Tuesday

Tuesday: - 7:00 A.M

“But John, try to understand. We need you here. You can’t just leave the case like this and go to a please which is least associated with this case.” Ashok and Krishna were pleading John. But John could see the bright glow in Krishna’s face that had a hint that John might have cracked the clue.

“Don’t worry Ashok; I will be back in a day. My grandmother is very ill and she expects me to be beside her in her last moments. You know how much I love her. I promise, I will be back in two days. Any problem, just give me a call.”

“But John…oh…it’s of no use arguing with you. Come back soon, we need you here.”

“Yeah…I do understand that…but you know sometimes we just have to let the consequences judge our actions.”

They all understood what he meant.

“Bye John…” And then the DCP and ACP turned to go. After sometime John was about to take his seat in the train, he saw some middle aged man looking at him with great curiosity and intensity. He crossed John and boarded in the next compartment. John couldn’t forget his distinct face. He had serious blue eyes and a long scar on his forehead which looked like a small stick imprinted vertically. The journey from Sripuram to Gaya was five hours. The train started and so did his journey into a different world…..

Tuesday: - 8:00 A.M

Station: Afzalgunj (Somewhere into the forest of Sripuram)

The thin clouds which had been hovering for a few days over Sripuram had suddenly turned pitch black. It looked as if it will never stop raining and the surrounding became very gloomy. John was recounting everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. Something else had been worrying him too. Maybe he is being followed….maybe someone was something precious in Prasad’s house…or maybe…maybe they are going to kill everyone related to him…oh…oh…Priya! Is she next on their list? No! I am not going to let that happen. I cannot let an innocent girl lose her life. He got down at Afzalgunj which was a border town between Bihar and Orissa. The path from Afzalgunj to Gaya on road was short but the journey was very tiring. The land was completely green and the area was completely gripped in floods.

“Sir….Sir….where are you going? It’s not safe out there while raining,” the station master was yelling at John. But he was already out of sight. The person who was sitting in a compartment behind that of John’s was observing keenly what John had been doing. Hi name was Rohan. But in his world he was called Rocky. “Sir, target missed….it’s gonna take me a long time to see what he’s doing,” said Rocky over the phone.

“Ok. Do what ever it takes,” the voice said. Beep…..the telephone was hung up.
John had covered the distance in quite a short time. He reached Gaya almost an hour earlier than the scheduled arrival of the train he had taken earlier. He enquired about Priya and went to her home.

“Ding….Dong,” the doorbell rang. “Arey baba…I am coming…one second,” answered Priya from inside. “Ok….I will wait,” said John.

“Yes…what can I do for you?” asked Priya with the most gorgeous smile that John had ever seen.

“Ma’am I am John. I am from your grand father’s town. Can I talk to you for a minute?” John requested.

“Oh….Ok…come in. take your seat. Yeah…tell me,” said Priya.

“I am really sorry ma’am, but I have to convey this message to you.”

“What is it?”

“Your grandfather died yesterday morning.”

She went pale….not a word from her mouth. “How…..did it happ…en?” she was stammering. “To tell you the truth, he was murdered; but to the world it has been declared that the cause of death was “stroke of paralysis”…”

“What!!! He was murdered? But how can this be possible?” there was something wrong and John could sense it. “Is there anything you want to tell me Miss Priya?” asked John.

“No….it’s just…just like déjà vu. Last month I got a letter from him saying that there’s something wrong. Someone is trying to kill him. And the day is gonna come soon.”

“Oh…so your grandfather knew that someone is going to kill him?”

“Yeah…I think he did.”

“Can you tell me anything else?”

“Why are you asking me all this questions? Who are you?”

“I am the head of STF investigating about your grandfather’s murder. And nobody knows that I am in Gaya, interrogating his grand daughter.”

But John was wrong. Rocky was sent for him. And his mission was to erase any trace left of Prasad and everything that comes in the way. He was few yards away from her house.

