In the cafe,
'Are you feeling alright now?' I asked.
'Yeah, much better than before,' she answered.
'I heard that you came from Bihar to here to study.'
'Yes!'
'Is that why you don't want your parents to know about this incident? Because you think they will worry about you being sick?'
'Yeah. You know I really want to be a pilot. But my parents were against it. I am not from a well-fed family. We are poor. My father is a drunkard. Therefore, now my mother lives with her sister. They took a hefty loan for my admission so that I could get admitted to this prestigious college. I want to make my mother proud of me. I don't want to make her worry.'
'Are you really okay? I mean, you said you are in great debt now,' said Emma.
I gave a sign with my eye to stop asking her about this.
'Anyways, rest here. Nurses are right here. Ask them if you need any help. I will be going to the police officer. He said he wanted to talk to me about the incident.'
'But my parents will know about the incident then.'
'About that, you don't need to worry; I will make sure that the reporters don't get any information about this.'
'Thank you.'
'Again, no thanks. We are friends, right?'
'Hmmm.'
I went straight to the office.
'Here, our future pilot, come here,' greeted the principal with a warm heart.
'Actually, I got all the information about what happened. I also saw the video. But I am here actually to interrogate you about some other crime.'
'But, before that, can I ask you a favor, officer?'
'Please make sure that the news of this incident, at least about who was assaulted, reaches the ears of reporters.'
'Why? Scared of prejudices about your friend?'
'No, not that. It's that she doesn't want to make her mother worry. He is from Bihar, as you see. It's way too far.'
'Ok, ok, I will make sure of that.'
'And sir, please, you too.' I said to the principal.
'Now, let's start the interrogation.'
'Hmmm.'
I was taken to a vacant room for interrogation where I and that officer were the only ones present.
'A crime took place a few days ago.'
'What crime?'
'Murder.'
My body shivered listening to this term. It reminded me of that time when I was stabbed.
'Are you okay?'
'Yeah. Actually, one year ago, a random person—I don't even know who that was, as his face and body were all covered—stabbed me while I took flowers from him.'
'Flowers?'
'I meant a bouquet. He said that it was a bouquet sent from my neighborhood to me, and he was told to deliver it to me.
'What flower was there in the bouquet?'
'Red, spiny roses.'
'Did he have any band on his hand?'
'Mmmmmmm... I think there was a band, a Black one. But, with a safety pin stuck in it on his left wrist, which was holding a long knife.'
'Safety pin?'
'Yeah.'
'Looks like you are one of the victims of the man I am searching for.'
'He murdered someone again?'
'No, again. It's not his second time. It is the eighth time I have seen such a case in just three weeks. And you know what? He drew a moon sign with a sharp object like that safety pin as his symbol on the bodies.'
'That's horrible!'
'In one of the footages too, we saw that he was wearing the same band, like you described, on her wrist.'
KNOCK! KNOCK!
'Who and what?'
'It's me, sir, Krishna.'
'Oh. What happened?'
'Someone came to provide you two with some drinks.'
'Ok, let him come in.'
He came with two classes of soft drinks on the tray and served us. It was none other than Ajay.
'Hi! Is everything ok?' He asked me in a whisper.
'Boyfriend?' asked the officer.
'Noooo! Just a childhood friend with whom I was not even in contact for many years.'
'Yeah,' exclaimed Ajay. 'What were you two talking about?'
'Just about some—'
'I think it's better to not know too much, right? What was his name again?'
'A-Ajay.'
'Ajay!'
'Yes, sir.'
'Can you please leave the room quietly?'
Then he left the room without any noise.
'Don't talk about this to anyone. Think about this as a secret between us. After all, the murderer is not yet identified and caught. He can be one too.'
'Then, I can be too, isn't it?'
A long silence passed away.
'Are you—' and he stood up in shock.
'No.'
And he relaxed and sat down.
'But it can be, right?'
His face turned blank.
'Haha! Anyways, I was joking.'
'Let's pack up today. Meeting you tomorrow, again in that cafeteria. I will be coming with a detective this time. No need to be tense.
'Yeah, yeah!'
(To be continued)