Aadhira: Suicide?!
Thamizh (confused): Yeah..
Anjana: But.. why? Why would he have done this? He was fine even when we saw him yesterday...
Grace quietly observes all of them speak.
Naveen: Exactly...
Thamizh and Anjana walk to and fro perplexed. Aadhira looks at the news articles in her phone.
Aadhira: The police are saying that they found a suicide note in his room.
She zooms into the articles reading them thoroughly as Naveen joins her. Anjana hears her phone ringing and goes inside the room.
Anjana (on the phone): What...? Okay.. I'll be there by twelve.
Anjana goes to the living room where all of them were looking into their phones excluding Grace. They turned to Anjana's side now.
Anjana: I'm called for an interrogation.
Naveen: Interrogation?
Anjana: Yeah, it's for Amaran's case only.. they're calling all the staffs for an interrogation.
Aadhira: But you have resigned right?
Anjana: Yeah, but I am still on my notice period so I have to go.
Naveen: Is it compulsory..?
Anjana: Yeah Naveen, obviously.
Aadhira: But you have already had a problem with him and you met him yesterday too.. what if they suspect you?
Thamizh: That's true Anjana.. if you go for an interrogation then it might lead to other problems.
Anjana: How can I not go for an interrogation held by the police? Even if I don't go, they will follow up and come to our house.. do you want that?
Grace (patiently): But it isn't safe right Anjana, that's why we are stopping you.
Anjana: Aunty, I'll take care, don't worry... I won't reveal anything about our problems with Amaran..
Naveen: But Piyush? What if he reveals about our encounter with Amaran yesterday?
Anjana (frazzled): I know Naveen.. I'll take care...
Naveen was taken aback. He doesn't say anything and remains calm.
Naveen (bluntly): Okay.
Aadhira, Grace and Thamizh look at them worriedly. Anjana goes into his room to get her handbag. Naveen thinks about something and goes near Thamizh.
Naveen: Thamizh, can I come with you? By any chance?
Aadhira and Grace get surprised hearing him.
Thamizh (stunned): How? There will be a lot of security there.. it is impossible to sneak you in..
Naveen: You can take me as a part of your team right?
Thamizh: I don't know Naveen... wait I'll ask my colleague about it..
Naveen: Hmm.
Thamizh calls his friend and inquires about it. Anjana comes out of her room ready to leave.
Aadhira: Anju, be careful..
Anjana: Hmm. (smiles slightly) I'll be back soon aunty. (looking at Grace)
Grace goes near her and hugs her. She hugs her back and looks at Naveen looking at her in concern.
Grace (patting her face): Don't worry, everything is going to be okay.
Anjana nods her head and moves her eyes away from Naveen. Naveen closes his eyes for a moment and prays that she should be fine doing the sign of cross. She regrets for being blunt to him and walks to the bus stand. Seeing the halted bus leaving, she runs to get onto the bus and balances herself on the footboard.
As the bus was crowded with people bulging out, she stood on the footboard recollecting the events that happened from the previous day. She gets thinking about the obscure death of Amaran and feels bad for behaving rudely with Naveen. She thinks of messaging Naveen and opens his WhatsApp chat. She types "Sorry..." and swiftly clicks on backspace, exiting WhatsApp.
After a minute, she sees a notification saying that she received one message from Naveen. As the warm breeze hits her face, veiling her eyes with her hair; she moves away the veil to see her author's words.
Naveen: I love you... be safe.
Anjana smiles unconsciously seeing it and held the phone slightly upward.
Anjana: That's the best thing you have written ❤.
She smiles and puts the phone back into her bag, ignoring the simultaneous notification sound.
____________________
Thamizh: Naveen!
Naveen looks at him instantly from the phone's screen suppressing his blush.
Thamizh: He agreed.
Naveen (surprised): Yeah?
Thamizh (firmly): Yeah
Aadhira: Then, that's great. Do you have all your things ready? (looking at Thamizh)
Thamizh: No, my bags are at my home.
