I was woken up suddenly in the morning by a loud sound. It was my phone ringing. I was planning to ignore it till I saw the call was from the Inspector. I answered it immediately.
"Hi, Inspector. What happened? Why the call in the morning?
"Jacob, I have great news for you. The case is solved.”
All my sleepiness immediately went away.
"How? What happened?”
"I don't want to discuss this over the call. Come over, and we'll talk about it.”
"Please give me few minutes. I'll be there as soon as I can.”
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I couldn't control myself. I started to get ready to leave immediately. I was moving so fast that everything seemed like a blur. I didn't even realize how I changed or drove all the way to the Police Station.
When I got there, the constable asked me to wait for few mins as the Inspector was busy. I could literally count each second I spent waiting outside. Finally, the Inspector was free to see me.
"Sir, please tell me. What happened?
"Sure. Let me tell you what happened since we last met. Remember I told you we were going to look for Rahul’s phone location. Even though the phone is off now, we can still find out the phone's location and time when it was last on. We had expected to use this to find Rahul’s current location. But the results were much better. He had last used his phone some days ago. To be exact, on the night of the incident. And guess where it was?”
I could guess where this was headed. But I still wanted the Inspector to confirm my guess.
"I would rather you tell me.”
The Inspector was already smiling before he spoke the following words.
"Rahul's phone was last located near the lover’s peak around midnight.
"This means he was there when the incident happened.”
"Exactly. And nobody has seen him since. So this proves he was involved in the incident and has not come forward to report it. This shows he has something to hide, or he was behind this.”
“What do you think might have happened?”
“Like we already know, Rahul was smitten by Priya in Trivandrum. After he got publicly humiliated in the college, he had to keep his distance from her publicly. But he must have continued to harass her by phone or stalked her outside the hospital. It must have crossed Priya’s limit at some point. This is why she must have gone to the Police Station to make the complaint while you were there. She must have waited for you to come for moral support. Even though she didn't go through with the complaint, he must have come to know about it, and it must have scared him a bit.”
“He must have kept his distance after that for some time. But people with this kind of behaviour are not always able to control themselves. When the day came when she was leaving, he must have thought of giving one last attempt and thus came to Mysore. He must have somehow followed you both to the lover’s peak and must have witnessed you proposing to her. That must have triggered something in him, and he could have lost control which led to what followed. Even though none of this was planned, he must have realized the gravity of the situation after that. That's why he has switched off his phone and have been hiding since.”
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I kept listening to the Inspector. I didn't have much to say. It all made perfect sense.
"So what happens now?”
"We now have enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant against him. He is a top suspect in a murder investigation. If we cannot find him within a day, we'll start sharing this news on TV and paper. That always helps. We are not planning to let him or his father get away easily. His father is also in trouble as he has interfered in a police investigation by tampering with evidence. He will be taken into custody immediately. I have a feeling when we question him, we might even find out where Rahul is currently hiding.”
I didn't know how to respond.
"Jacob, do you know why I'm telling you all this?”
"Not exactly.”
"Because I have met people like you before. I know what you have been thinking and how you want to get revenge yourself. Believe me when I say that never ends well. Trust in our Justice system. We'll make sure the guilty always get punished.”
I didn't know the Inspector had seen right through me all this time.
"I will try.”
"Also, don't forget about your friend. What was her name? Yeah, Mary. I have seen the way she looks at you. She is deeply in love with you. Don't overlook her. Many people spend their entire life looking for someone like that to share their life with. Don't throw away what you have. Don't miss out on this second chance life is giving you.”
I kept thinking about Mary. Maybe the Inspector had something in what he said.
"I'll think about it. But please keep me in the loop if anything further turns up.”
"Sure. I’ll do that. Now go back home. Don't think about this too much, and let us do our job.”
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I said goodbye to the Inspector and left. I sat in the parked car outside for a long time. I didn't know where to go.
I eventually took out the car and drove. Before I knew it, I was outside Mary’s apartment. I waited for a long time before I finally rang the bell.
Mary opened the door. She seemed a bit surprised to see me.
"Jacob. You alright?”
"Do you mind if I come inside?”
"Sure. Come in. I'm more than glad to have you here. I was about to have lunch. You can join me.”
I went inside and sat on the sofa. I was exhausted from all the shock and the stress.
"Jacob. Anything bothering you? I really hope it isn't anything I said yesterday.”
"No. It isn't related to that at all.”
"That’s good. But I still feel something is bothering you. If you want you can talk to me. Sometimes sharing helps.”
It was like a dam suddenly burst open. I had wanted to share everything with someone for a long time now. I told Mary everything. My trip to Trivandrum. About Rahul. All the things Inspector and I had found so far.
I even ended telling her about the promise I had made to myself about the revenge for Priya. Mary quietly listened to everything.
Surprisingly Mary kept her calm.
"That's a lot of new information. What do you plan to do now?”
"I'm not sure.”
"At least, please promise me that you'll forget about getting the revenge part. That's why we have the Justice system for. Please don’t do anything crazy.”
"I'll try. It won't be easy. That was the only thing that had kept me going since the incident.”
"Really? Do I not matter to you at all?
Mary was distraught when she said that.
"It's not like that. And you know what I mean.”
Mary went silent suddenly. I realized I might have said something wrong. I felt I had to fix things somehow. My conversation with the Inspector also kept coming to my mind.
When I realized she was not going to respond, I finally decided to speak my mind.
"I'm sorry if what I said hurt you. That was never my intention. I actually spend a lot thinking about what you said yesterday.”
"And?”
I could hear the hope in her question.
"I feel that I'm not ready for a relationship yet.”
I could see the expression on her face get bad immediately.
"But that said, I believe if you give me some time, I'll be willing to consider it seriously. I really don't want to be alone. And I guess what I said earlier was not correct. It was the promise and you that kept me going till now.”
Mary’s expressions took a complete U-turn. She was delighted.
"I don't mind how much time you need, Jacob. As long there is a small hope, I'm willing to wait forever for you.”
She was grinning widely and looked thrilled. I felt happy for her.
At the same time, I was tired and wanted to rest for a bit.
"Do you mind if I laid down a bit? I'm exhausted.”
"Sure. You can use the guest room. Let me get it ready for you.”
I laid down in the bed. I was thinking about everything thing that happened till now. Priya’s killer was finally identified, and it was only a matter of time before he was brought to Justice. Perhaps life was giving me a second chance through Mary. Maybe there was some fairness in life, and just maybe, life may not be that bad after all.
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End of Part 3