13 GIRL KNOWS IT ALL?

17TH JAN, 2017; 2.40 P.M.

The mysterious girl became a very valuable asset to the case with everything she had to say. So much so that Vijay instead of trying to take it all for himself decided to share the information with Shiv. He kept his ego aside for this time. Shiv after getting the knowledge that this girl could be the possible eye witness they were looking for couldn't keep the excitement. He ran to Vjay's cabin. This was the light he was searching in the darkness, a chance to change his situation, a chance to get Dhruv into confessing or maybe to be proven guilty. This girl was his only chance apart from finishing Dhruv's game, which he was clearly losing. As he got inside the room he couldn't contain his excitement and grabbed the chair and put it in front of the girl and asked his first question,

Rathod: So? What did you see?

Girl (Looking at Vijay): Exactly what part am I supposed to say?

Rathod (He too looked at Vijay): What part!!? How many parts are there to her statement?

Patil (Hesitantly): Well sir, that's what I was going to say, she has seen Dhruv near the crime scene twice!

Rathod: You mean near my home? Sorry! I mean near my building?

Patil: No no no! Not there but at school and also at..

Rathod(cutting his sentence): STOP THERE! Not a single word more! (Pointing towards the corner of the room) come with me, I have to talk to you.

Patil: Okay?!

Both go to the corner to talk.

Rathod: What's wrong with you!? Why are you so eager to talk to everyone about serial killings? I mean everyone told me how you talked about it to Dhruv when you went to bring him in, and now you are doing the same with this girl. You are bringing it up again and making the same mistake again. Last time you pulled this stunt, the guy didn't stop ranting about how he is the killer! This time the girl will become the next..

Patil (Cutting the sentence): Sir! At Least hear me out first!

Rathod: FINE!... What is it?!

Patil: Sir, I didn't tell anything to her. She figured it out herself!

Rathod: WHAT?!! What do you mean by "she figured it out herself"?

Patil: Sir, she said that she thinks that the three boys that died in the last few days didn't take their own life, she thinks they were killed. And she thinks Dhruv has to do something with it.

Rathod: Wait a minute! But we brought her here regarding my son's case, then why is she talking about the other three boys?!

Patil: I think you should talk to her for the answers!

Rathod: Yeah I am thinking the same!

Shiv gets back to his seat.

Rathod: Sorry for that! So let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Girl: Yeah sure!

Rathod: So, today morning while I was at my place doing my investigation on my son Vikram's murder, you tried to talk to my constables saying that you know something about the incident. So tell me why did you do that?

Girl: I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do!

Rathod: So what did you want to say?

Girl: What do you mean "what did you want to say?" I talked to you this morning and said whatever I had to say and you heard me, why are you asking me again?

Rathod: It's a habit that comes with this job, you double check every statement!

Girl: In that case this is a triple check, I have already said everything to Vijay Sir.

Rathod: You said you would cooperate, so please!

Girl: FINE!!.. I said that I might know someone who might know something about Vikram's murder.

Rathod: And this someone was?

Girl: DHRUV! Dhruv Shastri! That's the guy I was talking about.

Rathod: And I sent some of my guys to get him so that I could interrogate him. In fact he is in the interrogation room right now. But the question here is,… that why do you think he had to do anything with son's murder?

Girl: Because he is the last person left! I mean first Yash died, then Raj and then Shreyash and the only person left was Vikram.

Rathod: But Vikram was killed and other three committed suicide.

Girl: Exactly my point! Why would 3 guys kill themselves like this altogether? And a few days after that the 4th guy in the group is dead! Doesn't this ring a bell in your head? I mean I don't think it's as simple as it seems.

Rathod: It seems everyone's a detective nowadays!... Ok fine!..I see why you are connecting this to the death of those 3 boys but you still haven't said why you think Dhruv is connected to all this?

Girl: I saw him!

Rathod: Saw him where?

Girl: I saw Dhruv get out of Yash's house the day he was found dead.

Rathod: WHAT!! YOU SAW HIM GET OUT OF YASH'S HOUSE! Why didn't come to us or say anything about it earlier??!

Girl: I would have! But everyone said that he committed suicide. After knowing that, why would I go to anyone?!.. WAIT A MINUTE!.. That means it wasn't just a simple suicide! That means I was right!...I WAS RIGHT!

Rathod: Ok ok hold on! No one said you were right! All I meant was if you had come earlier we would have investigated it from that angle. But tell me what were you doing there at the time?

