1:45 PM, 3rd April, Disha's House, Mumbai
"Decide? What is there to decide Amna? I may be Anant Mhatre's son but first I am a human. My father has no consideration or respect for any person beneath him. He has treated other people like garbage... He has trampled the people who rose against him without giving a second thought. He has committed fraud. The huge Mhatre empire which once stood for honesty and ethics of my late grandfather is now standing on blood and cries of innocent helpless people"
He confidently continued with a robust voice, "I am ashamed to be his son. I have also lost someone just because of his greed. The day I find direct evidence against him, I promise you all, I will be the one to confront him first. People say the good deeds of parents get converted into blessings for their children, what about their bad deeds? Does it become a curse for their children? I have been already cursed, I guess"
"I will make him rectify his deeds, he will have to pay the price for whatever he has done. Till now Disha and her mother were alone in their struggle, but now you and I are also with them. Let's take this to the end, the twenty-five-year-old suffering has to end. The incomplete work of Anna, the incomplete of her parents, the incomplete work of Sarita Aunty and her husband has to be completed at any cost"
His eyes were completely fearless, he didn't mumble even once while making his statement. His heart, brain, and mouth were saying the same thing. He knew what he wanted and his stalwart words were more than enough for the people around him to get convinced.
"Okay, so now we people are together in this, there is no more thinking or having second thoughts regarding this. None of us will back out at any cost, do you all agree?" Disha asked everyone in the room confidently as she clenched her fists tightly.
Everyone nodded in affirmation and then Sarita said in a gentle tone, "You three have to be very careful, this our last chance of making things right, and this time no one will suffer again"
After a few more minutes of conversation, Amna and Shreekant left Disha's home instructing her to meet them in the Outhouse in the evening to discuss the next plan of action. Amna drove Shreekant back to his office and came back to the Outhouse patiently waiting for the evening in great anticipation.
6:20 PM, 3rd April, Outhouse
Shreekant, Amna, and Disha gathered in the painting room of Anna which was located at a far corner of the hall. Shreekant had already sent all the servants out and locked the door properly making sure that there was no provision for any sought of eavesdropping by anyone.
Disha shifted the chair towards the round table leaning herself forward and started the conversation, "We will start from scratch, every single, smallest uncanny detail has to be noted, so Amna you begin"
Amna gulped her saliva and cleared her throat, "Firstly, the rope marks and the injection mark with light bruises around it which I saw on Anna's body"
"Rope marks means she was tied somewhere before she died, but what about those bruises?", Shreekant said looking in the direction of Amna brushing his fingers against his chin.
"Those kinds of marks are very familiar... I mean those bruises usually appear when the injection is given at the wrong site or due to allergy to any form of medication, perhaps Anna was drugged before she died. Secondly, she had swallowed a Pendrive, which was clearly visible on her X-ray, and judging from the fact that the pen drive was still in her stomach she must have ingested it around three to four hours before"
"The Pendrive had something really important, maybe the proof she collected against ROYMHA which could bring Anant Mhatre down", Disha said in a low-pitched voice as she tapped her pen on the desk.
"The Head of my department, Dr. Damodar, called me the morning after Anna's death, and strictly warned me to stay away from media. The Forensic medicine head, Dr. Rathore who conducted the autopsy went somewhere overnight and fabricated the autopsy report saying no Pendrive was found. The attendant who showed me the report called and alerted me that someone is after my life and later we came to know that he died in a fire and lastly the masked man..." Her voice trailed off as she recalled her moments of struggle with him.
Shreekant saw her pale face and handed her a glass of water while Disha comforted her, "Amna don't panic, you have to be strong, try and tell us whatever you remember, okay" She clasped her fist with her palm.
Shreekant interrupted, "Disha, the only things we know about him are, he used a grey colored medium-sized car with a Z shaped sign and perhaps he uses a prosthetic leg on the right side"
"But I don't understand one thing, why did the man take Amna to Belgaum all the way from Bangalore? If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it anywhere, why drive almost ten hours?" Disha was now leaning herself across the table rubbing her fingers lightly over her cheeks.
