12th September 2010

Bangalore, Prime minister’s unofficial residence.

Around 11:30 pm.

Gun shots bombarded the stairway as he chased me up to the first floor. It has been two days since I
have been accused for a crime. Six days have passed since Mr. Danat had been murdered. And according
to the CID, every criminal, returns the scene of crime. And I had come back to the Prime minister’s
house, the scene of crime.

No. I had not killed the minister. I had not even visited his room before he was found dead by his wife.
He had been stabbed several times and as if to make sure and leave a mark, the killer had shot him
through the head…

I bolted up as he continued to fire at me. Hoping to kill me with my own gun. I had just enough time to
dive into the hidden study where the minister and I used to discuss the election campaign.

“ KAUSTUBH!!”

Yes, that is my name. Kaustubh. Kaustubh Kulkarni.

I backed up towards the elegantly carved wooden wall after sliding the secret door shut. I didn’t have
enough time. I had to think.

I kept pacing the room and yelped suddenly when I saw my reflection in the broken mirror.

My rich brown hair was not neat and combed as it usually used to be. My face was dirty but still, my
white skin color showed right through. My Armani was ruined. Still I looked quite good in the black suit. I
had an average build so I was not quite sure about how I was going to take on that man outside. He was
a tank in clothes..

Then I realized something. The mirror. It was broken. And right there, under it was that glove...

I realized that I had found the missing piece in the puzzle. I slapped my forehead in anxiety and that’s
when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I jumped behind a table. Hoping that I would be able to get
out of here. There was absolutely no time to waste. I had to tell them….

8th September 2010

Goa, Seashells Hotel.

Around 9:00 am.

I woke up stretching my muscles and basking in the golden glow of the sun. It had been a nice few days
at the beach. I had to go back and join the leader of the our party, Mr. Danat, in Bangalore today. Where
our election campaign was about to kick off…

Our President would be arriving there on 12 th night. He had not told me his reasons though.

I didn’t really mind resuming work. I was quite passionate about this country and our party, The people.
It was probably the only non- corrupt political party in all of India.

We did not bribe for our votes. We did not take bribes to deliver justice or other demands the public
asked of us. We do not have connections with the underworld.

This just proved Kat’s theory that the best people always have the worst problems.

We had been the main party for quite about five years now. We had gotten to the top with a margin of
10 votes. And from then, we had problems after problems to deal with. The terrorists across the border
had been a lot more active than expected. There had been the Mumbai siege for instance where the
terrorists from the LeT (Lashkar e Taliba) had literally taken over the economic capital of India, Mumbai
for three whole days. The floods in Orissa. The hurricane in Tamil Nadu. And the never ending crossfire
between the army and the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

We had dealt with all these problems quite satisfactorily so we had been expecting good results for the
coming elections. The Prime Minister had returned to his family home in Bangalore about three days
ago. And, yet, I had not had a single call from him.

I washed off my sleep and opened the tap for the bathtub. The coffee came soon after but I didn’t wake
Kat up. We had had a long night…if you know what I mean.

Kat, actually, her name is Katrina, is my fiancé. Like me, she was in her late twenties. We had been going
out since collage and I had proposed to her a few months ago. She had nodded and let me put push on
the ring while trying hard to control her tears.

I smiled as I walked out into the marble balcony overlooking the vast Arabian Sea. Small houses or
restraints lead up to the calm beach. But when I looked down, things didn’t seem to be as calm.

What I saw scared and shocked me. Cops were sneaking into our building. They were literally sneaking.
Hiding where ever they found cover. As if they were trying to enter a building which had been taken
under siege.

One of the men who rushed towards the front entrance was dressed in a black suit. I was only on the
second floor so I saw his features quite well when he looked up at me. His expression was tensed. He
looked quite good actually. His hair was gelled up in the front and shiny black. He ran extaeamly fast and
went out of my sight.

My smile faded. Under siege.

Scenes of the Mumbai siege kept flashing through my mind as I bolted to the bed and shoot Kat awake.
Even as she shot awake, my worried expression troubling her, she looked beautiful. Her silky black hair
shinning in the golden light. Her deep blue eyes reflecting my worry. Her lips curved in a confused frown
as she rubbed her eyes.

I didn’t wait for her to awaken fully. I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the bed. I yanked her
behind me behind the cupboard. I made her get behind it and followed her. I was the quickest hiding
place I could find.

“ WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?” She shouted as I pulled the wardrobe towards her.