Aadhira: I'll get them. (snatching his bike keys)
Thamizh: The photo log and angle-finder are there on my table, get them also.
Aadhira shows him a thumbs up and leaves on his bike.
_________________________________________
Naveen and Thamizh reach Amaran's office to see a huge swarming crowd of reporters before the front gate. Thamizh gives Naveen his extra ID card. They jolted through the crowd and called out to Thamizh's colleague.
Thamizh (shouts): Vishal ! (waving his hand)
Vishal comes towards the gate and tells the constable that they are his team. The constable asks them to get in.
Vishal (in a lower voice): This is the first time I'm letting an outsider in, just because you said that he is an author. Inspiration and all is okay, but make sure he does not create any trouble.
Thamizh: No, he won't Vishal.
The three go to the spot where Amaran had been found in the morning. They see the chalk outline of Amaran's body and dried splattered blood near it.
Naveen: Can I go now?
Thamizh: No.. wait... first let us know what the talk is...
Thamizh goes near Vishal who was standing beside the policemen listening to their discussions.
Thamizh: Vishal, what have they concluded?
Vishal: Hmm? (turns his head slightly to Thamizh's side) Looks like his wife (points to Ramya standing near the inspector) had trapped Amaran in this building last night since he had devised a murder plan against her.. but in the morning to her shock "she says so", she found him like this, with with a suicide note on his table. So they think that he would have jumped from his room's window, approximately at around 11 pm to 12 pm.
Thamizh: Oh..
Naveen also comes forward and stands behind Thamizh.
Thamizh: Um.. who was the first responder?
Vishal: The security guard of the building.
Thamizh: Hmm..
Thamizh sees Naveen and asks if he heard everything. Naveen nods his head positively.
Vishal: Set up the tripod Thamizh, Naveen help him !
They set up the materials required and take photos of the chalk outlines. Vishal asks Thamizh to capture in different angles to avoid parallax. Naveen observes the happenings.
Naveen: Vishal?
Vishal looked up from the pages of the photo log.
Naveen: What was written in the suicide note?
Vishal: That uh... he didn't want to get divorced and stuff like that.. I guess they both had a tiff and he did not want a divorce. Ramya says he commited suicide because after their divorce he would have to give her an alimony of one crore.. (to Thamizh) Is the aperture right Thamizh?
Thamizh shakes his head positively. Vishal keenly watches Thamizh as he was a new recruit and he shouldn't be causing errors.
After an hour, a restless Naveen went near Vishal.
Naveen: You said he was trapped right.. how was he trapped..? Like..
Vishal (tensed): She cut the power supply to the building, the telephone connections as well. All the doors were locked and his phone was in his car so.. he was trapped. The CCTV worked for only a very little time after the current supply was cut. In the footage, he was seen walking down the stairs to the first floor and going to his room, but there was something wrong with his walk.. he looked like he was feeling dizzy..
Naveen: What about the CCTV in his room?
Vishal: It wasn't working. The video kept glitching.
Naveen: Ohh.. what about now? Power supply..?
Vishal: No.
Naveen slowly keeps the equipments down without Vishal's knowledge and sneaks inside the office. He takes gloves and shoe covers from pocket and wears them. He runs up the stairs to the first floor and looked around for Amaran's room.
Seeing a room having a name board with the name 'Amaran', he enters the room. He takes his phone out and takes pictures of the entire room. He tripped slightly on a bunch of wires. Swirling around the room, he sees the only large window in the room open.
He looked down through the window and found the group continuing their discussion. The chalk outline was perfectly aligned to the plane of the window. Placing his feet carefully over the scattered papers having footprint marks on the floor, he steps out of the room, simultaneously checking if anyone is watching.
Naveen comes out of the building without catching the policemen's attention and stands behind Vishal with a clueless face. Thamizh comes towards him.
Thamizh: Where were you Naveen?
Naveen points his finger to the first floor. Thamizh gets shocked.
Thamizh (tensed): Why did you..
Vishal: Guys, we can leave.
Thamizh suppresses his anger and leaves with Vishal.
TO BE CONTINUED