1 Washed ashore.

The waves gently washed over her body. She was barely conscious, the sand grazed her cheeks. She heard voices and tried to call out. With the last bit of her strength she tried to call out,but it came out a whisper...help! And she list consciousness.

Dhruv Sinha had just entered the office,whe. His junior Samanto came forward " Sir, a woman has been found on the Veatch three kms from here," he said. "Udaynarayanpur" Dhruv answered " I have asked them to take her to the hospital. We are going there" Fifteen minutes later they were standing in the hospital corridor. " she is unconscious. There is no sign of any physical assault. We have taken the blood samples. We shall be able to give you a comprehensive report by tomorrow " Dr Munshi was saying. Dhruv interrupted, " Can I see her?" Dr Munshi waved his hand " Go ahead" Dhruv strode into the room and looked at_8 the pale figure lying on the bed. She seemed to move her lips , Dhruv dropped to his knees and strained his ears. At first he could hardly hear anything , then a feeble " help!" reached his ears. "You are safe now. Don't worry " Dhruv said softly. The girl's eyes suddenly flew open " Rain " she whispered and closed her eyes. Dhruv leaned forward, " what are you saying? Hello??" The girl lay unresponsive. It was just at that moment Dr Munshi entered followed by Samanto. "What happened? Did she wake up? " Dr Munshi asked." YES" Dhruv replied, " but she seems to have lost consciousness again".

Later that night, Dhruv pondered over the girl's words" Rain" ? What on earth did she mean? Had it been raining , when she was was ashore? Was she a tourist, many people did come to visit this quaint seaside town during winter. If so, why hadn't anyone reported a missing person complaint at the station? There were so many questions, and till now he had no leads to the answers. Dhruv took one last drag of the cigarette and stubbed it out. He hoped tomorrow he would find a break through, after all tomorrow was a new day