The Case of Known-Unknown

The Chase

Twenty-Nine

26th March 2003

8:15 A.M.

Siddharth Agrawal was seated on the chair with one of his officers by his side, facing Himanshu Savla who was still under speculation. Agrawal had ordered a thorough inspection on Himanshu's profile. He knew that Himanshu was deeply involved, directly or indirectly, with "The Boss". He had placed a transmitter, with David's consent, on his suit and therefore had an extra ear to listen to their conversation.

At the time of the incident, he had noticed Himanshu's tone and response to Jeel's mention of "The Boss" being a suspect. His instincts had alerted him immediately. Another instinct was that the men who killed Jeel, could have also killed David and Himanshu, so there was somebody on board! Himanshu disclosed that he had placed a transmitter at David's villa, when David had ordered to change the carpets and the entire dining room. Himanshu had one of his known crew members place it discreetly at his villa.

   'Your house was searched and a gun was found.' Siddharth said.

   'I changed my mind and left the real gun behind and I bought a fake-'

   'That's not my point, Mr. Savla.' Siddharth placed his hands on the desk. 'How did you get that gun? It was a professional shooting weapon. You can only procure such a gun if you have good contacts.'

   'I took that gun from a dealer.'

   'Illegal possession of weapons.' He read the charge. 'Who's the dealer?'

   'One of "The Boss'" men.' The other officer jumped instantly, but Siddharth maintained his cool.

   'Very well. Tell me the real identity of "The Boss"?' Himanshu chuckled.

   'What's funny?' The other officer roared.

   'You guys are so desperate to crown anyone as The Stalker.' He said. 'I'll tell you what, you will barely find anyone in this town who would be willing to testify against "The Boss."

Himanshu Savla informed them how "The Boss" had been in so many cases in the Shimla region, yet he was never caught. The reason was that some part of tourism and major services were financed by him. He had also helped a lot of businessmen maintain their businesses. Half of the department had knowledge about him, but they also had their families at gunpoint, same was for his men. His men were solid because of the high payment, and also because of their weakness, family.

He was loved, and feared, by all.

********************************

Akash narrowed his eyes upon seeing his guest arrive. Tall figure, rough face, harsh tone, Mr. Khatri. He was surprised when Mr. Khatri agreed to the meeting, but he knew the stakes were high. Mr. Khatri sat on the other bench of the park, adjacent to Akash.

   'Never thought it would be so easy to convince you.' Akash scoffed.

   'You said you had something important to discuss.' He said roughly, surfing on his new Nokia phone.

   'I know who "The Boss" is.' Akash said, but Mr. Khatri maintained his cool and didn't look up. 'I suppose I don't have to tell you who it is, because you already know?" He kept his silence, never meeting his eye.

   'I used to wonder how his men were so solid, and would never testify against him.' Akash explained. 'Now I understand why they never opened their mouths during interrogation, for the interrogator was You.'