Chapter 19 – A stranger or a Know-it-All?

Jennifer read the welcome board. It said, ‘Welcome to Rainbow Apartments’
If only I could have reached here in time… The last time I was headed here, all this mess wouldn’t have happened, spoke her conscience. She pushed away the thoughts and made her way to Mr. Ahuja’s apartment. She glanced at Dutta’s House and felt an air of sadness. Although she had just spent an afternoon with Roohi, she missed her and felt responsible for her kidnapping.
She knocked the door of house no. 24. The name plate said, ‘Mr. Aryan Ahuja’.
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Where could be Roohi? thought Aryan.
Aryan Ahuja was a staunch little man with broad shoulders. He brushed through his lush dark hair and looked out of the window to see a young woman limping towards his house.
I should hang a ‘Do Not Disturb’ at my door, he thought, irritated by what he thought was another donation seeker approaching.
Aryan was a well known private investigator, who was awarded and recognized all over the state. Strangely, Aryan had an air of arrogance about him which made him the least favorite in the neighborhood. His relations with the Dutta family were the same as with every other neighbor but he had a soft corner for Roohi. He loved her as his own child. As soon as he heard the news of Roohi’s abduction, he took it upon himself to find the culprit and free Roohi.
He headed towards the door and answered without opening it, ‘I won’t make any donation, you may leave’.
“I need your help, it’s urgent and I don’t want a donation,” replied Jenny carefully.
“Oh ok,” he said in a somewhat embarrassing tone and continued, “Come on in.” He opened the door, sensing the urgency in the woman’s voice.
“You must be aware of Roohi’s kidnapping, Roohi Dutta, she is Mr. Shekhar’s daughter,” said Jennifer.
He recognized Jennifer after taking a close look at her. He knew that she was the last person Roohi was seen with.
“What about it?” Aryan’s ears perked up.
“I found something tod..” Jennifer’s phone started ringing.
“Excuse me”, and she took her phone out of her pocket. It was Shekhar’s call.
“Excused,” said Aryan, letting out an irritated sigh since the phone rang just when he was about to get some information about Roohi’s abduction.
That’s why he hated his phone, they always buzz at the wrong moment, he thought to himself.
Jennifer walked to the window and answered the phone.

“Where are you?” Shekhar almost yelled at her.
“I’m out. I told you that I had something important to talk about but you wouldn’t listen. So I came out by myself. There was no time to waste,” replied Jennifer.
“I told you I was coming. Anyways what was so important? Do you have any other clue to find Roohi’s kidnapper?” Shekhar replied with rapt attention.
“Shekhar, while browsing the internet today, I found something…” and she related to Shekhar how she found the blog of the kidnapper and so on.

So she is talking to Shekhar, mumbled Aryan. As soon as he heard that she had found something, he started listening carefully. Eavesdropping was a part of his profession. As Jennifer’s call ended, Aryan had a lead. But this girl cannot be ruled out so soon, he thought.
He marched up to Jennifer and asked her to leave. He said, “Time’s up. I have to go. I have no time. It was a pleasure meeting you,” with an unpleasant smile pasted on his face.
“But I need your..”
“Can’t help it,” saying this, Aryan made his way towards the door followed by a helpless Jennifer.
He locked the door, nodded at Jenny and started walking towards his car.
Now I know why everyone hates him, thought an infuriated Jennifer as she took out her phone and dialed a number.

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Tara tapped a number on her phone and spoke, gritting her teeth, “We have a problem. We need to meet.”
After listening to the other person, she said, “Leo-pold cafe in 15 minutes,” hung up and got into a taxi.

Hold you breath and click here for the next part!

If you want to catch up on all the Chapters of ‘Circle of Deceit’ in Level 1 (a total of 10 Chapters), here is a recap:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

Chapters in Level 2 (A total of 10) –

Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20