We stepped into the room Jenny had entered moments before.
She stood perfectly still, as though every muscle in her body had locked in place. Her pistol remained raised with both hands, unwavering, aimed directly at the corner beside the bed. Her breathing was shallow, her expression pale, eyes widened with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
A heavy silence settled over the room.
We instinctively followed her line of sight.
A man in a green T-shirt stood frozen, his hands trembling slightly at his sides. His face had turned ghostly white, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. Beside him, lying motionless on the cold floor, was a little girl who couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen.
Blood slowly trickled from the side of her head, forming a dark crimson stain beneath her. A large decorative lamp lay shattered nearby, its broken pieces scattered across the wooden floor.
My eyes drifted lower.
Her feet...
They were chained tightly to one of the bed's legs.
For a second, none of us spoke.
The room itself felt suffocating.
"What the heck is going on?!" Rhea shouted, her voice breaking the dreadful silence.
Without wasting another second, she pulled out her handcuffs and marched toward the man.
"Please... don't!" the man begged desperately, his voice shaking.
Rhea ignored every word.
Within seconds, she forced his hands behind his back and snapped the handcuffs shut with a loud metallic click.
Jenny immediately rushed toward the girl.
Her dress was slightly torn, exposing bruises across her shoulder. She remained unconscious, her breathing weak but steady.
She looked at me urgently.
"Help me."
I didn't hesitate.
I quickly removed my jacket and carefully draped it over the girl, shielding her from everyone's eyes before kneeling beside her.
"Naveen."
I tossed him my jeep keys.
"Bring my jeep here. It's parked near the park."
He caught the keys without saying a word and sprinted outside.
Only a few minutes later, one of our police jeeps screeched to a halt outside the house.
Rhea and Tanish forcefully dragged the struggling man toward the vehicle despite his repeated pleas.
Almost at the same time, Naveen returned with my jeep.
I carefully slid one arm beneath the girl's shoulders and another beneath her legs.
She felt frighteningly light.
Holding her as gently as possible, I carried her outside, placed her comfortably inside my jeep, and immediately drove toward the hospital.
Jenny and Naveen climbed in with me.
Not a single word was spoken during the drive.
🥀🥀🥀
The hospital waiting area felt painfully quiet.
Each passing second seemed slower than the last.
Jenny kept pacing.
Naveen remained seated with his elbows resting on his knees, staring blankly at the floor.
I stood near the window, watching droplets race down the glass while countless questions filled my mind.
Eventually, the doctor stepped out.
His expression alone told me the news wasn't good.
"It looks like someone drugged her..." he said, struggling to hide his disbelief.
"Drugged?"
I slowly turned toward Naveen.
"Check it out."
"Okay, sir."
He immediately walked toward the doctor.
"I'm a drug specialist. Please give me her reports and blood samples!" he requested professionally.
The doctor nodded.
"Alright." He disappeared back into the patient's room.
Ding.
A notification appeared on my phone.
I unlocked it.
It was from Tanish.
[Tanish]: Sir, I need you to check the recent Reddit post by Kishi Vaitarna...
My eyes widened.
Another post?
I immediately opened Reddit and searched for Kishi Vaitarna's account.
"Ghostface asked a man to hide him because the police were searching for him."
"The man agreed."
"But when Ghostface entered the man's house... he noticed something strange."
"He found a young girl chained to a bed."
"The man suddenly entered the room and locked the door."
"Ghostface fought the man and saved the girl."
...
Wait...
What?
Jenny and Naveen noticed my expression and quickly walked over.
"What happened?" Jenny asked.
I silently handed them my phone.
"Read."
Their expressions changed with every line.
"What the..." Naveen muttered.
"So... it was intentional?" he asked quietly.
"Was he actually trying to save the girl?" Jenny frowned, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
"That's... confusing."
I rubbed my forehead.
Before anyone could say another word, my phone rang.
A group call.
Tanish.
Rhea.
Shruti.
All three were calling.
I answered.
"Sir?" Tanish spoke first. "What's going on? Was it intentional? What just happened?"
"Why did Ghostface do what we did?" Rhea asked, equally confused.
Jenny crossed her arms thoughtfully. "The question isn't about the post."
Everyone fell silent.
"The real question is..." She looked directly at me.
"Why us?"
"Why did he want us to help?"
"She has a point!!" Naveen agreed.
"We need to question that man first..." I said firmly.
"Rhea Talwar." I said, "Start the interrogation. I'll get a warrant"
"Okay, sir."
The call ended.
Ding.
Another notification echoed.
This time...
It came from Jenny's phone.
A Reddit direct message.
The sender. Kishi Vaitarna.
I looked at her. "Open it."
Immediately, She unlocked her phone.
The message read:
"Yes, I'm a criminal. The law says so. But let me tell you why I do this. I act where this system hesitates, where rules slow down what needs to be done. You follow procedure. I deliver results. Call me guilty. Call me dangerous. Call me whatever you like. In the end, I'm the one doing the job no one else has the courage... or the will... to finish."
Silence.
"He thinks he's some kind of hero?" I sighed.
