Continued from Part 1

It was already afternoon.
The handling of the murder case was a bit too heavy for Naina’s emotional health. She ate the sandwich she had brought from home. A cup of tea or coffee would have worked wonders for her alertness.

“Coffee?” Kabir was standing near her with a question in his eyes.

Did he read Naina’s thoughts?
“We don’t have a coffee shop nearby, I suppose,” Naina grinned.

“There’s a small cafeteria at a short distance from here. Detectives are supposed to be aware of everything, including coffee shops. Should we move?” Kabir asked, his eyes fixed on hers.

“Why not!” Naina couldn’t believe she had said that.
………..

They were walking together.
Naina and Kabir.
Kabir was saying something. Naina was listening and just listening.

“The body will be taken for the post-mortem today. In the meantime, I have to cover a few witnesses. Have you finished your work?” Kabir noticed that Naina was not active in the conversation. The detective in him tried to get some words from her mouth.

“Naina!?”

Naina was lost in her thoughts. Startled, she said” Yes, just a few notes and I’m done. Thanks for the coffee, I really needed that.”

“Will you come again, tomorrow? I’ll be here because the victim’s sister is coming from America and she can give important clues. The murderer can be anyone, from relatives to strangers. Nobody can be spared,” Kabir said, focusing his eyes on Naina. The admirer within him longed for her to meet him again.

“Oh yes, I may also come to collect some information. Mr. Editor wants a perfect front-page story covering this high-profile murder. Is there any chance for me to enter the spot again tomorrow? I need to double-check some crucial assessments.”  Something was troubling Naina’s confused mind.

“Usually we don’t allow reporters to visit again but you are different. Don’t worry, I’ll register your visit under emergency requests.” Smilingly, Kabir looked into Naina’s distracted eyes.

She waved goodbye to him with a half-raised hand. “I must leave now,” she said.

“You have beautiful eyes, Naina, and your name is well thought of.”

It was hard to tell whether Naina paid heed to his words or not, but Kabir was happy after his first interaction with her.
………..

“What happened, Naina? Come, let’s have dinner together.”

“I’m not hungry, Mom. Please go ahead and have your food.” She went straight to her bedroom without acknowledging her mother’s invitation. After freshening up, she opened her diary. The mystery of the murder had more than what was visible to others. Naina fixed her gaze on one page. A cruel memory from her past suddenly became vivid in her mind.

“Sanam Chowdhury!” she murmured.
It was the final year of her Bachelor’s. She was an intelligent student, and the college boys often fantasized about going out with her. There were several friendship offers but she had only one person in her heart- Sanam Chowdhury.

Sanam and Naina were inseparable in the classroom, cafeteria, and everywhere else. Their relationship was no secret to anyone, including the teachers. The love story ended in a very unpleasant manner. She clearly remembered the last day of college. A get-together had been arranged by juniors to celebrate the farewell. Sanam didn’t come. Naina waited for him till late in the evening. It was when she reached his house that she found that Sanam was addicted to drugs. He was accompanied by an unknown girl who had arranged drugs for him, which made Naina furious. She clearly remembered his words, “ Naina! Meet my girl, Daisy. She brings me my drugs, I can do anything for her. You are no longer relevant in my life.”

Naina knew that any word from her would raise his madness level. She looked at the ‘other girl’, Daisy. Her cunning look explained everything. She had trapped Sanam, who was a decently rich guy. Since he was madly in love with Naina, the girl used unfair means to own him.
Naina had grievances only against Sanam, who appeared to be helplessly under the influence of drugs.
They never met after that incident. Someone told Naina that the girl, Daisy had started living with Sanam without marriage.
It took almost two years and many therapy sessions for Naina to come back to normal life.

(Read Part-3 of Delhi Detective Saga)

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla
in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.