"There is another thing...", Amna blurted out, "The man's voice and the dragging sound he makes while walking, and also, there is someone whom I think might be the same man."
"Same man? What is she talking about Sir?"
"Nothing Disha, she was so afraid and drugged that day she confused Yadav, our ex-security head, who is now our office manager for that man"
"Yadav..." She pondered her mind trying to recollect something and spoke again, "Sir, why didn't you think of the possibility that Amna is right? Don't you know he also uses a prosthetic leg on the right side?"
Amna and Shreekant were utterly stunned by Disha's words while she continued, "I saw him one day fixing his leg and asked him about it, to which he said that he had an accident three years back. That accident was the reason he had to leave his job as Security head"
Amna looked at Shreekant and spoke, "He may be the one, right? But then why didn't he recognize me, was he acting? You told someone to do a background check on him, did you find anything?"
"I told someone but there was nothing suspicious, he never had any criminal background, plus I think the problem was, I always pictured that masked man as a goon or a contract killer. Why didn't it cross my mind before, that he can be a normal person, with a normal office job?"
Disha folded her hands, "Let's check about this Yadav, even more deeply. I will use my company ID to log in and check all his details, everything... Give me two minutes"
"The man Shreekant asked, took so long to do a background check, how can you do it in two minutes?" Amna muttered anxiously.
Disha chuckled while typing into her laptop, "I am the legal advisor of Mhatre Group, it gives me enough power to search into any employee's details in seconds, and it's done, go through it" She rotated the screen of her laptop towards them and they started reading it with utmost concentration.
"Educational details... Family details... Nothing... Medical history" As Amna went through the medical history of the man, her eyes widened and she began correlating everything and finally spoke, "Shreekant, the man didn't recognize me, not because he was acting, it was because he can't recognize me, not only me, he can't recognize anyone"
Disha and Shreekant gazed at her confusingly, "What do you mean?"
She pointed her finger towards the medical history page, "Look here... Due to the accident, he not only lost his right leg but also had a severe head injury, due to which he had Prosopagnosia, aka face blindness, these people can't even recognize one's own face or any other person's face. In short, any face is like a blank sheet of paper to them. They usually recognize people by situations, dress, name tags, hairstyles, voice, or external appearance of the body"
"But don't you think Amna, hiring a person like this for killing someone, is a bit too risky? I mean... He can kill the wrong person" Shreekant was still not convinced that Yadav was the same man.
"Why not? Have you heard of a blind person killing someone? It has happened and police were unable to catch the killer just because they couldn't imagine a blind person doing all this. His blindness protected him for a long time and due to that, he committed more and more murders freely without anyone's doubts" Disha tried to convince Shreekant by giving him an example.
"You remember the day I meet Yadav, you never introduced me by my name, you kept on calling me Madam. The Gunshot attack in the orphanage happened only after the news was telecasted, until then he had no idea that I was alive" Amna tried to justify her thinking, and Shreekant was getting slightly convinced.
"Amna, which date were you attacked in Bangalore?", Disha asked almost immediately.
"8th March, around 4 AM"
"Why didn't I think about this before? Shreekant sir, you left for Delhi on 5th March early morning. The same day, around noontime, Anant sir, Aruna Ma'am, Saket sir, Mishka Ma'am, Parimal Sir, and Mahesh sir also took a flight to Bangalore to attend an important ceremony at ROYMHA. I only confirmed the tickets. Can you guess who accompanied them?"
Shreekant muttered slowly, "Yadav?"
Disha nodded and continued, "Not only that, these people came back to Mumbai on 7th Morning in a private jet which also carried Anna Madam's body but only one person didn't come with them, It was Yadav. I will confirm from the office records the exact date he came back, wait I will make a call"
She stood up from her place and went to a corner while Shreekant said, "Amna, if Yadav is the one, he can't do all this on his own, someone is pulling his strings from behind... Maybe my father?"
Before Amna could say anything Disha came near them, "He joined the office on 10th March, there are high chances he is the one"
Just then a notification beep came on Shreekant's phone and he took his phone out to find the email regarding the NGO's transaction details and he conveyed the same to Disha and Amna.
