Next morning Shyam and Charmi were in the canteen, having their morning tea.
“We have got the laptop by air.” she started, “by tomorrow evening IT team will get all the data from it.”
“Okay.” his reply was dry.
“Why are you off?” she said with a pleasant smile.
“I’ve never imagined all this would happen with me and I’m worried what will happen now.”
“I don’t believe in Murphy's law.” she said, “Everything will be okay.”
“How?”
“You know we were about to die in a dark cellar and now we are in the security of Indian army. Have you imagined all this will happen?”
“No.”
“That’s why I believe everything will be okay.”
“I hope, too.”
“And I think this canteen has bored you. Tomorrow we will go out for dinner.”
He got she was trying to soothe his mood.
“Yeah… it will be good.”
“Okay, Shyam now I have to go. I have many things to do in the head’s office,” she said and left canteen.
*
The IT team gathered the data and prepared a report earlier than everyone has expected.
According to their report, someone has installed a software in Archana’s laptop. When Archana connected her laptop with home minister's laptop that software installed its copy inside home minister’s laptop and hacked data from it. Then it sent that data into Archana's laptop and deleted everything from home minister’s laptop. That software is called Intelligence Virus as it can work as an intelligent person. At last the software uninstalled itself from home minister's laptop so no one can get any hint how that laptop had been hacked.
The IT team has collected that hacked data from Archana's laptop. The data was being transferred to somewhere from Archana's laptop but with slower speed, only some KBs per day as that software needs another device near it. Luckily the laptop was far away from the device of criminals and this laptop was broken so it became hard for this intelligence virus to transfer data.
Still, the IT team couldn't decide how much data has been transferred to the hacker by the software. Now IT team had uninstalled that software from Archana's laptop.
*
On the army chief’s special request, Delhi police took Reema’s statement again but it hadn’t anything useful than before.
Delhi police made a community of five experienced police officers to find Archana but that special investigation team never able to decide from where the investigation start as there wasn’t any clue about how Archana was kidnapped.
That phone booth had no CCTV camera near it so it wasn’t possible to know who the last caller on Archana’s phone was.
The chief sent some men to get Preetu's statement but they came empty handed as Preetu has lost her memory. Preetu's father has co-operated with them but the info given by him wasn’t hopeful. Still, the chief sent two of his best men to keep watch over Preetu's house as he thought criminal can kidnap her, after reading her father’s statement.
Statement of Preetu's father could give some direction to the chief but when they searched in that direction, found nothing but darkness.
Her father’s statement was as below:
Why did he send her Chandigarh?
One evening Preetu was returning to her hostel after her hockey practice in college someone has kidnapped her. When she didn’t return to the hostel till ten of the night hostel mistress called her father thinking perhaps she has gone to her home. Preetu’s father reached Delhi in just an hour as he was in Sonipat. He took help from one of his friend who was in Delhi police. they started to search Preetu unofficially without FRI as her father didn’t want to make it news of next morning.
They searched the city whole night but didn’t find her. When they returned to police station back, His friend, the policeman, got a call from night patrolling officers as they have found Preetu.
Preetu’s father sent her Chandigarh as that city wasn’t safe for her but he made a mistake. They hid the matter for sake of ego and pride.
The chief decided one thing from that statement: the kidnapper of Preetu, Shyam, Charmi and Archana is the same person – VICTOR.
*
Shyam fumbled through the database for more than a week but found no match for the faces of Rozy or Christy.
He had noted some questions and prepared some answers of them, though, not sufficient answers.
(1) Who hacked Archana’s laptop?
- Preetu or someone from Archana's staff but was undecided who until Preetu gets her memory back.
(2) Who is Anjali?
- Perhaps one of Archana's friends who chatted with Shyam as Atchana in starting and misspells sorry with sori.
(3) Who is the Victor?
- No clue but it’s possible to find him through Anjali.
*
On the evening of November 30, when Shyam was called in the chief’s chamber, the chief was tense.
Shyam handed him the note with questions he had prepared.
“These questions have no meaning.” The chief read the note and sighed, “We have nothing to continue the investigation.”
“Can’t we get any link by the policeman whom Charmi has shot?” Shyam asked.
“We have done all possible tries but...” the chief left his sentence incomplete and slammed his fist on the table. It shivered under the weight of the blow.
The chief’s frustration didn’t surprise Shyam but it surprised Charmi as she knew him for years and knew he was the man who never gets frustrated easily.
“So you are closing the file,” Shyam said.
“Officially the case is closed now but unofficially we will continue the search for Archana.” The chief said, “We can get great help if Preetu gets her memory back.”
“Can I talk with her?” Shyam asked.
“I’ve talked with her doctor. His hs told me to wait for three months. And warned me that if we will force her mind by questions she can lose her mind.”
Shyam sighed.
“What will we do with Shyam?” charmi asked, “can we let him go?”
“Depends on his choice.”
“I want to go Gujarat but not before finding who is Victor.” Shyam said, “I don’t want to risk my family.”
“I’m sorry but we can’t help anymore. You have risk over your head so I can send some of my best men with you till you reach Gujarat. I can’t do more than it.” The chief said, “Maximum I can provide you with a gun.”
“Can’t we keep him here till we figure out who is Victor?” charmi asked.
“We can but how long?” the chief said, “and for him, this place isn’t different than a prison. He has nothing to do here. Still it up to him.”
Shyam and charmi left the chamber and went to the canteen.
Charmi brought two cups of tea for them and they settled on an empty table.
“Can’t you stay?” she asked.
“I can’t decide what I should do.”
“If you go to Gujrat it will be risky for your family.”
“I want to talk with my family.” He said.
“Why?”
“To know are they safe?”
“They are safe.”
“How can you say?”
“We have checked your background and have kept watch on your house.” she said, “your brothers and mother is fine.”
“And my father…” he said, puzzled, “why don’t you take his name?”
“He is no more.” She said.
Shyam felt the strange ache in the whole body mostly at his stomach and his knee. He felt week, unable to say anything. As he closed his eyes, the face of his father came between his pupils and eyelids. He lost balance and fell from the chair.
“Control yourself.” Charmi clutched his hand and help him to get back chair.
“What happened to him?”
“He died two days before we escaped the dark cellar.” She said, her voice choked.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“The head has ordered me to conceal it, thinking it would break you and you won’t be useful in the investigation.” She said, “he died in his rest-chair in the morning time, you know with no pain as-as proud as he had lived.”
Shyam’s eyes were leaking. He tried to suppress the sob but it escaped.
‘Don’t come if I die. Don’t come even in my funeral. You ain’t my son any longer.’ He remembered his father’s words. The word spoken in anger has come alive.
“I’ll stay here.” He said, wiping tears.
***
TO be continue...
