Manuel Levi

It was night-time and I was going towards the leader of the organization. I walked past the dusty and rocky corridor and stood before a door. It was the discussion hall of the higher-ups of the group. I made a fist, and as I was about to knock on the door, I heard the leader saying something. “Mr. Vikram, Delhi Police has started an investigation against us.”

“What?”

“Yes, sir. Someone named Inspector Kartik Khandelwal has been assigned to lead ‘The Suiciders Defense Group’ which is formed to catch us.”

“What details do you have about them?” The leader, Vikram, asked him.

“Sir, it’s a low-funded program, and it has just five members, too low to give a good fight against us.”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem then. Let’s let them play a bit.”

“But, sir, we should take necessary precautions against them. At last, we’re with the government and--”

“No. We’ll play with them, and make them feel like they’re a hand above against us. Then, when we’d feel like they are playing good, then we strike.”

“But, why don’t we just kill them off?”

“I’ve…” He stood up from his seat and said, “I’ve been sitting on this chair for like years. I’m bored of watching people die by me. I want something for entertainment too.” He turned towards that man and then commanded him, “Let’s keep a close watch over them. If they do something out of their limits, lemme know.”

“Yes, sir. Moreover, we got some moles out there who have a control over the cameras. So, we can even get the latest feed for you if you want.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Just give me the latest updates.”

I still don’t know what I was thinking back then. I suddenly, blank-minded by what I heard, opened the door. The door opened with a creepy sound, and all the eyes were on me now. “Sir,” I squeaked. “The leader of The Murdered Division wants to meet you. He said that he’d be here in about an hour.”

“No,” Mr. Vikram replied. “Tell him that I’ll be sleeping at that time. We can meet tomorrow too.”

“Yes, sir,” I bowed and closed back the door. I turned left and started walking. I was walking fast because I wanted to convey what I heard to Kritika quickly. “Gotta make it quick.”

Kartik Khandelwal

“So, there’s actually a person who wants to keep an eye on us, right?” Kartik asked the security head.

“Yes. Actually, these new brats are greedy, so they were easily bribed by them. I was just about to report the matter, because we play a part in the society too.”

“Well said, Mr. Kumble.”

“I’m actually given the task to check how these new brats are checking the security and moderate in the building. I saw in the logs that someone used the cropping tools and then gave the video footage of your group of about forty minutes. I just hope you didn’t talk something useful in those forty minutes.”

“Don’t worry, we can assure the rest. Just prevent them from doing it again,” I kindly replied with a smile, hiding the anger inside me. I thought, “Those filthy brats should go in jail for a long time.”

I closed the door of the security room as I took my leave. I walked left towards the stairway through the empty narrow dark corridor. I saw the stairway in a distance. “The whole Delhi Police HQ is maintained quite well, except this area,” I thought as I stepped on the stairway. As I walked up the stairway, there was one thing that didn’t leave my mind. “There’s a mole in DPHQ.”

“How can the police secure people if it can’t even secure itself from a mole?”

“A terrorist group, a mole, an investigator with no past good records and a low-budget investigative team--how?”

“A huge threat is among the citizens of Delhi and the police’s taking it lightly.”

“The Suiciders: a group of murderers who have killed millions of people and left false proofs to state that it’s a suicide…”

“How to aware the--”

“Hey?!” A feminine voice woke me up. Never did I realize that I was standing at second floor until I read that tag on the wall behind her with my half-open eyes. “See as you walk, Kartik.”

It was then that I focused my vision on that woman. “K-Kavita.”

“Yes, dumbass.” She was irritated. “I’m going at that coffee shop again to interrogate a few other witnesses.”

“Which case?” I asked out of curiosity.

“The same,” She replied. “‘Shekhar Sharma Disappearance Case’.”

“Oh, so that’s what it’s named officially,” I said. “By the way, what witnesses?”

“Naina Sharma, rumored as the wife of Shekhar.”

“Neha…?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Shekhar even had a wife?”

“We were together in college, so do you actually think that we’d know about his wife?”

“I have a theory that the two must have married after his disappearance.” She turned her head upwards and started rubbing her chin. “But, if she were his wife, why didn’t she come to the police?”

I shrugged, “How will I know?”

She nodded at my reply and then continued walking towards the stairway. I thought in fright as I saw her descending down the stairs behind me, “Both the cases are unraveling together! I just can’t let her do it first, no matter what! Moreover, who the hell informed her about Naina!”