Quick-reads

Sagar was missing Isha. They spoke around 1 am and she said she was about to leave. Her friend’s house wasn’t too far from theirs. He drifted off to sleep. Girls’ home parties can go on and on.

He woke up with a start to the blaring noise. Who had turned on the motor? There was nobody home except him. He switched off the motor’s alarm and checked the time – 3.15 am. Isha wasn’t home yet. He called her but her phone was switched off. Maybe it ran out of battery.

Sagar was worried nonetheless. He lay awake in bed. At 4 am, he thought of calling Pooja, Isha’s friend. The girls had met at her house. It was an odd time so he hesitated but his worry got the better of him.

Sagar – ‘Hi Pooja, I am so sorry to disturb you at this hour… Is Isha there?’

Pooja – ‘Oh Isha left a while ago. I don’t remember the time but everyone has left… what happened? Has she not reached?’

Sagar – ‘No… I am really worried… Your home is not that far. She should have been here in half an hour. We spoke at 1 am and she said she will be leaving shortly.’

Pooja – ‘She left around 1.30-2 am. Its past 4 am now…’

Sagar – ‘Anyway. I won’t keep you. Let me check with her other friends.’

He didn’t check with anyone. He frankly didn’t know who else to call. Besides, it was too late. He decided to drive out at daybreak… maybe she was stuck somewhere.

‘I wish I could just drive out now and look for Isha…’

Samar, Sagar’s younger brother had taken the car and hadn’t returned yet. He was out for an alumni party at his Institute.

Sagar had a cup of coffee because he couldn’t sleep or rest. He sat in the corner of their bedroom in the rocking chair and nodded off for a bit. He woke up with a start feeling strange. Like someone was staring at him… He caught a glimpse of clothes rustling under the curtain. ‘Isha? Isha? Is that you? Are you back?’

Your mind plays tricks on you when you’re stressed. Perhaps that’s what Sagar was experiencing?

In the morning

As soon as it was 6 am, Sagar knocked on Samar’s door. A bleary-eyed young man opened the door. ‘Bhaiyya, let me sleep. I came back about an hour ago… I am tired.’

Samar was an MBA student in Gurgaon and was living with his elder brother and sister-in-law. The trio were close and life was smooth. In fact, they had a good time together.

Sagar worked with a consultancy and Isha was in Marketing with an MNC.

‘Arre Bhai, your Bhabi is not yet here. She was to come back last night. I am dead worried. Let’s please drive around and look for her.’

‘What!! Gosh! I didn’t know that. Yes yes, let’s be off. Although I think Isha bhabi might have had one too many and slept over at a friend’s place.’

‘Pooja told me she left around 1.30 – 2 am. But I hope you’re right.’

Sagar and Samar drove around the area and showed Isha’s picture on their phones to passersby to check if anyone had seen her. But they got no clue. They got Pooja to call Isha’s other friends but no luck.

It was 1.30pm at the Thana. Inspector Jai Singh was having lunch. Sagar and Samar waited to meet him.

When they sat at his office and discussed the issue, Sagar was clear that something was terribly wrong and a search operation was required.

Jai Singh – ‘Aap hum par chhod do. Give me a picture of your wife so that we can circulate it and as for beginning investigation, let’s wait. She might just come back.’

Sagar – ‘But she hasn’t Sir. She might be in trouble.’

Jai Singh – ‘How is your relationship? I mean does she get along with you and your brother?’

Sagar and Samar blurted together – ‘Yes, of course.’

Sagar – ‘We are very happy together.’

Sagar and Samar left the police station for home. Back in the thana, Jai Singh looked at Deepak Lal, the constable and said, ‘Both of them are hiding something. Especially, the younger one. Keep an eye on him. And if we get no news till evening then let’s go to the Gurgaon-Faridabad highway and check. That’s the route they have to take from their house to the friend’s house.

Day 2

Sagar was missing Isha so much. It was difficult to carry on without her. Especially, not knowing what happened to her was killing him quietly. He silently wished he would get a call from the Inspector that they found her. But it was all wishful thinking.

Sagar had a meagre dinner. Samar was in his room and didn’t come out. Sagar watched the news on TV and retired for the day.

The night was long with an oppressive silence. He lay there thinking, unable to sleep, tossing and turning. His mind was caught in frenzied overthinking and he was imagining the worst. Just then, when he turned, he felt something in his hand. He picked it up and turned on the lamp.

It was her locket! The one she always wore. He opened the locket and found that his picture was intact but Isha’s was stained with blood. A chill ran down his spine. He burst into tears. He had no idea where the locket came from but it was a message.

