The arranged murder?️

chapter 13

The family seems normal' I said, coming back from the

memories of our embarrassing cockroach dance. ‘Like any other

Punjabi family?

‘We need to see the family testimonies' Saurabh said.

It was midnight. Saurabh was sipping on a cup of hot chocolate.

‘We should meet other people in Prema’s life too.

Like Namrata' I said. ‘Anyone else?’

‘There’s the ex-boyfriend.’

‘Ex-boyfriend?’

‘Long before me. During her first job. I never told you.’

‘What do you know about him?’

‘She used to work at Kotak Mahindra Bank before starting Eato.

She dated this guy Neeraj there. They broke up. It’s part of the reason

why she quit.’

'What happened?’

‘Prerna never told me much. He broke up with her for stupid

reasons. She was heartbroken. Later he wanted to get back. But Prerna

quit the bank and moved on.’

‘They were still in touch?’

‘No idea' Saurabh said. ‘Such a loser to leave someone like

Prerna.’

‘No, you can’t make copies' Singh said.

We sat facing him in his ramshackle office on creaky wooden

chairs. A brown folder with a bunch of loose white sheets lay in front

of us.

‘Can we take pictures on our phones?’ Saurabh said.

‘You think I’m an i***t?’ Singh said.

Tn what sense, sir?’ Saurabh said.

‘What?’ Singh said.‘No, sir. He means, “No, sir, you are not an i***t”,’ I hastily said.

‘What’s the difference in taking photos and making copies?’ Singh said.

‘Pictures are easy to take. Saves paper too' Saurabh said.

‘You think I am not letting you take copies to save paper? What do you

think I am? An environmental activist like that Great Thunder girl?’ Singh

said, now visibly agitated.

‘No, sir. You are a police inspector. Not Greta Thun-berg,’ I said.

‘Exactly. I don’t want these testimonies leaking out to the media. They

are part of an ongoing investigation?

‘We won’t share with anyone, sir,' I said.

‘Read it here, in that room' he said, snapping his fingers and pointing to

an empty cabin next to his office. ‘And now that you mention it, surrender

your phones.’

I looked at Saurabh. If he hadn’t said it, maybe we could have taken a

few clicks.

‘Sure, sir' I said. We kept our phones on the table.

I picked up the brown folder.

Saurabh looked at Singh.

‘Yes? Anything else, sir?’ Singh said to Saurabh in a sarcastic tone.

‘If we could get some chai and biscuits' Saurabh said even as I pulled

him away by his sleeve.