My ear was buzzing but I smacked my hand over her mouth. She was staring back at me and her eyes
told me she knew that we had to be quiet.

I explained in whispers about what how I thought out hotel was under siege. And the cops I saw trying
to sneak into the building.

And as soon as I finished explaining, as if on cue, the door to our room was broken open.

****

I was hiding behind the roadside baker’s shop. Indicating to my team of policemen the direction they
need to move in. I glanced to my right and my partner, Sneha was edging towards the marble building,
followed by our team. She looked as war like as always. Her suit though a detective’s was not enough to
make her angry expression go away. Her brown shoulder length hair was fluttering in the sea breeze and
her black eyes were kinda scary. She glanced back at me and we exchanged a grin.

I ran up and to my dismay, I saw him. Kaustubh Kulkarni. The man we had come to arrest was starting at
us from his room balcony. I tensed. My grip around my handgun grew tighter as I rushed towards the
door.

The receptionist was not present when our group entered. He had been informed about the plan so he
had made himself scarce. We stormed up the carpeted stairs and bolted towards room 209.

I got two of the strongest guys under my command to tackle the door open and…the room was empty. I
told some guys to check the room and I ran back to meet Sneha.

“ He saw us coming. He is gone.”

She snapped with frustration at this and said, “ Detective Aneesh Get the group down to the reception.
We’re gonna have to work out a new plan. He’s obviously still in the building.”

I nodded and within minutes, we were back in the assembled in the entrance hall.

“ The target has escaped. But we are quite sure he is still in the building …..” Sneha was talking to the
cops. Assigning them into teams and telling them which floors to cover.
I was reloading my gun at the corner when the reception phone rang.

The whole room went quiet as the phone continued to ring.

Sneha nodded to me and I picked up.

“ Hello? Can you please tell me what is happening? Why are cops entering the hotel? Is there a
situation?”

I was surprised and decided it was best to act as the receptionist.

“ Sir. What room are you calling from?”

“209”

It was him. He was still in the room. I hung up and bolted back to the room.

****

“ Check the room” I heard a voice say at the entrance. “ Don’t kill. We need him alive.”

“ Sir.” I heard two men agree.

I heard footsteps dashing away but there were two men searching the room. I gripped Kat’s hand
sending her a silent message of hope.

The men in our room were ripping searching without any regard. I heard the first cupboard get dragged.
That’s when my heart sunk. They would find us any time now. I gritted my teeth and then at the last
minute, when I heard the terrorist’s feet in front of our hiding place,.

“ Stop searching. He’s gone. Hurry down to the entrance hall now.”

Someone had come and called the terrorist back out. They were going down to the entrance now.

I slid out of our hiding place and grabbed the phone.

I pressed one and on the other side, I heard the ringing. It took a while but someone answered.

“ Hello? Can you please tell me what is happening? Why are cops entering the hotel? Is there a
situation?” I asked tensed.

“ Sir. What room are you calling from?” I heard.

“ 209. But _”

They hung up.

I was such a fool, I had just told the terrorists my location. I slapped my forehead and turned to Kat.
She was starting back scared.

“ We need to run. Now.”

I grabbed her hand and turned to run but..

“ You’re not running anywhere.”

The man in the suit was standing at the door. His gun raised at us. Two cops behind him their guns
aimed at me and Kat too.

“ What is this?” I asked shocked.

“ Hands behind your head. On your knees. You are under arrest for the murder of Mr. Danat.”

11th September 2010

Bangalore, CID headquarters.

6:00 pm.

“ Confess. It’s obvious you murdered him” I shouted at Kaustubh.

“ Confess what?! I had no idea Mr. Danat had been murdered. And if he was murdered two days ago,
then there is no way I could have killed him. I have been in Goa for the last three days!! Check the hotel
name list if you don’t believe me!” He shouted back.

I sighed and walked back from the table. I turned to the glass door and motioned for Sneha to come in.
She walked in through the only entrance with an angry expression. She had been pissed off after the
long drive back to Bangalore from Goa. And she hated criminals. I would not like to have been Kaustubh
staring up at her at this moment. But he didn’t even flinch as she slammed her hand on the table.

“ Look Kaustubh. All the clues lead up to you. The gun that was used to kill. The prime minister, was
yours. The fingerprint on it match the ones we just took from you. The knife has your footprints on it.
And we have the security guards who say that you walked in and out of the prime minister’s residence
between the time the minister was murdered. Both his son and wife were not at the house then. You
are the second in command of your party and you would obviously benefit from his death. You hid from
us when we stormed the hotel where you were staying. This makes this case even more obvious. You
might as well confess.” She told him in a calm angry voice.

