Into The Shadows by Aayush Borulkar (smart ebook reader txt) 📗

“They seemed in a hurry. Wonder what they have found?” Ishaan thought to himself.

“What did you guys find?” asked Avinash to the constables.

“Sir, we enquired with all the cab drivers and also talked with a few union members, but we could not find anyone with the name Vivek Sequeira” said constable Balaram.

“But we did find out that there is a certain Sequeira that still drives around and he is 67 years old. The fact that he is still around and hasn’t retired is quite odd,” added Shinde.

“A 67 years old cab driver of the same surname, huh? Did you manage to get his address?” asked Avinash.

“Yes Sir, he lives on the outskirts of the town. Here is his address,” Balaram replied.

“We could go and check it out. Worth a shot,” Avinash suggested.

“We should definitely. Let’s get on with this,” said Erika picking up her coat and her gun. “And don’t let anyone leave the villa till we are back. If they need anything from the market, either of you two get it for them,” Erika instructed the constables.

Erika and Avinash got into the car and sped off as Nishant stood there at the window, staring at the car suspiciously.

They drove through the busy city streets. Everyone was out on the road as the weekend was around the corner. The duo drove their way through the city traffic and finally reached the outskirts where now the strongly built concrete houses of the city, had been replaced by mud houses.

“Is this the turn mentioned in the address?” asked Erika as they came to a crossword.

“It does seem so. Let’s take it,” Avinash replied.

As they continued on the road, they saw a small two-storey structure on the left side of the road. It was a blue coloured house with a staircase running from the exterior of the house up to the terrace on the second floor. They agreed that this could be the house. So they steered left off the road, towards the house. A taxi was parked near the house, which somewhat confirmed that this might be the right house. The duo parked their car and walked up to the door, and rang the bell, but there was no response. Then they rang it the second time, and this time the door was opened by a plump, fair, old lady, with burgundy coloured hair, who stood clueless on the other side of the door.

“Kitay (what)? asked woman in Konkani.

“We are from the Goa police,” replied Avinash.

“English?” asked Erika.

“Little little,” she answered.

“Okay, so we have a few questions we would like to ask about an accident nearby. Are you willingly to invite us in?” asked Erika.

The woman was hesitant and stood still for a few seconds, then went back into the house. The duo entered the house. The hall was well ventilated, with the sky blue colour of the walls adding to the brightness in the room. There were many showpieces in the cabinet, and one of them was a duplicate statue of the dancing girl from the Harappan civilization. A staircase wound up to the second floor, and the whole hall was clean and well kept. There was a sharp smell of a fried fish that came from the kitchen and filled the entire living room.

“That is a first copy of the dancing doll of the Harappan civilization,” said a man walking down the staircase. “My son had many more, but we had to sell them eventually. It was his hobby to collect such showpieces of ancient civilizations, even if they were duplicate,” he added. Erika instantly kept back the doll that she had picked up from the showcase.

“Hello. We are from the Goa police, and you must be Patrick Sequeira, right?” asked Avinash reading out the name from his phone.

“Yes, I am and this my wife Silvi Sequeira,” he answered.

“Sir we are here to ask a few basic questions about….

“You have a warrant?” he asked.

“Pardon me? We don’t want to search your house. We just have a few questions,” Erika said.

“No warrant. No question. Please leave,” he ordered.

“Sir, we only need a few minutes of your time, that’s it. Then we will be on our way,” said Avinash trying to convince the man.

But the man was in no mood to listen to Avinash, so he started walking towards him, pushing him towards the door with every step. The man raised his voice, ordering them to leave. In this commotion, Erika glanced at a framed family photograph hung on the wall, near the staircase. It took her a few seconds to realize.

“That’s your son in that photograph?” Erika asked in a loud voice, walking backward.

“Yes, it is, but we have no connection with him anymore,” replied the man, still ordering them to leave.

“We might have something on him!” exclaimed Erika. And that might have worked because the man stopped instantly on hearing this and stood there motionless.

“We have come here, to talk about him. We want to know his whereabouts,” Erika asked.

Listening to this, the man stopped and walked back into the hall. The woman couldn’t understand what the commotion was all about and was clueless about what had made her husband stop because she couldn’t comprehend what Erika was saying. So she stood near the kitchen stupefied.

“Your son Vivek, Is he around? When will he be back?” Avinash asked.

The old man just sat silently on the sofa, motionless, staring into infinity as if some film was playing in his head.

“We just want to ask him a few routine questions about an accident that he witnessed a few days ago,” said Erika wondering why the couple was weeping.

“We don’t talk about him in this house anymore,” said the father, now looking at the officers. This statement caught the officers off guard, and they were taken aback.

“Why would that be?” Avinash asked

“He left us when we most needed him,” replied the father, trying to get himself together.

“What do you mean left you? He doesn’t stay with you anymore?”