, he wondered who could have done it. Suhas's flight had landed one hour before and he was on his way. All Aman waited for was the autopsy reports to arrive the next morning. Aman tried to relax himself by resting his aching body on the fragile old out chair. a glass masala tea with rusks was kept at his brown green table. He gulped down the mouthful contents of the hot beverage in one go. Biting on the rusk, he closed his eyes as he laid back on the chair. The horrible sight came into his mind vividly that led him to throw out the contents from his belly.
The face was unidentifiable. He had seen many cases of brutality but this was extreme. He soon came into senses. The incessant beeping of his mobile woke him up from the nightmarish vision. 'Inspector Aman?' The voice on the other side of the phone inquired. 'Yes. Aman speaking.' Aman cleared his throat. He wanted to get rid of the tart taste. He drew his arm forward to pick the glass of water kept on the edge. Suhas was on the other side of the phone line. 'I want to share something with you!' Suhas paused in between. 'Sure. Come into the police station.' Aman gave him an assuring note to a worried Suhas. On the other side of his mind was one doubt which clouded his thoughts. It was the secret which Suhas was about to tell him in a while. Could it be him surrendering to the crime? Or it is something else. Maybe he know the culprit! Moreover, he still didn't know how to tell Suhas about the battered body of his beloved wife.
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After about twenty minutes at about 12:30 AM, Suhas joined him in the weather beaten police station. He was dressed in three piece black lounge suit. The light stubble hid the cuts on his face. He was fit and fine as appeared to Aman. The initial ten minutes were spent on knowing about what happened and how it all happened. Aman intervened in between 'Do you have any enemies? Someone whom you have a strong doubt on.' The answer was a mixture of yes and a no. Aman knew that he was hiding a bitter truth. He came straight to the point. 'Suhas, you were about to tell me something.' Aman paused for few seconds. Suhas nodded but it seemed that he didn't have the courage to speak up. Suhas picked up his briefcase placed on the right side of his chair, deposited it on the table in front of it. After a slight struggling with it, he opened the briefcase. Inside was a note which he carefully handed over to Aman. Aman's eyes grew wide as he read through the note:
I know you are involved in a matter that has cost my life. I will not let you live peacefully! You will have to pay for what you have done to me. You took my life from me, one day I will take it back from you!
Aman inquired about who could have done this. 'Why didn't you tell this before? Your wife could have been saved from dying!' Aman spat out the truth in haste. 'What do you mean?' Suhas sprang up. Aman knew now he can't hide the truth anymore. He explained everything to him. Suhas was in tears. Aman offered him water. He wanted him to control his commotion which was obvious. 'When you got this note? Who sent it?' He was fired at by so many questions by Aman. Possibly it could be a case of psychopath lover! Aman contacted the forensic department regarding the reports. He heaved a sigh of relief on knowing that it was not Nikita's. The DNA of the blood on the anklet and of the body didn't match.
'I want to know if you had any friend of yours who loved Nikita? It is possible that you know about it or you may not even have an idea about it.' Suhas initially nodded in negative but later he realized that there was someone whom he also had thrown out from their home several times. He was having a slight recollection of the events of brawl that have taken place with that guy. 'Did you know who was he?' Aman inquired. 'Possibly a stalker or someone who knew Nikita since college days!' After giving it a deep thought for about twenty minutes, he recalled his name. 'Tarun! How could I forget that psycho! He used to stalk Nikita all the time, in the college, at our home. He didn't even spared her after her marriage. 'This is our man! Possibly he has kidnapped Nikita because of his evil mind!' He had a sigh of relief when he saw a ray of hope of Nikita being alive.
'We should not waste time and find out where the bastard is!' Aman found out the whereabouts of Tarun. He was hiding Nikita in a garage not much far from their villa. Suhas was happy that Nikita came back to him safe. He thanked Aman for his concerns and promised Nikita to never leave her alone ever. After all, she was his life! Tarun was punished for his infernal deeds. Probably his one sided love was to blame!
Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction. All the characters depicted in the story are born out of author's imagination. It's resemblance with any person is purely coincidental.