Day 3

Sleepless nights can make you see things. Sagar hadn’t slept for two nights. But what happened that morning while he was sitting in the living room having coffee can only be described as a warning.

The picture they had taken together – Isha, Sagar and Samar – fell down with a thud. But that’s not odd. When he picked it up to put it back in its place, the picture had shattered where there was Samar’s face.

Sagar didn’t know what to make of it.

He took leave from work. Samar was attending classes. He spent time looking at Isha’s pictures on his phone and that’s when he saw it. Isha’s message which shared the Uber driver’s trip! This would surely help the Police.

He was off to meet Inspector Jai Singh.

At the thana, the Inspector ordered his staff to trace the driver as soon as possible.

In a while, Deepak Lal came back with some crucial information. He said, ‘That night on the way back home, the driver’s grandmother passed away and he got the news. He started crying and madam asked him about it. She requested him to drop her there right away and head home. This was somewhere along the Gurgaon Faridabad highway.’

Inspector Jai Singh – ‘Chalo, call the team. Let’s search the area. Haan ji Sagar ji, you please go home and we will keep you posted.’

Sagar – ‘Sir can I come?’

Inspector Jai Singh – ‘No no sir ji.’

Sagar went back home. Samar was there having a meal of biryani. Sagar felt odd. Samar showed no signs of sadness or worry. But he put it down to his youth and student life.

He was dreading the night. It weighed on him like a ton of eternity. He couldn’t sleep a wink. Around the same time at 3.15 am, he heard a tinkle. He switched on the lights and found Isha’s ear-ring – the one he had gifted her for their anniversary. It was lying where Isha used to sleep.

Sagar was perplexed. Some message in there – but what…? He thought about everything Isha and Sagar had spoken of or gone through but didn’t understand how the ear-ring got there.

Around 5am, he drifted off to sleep. He dreamt of their white car and someone was pouring buckets of blood on the bonnet. He saw Isha’s face and nothing else. The doorbell rang and he woke up shaken.

It was Inspector Jai Singh along with a team.

Inspector Jai Singh – ‘Haan ji. Good morning. We have to search your house and Madam’s room.’

Sagar – ‘Sir please come. I have to tell you something.’

Sagar told him everything about the locket and the ear-ring. ‘I feel like something has happened to her,’ he said, sobbing.

Inspector Jai Singh – ‘Sir himmat rakhiye. We will find out soon. Just relax.’

The Inspector had a forensic team along with him. They searched the whole house and got nothing. But Deepak found an ear-ring in the lawn. He ran to Jai Singh. This was a big find.

The forensic team found lots of blood stains on the car bonnet. Sagar felt so odd. Is this what his dream was trying to tell him?

Inspector Jai Singh and his team spent the evening interrogating the brothers. Both of them were prime suspects now. He told them that they had found a broken mobile phone on the Gurgaon-Faridabad highway and could retrieve information which showed it belonged to Isha.

In his mind, Inspector Jai Singh was clear that Sagar was probably not the culprit but supporting the culprit, his brother. But there was no motive. Moreover, the call locations showed that Samar was in the nearby area where they found the mobile phone.

Jai Singh sent Deepak to search Samar’s room again and joined him. They both went through all his belongings. There in the crevice behind the cupboard, they found a dirty sequined party shirt. It smelt of dry blood.

Day 4

Samar was taken into custody and was interrogated intensively. He covered his tracks neatly and had an alibi because he was at a party. He said he reached home only around 5 am and Sagar knows that.

But when they checked the CCTV camera of the discotheque, his car was seen leaving around 2 am. Where was he for 3 hours?

That night

Isha let go off the Uber and got off on the highway. She pulled out her phone to book another cab but she had run out of battery. She panicked and decided to take a lift, which was not safe but she didn’t have an option.

Just then, she saw Samar’s car coming down the highway. She was so relieved. They both can get home. Elated, she came to the middle of the highway and waved at Samar.

Samar was inebriated and drugged and he was lighting a joint. His eyes were simply not on the road and he was speeding. He rammed into Isha and realized he had hit someone. He did not know who… He slammed on the brakes and lost control. The car veered to the right and hit a tree. He could see a woman against the tree. He wanted to help her and reverse the car but he was so stoned, he pressed the accelerator instead.

Isha was crushed, her body mangled. In panic, Samar dragged her body into the forest and buried her there.

Samar confessed to everything. ‘I had no idea it was bhabi… no idea,’ he said between sobs. ‘Why did this happen?’ He said that that night he came home soon after the incident and washed the car thoroughly. He had to turn on the motor because the water tank got empty.

Sagar was taken to the location of the incident. He couldn’t recognize Isha but he saw the locket and one ear-ring of the pair he had gifted her.

***