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Investigation

At this point the cries of everyone is so loud as if they are reaching the sky. The officer raises his eyebrows. Gaurav got the indication that the officer is asking who are these two ladies and he wants to know more about this. Gaurav continues, “I work in the house of Mr. Sime and he is the one to whom Madam Alia was to get married to in a few days but everything ended. My Sime Mian loves her so much, how will I inform him that our both Madame have been brutally murdered.” He started crying so loud that Aarav put his head on his own shoulder to provide him solace. Ranveer questions, “Where is Sime now?” Gaurav replied, “He is currently in America but will be coming back in two days as his wedding bells were supposed to ring after two weeks.” Another question is directed towards the audience by Ranveer as he inquiries with a demanding tone, which highlights his strong personality and his hold over his duty, “Does anyone know anything else about these two women?” An old lady comes to light with a stick in her hand. Her back is bent which symbolises all the burdens which she must have experienced in her life. She must be around her 80s. Her face is full of wrinkles and skull is covered with white hair. She has covered them with a black shawl, which has a red patch to cover the 2 inch hole, as if she is hiding ages old experiences. She asks the officer to come forward as her voice is not loud enough to be heard. In his ear she said, “I know everything about them. They are my daughters.” At this a tear rolls down from her left eye, travels down her cheek and disappears in her shawl. Ranveer asks Rajveer to bring over two stools one for him and the other for the old lady. Rajveer asks the villagers about them and Aarav and another old man with white beard run towards their shops to get them. When they put the stools at the road shoulders, at the verge of field, he asked everyone to get their points recorded to the police and no one is allowed to walk away. Then he asks the old lady, “Who are you? How are you exactly related to these two women and what do you know about them?” The lady gasps, “Do you want to know everything from the start, the day I met Sameen and the day Alia was born?” Ranveer nodes and put his hand on the woman knee. The old lady continues after a deep breath, “Then be patient. It is quite a long story.”  “In 1985 I first met Sameen. She was 19 at that point. A beautiful young lady dressed in red bridal clothes, hands full of gold bangles, and a beautiful gold necklace and earrings. She had a big smile on her face and a gleam in her eyes as she was trying to welcome her new life. I used to work in the Gujrial house since I was 7. My mother used to work in their home so no one knew the family more than me. The Gujrials are the biggest family of our village. They own large amount of land, in fact they are the one who put the basis of this village as they asked people to come and live on the land provided by them. The older Gujrial had three kids, two sons and a daughter, the older one named Rakesh, the middle one Ranvijy and the youngest one Dilruba. Sameen got married to Ranvijy, may God bless him and may he rest in peace. I still remember how happy Ranvijy was that day. He used to call me amma. I was in the kitchen when he came over and said, “Amma look how beautiful she looks, I can’t believe that she has become mine and after tonight she will be all mine and I will be hers. Doesn’t she look like a fairy?” I replied, “Vijy Baba, indeed she is beautiful. Please, never let the gleam in her eyes die, she is so innocent.” And he said, “I promise you amma.” She starts crying and then says, “Son, my Vijy Baba did try his best to fulfil the promise. And I am sorry that my emotions are interrupting your investigation but I just can’t hold it back and I hope that through Sameen's and Vijy's story you will be able to reach the culprit.” Ranveer nodes and asks Rajveer, who is taking notes, to bring her a glass of water. In the meantime, other officers have put the dead bodies in the police van so, they can be taken to the forensic lab for post-mortem. Ranveer asks, “Did Sameen and Ranvijy know each other before?” Amma continues, “Sameen was the daughter of the older Gujrial’s best friend. Her family town is about 500km from here. Vijy Baba had heard about her, and here is where his love story started, but had not seen her after their childhood because he went to England for his education when he was only ten, while Sameen Bibi got education at her home. She came from a very elite family and had an affluent lifestyle as she was the only daughter of Mr. Luthra, who was the biggest landlord of his area. The weeding festivities lasted nearly a month. She was the apple of her entire family’s eyes. Her uncles and aunts, both maternal and paternal, used to adore her as a heavenly creature, as an angel. Even after all the love and luxuries she received, she had a heart of gold. She was not the best fit for the Gujrials as they were really hard hearted, Vijy Baba was definitely an exception but at points he failed to cope with his family pressure.” “What pressure?” inquired Ranveer. “The pressure from his mother and elder sister-in-law, Rakesh's wife, to make her abide by everything which they ordered her to do.”