"We will check about every person whom Anna donated money to in the last three months before her death..." Shreekant read the details loud while Amna and Disha tried to find any information about that person on the internet and social media.
"Aradhya Nayyar... She lost her vision in a railway accident. Mahalaya Orphanage... A brother-sister duo for their heart operation. A couple for their child's cancer treatment, Snehalaya orphanage... I don't think anything is weird about these four, let's see the others"
"An art school for physically disabled people, Keerthana Upadhaya Foundation... To help the widowed mother and sisters of Keerthana who died untimely, Sakshi..." Amna interrupted Shreekant, "What name did you take before? Keerthana... I have heard this name before somewhere? But where?"
"I will check if I get anything on the Internet", Disha hurriedly typed the name and saw a piece of very peculiar news and said, "You must have heard it on the TV."
They all looked into the laptop's screen and Amna said, "I remember, she was a very famous journalist who was found mysteriously murdered sometime in late February. Her body was found in the outskirts of Bangalore, near a dumping ground. This case got a lot of media attention but to date, it remains unsolved"
"Okay, this one is a little strange, I will check the last two transactions. Sakshi Netralaya... Free Cataract Surgeries for poor patients and lastly, a cyclone relief fund. That means we need to look into the Keerthana Foundation thing. Disha, extract all the information you can about this case, and also about the Foundation, tell them Mhatre group wants to donate to her family"
"I am on it sir", She hastily checked her computer for the contact information of the Foundation and called the unconcerned authority, jotting down the important things on a piece of paper.
A few minutes later, Disha disconnected the call, "The Foundation was started by some of her colleagues to help her family as she was the only bread-winner for them. She originally hailed from Bangalore, and her family stays there only. She started working as a journalist in Bangalore for TV78 around five years back. I even got her family's address in Bangalore"
"Looks like we have to go to Bangalore again... I and Amna will go to meet this journalist's family and also visit the under-construction building where the incident happened on 6th March. Disha you also have to come with us, we are in shortage of time and there are a couple of more things to be done in Bangalore"
"Sir, what things are you talking about?"
"Last time when we went to Bangalore, going to Amna's hospital was totally out of the list as she had to hide her identity but now we have another person with us, you have to go to the hospital and find about Dr. Damodar, and Dr. Rathore's involvement. If possible try to find about that forensic attendant also. Second, you have to meet Amol Despande's wife as a wellwisher from Mhatre Group and ask her about anything weird that happened in the days before he died"
"Okay, Sir... I will book tomorrow's flight tickets for 9 AM" She paced in quick succession towards the door when Shreekant stopped her and asked, "What will you say to my father as a reason for your absence?"
She smirked, "Don't worry sir, I am an expert in lying, especially to your father. One whole year, I have spent only lying to him"
As Disha left the room, Shreekant slowly muttered to Amna, "I am sorry... For not believing what you said before about Yadav. If I had believed you earlier, then maybe we would have been inches more closer to our mission"
"Why are you sorry? You were just being practical, and having this rare condition or such a coincidence has very little probability. Don't blame yourself unnecessarily. Can I ask you something?"
He nodded while she continued, "Do you hate your father after knowing everything about him? How will he react when he comes to know that his own son is helping his enemies?"
"I am not sure if I hate him now but I don't know about the future, I am on the verge of hating him after knowing everything and your second question, I think I will need to find another job after he throws me out of the business and disowns me completely"
"Will, you ever be able to forgive him, if at the end we find that he is one behind Anna's death?"
He gawked at her blankly and became mum for a moment, "I may even forgive him, but will he be able to ever forgive himself? The day when he will end up in absolute nothingness, he will definitely realize the facade, the huge bubble of money and power he was living in. He will open his eyes to find no one around him in his desolation"
She sensed the despair in his words and switched the topic, "I am very hungry, let's eat something. I will help you later with your dressing also. We need to sleep early as we have to go tomorrow"
A/N :
So, now Amna, Shreekant, and Disha are in one team... Will they be successful in their venture?