What is more important

A handkerchief

Ranveer feels that the testimony of the farmer is a bit fishy. The person says he heard noises, but he did not go outside and then he said that it was because of the witch. They shifted to this station four months ago and there had been so many cases related to robbery and fights, but none gave a witch as an explanation for what happened. The police station was not in a village but in a nearby town. Many small villages used to report in that village. The crime rate was pretty high in some villages and many cases of high sensitivity were reported every day, but it was the first case in this village. A few days back, they dealt with a murder case in another village. Killing during property confiscation, killing in name of honour, and killing in cold blood were the most common reasons for murder in this area. As the area was not very developed and people were not very educated, they used to fight over petty matters. This was one of the reasons why Rajveer was so worried about Simon. He never wanted her to be here.

Ranveer: “Ranveer can you investigate the person named Laal?”

Rajveer: “Sure. What about Amma Jee’s story and notes taking?”

Ranveer: “I will ask Zain to take notes for today’s session. I really do find this person suspicious.”

Rajveer: “Ok. I will ask someone to get him here. I will also keep an eye on his activities.”

Ranveer: “Great.”

Rajveer leaves the room and asks someone outside to prepare a car for him as he will be leaving in no time. After a while, a man comes and says: “Sir, the car is ready.”

Rajveer leaves the station in the car and reaches the field in which the dead bodies were found yesterday. There was still blood in the field. He went inside and took a closer look at the sand. There was already a team there looking at each and every inch of the area. It was Simon’s team as she was responsible for the fieldwork, two of her men were here to make sure no one comes into the ground at night or any other time to remove any evidence or for anything else.

Rajveer: “Have you looked into it completely?”

They guys get scared as they are so much into their work. They are so indulged that did not even notice that a car has stopped near them, and Rajveer is behind them. They turn around immediately and say in unison: “Hello sir!” as they salute.

Rajveer nods: “What are you doing here?”

One of the guys says: “Simon Madam has appointed us here to make sure that no one enters the field.”

Rajveer: “And that was how you were making sure? A siren car came by, and you did not even notice.”

The other one said: “Look at this sir. We were looking at this. We found it here.”

Rajveer looks at what is in the hand of one of the two junior officers. He sees that there is a white handkerchief with RRJ written on it. The words were kitted by using a gold wire and the cloth was really fine. There was also blood on the handkerchief.

Rajveer: “Where did you find it?”

One of the people points to the place where he found that handkerchief. It is the same place where everyone was standing yesterday. One of the two officers says: “It was buried in the mud. I think that someone dropped it here yesterday and in all the hustle, it became covered in mud.”

Rajveer: “Has Simon visited this field before?”

The officer said: “She will be coming soon.”

Rajveer: “Ok and where is Laal today and has anyone come out of that home yet?”

Officer 1: “Laal?”

Rajveer: “The guy who owns this plot.”

Officer 2: “No one has visited this place today and no one came out of that home since last night.”

Rajveer moves away towards the house. He knocks on the door, but no one opens it. He knocks again. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, they decide to push the door open. The constable who is with Rajveer pushes the door and it opens in a second. Inside they see that the house is empty.

Rajveer: “Laal please come out. We are here to ask you a few questions and nothing will happen.”

Nobody answers his call. He asks his second in command to look around. They get their guns in their hands and start searching the house. The house is very small. It has one room, one washroom, a small yard and a small kitchen. They look around but no one is there. When they enter the room Rajveer sees the foot of one of the guys and then bends down to see how many are there. He sees that three people are hiding under the bed.

Rajveer: “Laal, I know you are hiding under the bed. Come out. We mean no harm to you or your family.”

Laal: “I will do whatever you want just do not harm my child.”

Rajveer: “We will not do anything. We just need you to come with us and answer a few questions.”

Slowly the three people come out from under the bed and Laal’s wife has covered her face with a shawl. She has basically done a veil as she normally does.

Laal: “I will come with you.”

His wife: “Why are you taking him with you? He did not do anything wrong.”

Rajveer: “I understand we are just taking him to ask a few questions. After we are done, we will leave him.”

Laal’s wife: “Ok.”

She hugs her son as she sees both the police officers take her husband with them. As per people, Laal’s wife is very innocent. She was very young when she got married to Laal who was ten years older than her. She came from a humble background in which her parents found it difficult to feed all the kids. Being a daughter, she was not even allowed to work, and the area did not offer any secured jobs to women. After her wedding, Laal taught him everything from cooking to washing clothes. He used to and still treats her like a baby. She does not know much about the outside world. Firstly, she used to live with her parents where she was not allowed to go out due to the poor security situation in her village now after her wedding, she is living in a house a little away from the village. Laal often takes her shopping, but she is too shy to speak. When she saw Rajveer in Police uniform, she was scared to death but after accumulating all her courage she spoke to him. Fear sometimes really makes you do things you never wanted to do. Does not it?

As they come out of the house, one of the two officers from Simon's team comes forward to talk to Rajveer.

Officer 2: “Sir I need to tell you something?”

Rajveer: “Yes?”

Officer 2: “The handkerchief has something written on it. It is not clear but there is something other than RRJ on it.”

“Put it in the plastic bag and the forensic department will look into it. We have to check every inch of this land and then we have to go back to the market. Tell me how the night was?” Simon speaks from behind.

Officer 1: “Nobody came towards this land till now. We made sure that every angle was in our view, and we did not miss out on anything.”

Simon: “You two can go home now and should be back on duty after six hours.”

Both of them look at each other as if no one has ever given them an exact comeback time.

“If you guys think it is too much, I can reduce it.”

Officer 1: “No Ma’am, we are leaving.”

Simon: “As your break has started, leave this handkerchief to me and go. Be on time, I do not like tardiness.” She says all this with a straight face.

Both of them leave quickly and others look at each other in disbelief as if something strange had happened. It was okay for them to react in that way as they have not seen any woman in command in many years in this area. Since the area is considered risky, no woman is appointed here.

Simon: “And officer what are you doing here?” She looks at Rajveer with the same expression.

Rajveer: “I was here to get one of the witnesses.”

Simon nods, moves forward and orders: “Everyone quickly disperse in the field. Look at each and every point, be careful, open your eyes completely and call me if you see anything.”

Her team calls in unison: “Ok officer” and enters the field. Simon also enters the field. Rajveer looks at her back and then sits in the passenger seat of the car. Zain sits in the driving seat and Laal is in the back seat of the jeep.

As the jeep starts and they are on the road Laal says: “Sir, I have never seen a female officer before. Is it true that I saw one?”

Zain: “Yes Laal you saw it right.”

Laal: “I will tell this to my wife.”

Zain: “This lady definitely has something in her.”

Rajveer has a proud look in his eyes and a smile is about to appear on his face when he maintains his composure. He wants to say that she is my lady but ends up saying nothing.