An Imperial Affliction

Chapter 39- Explanations

There are time when explanations, no matter how reasonable, just don't seem to help.

The stiff fingers held onto the metallic gun as bullets were put into it one after one, slowly.

The TV in the background trashed his character mercilessly as panelists screamed at each other, and inside the dimly lit house, Rakesh Chaurasia stared into the weapon in his hand, zoned out in his own world. He has aged years during this whole week, the few grey hairs have now become patches. The empty house just added into the overall misery of the situation.

Once all the bullets were put, he unlocked the catch and put the gun inside his mouth.

Rahane impatiently looked at his wrist watch for the umpteeth time, exhaling in frustration. His mind knew the time set jointly by him and ETF Director was still a few good minutes ahead, but he wanted to be done with this issue at once, lock it neatly in a closet and turn his back on, never to see again. He looked better today after a few hours well rested sleep and coffee, but now the awful smell of disinfectant and local phenyl was making his earlier headache come back. Wrinkling his nose, he looked at his watch again, frowning at the slow going time, and exhaled in frustration.

Heaven had mercy on him and in that exact time, the ETF officers entered, their footsteps echoing in the hallway of the morgue.

"Agent." Aisha gave the man a nod, and he looked at the ACP who was quiet, unusually, and did not even meet his eyes. This was a difficult situation, he knew, but he didn't want to delay anymore. Without wasting any time, he summoned a staff and the trio headed towards the morgue room.

The moment the drawer was pulled out and white sheet was removed, the Director let out a disgusted "Shit!". Even Rahane had to look away- the face was badly damaged due to the acid and even without the preserver, one can see the body was slowly rotting away. Turning side ways, he saw the ACP staring intently at the body, then took a few step towards it. Her fingers brushed over the body's fingertips ever so softly, barely touching, and then she jolted backwards, as if a live wire has passed.

Maybe she ]also realized that it was the end.

The Director made a noise from the back of her throat and the staff cover the body and closed the drawer. Once outside, she took a deep breath, in and out, trying not to throw up.

"So," The agent started, "what do you think?" His question was mostly directed towards the Director as seeing the still form of ACP, Rahane realized expecting anything from her will be futile. The Director took a few moments before answering, choosing her words carefully.

"The body's height, it's similar to him. He and Ri were of same heights." She motioned to the other woman, "The build looks similar too, as far as I can remember from years ago. Apart from then . . ." She paused, remembering something, "Didn't you mention you did a DNA test?"

He nodded, "The prints were taken from samples taken years later, and supplied by . . . " He gestured at the ACP, "I understand how futile this exercise might be, especially with the ruined facial structure. But thank you for coming anyway. I think this was the confirmation I needed. Neel Sahaay is . . . "

"It's not him." Riya spoke at the exact same time, cutting him off and the duo stared at her. Shaking off whatever zone she was all these while, she repeated loudly, "It's not him."

"And why is that?" Rahane took a step towards her. She said nothing- it was a gut feeling, but their work don't allow for gut feeling. Especially Rahane, he won't understand.