Girl: I live near that place! His house is in the way of my tuition and while I was passing from there, I saw Dhruv opening the gates and coming out!

Rathod: What time was this and what else did you see?

Girl: It was something near 4 P.M. and...… YEAH! Dhruv looked a bit odd that day, I mean he was all covered. I mean he was wearing a cap, had worn a jacket and also wore gloves. As if he was there for stealing or something! He looked like those classic robbers from movies, wearing all black and all.

Rathod: Is that all?

Girl: Ahhh….. I guess… YEAH THERE WAS! He was carrying a bag with him!

Rathod: Ok that is very informative! We will look into it. Now tell me! What else made you so sure that Dhruv had to do anything with the death of these kids?

Girl: On 10th January, the day when Shreyash was found dead in the school basement, I saw Dhruv again! I was at school till 4.30 that day. I was with a few more girls in my school that day practicing for a skit that we were supposed to perform for 26th January, Republic day. I was going to the washroom, and one of our school toilets is near the back gate. I don't know why it was made there in the first place? It's like this place that everyone uses to sneak out of school and bunk classes. I mean you could say you are going to the washroom and through that gate you can get to the backside of school and anyone can jump the fence and get out of school without anyone knowing; I mean I once used it! I was able to bunk 3 lectures at once and it was….

Rathod: Dear dear dear! We were talking about Dhruv!

Girl: Oh! Sorry! I got distracted! So I was saying that I had gone to the washroom and when I came out of the toilet I just went near that gate and I was looking outside, I saw Dhruv jumping off the fence with the same sort of attire I saw him wearing at Yash's place. He was even carrying that bag! While he was jumping his cap had fallen on this side of the fence and when he came back to pick it up that's when I saw his face. And after that, I knew that something was fishy. I mean, Dhruv was suspended! Why would he come to school and that too this way? And next thing I know is that Shreyash was found dead in the basement.

Rathod: And after all these assumptions you had in your head, you still didn't come to the police??!

Girl: I would have, but again it was called suicide!

Rathod: FINE!! Just tell me one last thing, what makes you think that Dhruv has to do something with Vikram's murder?

Girl: Isn't it obvious? All four boys were a gang! And three already dead, Vikram was the next, obviously! And after seeing Dhruv at both the places, it made me sure that either it wasn't really suicide or maybe he had to do something with their death..... And… and… I saw him…. near your house! Few days ago! He was… keep..keeping eyes.. I mean keeping AN EYE, ON Vicky… I mean keeping an eye on Vikram!

Rathod: Okay?! I guess that's it for now! Stay here for a bit, I will talk to you later. Don't worry we will inform your parents. (Looking at Vijay) Vijay, a word!

Again goes to the corner.

Patil: Yes Sir?

Rathod: You were right! She is possibly the thing we were searching for! But she is hiding something.

Patil: What makes you say that?

Rathod: The last thing she said, about seeing him near my place. She was stammering all the time while saying it. She was calm while talking about other things and as soon as she started saying that she saw Dhruv spying on my home, she started stammering, a sign of nervousness! Through my experience, I am sure that either it's a lie or she is hiding something... Do this! Cut that last part and everything that she said involving Vikram's death, just attach her statement to a file of serial killings, and let her be the eye-witness to it. And yeah! One more thing! Take her fingerprints and DNA samples and send them to lab, ask them to examine these to the one we found on murder weapon. And for god's sake, ask them to make it quick! They already took long with Dhruv's prints!

Patil: Ok, I guess I can do that!

Rathod: GOOD!

The girl was proven an important asset to the case against Dhruv, Shiv finally found a way to get to Dhruv. He felt himself in a winning position. But the game was still to be played. He wanted to make sure what Dhruv's real motive was and his stupid game was anyway helping Shiv in making his case and theory stronger. At this point, the tables had turned, well atleast for Shiv it had! He was no more worried about winning the game because according to him Dhruv lost it already! With this confidence in him, he went back to the interrogation room. Took his seat and the duo was back together!

Dhruv: Well that break was longer than expected?

Rathod: I got caught up with my work! I mean it's not a normal thing to investigate 4 different murders in a day, is it?

Dhruv: Most definitely not! I respect you for your work, but you are a complete dick sometimes, so it's hard to keep being respectful all the time.

Rathod: I don't have time to waste on your stupid jokes. I guess we should continue!

Dhruv: LET THE GAME BEGIN! Or maybe we should say..MAY THE GAME RESUME?