Just then, the doctor returned carrying a sealed blood sample.
"We'll provide the complete reports tomorrow after the tests are finished."
Naveen nodded. "I'll take these."
He headed toward the forensic laboratory.
Jenny and I returned to headquarters.
🥀🥀🥀
By the time we arrived, Rhea had already begun preparing the interrogation room.
The suspect sat outside, handcuffed.
I stood behind the one-way observation glass.
Jenny and Shruti with a file in her hands joined me moments later.
Tanish forcefully shoved the man inside the room and pushed him onto the chair.
The metal legs scraped loudly against the floor.
Rhea slowly slipped on a pair of black gloves.
She remained calm.
For now.
"What's your name?" she asked politely.
The man lowered his head.
Silence.
"I ASKED WHAT'S YOUR NAME!"
Her voice thundered across the room.
"Shyam..." He answered.
"What's your relationship with the girl?"
No answer.
"And why was she chained inside that room?"
"I'm... her uncle." His voice cracked.
"I..."
"Say it!"
Rhea slammed both hands onto the desk.
"I've... been watching her for a long time..." He answered.
"I've been doing things to her whenever my brother and his wife went on trips..."
Every word made my blood boil.
A burning rage spread through my chest. My fists tightened until my knuckles turned white.
Tanish suddenly stormed toward him, grabbing him by the collar.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING TO THAT LITTLE GIRL?!"
I immediately took the file from shruti and left the observation room and rushed inside.
"Tanish!"
"Stop!"
He reluctantly loosened his grip.
I pulled him back before turning toward Rhea. I tossed file towards and took tanish out from the room.
"Tell me everything." Rhea asked
"I always loved her mother... but she chose my brother." He said his eyes were froze to only one direction.
"I never got the chance to tell her how much I loved her."
He paused.
"When her daughter started growing up..." He looked at Rhea
"...she looked exactly like her."
The room fell completely silent.
"I began planning my brother and his wife's trips."
"When they left..."
"I drugged the girl..."
"...and chained her to the bed so she couldn't escape."
"I waited until my brother texted me that they were at the airport waiting to board..." He said.
Rhea observed.
She didn't open the file yet. She simply looked at him
"So..."
Shyam stared back.
"You chained her."
"...Yes."
No denial.
No apology.
Rhea nodded once.
"I've interrogated rapists before."
He remained silent.
"They usually panic." Another pause.
"They cry." Silence, "They blame alcohol."
She leaned back.
"But you didn't."
For the first time... A tiny smile appeared on Shyam's face.
"...Because I knew exactly what I was doing."
Behind the glass, all of us exchanged looks.
Rhea noticed it too.
There it is. Ego.
Now she feeds it.
"So this wasn't impulse."
"No."
"It was planned."
"Obviously." He replied,
"You waited until your brother left."
"...Yes."
"You drugged her beforehand."
"She would've screamed otherwise." He answered
Not a single emotion crossed his face.
Jenny looked disgusted.
Tanish clenched his fists.
Rhea... Didn't react.
Then she attacks his superiority. "You loved her mother."
Shyam nodded.
"She rejected you."
His jaw tightened.
"She made a mistake."
"Did she?" He asked,
Silence.
"If she had chosen you..." Rhea folded her hands.
"...would you have done the same thing to her?" He frowned.
"No."
"So you didn't love her."
He immediately looked up. "I did."
"No."
"You loved owning her."
His breathing changed.
"You couldn't have her."
"So you settled for someone who looked like her."
"No!" His voice finally rose. "I loved her!"
Rhea didn't blink. "You loved the version of her that couldn't say no."
Silence.
A dangerous silence.
For the first time... His expression cracked.
Rhea Opened the file which had a screenshot print of Mahesh's photo booth CCTV footage. Of Ghostface.. kishi Vaitarna.
She slid it in front of Shyam.
The masked figure stared back from the screen.
"Have you ever seen this man?"
Shyam studied the picture carefully.
Then slowly shook his head.
"No."
"Have you received any strange messages recently?"
"No."
"Did anything unusual happen?"
He thought for several seconds. "...Yesterday."
We all looked at him with curiosity.
"A Boy came to me." His expression changed "He gave me this green T-shirt."
"And told me to wear it today."
"He said..." His voice trembled.
"...if I didn't wear it, he'd..." He paused.
She narrowed her eyes.
"He would?"
"I don't know... I got scared."
"So I wore it."
The room fell silent again.
"So..."
Rhea folded her arms.
"It was planned."
She looked directly at Shyam.
"Can you identify that boy?"
"Yes." His answer came without hesitation. "I remember his face clearly." He paused.
"He had... one ear piercing."
For a moment...
No one spoke.
Every pair of eyes widened simultaneously.
Because there was only one person we knew with a single ear piercing.
Yash.
I immediately sent Rhea the photo of Yash. She unlocked her phone and Opened the image, Holding it in front of Shyam, she asked quietly,
"Was it him?"
He stared at the picture for what felt like an eternity.
Then...
He slowly nodded.
"Yes."
A chill ran down my spine.
But...
We thought Yash had been kidnapped.
...Didn't we?