Kaustubh was noticeably annoyed now. He stood up suddenly and replied in an angry whisper. “ Miss
Sneha Fanaa, I am not going to accept blame for a murder I did not commit. Now I have urgent business
to attend to. Our party leader is dead and I need to oversee _”

“You will not be going anywhere Mr. Kulkarni.” I said to him. Now please stay seated for a few minutes. I
jerked my head towards the door to indicate to Sneha to follow me outside.”
“ He’s lying.” I told her as we stepped out.

“ I know, that’s obvious…Let’s ask him about that note.”

I looked at her with my eyebrow raised. When we had found Mr. Danat dead, we had found a note
attached to his shirt. It had been addressed to us. And there had been a clue on it.

“ Fine…”

****

I was sitting there annoyed and angry with my arms crossed when detectives Aneesh and Sneha walked
in with a parchment. Aneesh threw the paper in front of me and said, “ What does this mean?”

I picked it up and read,

You failed to save the Prime Minister. Well, let’s see if you can save the next victim on 9/10/2010.

“What is going to happen on 9th October?”

I looked up confused and said, “ I don’t know. I didn’t write this.”

The detectives seemed unconvinced.

****

After a long discussion in the room, I walked out of the CID building. And before I could even sigh, I was
punched across the face.

I fell down and saw a teary angry Adam staring down at me. Adam is my former classmate in an
American collage, a friend and the Prime minister’s son.

“ You killed him!!” He barked at me. “ Ten years we have been friends. He has always given you what
you wanted and yet you murdered him. Stay away from me bastard.”

Then he just walked away.

I made up my mind then and there that I was going to go to that house and see for myself what was
happening.

I was walking back home. Memories bombarding my mind. Adam and I making models together to talk
to his dad about our plans for the party headquarters. My first dissection class which Adam had taken
for me when I told him I did not like biology. The times when we had sat in that secret room discussing
election plans.

****

13th September 2010

Bangalore, Prime minister’s unofficial residence.

Around 12:10 am.

I was running like a madman back to the CID building. Somehow, I had somehow fought that man who
was after me and shot him dead. I had figured it all out. The note. The murder.

I saw a taxi coming and managed to stop it.

“ CID headquarters. Step on it.”

****

I stepped out of the room. Kaustubh followed me out. I called Sneha and grabbed my gun. I tossed one
to Kaustubh and we got into the SUV. And hit the accelerator.

The car screeched into a superfast dash towards the house Mr. President was staying in. Kaustubh had
really figured it out. And we had to save the president now.

****

We ran into the house. There was no security there. That shocked us.

We shot open the locked door and he stood there. Knife in hand. A gun in the other, Kaustubh’s gun.
And on the couch lay a beaten up but alive Mr. Manit, the President.

“ Bastard am I?” Kaustubh shouted and started shooting like crazy at the killer. Sneha and I dived behind
the table as the crossfire turned worse. Blood splattered the floor as the sound of bullets rang through
the hall. When the firing stopped, not one but two bodies lay bleeding on the floor. Kaustubh was shot
and nearly dead. “I am not a murderer.” He said before closing his eyes. He wouldn’t ever open them
again. And on the other side lay the dead body of Adam. The Prime Minister’s son…

****

“ You know,” Sneha said as we were walking away from Kaustubh’s funeral, “ How did you figure out
that Adam was the murderer?”

I smiled and started explaining..

“ When Kaustubh came into the office that night, he had it all figured out. He told me that the murder
had happened in the secret room, because the mirror there was broken and signs of a struggle lay there.
Kaustubh, the PM and Adam were the only ones who knew about it. The gun was Kaustubh’s so it had
his prints on it. Adam had used it though. The knife? Adam had put on a glove that Kaustubh had used
while dissecting a frog. So his fingerprints were on the knife too. And he paid the people to say that he
was not at home when the PM was killed. And that Kaustubh had walked in then.

And as to how I knew that the date meant 10 th September and not 9th October?
Kaustubh told me. We were quite stupid not to have figured that out.”

Sneha smirked.

“ That guy, he helped us even after the accusations.”

“ Yeah. We thought he was greedy of the post. When it was obvious that it was Adam. Goes to show
that the world is not obvious.”

Sneha and I were smiling and mourning as we got into the car and drove back. We had another case
waiting.