“Ok…I can trust you. Can I John?” ”Yes…of course.”

“A month ago he sent me a letter terming as highly confidential and to be opened only upon the news of his death and that this was his last wish. Perhaps you would like to see it, John,” said Priya.

“Of course…. I would be willing to do anything to help you out to solve this case,” said John. As her steps moved across the floor towards a locker, a bullet with a force of thunderbolt pierced the window sailing towards Priya.

“Priya……!!! Get down…now…,” shouted John. The bullet had narrowly missed Priya. “Thud…..thud...,” Rocky had gone mad. He was literally emptying his ammo.

“We have to get out of this place. Now!” said John. ”Ok…I should get that letter now before leaving.” “Run…..”

Rocky had ducked beneath the rocks to conceal himself from the curious onlookers who had started shouting in the street. And there was panic all over the place. “Oh…shit….shit….i missed them again,” thought Rocky. “Boss is not going to be happy about this.”

Tuesday:

Afternoon: - 1:00 P.M

John and Priya had been running for an hour now. They took a brand new Toyota Innova from a rich businessman by force who was talking to his friend on the road. When they reached an abandoned fort 100kms away, they decided to see what was in the letter.

Before they could tear open the envelope there was another message in a separate piece of paper attached to this envelope. It said

“And when you leave, don’t leave anything.

Because if you; you will never reach me.”

John thought,” Oh…this man knew that the people who were about to kill him will also come for his granddaughter and maybe everyone else associated with him.”

“Ok…lets’ see what’s inside it.”

Once again, it looked like some kind of puzzle.

“Take a rope and pull me down,

Something turns me on.

When I stand and pray the sun,

I feel as if my life is still a circle undone,

Have a look at the sun because something will shine.”

“What is this thing?” asked Priya. “Maybe this is a clue, which might lead us to something else,” said John.

“Ok…but why does he need to tell it like this? Why couldn’t he write a simple sentence what he was trying to convey?” exclaimed Priya.

“I don’t know….maybe he didn’t want this to fall in wrong hands,” said John.

“Let’s work it out. Maybe we two can decipher something out of it,” said Priya.

“If you look at this letter, he mentions about “Sun” twice….that means he’s trying to imply something related to “Sun”….what can it be…?”. “Where do people stand and pray the sun….?”

“I guess in every house….while doing Surya Namaskar. It’s a ritual of Hindus,” said Priya. “Maybe something more specific….hmmm….what is it?.....what is it?” John was trying to think hard.

The mid-day sun was very hard on them. Priya couldn’t bear the heat and found a small stream downhill from the fort.

“John…lets go down and drink some water…I think there’s a stream there.”

“Ok…I guess you are right,” said John. They both drank some water and John sat down to take some rest. He was probably looking at the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Something attracted him towards Priya. She was his only concern now besides the case. Just as he was about to think more about her, his eyes shot at a tattoo on Priya’s shoulder.

“Priya…what is that on your shoulder?”

“This…this is a tattoo of my sun sign…Libra.”

Yes. It did look like that….

But something struck John….he couldn’t take his eyes off that tattoo…does this imply anything?? Is this related to the clue? He began to analyse the puzzle which Prasad had set with this tattoo…..this tattoo could be thought of having one line which is horizontal and two lines inclined to each other and an arc joining these two lines.

“What’s a circle undone?.....it’s an arc….so here there’s something on an arc. It looks like a sleeping K…oh…oh…wow…this sun sign is like a K on arc. Yes….Konarc…maybe Konark….yes it’s Konark, the place of sun temple, the only one of its kind.”

And there was a broad smile on his face. Priya couldn’t figure out what it was. John said, ”Priya I know what your grandfather indicated in that letter. The place leads us to Konark, the land of sun temple. Yes, it’s true; your grandfather’s statement of praying the sun refers to the Sun Temple.”

Maybe we will find something there. That was their next destination. And yeah…their date with death was waiting for them too there…..